A Public Health Institute Demonstrates the Way
Is there value in a nonprofit brand? Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) certainly believes so. This fall, PHMC - a nonprofit public health institute - celebrated a successful rebranding, strengthening its position as a brand ahead of the pack.
Through a carefully constructed strategic plan, PHMC is able to communicate meaningful value to its stakeholders. And, the organization learned some lessons along the way. In July 2008, the 36-year-old nonprofit then known as Philadelphia Health Management Corporation announced a soft-launch of its organization's rebranding. After formally changing its name to Public Health Management Corporation and gradually introducing the new brand on its website, in its print newsletter and on letterhead, PHMC launched a successful full-scale branding outreach in November through a major stakeholder engagement event, media announcement and related PR about the business side of nonprofits.
What led PHMC to execute the rebranding? And how should a nonprofit decide whether rebranding is right for its situation?
1. Define brand as a concept
Before you can consider the issue you brand, you need to adopt a consistent definition of brand. Some people will say it's a logo, others will say advertising, still others will say reputations. If you ask this question of 20 people you may well receive 20 different responses. PHMC uses this definition: Brand is the emotional connection between the stakeholder and the organization. All of the elements people list are encompassed by this definition and combined to create brand.
2. Conduct stakeholder research
With this definition of brand, the stakeholder - anyone with a vested interest in the organization (employees, board members, funders, clients, competitors, government agencies, vendors and so forth) - is a critical factor. So be sure that you clearly identify your stakeholders and use them as a touchstone for understanding your brand image. This requires brand perception research through which you gather the impressions and beliefs that your stakeholders hold about your organization. Since brand reflects a combination of the attributes you wittingly choose and those imposed by the environment, you will find some gap between your organization's brand goals and your audience's perception of the brand. The nature and size of that gap can indicate whether you are ripe to take greater control of your brand, either through enhanced efforts around your current brand or through rebranding.
PHMC began the rebranding process nearly a year ago, in response to stakeholder research indicating that - though seen as a trusted, collaborative, innovative and visionary leader, its public perception may not have been keeping pace with its rapid expansion. Research revealed that key decision-makers had limited knowledge of the breadth of PHMC's work, restricted to the elements to which they had direct relationships. "Given the broad reach of PHMC - nearly 1,400 employees, 250 programs, 9 affiliates, 70 sites and 40,000 people served each year - a considerable range of the agency's scope, impact and value could have been undetected by any given partner, collaborator or funder," says Richard J. Cohen, PHMC President and CEO.
3. Identify brand strengths and weaknesses
Conducting stakeholder research enables you to identify brand strengths and weaknesses. Research on PHMC brand perception showed that stakeholders held PHMC in high regard for its leadership and vision, but sometimes experienced confusion about its role in the health system. "Looking beyond the results of the research," says Dina Baker, vice president of communications, "we recognized that we are in a market that burgeons with health care entities. Another goal of our rebranding is to provide clear differentiation for PHMC in our role as a major public health institute."
4. Ask the tough question: "What's in a name?"
This is the touch question because changing a name - especially an old and established one - can be an emotional experience for many stakeholders. Before taking this route, make sure the name convincingly presents itself as a factor in closing a perception gap, and that the gap is significant enough to require such a change. Once PHMC leadership decided to rebrand in response to its marketplace, the first step was evaluating the existing name and - if needed - determining a new one. "A name helps to define an organization," says Cohen. "And our name clearly plays a role in establishing our legitimacy and economic value, for attracting donors, people and organizations." In the end, PHMC did decide to move away from the name that had served it well throughout its 36 years, but not to stray far.
"By simply changing ‘Philadelphia' to ‘Public' our new name placed clearer emphasis on our core non-profit mission of public health and all that it encompasses," notes Cohen. In addition, even as PHMC firmly remains a service partner to the City of Philadelphia, the organization's geographic range had expanded considerably. "Our stature, size, results and management processes give us opportunities to positively affect public health throughout the state and in some cases even across the country," says Cohen.
PHMC chose to retain "Management Corporation" in its name because its unique business model and strong management capabilities signified critical aspects of its identity, ability to grow and attraction to funders - brand attributes clearly valued by key stakeholders according to the research. "The PHMC model has helped steer us to a strong record of financial management. We have an annual budget of about $165 million, managing more than 250 programs in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware with an overhead rate of fewer than 7% -- a rarity in nonprofit management, where average overhead is around 15%," says chief financial officer Marino Puliti. "Thus our management practices translate to savings of up to $13 million per year, which we can reinvest in services."
5. Move beyond the name
Rebranding your nonprofit is not a one-step process; the transition may take months, even years, and the choice of whether to change your name - and, if so, to what - is just the beginning.
"As important as our name may be, neither it - nor the fresh logo and brand colors - is the end-game," says Cohen. "If the brand is the emotional connection between the stakeholder and the organization, our duty is to live our brand and make it meaningful to our stakeholders so we can all be more effective in the work we do every day."
6. Tap into the brand power of your employees
Part of the process of rebranding is recognizing the power of communicating brand changes with employees. For many stakeholders, employees provide their primary brand exposure to your organization's brand. PHMC conducts brand training sessions for employees regularly, helping internal stakeholders to grasp, own and internalize the totality of PHMC and its brand promise. "Employees can become the most important aspect of the renewed face of PHMC to external audiences," stresses Cohen. "I consider our nearly 1400 employees to be the greatest ambassadors of the brand."
###
About PHMC
Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) is a nonprofit public health institute that builds healthier communities through partnerships with government, foundations, businesses and other community-based organizations. It fulfills its mission to improve the health of the community by providing outreach, health promotion, education, research, planning, technical assistance, and direct services. PHMC has served the Greater Philadelphia region since 1972.
