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As part of our series on health and wellness brands that are leaving their mark on the world – glad to be sharing this branding inspiration about game changing healthcare brand Parsley Health. The organization is a strong example of wellness branding that checks a lot of boxes in terms of what matters to today’s active health and wellness consumers.

Wellness Culture Backdrop

The formerly separate industries of healthcare and wellness are joining together to form a more holistic approach to health. This shift in thinking has led to an increase in “wellcare” concepts catering to individuals who want to take charge of their health and make proactive changes that start with their everyday wellness.  At Trajectory, we refer to these individuals as Active Health & Wellness Explorers.

A majority of these health and wellness explorers are Millennials, who recently eclipsed Boomers as the largest U.S. population group. As a result, they’re a huge and lucrative target for the healthcare industry. You can read more about them here.

Their emphasis on self-care and health preservation is much greater than previous generations. These younger consumers also expect their healthcare experience to feel like the other services in their lives —streamlined, individualized and well-designed.

Putting Consumers In The Drivers Seat

The next generation of integrated “wellcare” brands are connecting with consumers through personalized propositions that put them in charge of their general health.  They give them direct access to alternative healthcare solutions in an affordable, inviting and convenient format. By simplifying the process and breaking down barriers to entry, these game changing brands are revealing what the future of healthcare can (and should) look like.

The Traditional Healthcare Playbook

In contrast to the above, traditional healthcare providers are still following the old playbook. But the playbook is outdated and based on tired, provider-first practices. Consumers blame providers for surprise medical bills, the sticker shock of said bills, lack of price transparency and wastefulness. The result is a continued disconnect between consumers and providers.

Parsley Health Brand Design

Parsley Health is one of the change makers operating from a new playbook. The membership-based coast to coast wellness practice offers a unique approach to medicine that blends cutting-edge testing, nutrition, and wellness with conventional medicine. They’re an example of what the future of holistic healthcare could look like.

Parsley Health was founded in 2016 by Dr. Robin Berzin MD, a Columbia-trained physician, digital health expert, and leader in functional medicine. As Robin states on Parsley’s website – medicine should put nutrition, wellness and prevention on the front lines of health care, while simultaneously making care smart and data-driven to meet our needs in today’s world.

Everything about Parsley Health, from its brand culture, business model, services, brand design, customer experience and content marketing challenges what we’ve come to expect from health care organizations. Blending traditional medicine with the latest wellness trends, Parsley is targeting a new generation of consumers (leading with Millennials) with concierge-style access to holistic health care.

Here are some of the branding strategies that are propelling Parsley Health (and others like it) forward.

Brand Name As Signal

The power of a brand name – in this case an evocative name – begins with the fact that it sets customer expectations. Think Apple, Casper, Daily Harvest, Headspace, KIND, Lush, Peloton, Salesforce, 23andMe and Virgin.

Evocative names use suggestion and metaphor to bring to mind the experience or positioning of a brand. These brand names are often creative and unique, and can pave the way for powerful brand differentiation.

Parsley Health. The name paints a bigger, different picture from many of the institutional sounding healthcare brand names.  Parsley Health taps into imagery, association and works on multiple levels.

Because these brand names leave some room for interpretation, they enable marketers to tell a powerful brand story and create a brand that’s bigger than its products or services. In this way, an evocative name can be the cornerstone of a brand’s positioning.

Brand Positioning Statement

Parsley Health brand positioning seems to be that of a wellness concierge putting nutrition, wellness and prevention at its core. Because unlike traditional healthcare providers, Parsley Health is redefining primary care (and what it means to visit the doctor) with a root cause, whole person approach and a focus on data, technology, and real doctor-patient relationships.

Relatable And Welcomed Brand Voice

Many traditional health care brands know they need to sound less corporate and more human. But it’s tough breaking out. Particularly when the organization is made up of so many loosely connected parts, and so many traditionally-rooted providers. It’s nearly impossible to communicate in a singular, distinctive and modern voice.

The Parsley Health’s of the world have no legacy (no jargon) that they need to preserve. They can craft a unique personality relevant to today’s modern health and wellness consumer. For Parsley Health, it’s all about the voice of founder Dr. Robin Berzin. Her modern, approachable personality can be seen, heard and felt across the entire brand experience.

The goal, whether in services, product, spaces or communication, was to humanize the delivery of healthcare. And everything about Parsley Health comes together as a unified whole. They understand that every action they take, inside and out, is their brand.

From Bland Experience To Brand Experience

We’ve all been through it. Our experience of going to the doctor begins with checking in with a nurse or assistant who might or might not look up at us while asking our name and birthdate. We then proceed to take a seat in a nondescript “waiting room. Before being escorted into a nondescript patient room. It goes without saying that the healthcare industry has never been particularly interested in brand design or our customer experience.

Parsley Health has an entirely different feel. A more modern, comfortable and even aspirational one. It’s a brand experience that puts patients at ease, as if you’re in a friend’s living room, or your favorite corner coffee shop.

Over the last couple of years, other healthcare startups like Kindbody, Tia and One Medical are also embracing a more modern and more customer experience  friendly aesthetic. Through increased competition, including the likes of Amazon, Apple and Walmart, there is a realization that in order to remain competitive, healthcare organizations need to think much more like a consumer-oriented company.

From Transaction To Relationship

Parsley Health is defining a new era of “wellcare” for the modern consumer. A consumer who gravitates towards take charge healthy living underpinned by the desire for convenience and connection.

Whereas most doctor visits last under 30 minutes, Parsley Health offers ongoing medical care designed to manage and resolve persistent concerns, helping you achieve your best possible health.

Patients can see their doctors five times over the course of a year, starting with a 75-minute session. There are also five convenient online sessions with a health coach, a long-term health plan, unlimited messaging, numerous lab tests, as well as referrals to specialists.

Parsley Health is meant to foster a close, long-term doctor-patient relationship where both parties are committed to addressing the underlying reasons of health problems. This is what is termed functional medicine, a clinical approach that analyzes you “as a whole person, instead of looking at you in a snapshot of time,” says Parsley founder Dr. Robin Berzin.

Parsley envisions itself as a direct-to-consumer company focused on patient experience. Personalized medical services across telemedicine, diagnostics and in-person enables members to pick and choose how they access support rather than being at the mercy of their providers.
 

Messaging That Matters

Parsley Health knows its audience, and has tailored its brand and content to speak to the health and wellness topics that matter to them. Honest discussion around mental health, trendy diets, and effective exercise put Parsley in the middle of conversations that are already happening among consumers.

Brand Collaboration

Parsley Health extends its brand proposition and reach, and reinforces what’s important to the brand and its members through creative brand collaborations. These collaborations span Mind & Body, Wellness, Fitness & Yoga and Healthy Eating – all designed  to empower consumers to better health and well-being.
 

Branding Inspiration

Parsley wants people to look at it, and the healthcare category, with fresh eyes.

Branding is about sending signals (through words, images, ideas and associations) that tangibly deliver on a promise. Parsley, for its part, signals it is a completely different category model. They do this in a seamless and unified fashion – as the sum of every experience a member (not a patient) has with the organization.

Parsley Health is still young, and no one can say for sure what the future holds. But from a brand value proposition standpoint, it’s refreshing to see new concepts like Parsley and others in the health care space. In this case, it’s building a brand that truly puts the customer experience at its center.

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Since 1999, New Jersey marketing agency Trajectory has worked with health and wellness clients across the country to unlock the potential of their brands to leave their mark on the world. Reach out for a no-obligation consultation.