Health Care Branding

Brand decisions are an integral part of product policy in health care. When a marketer opts for branding a health care product, he is intending to create an asset out of his brand. His promotional programs get centered on the distinctive features of his brand. If his basic brand decisions are wrong his entire marketing program will suffer serious setback.

In the development of a health care brand, the first task is to give the product an identity through a name. The second task is to enhance its recognition by the provision of a symbol of identity, and the third task is to develop a unique image for the brand and to build its personality over the long term. Building a brand\'s personality is a very difficult task. In any given product category only a handful of brands emerge successful. Years of uninterrupted nursing with the support of a good marketing program is required to get a brand established in the market.

Successful brands are major assets for companies. It is a valuable, renewable and lasting asset capable of producing a sustainable competitive advantage for the company. This advantage enables companies to earn profits for years, just like any other durable asset would do. The very job of selecting a brand name in health care is a difficult task for the marketer. A good brand name will be distinctive; it will be easy to pronounce, recognize and remember; it will denote something about the nature or function of the product; and it will be aesthetically appealing.

Along with the brand name, health care companies also use logos for visual identification. A logo is a pictorial symbol intended to communicate with the consumers. Flags, mascots, crests, symbols, graphic designs or plain alphabet letters are all used as logos to convey the ownership of products. Companies make their logo visually attractive and strive to make the logo symbolically speak for the company and its products.