Branding Strategy for the American Cancer Society
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Branding is one of the strategies an organization or business employs to promote its image, products and services to attract customers. It is a technique that no institution is leaving to chance while marketing its products and to command a larger share of client base (Bala & Chahal, 2012). The concept has been an asset of many consumer goods for years, and healthcare industry is slowly embracing it with few strong branding existing in the sector. American Cancer Society is one of the largest existing not for profit organization with cancer care services that benefit a large number of people. The society has to adopt branding to enable it to access needs of the clients it serves, develop interventions, expand capabilities in meeting those needs, and communicates the ability of its capacity and responses.
Institutions use branding to tell their story in a creative way and influence people to make right decisions about their needs and the services offered (Babu & Sirisha, 2014). The branding has to be in tandem with the institution strategies and able to spike the staff to perform better in service delivery. After launching any service or program, the organization needs to think about how the new commodity would affect its image and what it communicates to the customers. All the advertising and marketing media in place must get an adjustment and pass the right and intended image to customers as a motivation.
Even as the standard course of branding is to combat competition, the case may be dissimilar with the ACS as it focuses on promoting its services more to improve health by offering best care services to customers. Due to customer change to be a consumer in healthcare there is a need to move off the earlier perception of lack of need in branding and advertising in healthcare (Babu & Sirisha, 2014). The modern patient can access varied information on the care service sought and seek second opinions and review doctor’s reports actively. This brings competition to the doorstep of the healthcare industry and a need in the shift to brand.
Branding Strategy for the American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society has several programs and services offering to the population that need marketing and information to avail to consumers. All the services and programs of the institution gear towards eradicating cancer and the society choose to brand it entirely as much as the services. The institution has to identify itself to the public, differentiate from other agencies and services to ensure it achieves its mission and roll out objectives (Bala & Chahal, 2012). Branding helps, an organization or business to connect with people and different programs rolling out both online and offline and everyone has to take up the effort.
The branding would start from the design of logo that people can relate to simply at a glance and only making over brands on their original logo (Birdwhistell, Britt, Claypool, Gombeski Jr, Karpf, Riggs, & Taylor, 2014). The ACS developed some branding for its programs and itself in the past. In order to provide uniformity in the many ways the institution has its brand presented, it focuses on a unison branding strategy. With the many units, divisions, programs and base of volunteers, the organization had to redesign its brand to uniformity standard to all its aspects. The brand toolkit is the best branding option the society undertook to ensure that its image and brand was typical on its adverse programs as a distinct identity throughout its arms.
The brand toolkit is an online initiative of the American Cancer Society that helps its units to identify with it and connect with people to offer information about the society and services it offers. The society contracts a branding and marketing firm to take on its initiatives and design a website for its branding and commercialization to connect with the people and donors. The society is taking its branding course to provide actual information to people and connect one on one to promote its services and programs. This makes people understand the real course and that other than research the society offers other services.
Improving on the Branding Strategy
People relate to brands that reduce perceived risks and purchase or acquire a service for status. The current service seekers have access to information and ascertain the level and quality of the services they seek or receive. Therefore, the question will be if people would develop sense of touch with the brand and have trust that they would receive services they require at its best (Birdwhistell et al., 2014). As a not for profit organization, the Society has to relate with its funders and potential donors on a proper built brand image and the services to be seen to be competitive to the needs of people. The society works towards best quality service and programs for people, but without branding that will end just at its doorstep.
Improving the branding strategy in place will increase worth of the business and attract more people and stakeholders, making them relate to the organization. ACS cannot afford to be plain in its course, as the public must see a sense of difference between the institutions as compared to the rest (Bala & Chahal, 2012). Since the society has a unique logo that works throughout its units and people, its positioning statement must be that which attracts people and need adjustment about its programs. It must identify a single thing that people perceive about the society and can remember and use it to a position atop other facilities.
With the build digital brand management system, ACS can manage better its brand across online platforms and develop unique identity in people’s mind. For instance, with the ‘Official Birthday Sponsors’ initiative, the society can partner with online platforms that have records of people's birthdays and pass its brand message on such occasions (Friedrichsen & Mühl-Benninghaus, 2013). Its imagery passing through online platforms and in tabs would attract people to it, but again this has to be done in a way that would attract interests. With the images and popups, the message must be brief and that which sticks in a person’s mind.
The Centre has different units that must conform to its branding strategy, even with their individual programs. The various sites for various programs must necessarily maintain and promote image and brand of the American Cancer Society (Friedrichsen & Mühl-Benninghaus, 2013). With the unified branding specific to the units, people visiting the sites can connect with the National Centre just at a glance even without visiting the site (Bala & Chahal, 2012). The society focuses on maintaining brand consistency, and therefore with improving its brand image and revitalizing its strategy statement, the society stands to save much while serving many people. In the new brand and with proper adjustments, the Society will execute its branding and marketing quickly and consistently to stick in the people’s minds and attract more clients.