Colorado State University James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital

The Challenge:

Following several years of sweeping transition including changes at the leadership level of the hospital organization, a name change, increased competition in the veterinary marketplace, and additional marketing and publicity challenges, Colorado State University's James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital sought to leverage its top national ranking among veterinary colleges to bolster its long-held reputation for excellence.

Senior hospital leadership worked initially with an internal marketing committee and met with several members of the faculty and staff to complete a service audit and review existing communications collateral, but subsequently realized the need for an objective perspective in assessing and defining the hospital's core brand. Because the hospital supports a complex trio of core functions Ñ clinical services, veterinary education, and research Ñ the process of discovering and communicating the hospital's brand essence would prove no small task.

Recognizing the fundamental importance of a clearly defined brand as a platform for all future marketing, publicity and outreach initiatives, the hospital called upon A-Train Marketing for the expertise of its Brand Discovery program in answering the all-important question: "What really is our current brand, how can we leverage its strengths, and how do we segment our brand message for maximum effectiveness among our core client, veterinary referral and internal audiences?"

The Solution:

In-depth industry research to establish baseline standards for brand positioning of veterinary teaching hospitals
Comprehensive message assessment and SWOT analysis with leadership team and front-line service personnel
Development and execution of a hospital-wide internal survey
Two statistically relevant phone surveys: one focused on animal owners (including current and past clients) and one of regional veterinarians (including current and past referrers)
Depth interviews with hospital clients, referring veterinarians, and enrolled students to provide detailed opinion insight
Comparative analysis of quantitative and qualitative data collected in each phase of the Brand Discovery program

The Results:

Delivered a comprehensive leadership presentation and report detailing key findings on brand alignment/strength and brand misalignment/weakness
Developed a core brand statement and potential taglines that concisely articulated the hospital's core brand message
Provided actionable recommendations on marketing, publicity, audience outreach and relationship management initiatives to help the client leverage brand strengths and mitigate brand weaknesses
Provided detailed statistical reporting of the phone survey and its brand positioning implications
Maximized ongoing value to client through recommendation of a series of implementation steps specific to the Brand Discovery findings and top-priority brand marketing requirements

Reference: Dr. Dean Hendrickson, DVM, MS, Director / 970-221-4535

"I was very impressed with everyone from A-Train. They were professional, explained their process thoroughly, and performed as they promised. Their summary presentation was well done with information that we could immediately move on. I hope to work with them in the future." - Dr. Dean Hendrickson