Work
Howard Medical Company
Supplying brand confidence.
SERVICES: Brand Strategy & Positioning, Visual Identity, Website Content, Sales Materials, Monthly Content Retainer
THE OPPORTUNITY
Since 1978, Howard Medical Company has carried what their customers need to care. The second-generation medical supply distributor was built from the ground up by its founder in Chicago and rapidly expanded decades later under his son’s leadership. This change led to increased service capabilities and a delivery footprint beyond the Midwest.
A new generation of management ushered in fresh ideas, but Howard Medical lacked a unique value proposition, messaging that highlighted its quality products and services or branding to support them. The brand hadn’t been refreshed in decades; it was time for an upgraded look and feel to create internal structure the team needed for continued growth. Muse was brought in to provide a strategic, creative solution.
Vision
The competition often overpromised and underdelivered to customers. Howard Medical leadership took pride in how well they looked after customers but weren’t equipped with strong messaging to shout their successful track record from the rooftops.
Muse understood the value of Howard Medical’s legacy and the brand equity that had been built by decades of delivering customers results. Together, the Muse team and Howard Medical leadership crafted a brand that would set them up for future success.
Action
Howard Medical had always been a supportive partner that customers could count on for solutions to emergent challenges. It was time for them to have a strong partner to rely on, too. The Howard Medical team leaned on Muse to elevate their brand positioning, visual identity and website to strengthen their position in the market.
Brand Positioning
Prospects weren’t aware that Howard Medical could offer them a high level of care and attention because the brand didn’t have clear positioning or a defined service set. To solve for this, Muse interviewed Howard leadership in depth to understand the brand’s unique value proposition and offerings.
Using Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle method, our team concluded that Howard Medical offered customers Specialized Sourcing, Rush Supplies and Planned Inventory. This approach helped Howard Medical define their services on a scale of transactional (I need this product you source now) to transformational (I anticipate needing this product you source) and prove their partnership to their customers.
The distinctive advantages at made Howard Medical stand out from other suppliers were centered on a foundation of integrity as a family-owned business and long-standing industry relationships with trusted manufacturers. Through their advantages, they were able to strength weak links in the supply chain with innovative solutions for customers local to Chicago and across the U.S.
At the core of Howard Medical’s operations was the deep desire to be a reliable supply source to help ensure patients and customers receive the care they need, when they need it most.
Howard Medical knew their customers personally, but needed support to create personas of their motivations, needs, and how to strategically sell to them. Once personas were identified, Muse created messaging guidelines and sales materials to speak directly to each personas’ needs at different stages of the sales cycle.
Visual Identity
Muse crafted a visual identity that reflected Howard Medical’s heritage in a forward-thinking way. The evolution was rooted in the qualities of strength, integrity and connection that symbolize the company’s dedication to customers.
After three concepts were presented, the Howard Medical leadership unanimously selected a bold, modern logomark and coolly confident blue palette. While the new mark was a departure from the original logo, it still incorporated timeless elements to last for the next several decades.
The visual identity was applied to business cards, letterhead, delivery trucks, brick and mortar signage, employee uniforms and more.
Website Redesign
The culmination of Howard Medical’s new brand positioning and visual identity took shape with a website redesign in partnership with Howard Medical’s existing website developer. Muse crafted a well-organized, compelling website featuring the new brand and audience messaging, along with key sales messages to drive contact with the sales team.
After the core pages were built, Muse redesigned the outdated online product portal to significantly improve the user experience and functionality of browsing available products and placing an order online. With these updates, customers are encouraged to create order templates to streamline repeat orders for common supplies.
Results
As Howard Medical rolled out the new logo and branding, the positive feedback from customers and peers started to roll in. Sure, a compliment doesn’t count as a business transaction, but with more confidence, the Howard Medical team was motivated to achieve higher sales goals, attend more industry events and commit to a marketing plan.
When comparing web traffic before the website refresh vs. after at HowardMedical.com, sessions per user (+ 14%) and avg. session duration (+ 1%) both increased, proving site updates improved the user experience and engagement.
Social media metrics also showed improvements with LinkedIn followers increasing by nearly 20% and Facebook reach increasing 234% in less than a year.
“The Muse team made it easy for us to make decisions that we knew would last. They are branding wizards when I look at where we started to where we are now. Our whole team is so happy with the brand evolution and how it’s helped us confidently approach new accounts and continue to serve current customers.” – Mark Litton, CEO
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