Dental City and Dental Practice Advisors have teamed up to help you achieve increased success in 2016 from our upcoming event with the Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center “Creating Exceptional Patient Experiences” to this series of practice management tips:
Brand Matters: It’s Not What You Think, It’s What THEY Think
If someone were to ask you “what’s your brand,” how would you answer? Many would answer with their practice name. Others may refer to their logo. Some may even recite a tagline, if they have one. While all of these elements contribute to your practice’s brand, they are not the brand itself. A brand is so much more than that. A brand is what gives your practice character and integrity. It evokes emotion that patients associate with your practice. A brand differentiates you from the dentist down the street.
Picture the Nike swoosh – one of the most recognized brand logos in the world. What does that swoosh mean? The mark itself is really quite simple. But it’s the connotation of long-term branding efforts the logo now carries: athletic excellence, determination, courage, honor, victory, teamwork. Nike’s brand strategy is to build a brand so powerful that it inspires ardent customer loyalty from people all over the world. How? By using an emotional branding technique—the story of the Hero—in its advertising. Consistently.
Now, we are pretty certain your marketing budget doesn’t come close to Nike’s. And you likely haven’t put much thought into implementing a branding strategy for your practice. However, realize that your practice does have a brand, whether you know it or not. Your brand is the sum of everything your practice is, says and does. It’s the product of the countless experiences your practice creates with its patients, prospective patients, employees, and the community – and the emotional feelings these groups develop as a result of their experience in your office. It’s the sum of all touch points that make your practice unique.
The key realization is that your brand is not what YOU say it is. It’s what THEY—the patients—say it is. It’s what THEY FEEL it is. So just because YOU think your brand evokes the feeling or emotion you want it to (comfortable, inviting, high quality dentist), be sure that your audience is getting that same message. Be proactive in building up the brand image you desire by taking steps to create value and consistency in your message.
Learn more about our Ritz-Carlton event “Creating Exceptional Patient Experiences” at Lambeau Field, the home of the Green Bay Packers, on April 28 & 29, 2016.
Wendy Schneider
Marketing & Graphic Design
Dental Practice Advisors