COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IRVING MEDICAL CENTER
2016–2022 CASE STUDY
GOAL
Columbia University needed to explore rebranding possibilities for its medical brands, which included a 20-acre medical center with a roughly $1.5B annual operating budget and the first American college to convey the MD degree (1770). The design strategy would need to bring disparate brands together under a unified architecture: four medical colleges and schools, a medical center shared with NewYork-Presbyterian hospital, and a patient-facing clinical brand with practices in over 80 locations.
BACKGROUND
In 2016, Columbia University embarked on the two-year rebranding project for their medical brands following the renaming of Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Initial qualitative and quantitative research was administered in conjunction with a market research partner (Exhibit 1), and findings were developed into a brand architecture presentation for the interim chief communications officer.
Exhibit 1: Quantitative Data Translated for 2016 Brand Architecture Presentation*
*Brand name options A–G are redacted to protect proprietary information. Brand name options in this set were ranked by perceived trustworthiness (1 being the most trustworthy; 5 being the least trustworthy) by three key groups: primary care physicians, certain specialists, and a certain demographic of patients.
TARGET AUDIENCE
The project entered a new phase under a new chief communications officer (CCO) in 2017. The CCO identified five target audience contact points that the brand strategy would need to accommodate (Exhibit 2).
Exhibit 2: Presentation Graphic of Five Target Audience Contact Points*
*Target audience contact points involve how 1) the press, 2) patients, and 3) employees refer to the brand, as well as how the brand is represented in 4) signage and 5) co-branded communications. The solution would need to accommodate each of the five ways that audiences interact with the brand. For example, the medical brand is sometimes referred to as “Columbia Medical School” by the press, as well as “Columbia University Roy and Diana Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons” (The New York Times, Dec. 4, 2017), “Columbia University and NewYork-Presbyterian” (Nov. 16, 2017), and “Columbia University Medical Center” (Oct. 10, 2016). The design and brand strategy needed to consistently represent the medical brandname.
SOLUTION
Medical Brand
In 2017, we developed a proposal that shortened the medical masterbrand to “Columbia”—the common brand name on all medical properties—and the only name that would comport with all five target audience contact points. A new design strategy was initiated in support this proposal, where the medical brand name “Columbia” would serve as the shorthand for all medical entities, e.g., Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University School of Nursing, Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, and Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, etc.
Because the brand name, “Columbia”, is only proprietary to the University in the academic and medical industries, it was essential that the trademark tap into the University’s visual brand equity and not be confused with other “Columbias”, e.g., Columbia Pictures, Columbia Sportswear, Columbia Records, etc.
The design strategy for the new Columbia medical brand started with a new trademark that used identical typography, spacing, character kerning, and crown widths to that of the parent brand trademark: Columbia University in the City of New York (Exhibit 3).
Exhibit 3: The Columbia Medical Brand Trademark as Derived from its Parent Brand*
*Achieving parity between the medical brand and its parent brand was essential to differentiate the “Columbia” brand name from other “Columbias”, e.g., Columbia Pictures, Columbia Sportswear, Columbia Records, etc.
Brand Architecture
The next stage of the design strategy involved building out a proposal for the brand architecture (Exhibit 4), with hundreds of sub-brand trademark iterations. Unworkable medical brand options were also prepared to dissuade contrarian digressions and help us built consensus among the medical center’s executive team and board of advisors. The design strategy proposal included examples of signage, co-branded ads, websites, and mobile apps. The proposed new medical brand underwent market research testing at the end of the academic year in June 2017.
Exhibit 4: Basic Brand Architecture*
*Medical masterbrand (A), medical center (B), and schools & colleges (C) levels of the brand architecture are included here. Subcomponent layers are not shown.
Signage, Letterhead, and Color
The design strategy proposal was prepared for the medical center’s board and the University’s executive vice president for communications, and signage and letterhead rebranding was initiated in the fall of 2017. Typography and color rebranding (Exhibit 5) was initiated and completed in the spring of 2018 in conjunction with the medical center’s communications team.
Exhibit 5: Color Study Finalists*
*Contrast ratios are included on the third, fourth, and fifth columns. Note: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Level AAA requires a 7:1 contrast ratio or higher. White text passed on all five background color options; however, black text did not and would have been prohibited in any of the color selection scenarios.
Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian hospital both have a trademark version that includes the name of the medical center. In order to avoid the redundancy of the medical center name on co-branded signage, the masterbrand trademarks were situated above the name of the medical center, which was set in the campus signage typeface and color (Exhibit 6). By recommending a shared typeface and color for the medical center name, both institutions were able to feature their masterbrand trademarks—avoiding the redundancy of the medical center name. The second phase of the signage rebranding project was completed at the end of June 2018 in conjunction with signage vendors, the medical center’s communications team, and the hospital’s communications team.
Exhibit 6: Co-Branded Signage Recommendation: Common Color and Signage Typeface for Medical Center Name*
*The masterbrand trademarks (C) were situated above the name of the medical center in the common signage typeface for both institutions (A) and then placed over the common color for both institutions (B).
Brand Launch and Management
The design strategy was built out into a visual identity that included a responsive trademark, brand graphic, brand guide, ID cards, lab coats, publications, and advertising. The new Columbia medical brand was launched in the fall of 2018. Over the next five years, new brand development included periodic guideline updates, anniversary branding, and the implementation of the new visual brand on videos, publications, and image assets.