Whitney Medical Solutions – A Brand Story

Poking the Bear

Asking questions can be dangerous. Particularly, asking a client what they think about their current brand can lead you down a path fraught with pitfalls.

It’s critical to have a goal for your website. Chiefly, it must support a larger marketing plan. When we discussed goals with Steve Whitney, the president of Whitney Products Inc, he said he wanted to highlight their innovations and new products in the medical market. Straightaway, we said we could do that.

With his goals in mind, we asked him the dangerous question. In this case, it was “What do you think about your logo?” Their logo was simple. In particular, it featured a large outlined “W” and their name “Whitney Products, Inc.” below. Without a doubt, Steve was taken aback by the question. He asked us why we were asking about his logo. After all, we were working on his website.

Your Reputation is Your Brand

Then we followed up with a bigger question, “Do you think your logo reflects your goals of being innovative and developing new products?” In reality, he hadn’t thought about his logo. Certainly, he hadn’t thought about it in that way before. Still, our question helped him realize his logo did not reflect his company. What’s more, it wasn’t how he wanted it to be viewed in the marketplace.

Finally, there was one more question we had to ask. After a pause in the conversation. As well as us gathering up our courage, we asked. “What do you think of your company name?” Whitney Products, Inc. was a multi-generational company, started by Steve’s dad. Then he asked us, “What is wrong with our name?”

Our answer – “Nothing is wrong with it but is it helping you build your business?” At this point, we explained that the name said nothing about what they did, or who their audience was. Because Whitney is not a global consumer brand, they don’t have the resources to create brand awareness campaigns. Also small to mid-size companies, need to use all their assets in the smartest way they can. To be sure, a company name can be a great asset.

He was cautiously open to us exploring refreshing his brand. The result is the new name Whitney Medical Solutions, Inc. In fact, now everyone understands their market space and that they are innovators. Additionally, every product and delivered package will work toward building the Whitney brand. Finally, with the name in place, we began to develop a new logo. Specifically, one that reflected a clean contemporary style to create brand alignment.

With the final logo we created a comprehensive style guide and logo library. As a result, they have a unified brand presence and the tools to build it into the future. 

The Brand Alignment Effect

Like using a magnifying glass to focus sunlight and start a fire, this brand refresh reignited their marketing. Without a doubt, these new focused brand assets fundamentally affected Whitney Medical Solutions. There was a noticeable change in how they viewed themselves.

To illustrate, each time we would meet at their offices, there would be a new sign or new idea for building brand awareness. There was a new energy company-wide. In fact, the employees embraced the brand refresh and even discussed ways they could innovate their service, delivery, and processes to grow the company.

Undeniably, there is power in strategic marketing and branding.  Great marketing cannot be created in a vacuum. And it very often starts with asking tough questions. As well as being honest about the answers.