Brand Identity

 

Challenge:
Mintz & Hoke was hired specifically because this assignment was politically charged, involved powerful players with opposing views and the outcome would have long-term consequences.

In hiring an agency, our client recognized that this assignment required people not only with creative talent, but with community savvy, the ability to obtain, analyze and apply meaningful input, and a process to lead a diverse, outspoken group to consensus.

Background:
When the pediatric units of two hospitals joined forces with a specialty children's hospital to create a new entity, the three agreed on many things, most importantly, the need for a hospital in Connecticut dedicated solely to children's health and medical needs designed, built, staffed and equipped especially for them and open to all kids in the community.

What they didn't agree on was what this new entity would be called. In fact, a year into planning the new enterprise, members of its new board of directors held strong feelings about their existing institutions' equity and legacy. It was going to be hard to let go. 

The historic merger included Newington Children's Hospital, Hartford Hospital and the University of Connecticut Health Center.
 
As with any merger, interested parties were hopeful, but apprehensive. As time passed, the lack of agreement on an identity for the new institution left employees, parents and patients, physicians, committed donors and others anxious.

Competitors stirred the pot, opposing the planned children's hospital and generating contentious debate in the business community. Publicity surrounding the issue left the public curious, but questioning. Time that might have been spent building support was passing by.

The new children's hospital needed an identity that could rally the community's commitment and support to help it become a reality.

Brand Discovery - Fact Finding and Input:
Mintz & Hoke performed a Focus.Fast. strategic drill with an Identity Committee comprised of board members and key executives representing the three merger partners, most of whom wanted their existing institution's identity to become the new one.

During the Focus.Fast. strategic drill - through guided dialogue the group identified:

  • Objectives and criteria for the name and identity.
  • Target audiences who would influence success of the children's hospital.
  • Suspected attitudes and perceptions of these target audiences.

Critical goals for this session were:

  • Consensus from the board on objectives and priorities.
  • Agreement from each member to support a strategic direction based on the findings of our research.

Objectives and Criteria for the Name and Identity:
Given the emotional connections committee members had to their merging institutions, we were highly conscious of the need to develop a name and identity they could not only agree on and be comfortable using, but one they would embrace. This became a critical objective for the agency and our client contacts. 

The committee agreed that the name and identity should, first and foremost, work where it matters most - in the marketplace - and communicate that the new entity:

  • Is exclusively for children.
  • Will offer a full scope of services.
  • Is a new institution, not just a combination of three old ones.
  • Will serve the entire state.
  • Will offer access for all children.

In addition, the group agreed they wanted a visual identity that would:

  • Appeal to all constituent groups.
  • Be warm and welcoming, but strong.
  • Suggest childlike spontaneity.
  • Capture the spirit of the new hospital building.

Or, as the chairman put it: 

"Create us a logo that'll last
          a hundred years."

 

Target Audiences and Mindsets:
Feasibility studies and other research conducted by our client gave them what they believed was a solid understanding of who their targets would be, including:

  • Marketing
    • Parents and children throughout Connecticut.
    • Referring physicians and executives of hospitals throughout Connecticut (and to a lesser degree, regionally and nationally).
    • Insurance providers.
    • Greater Hartford and surrounding counties as primary emphasis with Fairfield and New Haven counties secondary, given their proximity to Yale's pediatric unit.
  • Internal
    • Employee retention. 
    • Recruitment.
  • Fundraising
    • Private and corporate donors.
    • Foundations and institutional charities.
  • The community acceptance and support from lawmakers, municipal officials, business leaders and community groups.
  • Media

Mindsets for these groups - as known or suspected by our client - ranged from:

  • Unaware of the new children's facility to;
  • Supportive (though anxious and uncertain) to;
  • Skeptical to;
  • Opposed.

In a very real sense, the research was an early effort to bring concerned parties to accept and positively anticipate something new by helping to shape it.

Creative Development - Positioning and Naming:

Positioning Statements:
Since no positioning statement had yet been agreed on, we developed alternatives to test to determine which best summarized what the new children's hospital would stand for and how it would become known.

Reaction to positioning statements would enhance the first phase of name testing and provide additional feedback to guide our final recommendations. 

The positioning statement ultimately recommended would serve as guide for marketing and communications decisions.

For the first time, Connecticut will have a free-standing pediatric medical center that is devoted entirely to children and provide access to all children, for all their medical care needs, from preventive to intensive, to chronic.

This positioning capitalized on Connecticut's lack of a comprehensive, free-standing children's hospital. It:

  • Expresses a competitive edge against established pediatric units in the state, with the notion of "first."
  • Reinforces the extensive health services that would be offered.
  • Conveys convenience and cost efficiency, one-location, one-stop services.
  • Reinforces outreach and addresses community concern about health care access for all children.

Positioning and Name Testing:
Our goal for this research step was directional, not to determine a winner, but to identify the characteristics contributing to the appeal of preferred names. The findings would guide a round of refinements.

In one-on-one interviews with representatives from all key target audiences - including children, major donors, civic and corporate leaders, physicians, parents - we shared the positioning statements and initial names, probing for:

  • Likes and dislikes and reasons behind these reactions.
  • Clarity of communication - what does it mean to you?
  • The nature and degree of emotion evoked - positive or negative.

Working together, Mintz & Hoke and client team members conducted 100 one-on-one interview surveys - some in person, some by phone - all following the same interview protocol.

The goal of our quantitative research was to identify the names with the strongest appeal and identify the advantages and disadvantages of each to provide guidance for final name selection.

Recommendation and Presentation:
The recommended name was presented with the support of our client contacts to the board of directors and key executives for their vote.

Our recommendation - Connecticut Children's Medical Center - was unanimously and enthusiastically accepted. 

It was announced to employees of the merger partners, to other in-circle constituents and to the public within 48 hours - unveiled by children at a press conference - with press materials delivered in a toy doctor's bag. The resulting press coverage was significant, positive and accurate.

Key reasons for our recommendation:

  • "Connecticut"
    • Having it up front preemptively stakes out our market quickly and competitively.
    • In a shorthand use of the name "Connecticut Children's,"
      Connecticut stays but would be lost if the name was Children's Hospital of Connecticut.
    • "Connecticut Children's" is a brand and Chldren's is generic.
  • "Children's"
    • The possessive form - Children's - says this place belongs to all Connecticut children. It suggests access.
    • Children's in the name says it is devoted solely to the special needs of children. It's not a wing on an adult-care hospital.
       
  • "Medical Center"
    • Conveys comprehensive services - from preventive to chronic.
    • Conveys in-patient as well as outpatient services.
    • Does not carry the same negatives as "hospital."

Visual Brand Identity Development:
Despite the new name's intentional and necessary departure from any of the names of the three merging partners, there remained a question as to whether the new logo should include some visual representation of the three hospitals.

Analysis of Visual Identity Issues:
Working with staff and key executives, we defined and analyzed the issues:

  • Some board members and others closely associated with the three hospitals believed the equity of their logos would help the new institution - at least in the transition period if not long term.
  • Earlier input from and qualitative research with our target audiences confirmed, as it had with the name, that the logo should represent the one new entity, not all three merging institutions.

We collaborated closely with architect HKS, Dallas, to ensure that identity development moved in lockstep with their unique building design. HKS created a concept model of the facility that served as an inspiration for logo development. In turn, the color palette of the visual identity we created would come to inspire many aspects of the interior design.

Creative Development:
Working with the new name, positioning statement and building design, we created eight visual identity designs for the Identity Committee's reaction. Four were selected for refinement and testing with audience members.

Logo Testing:
We conducted 50 one-on-one interviews, focusing on parents and children whose first reaction to the logo's warmth, meaning and clarity would be so critical, especially since many would see it for the first time in moments of emotion and stress.

Results of the research were definitive. Given the thoroughness of the entire naming and identity process, the Committee was very confident in making a single unanimous recommendation to the Board of Directors.

Presentation and Rationale of Recommended
Logo/Identity Design:
The recommended logo design is made of bold, child-friendly colors and strong, simple shapes. It abstractly resembles the shape of a child, arms open, welcoming all.

The new logo is a dramatic departure from the logos that board members from the three merging hospitals were used to seeing. Using our research to support the recommendation, we developed a presentation that would lead them to acceptance despite their allegiance to their old logos.

Demonstrating its visual power and flexibility for future uses, we presented the logo to the board as it would appear in print, on T-shirts and even as logo-shaped cookies, as we provided reasons for the selection.

  • The graphic is universal - ethnically all-inclusive and not gender specific.
  • The typeface is straightforward and easy-to-read.
  • The word's "Connecticut" (our territory) and "Children's" (our purpose) are larger to encourage people to use Connecticut Children's as our nickname.
  • The logo suggests the spirit of the building which features shapes and colors.
  • It's playful and childlike, but not frivolous.
  • It's confident and has strong presence.
  • Open arms suggest the joy and vulnerability of children.
  • It communicates at a glance.
  • It works especially well in any size and is adapts to a wide variety of applications.
  • It works well in black and white.
  • It's timeless, not trendy.

It's simple and memorable.

A Corporate Identity Manual, created once the logo was approved, still guides the use of the logo across a variety of applications, preserving its consistency and integrity.

Winning Results:
The name and logo provided a new entity with a distinctive, easily understood,recognizable and memorable identity.

  • Flexibility and Adaptability
    The logo proved to be flexible and adaptable to all branding and marketing materials from letterhead to logo-shaped lapel pins, press kits and signage.
  • The shape and colors of the logo make it perfect for promotional merchandise. Logo apparel, toys and accessories are among the items that help build revenue for the Connecticut Children's Medical Center.
  • Exposure and Awareness
    During the launch, the logo appeared everywhere in print and
    television media. Its graphic appeal made it the centerpiece of
    publicity about the new facility, creating significant public exposure.

Following five years with no advertising activity, the Connecticut Children's Medical Center brand name was recalled by 63% of respondents in a study measuring brand awareness of hospitals in the area. 

  • Understanding and Acceptance
    • One child's reaction to the logo best summarizes our success in  meeting the logo objectives of the Identity Committee:

"It looks like a kid ready to give a hug."