Tufts Medical Center is a full-service hospital for adults and children (under the Floating Hospital for Children brand). Located in downtown Boston, the Medical Center is the principal teaching hospital for Tufts University School of Medicine.

In 2007, the former Tufts-New England Medical Center embarked upon an institution-wide initiative to re-brand the hospital under the Tufts Medical Center banner. This re-branding initiative was crafted to spotlight the critical alliance between Tufts Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine. The brand-launch campaign also served to reposition the medical center’s threefold role as a compassionate and expert provider of clinical care, a leader in academic medicine and a major player in medical research.

Tufts Medical Center retained PKCBoston to assist in the development of a comprehensive brand strategy and to create a campaign to roll out the brand to internal and external audiences.

Strategy

Because of the volume of work required to implement this program, PKCBoston became an extension of the Tufts Medical Center marketing team. Three team members worked in-house for a period of six months to assist with the development of the brand strategy. PKCBoston was also an important voice in discussions around brand messaging, the creation of the hospital’s new advertising and marketing campaign and media outreach to launch the brand.

PKCBoston developed a series of internal and external events for employees, the media and other members of the hospital community to promote the new brand and ensure buy-in and excitement about Tufts Medical Center.

Events

“Paint the Town Blue” was a series of four events held over a 24-hour period. The first three events were held at different times throughout the day for employees to attend and the last event was open to the public. PKCBoston created outstanding events that allowed employees to truly “live the brand.” From the décor in Tufts Medical Center’s new colors, to the unveiling of the new logos, to an exciting speaking program and preview of the advertising campaign, Tufts Medical Center employees left the “Paint the Town Blue” events with a sense of pride in the hospital and excitement about their involvement as brand ambassadors.

Collateral Materials

PKCBoston created a comprehensive employee newsletter to inform employees about how the new Tufts Medical Center brand would affect them on a day to day basis. PKCBoston developed the concept for the piece, drafted copy for the sixteen page collateral brochure, and oversaw production.

Results

Under the new banner, the Tufts Medical Center launch made a positive and clear impact on the entire Tufts Medical Community, its employees, target markets, neighborhood and the city as a whole. The hospital continues to receive positive feedback about the new name and the brand launch.