UT Health

Texas-Sized Rebranding Effort

What We Did.

  • Brand Strategy
  • Name Development
  • Logo & Brand Identity
  • Signage / Wayfinding
  • Environmental Graphics
  • Vehicle Graphics
  • Website Design
  • Photography
  • Advertising
    • TV / Video
    • Radio / Streaming Audio
    • Out-of-Home
    • Print
    • Online
    • Media Planning / Buying

Challenge

A rebrand is the perfect time to align a healthcare delivery system with the kind of care that today’s healthcare consumer is expecting. And that’s exactly what we did with the acquisition and merger of two East Texas health systems. East Texas Medical Center (ETMC) was purchased and merged through a joint partnership agreement between The University of Texas System and Ardent Health Services. K2MD Health was hired to create the brand strategy, brand identity, positioning and messaging as well as launch service line campaigns for the new system–UT Health East Texas.

Strategy

The University of Texas System operates several geographically separate health systems under the name UT Health, each with a unique brand identity that is compatible to the parent university brand. We designed this new system’s brand identity referencing the shield symbol from the parent logo, the star of the “Lone Star State” and the color system of The University of Texas. The result speaks to the pride Texans have in their state and the pride in one of the state’s most revered academic brands.

brand rollout

The launch of the rebrand included a multimedia advertising campaign, internal banners, posters and screen savers as well as designing the signage program and rebranding the system’s fleet of ambulances, helicopters and service vehicles. The rebrand program was launched internally at the system’s 12 hospitals and then through a comprehensive brand launch campaign using traditional and digital media.

Day 1 “Launch” campaign

To create meaningful consumer relevance we developed the message of “Advancing Healthcare. Together.” to acknowledge the university’s focus on improving health through medical research and to purposefully draw attention to the advantage of two respected and trusted brands now working “together” for the health of the residents of East Texas. We then shot and integrated powerful, compelling imagery of providers from both organizations to highlight the comprehensive clinical care and to generate a combined sense of pride with the staff. This imagery was projected in the shape of a graphic star to feature an unmistakable brand element.

8,450

employees

270

providers

50+

clinics

12

hospitals

45+

ambulances

4

helicopters

service line

The launch campaign was followed by service line campaigns, which included Cardiology, Stroke Center, Orthopedics and ER to drive patients to the system’s most marketable services. Internal excitement, enthusiasm and pride were evident immediately throughout the system as communicated by the system’s 8,450 employees.

Confidence in your healthcare system is built from a complex system of perceptions, references and experiences. Proactively managing each of these metrics is critical to the long-term health of your brand.

In this age of healthcare mergers, acquisitions and rebranding, change is not only good, it’s an incredible opportunity to embrace and leverage your system strengths while distancing from past negative perceptions.