I Worked directly with The Brand Institute and Jeff Ondeck, founder, to architect the brand strategy and approach.  This was a unique and unprecedented opportunity to lead the brand strategy as well as help implement tactical elements.  Much like Nurse.com, this project was a fantastic opportunity to participate in varying degrees with the full vertical process.

Planning

Brand Strategies come in many different shapes and sizes, but there are key ingredients that can’t be overlooked if the essential elements of the identity are to grow with deep roots.  Especially with the advent of peer-centric consumer networks, brand transparency, consistency and accessibility are becoming more and more important.  Gone are those days when a brand can hide behind the monolithic advertising campaign to grow or restore brand luster.  There are way too many touch-points with consumers and their respective influencers not to be careful in making sure that one’s strategy matches with the kind of research that guides the approach to communicating, advocating and interacting.

The Prolucent ReBranding was a great example of how to ReBrand appropriately.  With the assistance of a marketing strategist and ‘The Brand Institute’, we initially set about documenting a series of landscapes that would help guide the tactical process.  We researched and documented the competitive landscape, current brand sentiment and mindshare amongst current and prospective costumers and influencers, and we also re-assessed notions of who our target markets were, and how they preferred to be reached.

All this research boiled down to defining key points for Prolucent – who are we talking to, how are we reaching them and what are we saying?  There was another key element, even more critical than the others – how are we listening to our audience, and how are we assuring that the right parts of the organization get the message?

Execution

Armed with fantastic research provided by ‘The Brand Institute’ regarding our audience, our competitors and how our current customers viewed our current message, we set about segmenting and sub-segmenting our audience base.  Through the use of informal focus groups, we tested some key messages we knew were both honest and differentiated as from our competitors.  As well, we set about reviewing what communication and interaction tools would be best to communicate with respective target audiences.  For example, we concluded that hospital board members may use Twitter and Facebook, but that for them, information gleamed from these tools didn’t create a decision point.  Presence could influence in a minor way, but it wasn’t a key factor in the decision making process.  By the same token, it become very apparent that for staffing agencies already strapped for communication resources, using social media for that market was not only important, but critical.

Results-Oriented Work

At the end of the day, our budget allowed us certain research options that were critical to the success of the rebranding exercise.  Obviously, that kind of budget isn’t always available to well-meaning teams.  The most important elements in any form of branding strategy are time-tested and simple.  Know your audience.  Know your message.  Know your competitors.  Armed with these three pieces of information, one doesn’t have to spend millions – instead, key in on understanding your audience and what resonates with them.  Take your key message and explore ways to communicate directly, succinctly and never forget to listen.  The Prolucent ReBranding was remarkable in the sense that even competitors began paying attention to our message.  We received such an influx of positive feedback in the first months that it was at times almost too hard to track it all.  What we heard back was this:  ”I now know exactly how it is that Prolucent can help me.  Your message is simple and actionable.”  And that makes it all worth it.

A Sampling

I’m proud to provide you with a glance at an abridged style guide.  As both the executive creative director and brand strategist, I’m immensely proud of this work.

View the StyleGuide