Name That Brand: Differentiate Your Practice Post Pandemic

Which comes first, marketing or branding?

It is a natural mistake to confuse marketing with branding, yet there is a distinct difference between these two essential methods of self-promotion.

The main goal of marketing is to make your business look so great to people that it piques their interest and you can convert them to paying customers. This usually means spending a fair amount of time to determine what your market really wants. The next step is to consider the best ways to connect your services and products with what your target audience is looking for. Once you have gone through this exercise you will be equipped to spread the word about how your services and products are in sync with what your target audience really wants and needs.

The rationale for branding is somewhat different

When marketing messaging is unclear about what your brand stands for, you may fall into the trap of trying to become who or what the market wants you to be, rather than who you truly are. This strategy is certain to fail, especially in a post-pandemic world, because it undermines the important elements of trust and transparency of your brand. Thus, branding and marketing may play equal roles in promoting your products and services to the market but come at it from slightly different stances.

The task of branding is to consistently support who you really are so all the stakeholders involved are in lockstep with the core culture, mission, messaging and “raison d’etre” of your business. A successful brand should be instantly meaningful to anyone who encounters it and it may be the most important deciding factor for consumers when they make a purchasing decision. It gives your practice an identity beyond just the products or services you offer that can be found in many or most aesthetic practices.

This doesn’t happen overnight.

Can you have one without the other? The short answer is, “Yes,” but the wise answer is, “No way!” To invest in marketing your practice without first nailing down what you want your brand to stand for is taking a shortcut that won’t serve you well over time. Branding your practice will afford you the advantage you need to stand out in the ever-expanding crowd of aesthetic practices. It makes you more relatable to consumers.

Defining your brand

From the color palette on their website to the tone of their Instagram captions to the look and feel of their products, companies who create strong brands aim for a consistent customer experience. A brand’s name is more than a label or a logo; it should evoke a feeling the translates to customer expectations.

M. Bradley Calobrace, MD, FACS, Founder of CaloAesthetics® Plastic Surgery Center in Louisville, KY, was ahead of the curve when he branded his practice. As he explains, “Branding has been an extremely important aspect of our success at CaloSpa. The brand has represented excellence in not only the treatments we offer, but also the excellence in service provided to each client. Our brand is built on a patient-centric attitude and belief that our customers deserve the best, and that we are best at delivering it to them. Our branding of CaloSpa was initially built off me, Dr. Calobrace. However, now it has truly become a greater brand with name recognition and is the place to go for top-notch, first-class care.”

He continues, “Your brand creates connectivity and loyalty with customers. The brand delivers an emotional and loyal bond with each of them. It breathes its own life, and that translates to customer loyalty, growth, and profits for your organization.”

Strong brands tend to appeal to the widest net of customers, which means that those brands are more likely to be chosen before their competitors. Branding your practice in the right way will help you stand out from the crowd so you will be preferred and remembered by the target audience you want to attract.

Branding in post-COVID 2021

Your brand can be one of your most important assets if it can accomplish the task of encouraging more patients to seek you out and buy from you. An added benefit is that your current staff may also be more loyal when they are proud of the brand they represent, and it will be easier to recruit additional staff and partners for the same reasons.

According to New York City facial plastic surgeon Jennifer Levine, MD, FACS, Co-chair of the AAFPRS Masters of Facial Plastic Surgery meeting, “In the medical field it’s so important to ask yourself, ‘What message do I want to convey to my patients (current and potential) outside of my medical offerings?’ For example, my brand is more than quality treatment offerings. It’s warmth, trust, and a deep appreciation for the intersection of art and science and more. In my brand strategy, I am described as the ‘knowledgeable friend’ who is approachable, kind, and well-trained. Another important thing to determine is the tone and voice of your communications, including email marketing, social media, advertisements, and your office décor.

“As every medical professional knows, patient relationships are a critical part of any practice, and the way you think about your patient relationships should be in sync with how you think about your brand. What would you tell your patients during a consultation to make them trust you as a person as well as a doctor? It’s important to keep those things in mind when you think about your brand,” she continues.

“One of the most important questions to ask yourself when building your brand is, “Who is your audience and who are you speaking to?” In this instance, it is patients of course, but it can also be media, industry partners, and colleagues. To ensure that your brand is resonating with them, consider their age, location, interests, professions, and personality traits, says Dr. Levine.

Aesthetic physician Monica Bonakdar, MD, who practices in Newport Beach and Corona del Mar, CA, focused her practice branding efforts pre-COVID on creating extraordinary experience beyond her patients’ expectation. “I studied brands that resonated with me, such as Tesla, St. John, and Target, and extracted their winning elements to build a bespoke practice. Our branding touchpoints include our online presence, physical presence, print collateral, staff uniforms, and every form of communication with our patients.”

She continues, “Individually, and as a whole, these branding decisions resonated with our Bonakdar Institute core values. We are a united team of aesthetic experts who deliver remarkable customer experiences and results. We demonstrate compassion and foster long lasting relationships with our clients who become our brand ambassadors. We pay fanatical attention to details and aim for excellence. We are passionate about the ever-changing industry of aesthetic medicine and welcome change and growth.”

Managing your brand

Branding will support your marketing and advertising plan and help to boost the success of promotional activities through added recognition and impact. You should want clients and patients to come away with a warm and fuzzy feeling after they interact with your brand. However, once you have determined what your brand should look like, you need to protect, nurture, and maintain it. Before you make any big decisions moving forward, ask yourself, “Is this on brand for us?” If you have to think too hard to decide, it may not be.

Dr. Bonakdar’s post-COVID mission has been to brand her practices’ commitment to patient and staff safety. “My goal has been to demonstrate my adaptability and agility as a leader to do the right thing during uncertain times. I recently moved into my newly built office with all new hard surfaces that reinforce cleanliness. Protocols for cleaning in between patients and at the end of the day have been fortified. Our staff gets a fresh uniform every day of the week. At every patient communication, we review measures we are taking for their safety, including no overlapping appointments. I am seeing fewer patients as a result of these extra safety measures, but I am adding goodwill and fortifying my reputation as a physician who will do the right thing for my patients even when the right thing is harder to do,” she says.

Echoing Dr. Bonakdar’s sentiments, to keep your brand strong, it is important to be fastidious so every detail is maintained. This includes managing the basic elements of your brand (style guide, packaging, color palette), as well as how your brand is perceived by your target audience and customer base.

Think of your brand as a living, breathing asset that needs to be maintained for the long term. Do you deliver on your marketing promises? Do you and your staff go above and beyond to live up to what the brand conveys to patients? Strong branding builds trust with clients, patients, and partners, but it requires a certain amount of constant upkeep and that needs to be a team effort. If you let your patients down by easing up on protecting your brand, you are risking their trust which may be hard to impossible to get back.

Dr. Levine advises against comparing yourself to other aesthetic physicians. “Be inspired by them. If there’s something someone is doing that resonates with you, think about how you can look at what they’re doing but adapt it to fit your own brand.” She also cautions physicians to avoid setting unrealistic expectations. “Measuring the worth or value of a brand is qualitative, not quantitative. There will be quantitative off-shoots, but at the end of the day, if what you’re putting out there is true to your brand, it will bring you success, even if it’s not immediately measurable,” she says.