From obstacle
to ally
Work: Strategy & full rebrand
Category: Medical assessments and licensing
Services provided: Brand platform, architecture,
positioning, visual identity direction, messaging
Despite a century of setting standards for medical licensing, NBME’s (National Board of Medical Examiners) role in the medical community was largely unknown and undervalued. Fragmented branding and a tendency to remain behind the scenes, had made it virtually invisible. Worse, the one interaction audiences knowingly had with it, was the unpopular administration of the US Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE). This one experience negatively coloring perceptions of NBME overall.
To re-set NBME’s relationships with stakeholders, we worked on two fronts: First, a repositioning to reverse the insular behavior which had engendered mistrust. Second, a dialed up brand presence with storytelling to drive engagement around NBME’s purpose, total offering, and value to the medical community.
How we did it
…
A new positioning as a valued ally: NBME needed to overtly become their “partner in excellence” with clear a mission to keep the global healthcare community at the forefront of practice and patient care standards. This meant providing medical students, faculty and practitioners with NBME’s quality assessments and teaching benchmarks to ensure best in class standards of qualification.
New points of entry for the brand, based on areas of expertise: NBME is more than a test administrator, or co-sponsor of USMLE.
It creates vital, best in class medical assessments for assessing, learning, licensing, and credentialing.
New reasons to believe clearly tie offerings to the brand promise: A new messaging strategy and a battery of new proof points now convey all the ways NBME is setting standards of excellence and helping students and practitioners meet them. From advancing training modules that support individualized learning, to convening fora of faculty, physicians, and patient advocates to determine what licensing standards to evolve, teach and test, NBME is the force ensuring patients have a competent corps of health professionals to deliver top of the line care.
A clean visual identity creates a cohesive and recognizable brand. Modern design and imagery support better storytelling, humanizes NBME and suggests greater transparency.
Before
After
