Just yesterday, I spent the morning with 75 senior marketers at a major healthcare system discussing how the best companies deliver on their brand’s positioning. This healthcare system was particularly interested as it is in the middle of a rebranding effort aimed at doubling its business, expanding its geographical reach, enticing patients away from stalwart competitors and inspiring over 30,000 employees – no small task for any brand.
The upshot of the discussion is that a strong, well-positioned brand can be the North Star for everything an organization does. Whether it’s a new experience, a new product or service or a late-night customer service encounter, the best companies ensure that every customer touchpoint is always on-brand.
Consider the irreverent Axe, the empowering Special K or the unconditional personal service zealot such as Nordstrom and Zappos. You just know what is on- or off-brand, whether you are a customer, an employee or an investor. Staples is hassle-free, so don’t expect them to expand into big, bulky office furniture. Southwest Airline’s hospitality and esprit de corps means passengers won’t encounter class distinctions in seating and service.
I’m adding CVS to this list after its expensive but carefully considered move and February 5th announcement. In the words of Chief Executive Larry Merlo, “We’ve come to the decision that cigarettes have no place in an environment where healthcare is being delivered.”
CVS was once just another storefront disbursing convenience items and drugs, duking it out with Walgreens, Rite Aid, Walmart and 7-Eleven. But over time, something changed — a flu epidemic and a MinuteClinic later, CVS had embarked on a journey to transform itself into a health and wellness provider and partner.
CVS recast itself as a “pharmacy innovation company” that every day is “working to make health care better.” This is the “why” of its brand’s positioning, and the noble purpose of “helping people on their path to better health” is the “what” of its brand, its North Star.The brand shifted and the experience realigned to this North Star with critical store redesigns, a robust vaccination program and more articulate pharmacists.
These moves—including this week’s discontinuation of tobacco product sales—are on-brand with CVS’ brand purpose as well as where the country is headed. Health and wellness is not a fad. A chronic U.S. population is a fact – 150 million in the U.S. ages 18 and older have at least one chronic condition, with over 70 million having two. CVS wants to help the chronically ill better manage their conditions and to help the healthy become healthier. Competitors are also expanding their roles in the wellness arena: This week, Walgreens announced a partnership with GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare to launch a free, Internet-based smoking cessation program called Sponsorship to Quit.
But the $2 billion decision to boldly dump tobacco sends CVS’ boldest signal of commitment to the brand and to where it sees its future growth; it’s an unprecedented move and one that is wickedly smart. CVS is putting its money where its brand is, betting that this first mover advantage will pay off. I say “first mover” because no one truly owns health and wellness. Sixteen thousand health and wellness apps were downloaded last year. Over $1.4 billion was spent by people trying to learn more about the topic. The overall category is heading to $1 trillion in the next 3-5 years and the timing is right for someone to step in and lead the dialog and become the Amazon of health and wellness. Why not CVS?
There is much more to this story tied to CVS Caremark’s relationships with insurers, employers and major role in Obamacare. But the tale of brand repositioning—and the elimination of a major brand disconnect—is one that all marketers should take seriously. “We would always get the question: ‘Why do you continue to sell cigarettes?’” says Troyen Brennan, CVS’ chief medical officer. “Because from the physicians’ and nurses’ point of view, you’re either all-in for healthcare or you’re not.”
A well-defined, authentic brand has no less responsibility—you are either all in or you’re not. CVS is all in.
This post originally appeared on the Forbes CMO Network on Scott Davis’s blog, The Shift. To read related thinking from Scott on Forbes, follow his blog here.
photo credit: cszar via photopin cc