by admin | Sep 11, 2019 | Blog
Anyone who has ever worked on a rebrand can agree on one thing. It’s a LOT of work.
A rebrand can easily become an arduous process – from finding the right design inspiration to obtaining strategic direction to developing succinct messaging and finally to crafting the right finishing touches to make it all come together. And that’s not taking into account obtaining executive buy-in.
When you initiate and execute a rebrand, you’re not only changing the entire visual identity of your organization, but you’re reintroducing how prospective employees and customers will find, recognize, and perceive you. But fear not. There is a way to make this process and transition – smooth enough to stay connected with your customers, employees, investors, and prospects.
How to know when it’s time to rebrand
- You’ve gone through a merger, acquisition, and/or divestiture
- You’ve recently repositioned your business i.e: new sales strategy, etc.
- Changing markets. Have you exited a former market? If so, your brand identity may no longer make sense for your current target audience.
- Does your brand have a negative reputation? Is your NetPromoter score indicating client dissatisfaction? Have your win/loss studies found clients think your company’s message or position is disjointed?
- Is there market confusion? Does another company have a similar name or brand identity? If so, it’s time to consider differentiating your offering.
- Have there been recent changes to your executive leadership team? With new leadership may come new direction, and thus, a need for a new brand.
- Is your logo/brand identity outdated or stale amongst your competition?
If you’ve answered YES to one or more of the questions above, it’s time to consider moving forward with a rebrand.
We need a Rebrand. Now What?
Audit. And audit once again.
Before you get too far over your skis, it’s helpful to conduct a thorough brand audit. This will improve the odds of success and ensure you’re operating from a place of “knowing” rather than “assuming” when it comes to the many, many aspects of your rebrand.
Through the execution of surveys, customer interviews, a brand sentiment analysis, and comparisons of NetPromoter Scores, you will gain a clearer understanding of how your organization is performing. Understanding where you are today will then enable a more informed decision-making process to get you where you want to be.
Build for change.
The struggle is real when it comes to building for change. During one particular rebrand I worked on, the healthcare technology company spent millions of dollars rebranding their organization to give themselves a “fresh look” without taking one major consideration into play.
Healthcare and technology are two of the fastest growing and ever-evolving markets in the United States economy. Suffice it to say, things change. Quickly.
After only six months of phase one roll out, they quickly realized their business model was changing due to a planned acquisition and the new branding no longer fit the expanded offering of the organization. They had inadvertently pigeonholed themselves into a brand they outgrew at a rapid pace.
My client had to invest even more time, resources and funding to ensure the second phase of their rebrand delivered a result that was not rigid or fixed. The most successful rebrands are built to withstand the test of time, allowing for the ebb and flow that is guaranteed when you’re operating in a consistently changing landscape.
A Get real.
The best brands keep it real. Honesty goes a long way just think about the credibility McDonald’s earned years ago when they decided to reveal the ingredients in their burgers and French fries. Brands who stand for something also gain traction among clients and prospects.
Patagonia, the outdoor clothing and gear brand with a cult-like following, saw a jump in their annual revenue to the tune of $600 million after going public with their ecological sustainability initiative.
Whatever your “real” is, be that. Let’s get away from stale websites chock full of stock images, basic color palettes, and over-used marketing buzzwords. I think we’ve all read about innovative technology, tangible results, and dedicated account management.
Instead, use your brand as a springboard to add colorful depth to your offerings. Change the conversation. Create meaningful relationships. And carve out such a unique position for your brand that it becomes more effortless to rally your employees, customers, and investors behind that voice.
“A brand is no longer what you say about yourself. It’s really what a friend tells a friend.” Tina Sharkey, co-founder of Brandless
by Julie Donnelly | Jul 19, 2017 | Blog
It takes years to build brand equity, and just an instant to tarnish it. The best brands know the brand must drive every interaction with stakeholders, including investors, the media and the public. Failing to “lead with the brand” may result in lost opportunities to create loyal ambassadors.
One crucial make-or-break moment for many brands is how they respond to customer complaints.
For retail companies, this should be Brand 101. Healthcare companies, meanwhile, are only now starting to consider patients as consumers, due in part to the greater share of the cost of care being borne by patients through higher deductibles, co-pays and coinsurance.
As patient/consumers have more “skin in the game”, demand is rising for a consumer experience that is more like what the best retail companies offer. Healthcare companies would do well to pay attention to best practices and pitfalls–across the retail industry. So here is a “Tale of Two Brands”.
Recently, my friend Eric and I had wildly different experiences with two popular consumer brands.
First, my experience: I bought a set of pajamas from disneystore.com featuring the character Maui from the Moana film. When my toddler saw the pajamas, he squealed “You’re Welcome!” (Maui’s signature phrase) with delight. But the shorts and the top were two different sizes, and the bottom was too small. Here’s what happened next:
Within an hour, Brandon had turned a customer with a complaint into a brand ambassador, offering to send another pair of pajamas, no questions asked. I did share my positive experience with friends and “Mom” networks. Also, Brandon suggested that I donate the mismatched pair of pajamas to “spread the Disney magic”, and since I have such a great feeling abut the company, I’m happy to do so. In fact, my opinion of the company is considerably higher than before I ever had this complaint.
Contrast this with my friend Eric’s experience with a popular shoe brand that was initially less than “keen” about replacing a pair of sandals that had ripped apart after a couple of months. This pair was a replacement for a first pair of sandals that broke after just a few weeks. The company has a one-year warranty in place, but they initially refused to honor it, saying it doesn’t cover replacement items. Here’s Keen’s initial response to Eric’s warranty claim:
Hello Eric,
Your warranty claim #WKUS0181563ES has been denied.
KEEN’s warranty program covers manufacturing and materials flaws for one year on original items purchased from KEEN authorized retailers. This warranty does not extend to items that were purchased from www.keenfootwear.com with promo codes awarded to satisfy previous warranty claims.
We have included a discount code for www.keenfootwear.com below as an accommodation. Promo Code: WR-HP53-MZDP-L4Discount: 20%
Brad KEEN Warranty Specialist
Brad, Thank you for your response. I’m disappointed, frankly. What I’m seeing in your policy is that your company wants the benefit of SAYING you offer a warranty, without actually standing behind your products. Would it really cost you THAT much to make this right for someone (me) that really wants to be your customer?? I believe that your company can do better. Who can I talk to that has the power to make this right for me? Regards, Eric
Eric, You are certainly welcome to contact the KEEN Fan Services supervisor or manager at 866.676.5336 to plead your case. We stand by our inspector’s verdict on this claim and cannot offer any additional accommodation for this pair. Our warranty terms and conditions state quite clearly that items obtained with warranty promo codes from previous claims are not eligible for replacement consideration. The warranty department at KEEN considers this matter closed and we apologize for any inconvenience that this causes you. Best regards, Brad KEEN Warranty Specialist
Eric then started posting on his own Facebook page about his experience, with photos of the broken shoes. Then he reached out to the Keen Facebook page. Finally, four days later, the head of customer service reached out to Eric, asking him to order a new pair of his choosing to replace the ripped sandals.
Assuming this next pair is good quality, Eric says he’ll remain a Keen customer. But his opinion of the company is damaged by the experience. It’s a tremendous missed opportunity because though Keen doesn’t know it Eric is an outdoor educator who interfaces with hundreds of kids (and their parents) each year.
He runs a Pioneer camp in Florida which couldn’t be more “on brand” for Keen, as both emphasize the joys of “unplugging” and enjoying nature. Moreover, Keen has a enlisted a number of brand ambassadors who each “represents a convergence of KEEN’s values and interests”. Eric would be a great addition to that group. But, initially, Keen’s customer service operation failed to lead with the brand, and didn’t take the time to understand its customer and his concerns. Instead, it stuck to a blanket rule, and referenced Eric as a warranty claim number, not as the brand fan he was before the incident.
So, what can healthcare companies learn from this Tale of Two Brands?
1. Speed matters
Resolving a problem quickly is a key to maintaining brand loyalty. Disney is known for their lightning quick responses to customer problems, and my experience was no exception. Brandon responded to my query within an hour, while Eric had to wait four days before getting a satisfactory response from Keen. Now, to be fair, Disney is a much, much larger company, with many more employees, so it’s understandable that Keen’s response would take longer. Unfortunately, Eric did receive an initial response quickly, but the response did not seek to understand or resolve his problem.
2. Personalize the response
Disney was able to mail me a new set of pajamas with nothing more than my Facebook name and town. They knew exactly who they were talking to, when I had bought the pajamas, what size, and my address. This kind of sophisticated contact center is rare. But smaller organizations can ask questions to get the personal information and understand the particular needs of the customer, rather than refer to a warranty claim number, which was off-putting in Eric’s case.
3. Empower employees
Disney’s approach to gaining and maintaining brand equity is to give employees the power to solve problems, not to just enforce the rules and say no. Once someone higher up the chain at Keen understood that Eric was not trying to game the warranty system, but in fact had TWO pairs of shoes fail in the space of weeks or months, the company agreed to replace the shoes. But if Brad Eric’s first contact at the company–was empowered to ask the details of the story, and then respond based on the specific situation, it could have been resolved more quickly and positively
4. Ask your critics to be your fans
Since my Disney issue was resolved so quickly, I immediately offered to share my experience. But Brandon asked me to go one step further and share the replaced pajamas which were good quality, but simply mismatched sizes. This may give the company the opportunity to earn another fan who becomes a customer in the future. It’s clear, at Disney, that the public relations and brand teams drive all interactions with the public. This creates a unified, top-to-bottom messaging experience, applied to anyone who interfaces with the company. Keen still has the opportunity to turn Eric into a brand ambassador. A great PR operation might seize this chance to engage Eric and his campers, since the camp and company missions are aligned. They could, for instance, give sandals to a small group of kids, then take photos of the campers for the Keen website or other marketing collateral.
The takeaway for healthcare
Healthcare organizations can become more like the best consumer brands by taking a proactive approach to patient complaints and concerns. By responding quickly to patient concerns, seeing patients as individuals, empowering staff to solve problems and asking newly-satisfied patients to refer their family and friends, healthcare organizations can help to create and retain brand equity. This, in turn, can help drive up patient satisfaction scores, which can have a positive impact on the bottom line, in new value-based care arrangements.
by Julie Donnelly | Dec 21, 2016 | Blog
Clients have high hopes when they first engage a public relations firm. Building a brand will mean interviews with the Wall Street Journal! Blogs that go viral on Facebook and Twitter! Appearances on CNN! And well they should. After all, clients are paying good money for marketing and PR services, and they should get results.
But unfortunately, what many companies either young startups or more mature companies hitting an inflection point such as an acquisition or new product launch DON’T have is a clear message they want to convey. And that is the first building block for any brand.
In fact, we find with many clients, simply launching an intense media relations and content marketing campaign is like starting in the middle of a race when you don’t know the course. Companies will reach that finish line an effective PR strategy sooner if they begin at the starting line with a clear understanding of the race course and where they are going.
Here’s some advice for companies looking to create or hone their messaging for a precision brand-building strategy.
- Begin with a brainstorming session
A good PR firm can lead your team in exercises that will help fine-tune your messages for each product and for each audience you hope to target. This could include efforts to name a new product or to determine which concepts resonate with consumers versus potential investors and/or partners. We find that at some companies there may be a significant gap between the messages the CEO wants to convey and those advocated by the head of marketing or other important stakeholders. By engaging in a brainstorming session, those differences will be revealed and can be mediated by the PR agency to help guide the team toward the messages that will resonate best in the marketplace and show the company to its best advantage.
- Develop messaging documents
An investment of time upfront to create comprehensive messaging documents will save a tremendous amount of time down the road. Individual documents for each product are advisable. These should include a one-sentence descriptor of the product, a list of differentiators, customer pain points and gaps in the market addressed by the product. The product messaging documents should also include relevant context, including the competitive landscape. In addition, companies should develop a few versions of the overall value proposition and mission of the company, geared toward different stakeholders including investors, partners and customers. Developing these messaging documents will likely require interviews of key subject matter experts at the company to make sure they correctly reflect the most current features of the products. These documents could also include a company FAQ to either be posted on the website or used internally. CEOs should sign off on all messaging documents before they are finalized.
- Use messaging documents as “already approved content”
Once messaging documents are completed, they can form the basis for content marketing assets including blogs, bylined articles and company whitepapers. While additional input or interviews may be required, this work will be cut down significantly by having agreed-upon messages as a common backbone for all content. This will also streamline approvals for each new piece of content and preempt messaging differences among team members since all stakeholders have already agreed upon the key messages.
- Use messaging documents for media interview prep
The appropriate product messaging document, the overarching company messaging asset and the FAQ can all form the basis of media interview prep for CEOs or other company spokespeople. Your PR agency can come up a list of targeted talking points and sample questions based on the outlet, audience and angle the reporter is pursuing. But ultimately, every interview should circle back to the company’s core messages which are contained in the documents. Using the messaging documents as “lane bumpers”, as in bowling, will prevent a passionate CEO from running afoul of investors, partners or customers by veering off-message. Combining a message development program with media training, which high-quality PR firms should provide, is the best way to ensure that CEOs and other spokespeople take the best advantage of every media interview opportunity.
- Periodically update the messaging
A common challenge in developing consistent messaging for clients is when a member of the team, often the CEO, is out a step (or two, or five) ahead of the company’s current capabilities, size or product development status. Visionary CEOs are a tremendous asset for companies seeking to advance their brands, but risks abound if the CEO promises things the company can’t deliver. One way to overcome this obstacle is to commit to messaging as a dynamic process and not a static set of documents. A quarterly review to sync up messages to goals achieved is a great way to make sure that customers, partners, investors and the public are continuously reminded of the company’s forward march. Companies may also want to consider adding a “future goals” messaging document which can be added to as goals are achieved and moved into “current messaging” status.
“Start at the very beginning”
It’s a very good place to start, as Julie Andrews sang in The Sound of Music. And it’s great advice for companies who are newly engaged in building a brand. Your PR firm will start by making sure everyone is on the same page regarding the company’s key messages. Then they’ll get it in writing via messaging documents you can leverage again and again to develop a consistent, memorable brand for your company. Even if your company is well-established, your key messages may need a refresh to help take the company to the next level in its maturity.
by Administrator | Feb 23, 2016 | News
Amendola Communications, a nationally recognized, award-winning public relations, content creation and marketing firm specializing in healthcare and health information technology (HIT), has redesigned its website to create an immediately meaningful experience for visitors. Along with information about Amendola’s services and capabilities, the new site showcases the agency’s broad portfolio of successful client campaigns, plus incisive, insider advice for healthcare and technology organizations seeking to effectively communicate their message.
Following website best practices, Amendola’s new site emphasizes visual impact over text-heavy content, and features distinctive graphics and a color palette of rich ambers and other desert hues in a nod to Amendola’s Arizona headquarters.
Thought leadership advice from PR and marketing veterans
Just in time for HIMSS, Amendola’s free guide “Hacking HIMSS: Your Guide to Conquering the Annual Conference & Exhibition” and free eBooklet “Can I Quote You On That? Becoming a Media Interview Rock Star” are both available for download at the new website. Additionally, the new site includes a weekly blog from Amendola’s team of public relations and marketing veterans on all topics related to delivering an effective message in the healthcare and healthcare technology arena.
A platform for agency’s client work
An experienced agency, Amendola has a long track record of success and a portfolio of referenceable client work to prove it. The new site includes a prestigious collection of Amendola’s PR, marketing and creative work for clients like Health Catalyst, The Joint, Greater New Orleans Health Information Exchange, Bernouilli, Recondo and many others. A library of case studies outlining Amendola’s successful campaigns for public relations, marketing, content marketing, social media and strategic counseling initiatives is also on the new site.
“Every facet of Amendola’s redesigned website was created with the visitor in mind, from the eye-pleasing layout to easy access to samples of our work and a blog that answers the questions we most consistently hear from clients and the industry-at-large,” stated Jodi Amendola, CEO of Amendola Communications.
Visit Amendola’s new website at www.acmarketingpr.com.
About Amendola Communications
Amendola Communications is an award-winning national public relations, marketing communications, social media and content marketing firm. Named one of the best information technology (IT) PR firms in the nation for times by PRSourceCode, Amendola represents some of the best-known brands and groundbreaking startups in the healthcare and HIT industries. Amendola’s seasoned team of PR and marketing pros delivers strategic guidance and effective solutions to help organizations boost their reputation and drive market share. For more information about the PR industry’s A Team, visit www.acmarketingpr.com, and follow Amendola on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Media Contact:
Marcia Rhodes, Regional Managing Director | mrhodes@acmarketingpr.com
by admin | Jun 18, 2015 | News
New brand articulates HealthTrio’s ability to transform how payers approach business technology
Amendola Communications, a nationally recognized and award-winning public relations, content creation and marketing firm specializing in healthcare and health information technology (HIT), announced today it spearheaded a branding and messaging initiative for HealthTrio, the innovator in integrated, cloud-based, business solutions for health plans.
Amendola developed branding and messaging for Smart Series – HealthTrio’s expanded Software-as-as-Service (SaaS) offering designed to help payers run their businesses more efficiently. In addition to company and solution messaging, Amendola delivered logos for Smart Series, marketing collateral and booth design to support the product’s launch at America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) Institute 2015.
“The changing healthcare landscape requires that payers streamline operations and make unprecedented cuts to administrative costs,” said Dominic Wallen, President of HealthTrio. “It was imperative that we communicate clearly to payers how Smart Series addresses that need. Amendola was the right partner to help us articulate that message and create a strong brand identity for the new solution.”
Smart Series is an integrated series of plug-and-play modules for payers that streamline administrative workflow and automate businesses processes. Amendola’s creative team built an identity for the Smart Series brand as a whole as well as for each individual solution module. The brand framework will adapt easily to include new modules as HealthTrio’s solution portfolio expands.
“HealthTrio’s Smart Series represents an innovative, low-risk, SaaS approach that can transform how payers build their technology infrastructure, “said Jodi Amendola, CEO of Amendola Communications. “We are pleased to have played a part in bringing this exciting solution to market.”
About HealthTrio
HealthTrio helps health plans, third-party administrators and risk-sharing organizations like ACOs run their businesses more efficiently. The company’s cloud-based automation and integration platform, in conjunction with its pre-integrated solution modules, can serve as a complete technology solution or can complement and augment existing solutions. HealthTrio’s affordability, adaptability, plug-and-play simplicity, automated workflow and speed to value enable health plans and TPAs to make a smooth transition to a value-based industry. HealthTrio is committed to developing and integrating adaptable, ontarget technology solutions that support its customers current and long-term success. For more information, visit Healthtrio.com.
About Amendola Communications
Amendola Communications is an award-winning national public relations, marketing communications, social media and content marketing firm. Named one of the best information technology (IT) PR firms in the nation by PRSourceCode for four years running, Amendola represents some of the best-known brands and groundbreaking startups in the healthcare and healthcare IT industries. Amendola’s seasoned team of PR and marketing pros delivers strategic guidance and effective solutions to help organizations boost their reputation and drive market share. For more information about the PR industry’s A Team, visit www.acmarketingpr.com, and follow Amendola on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Media Contact: Jodi Amendola, CEO Amendola Communications 480.664-8412, ext. 11 jamendola@ACmarketingPR.com
