Oregon Medical Group
Reviving a Brand
With more than 700 employees, 10 locations and 30 years behind it, Oregon Medical Group’s name is well known within the Eugene-Springfield community. Its reputation as the newer, more progressive option for primary care grew directly from its position as the alternative to the large medical group that had previously dominated the market.
For years, the physician-owned organization had been making adequate investments in traditional media – primarily in print and television. Our assessments included:
Patient retention and new patient development had been stable.
Name recognition was high, but community understanding of the full range of care available through OMG was low.
Existing patients were very loyal to their provider, but not necessarily aware of all that the larger group offered.
Verb was hired to augment the internal marketing staff and was charged with providing a full range of support, from strategy through deployment of digital, print, video, radio and non-traditional means.
Our initial strategic assessment prompted immediate work on two fronts:
A shift internally: The group had grown quickly and its systems for sharing information of all types – including outreach to patients – hadn’t kept up.
A brand and messaging clean-up: Styles had fallen apart and the messaging for the group had fallen behind, overlooking the heart of the brand so that the distinguishing marks of OMG care had faded from view.
We polished and updated the group’s style guide and brought the dozens of information pieces into line. Then we turned our attention to the most visible demonstrations of the brand: advertising and outreach.
This staggered approach to targeting the most prominent elements was intentional, and typical to Verb. We believe in shoring up and strengthening an organization from the inside out. Not only is this more effective because all employees are living the brand, it gives us a more meaningful understanding of the organization as we immerse ourselves in the behind-the-scenes elements of the business. This provides us with a strategic understanding of internal needs.
As we moved to external campaigns, we recommended a shift in media, moving from traditional TV and print elements to digital campaigns that allowed more precise targeting. We also added an extremely visible transit campaign that took the OMG story into areas of the community that we couldn’t reach with other media.
The new campaign broke from previous efforts, catching attention with strong photography, fresh and distinctive type treatments, and a color palette that broke from the conservative forest green of the past without sacrificing the brand recognition that had been achieved. The result of the creative work was a visual representation of an established and professional medical group – with a familiarity and friendliness that had been lacking. The reason the approach worked directly correlated to the first phase of our work – it built on what existing patients and staff had experienced or already knew: that OMG is decidedly devoted to patient care at a personal level, entirely local, and friendly and supportive.
We continue our work with OMG, assisting with internal and external efforts, sustained campaigns and special projects. It is especially satisfying to us to receive metrics that demonstrate continued growth and in particular, new patient growth and existing patient retention. We can’t claim to be responsible for either of these metrics – people are too smart to stick with a medical provider who’s anything but top-notch. However, we are proud to be charged with keeping OMG’s name and mission in front of the community, and to observe patient satisfaction when the care they receive matches the brand promise – and vice versa.
