MedAdvisor Brand Uplift 2021

Read all about the rebrand process that took us from Pharmacist Phil to joyful simplicity.

MedAdvisor was founded by Josh Swinnerton in 2012, the year of the Hunger Games, Instagram, Gangnam Style.

As a small company it’s natural that the brand is an expression of the personalities of its people. Our founding team are grounded, hard-working, curious and passionate people. So that’s what MedAdvisor was, and what it is still is at heart: Grounded. Curious. Passionate.

But our old branding didn’t reflect any of that. Take a look:

As companies evolve, their branding should evolve with them.

MedAdvisor isn’t a small company anymore. When we began our rebranding efforts MedAdvisor was installed in over 60% of Australian pharmacies, the app had been downloaded more than a million times and we had business operations in Asia, US and the UK.

It was long overdue for a fresh look.

Our core identity: Who is MedAdvisor?

Before diving into logos, colours, icons and fonts, we had to do some thinking about who we are now and where we want to go.

We needed to define our core identity, the brand personality and values that will remain constant as MedAdvisor grows. This core identity is the heart of our brand and informs everything we do.

With the MedAdvisor rebrand, we wanted to make sure that the brand personality and values were things that really defined us, as individuals and as a company.

One thing that struck me when I joined MedAdvisor, and what makes it a great place to work, is that everyone here really cares. MedAdvisor people truly believe in the company and feel a strong sense of responsibility for its success.

Rebranding can be a scary and uncertain time for any company. And at MedAdvisor, with so many dedicated stakeholders, getting the rebranding right wasn’t just an important business decision, it was a personal one.

That’s why we were careful to involve key MedAdvisor stakeholders in the process of defining our core identity. We wanted to know what MedAdvisor meant to the individuals who know and love it best, so we could help the brand grow into a better version of itself. So, we gathered as a virtual group, with participants dialing in from Melbourne, Sydney and New Zealand, for a full day of Zoom deep-diving into the MedAdvisor legacy and vision.

Our values

Company values can often feel like generic, “motherhood” statements that only exist in employee training documents or inspirational posters.

At MedAdvisor, we wanted our values to really influence everything we do, as individuals and as a company.

• Solve. For the customer.
  Be a good listener and show your understanding. Our customers are our number one priority. Don’t over complicate and be plain spoken. Be thorough, be thoughtful and do what you say. For every problem there’s a solution. We are committed to our customer relationships and are there whenever they need us.

• Be curious.
  We think big and small, but most of all we think simply. A simple thought, a major breakthrough. We ask why?...and why not? We‘re nerdy... in a good way, as the more we ask the more we learn. We simplify the complex, but there’s always room for improvement. The more time we devote to improving our product the more time people have to improve their health

• Be joyful.
  We love what we do. We turn complex medication management into joyful simplicity. How awesome is that! A seamless solution that’s brings patients and pharmacists together. We never underestimate the importance of what we do. Our solution empowers people to take control and bring a little joy back to their lives. That’s got to make you feel good!

• Be a customer warrior.
  If customers didn’t exist neither would we. Fight for them. Our customers are our life. They show their bravery every day. We’ve got their back. And what we provide can give them their life back. Like a trusted friend we fight their battle together side by side.

• Be caring.
  Care for your colleagues and be respectful. Collaborate and be inclusive. Look out for others and show empathy for everyone we touch. There is no place for bullshit or egos. We are authentic and a down to earth bunch. Celebrate all our achievements no matter how small.

• Surprise through simplicity.
  We are passionate about finding simple intelligent solutions to the most complex problems. There is always a simpler way and often when we discover it, it surprises us! We know the more we make things easier for our customers the more they will engage and fall in love with our product. From too hard to too easy, we want to surprise and delight our customers.

Brand personality

If our values are the mottos that we strive to live by, then our brand personality is the traits that we’d like to be known for.

In the brand workshop we discussed

• How we currently perceive our brand personality
• What we wish our personality to be

From the list of ‘traits’ that were uncovered it was clear that for MedAdvisor there are multiple personalities, some negative and some positive. The overriding positive traits show the true back bone of MedAdvisor.

‘At MedAdvisor we are about helping people achieve better health outcomes.’

After many, many rounds of revisions, we finally nailed down the five brand personality traits that we felt best described MedAdvisor and our vision for the future. We determined that MedAdvisor is:

• Engaging - Likeable, conversation starter. People want to meet you.
• Grounded - Down to earth, like a helpful friend, genuine.
• Inclusive - Caring. Shows compassion. Supportive community.
• Curious - Nerdy in a good way. Questions everything. Strives to improve outcomes.
• Passionate – Can we do this better’? There is no room for mediocrity.

Brand voice

To build a loyal customer base you need to provide a great experience every single time people interact with your brand. A consistent voice and tone across all the touchpoints between us and our audience can help us do that. Not only will it make our brand sound more human, but it will also make it more likely that our audience is able to connect with us on a more personal, emotional level.

Establishing voice and tone guidelines can help us ensure that the way you communicate with people is always as unique as the services you provide. It gives our brand a personality that’s easily recognizable to your audience.

Based on the feedback we got (and after hours of deliberation), we settled on four brand voice attributes that we felt fit our company’s personality:

• We’re an authority.  We know what we are talking about and when it comes to expressing our authority, we understand the value of clearly articulating our message. And if it comes to anything pharmacy, we ‘get it’ where others may not. We have clear expertise in this area, and this sets us apart from competitors.
• We express with passion. We relate to our customers challenges. We speak to them in a familiar, warm, and accessible way. And we do it with passion. We genuinely love what we do, and you can hear it in our voices.
• We simplify, not complicate. We are super knowledgeable. And equally we can be super simple. Like our solutions that reduce admin and simplify process we use the kiss principle. Keep it simple.
• We respect our audience.  We are human with feelings. We are smart but not arrogant. We are never inappropriate, condescending, or exclusive. We avoid cheesy and fluffy metaphors. We prefer winking to shouting

As you may have noticed, there’s crossover between our brand values, personality, and voice. It should be this way, as this means consistency, cohesion and ultimately a stronger brand image.

The creative process

Once the core identity was defined, it was time to look at bringing it to life. This is where Aaron’s genius came in.

The logo

The current MedAdvisor logo was complicated. It had lowercase and upper case and 3 different colours and gradients. There was a lot going on... and it didn’t work very well in black or white... or at a small size.

Aaron created three strong options, one that was heartfelt, but was widely used, one that was very corporate and one... that was just... “us”.

The new logo brings forward our heritage and the loyalty our customers have to our existing brand into the modern age.  The logo truly reflects the joyful simplicity of our brand. The outcome is a friendlier, more approachable logo that captures our personality, while remaining recognizable to our existing customers.

It’s a better version of ourselves.

The brand colours

Royal Blue: is a favorite color for companies that wish to convey reliability, trustworthiness, and communication (think Facebook, Twitter, and Samsung) and for expressing the authority of organizations like the police. Our royal blue expresses professionalism, dependability, and strength while the vibrancy of the blue is contemporary.

Dusk Red: is a bold, energetic, and lively color that can symbolize strength, confidence, and power. In many Asian countries such as India and China, red is regarded as the color of happiness, wellbeing, and good fortune.

Sky Blue: One of earth’s most beautiful colours, it imparts joy, hope, and reflection on the awesome beauty that surrounds us

The font

Logo Font: Mont

Mont is a geometric sans serif. The balanced characteristic of Mont with unique details, such as the pointed “t” and the prominent x-height makes it perfect for strong headlines and outstanding logos, but also suitable for long text.

The typefaceʼs versatility and merits make it easy to confront any graphic design challenge — web, print, motion graphics etc.

Everyday Font: Poppins

Poppins is an open-source free font and is one of the newcomers to geometric sans serif typefaces. With support for the Devanagari and Latin writing systems, it is an internationalist take on the genre.

Each letterform is nearly monolinear, with optical corrections applied to stroke joints where necessary to maintain an even typographic color. To contribute, see github.com/itfoundry/poppins

Brand rollout

Our team is working to apply the new identity across the entire business as quickly as possible, but you may see our old and new brand in use at the same time.

So far, we’ve updated our website, social media profiles and email communication. The app and other touchpoints are in progress and will fit the new brand style soon.

Don’t worry if you see our old logo and branding - know that we’re working on it.

We are still your reliable partner and we’re here for you.