Our brand

What is a brand?

Children's Hospital Boston's brand is found in the promise we make to deliver the world's best pediatric care, and is reflected in the hundreds of thousands of patients we successfully care for every year. Branding means communicating that promise in a way that resonates with people and distinguishes Children’s from other hospitals. All of our communications—from our printed materials and Web site, to how we answer the phone—should reflect that promise. Take a moment to review this web site and see what you think of Children’s new brand image.

What is Children's brand promise?
To deliver the world’s best pediatric care and conduct life-changing research. We use three words to encapsulate these ideals:

• Optimism - this is the place where we don't say no and there is always hope
• Innovation - our hospital’s long track record of innovations and firsts through our world-renowned clinical and research programs
• Devotion - the enduring commitment our staff demonstrates in caring for our patients and their families.

Why does Children’s need a brand?
We have a brand whether we consciously market it or not. Again, the brand is the promise we make to our patients and their families that we will deliver the most advanced and compassionate care. In the past, Children’s has spent its limited marketing budget on reaching out to referring physicians who are key decision makers in the choice of where to send a patient for treatment. However, recent consumer studies indicate that parents are becoming more active in the decision-making process, particularly with the advent of the Internet, which makes information much more readily accessible. The new brand campaign is a concerted effort to reach these individuals.

In addition, Children’s wants to expand our brand reputation to a national level, and this campaign is a key step in that process. The hospital has already been laying the groundwork with an aggressive national earned media (or publicity) campaign that resulted in double the amount of national coverage last fiscal year compared to 2002.

With limited funds to spend on promoting our brand image, we need to make sure that the messaging is as effective as possible. Arnold Worldwide, the advertising agency that has taken us on at no charge, spent months helping the Marketing and Public Affairs Departments to determine both the rational and emotional reasons why parents come to Children’s.

How does branding work?
During the branding process you establish a brand platform also known as an essence, that captures the rational and emotional reasons why consumers prefer your institution. Arnold Worldwide, went one step further and defined the parents most inclined to take an active role in the decision-making process when selecting a hospital. That was followed by the development of an integrated campaign that will reach consumers at various decision-making points.

Click to open a bigger size image.