CASE STUDY
Personify Health
Creating a bold new healthcare brand that puts people at the center
Challenge
How do you build and launch a first-of-its-kind health and wellbeing company?
A company that brings together two leading players, who serve different audiences with different capabilities, and compete with different competitors?
We asked ourselves these questions when we were chosen to create the brand strategy and expression for the merger of Virgin Pulse (a leading digital-first health and wellbeing company) and HealthComp (the largest independent health-plan administrator).
The new company was formed to tackle increasing healthcare costs and complexity with an innovative, holistic approach, offering health benefits administration, engaging wellbeing programs, data-backed analytical tools, and concierge-level service—all on one platform.
From how to go to market, to what name to use, to how to bring the brand to life, one answer emerged and guided us throughout the work: it’s all about the people. Partnering with leaders from the combined organization, we created the new brand that was publicly unveiled in February 2024.
Solutions
We began with a rigorous assessment to answer one of the looming questions: Should the merged entity adopt an existing brand name or migrate to a new one? After careful analysis that modeled the upside value, risk, and costs of different scenarios, we decided to part from the iconic “Virgin” brand in favor of a new name that could encompass the integrated value proposition and signal a dramatic shift in the market.
Once the decision was made to migrate to a new brand, we had to bring it to life. It was clear that a company offering a first-in-kind combination of solutions needed a first-in-kind way to describe itself. Centering on the strengths of personalization, connectivity, and engagement, we coined the term “personalized health platform,” combining these ideas with key differentiators (integrated tech and scalability) to describe the new category. The brand strategy brought forward this idea, positioning the brand around a bold purpose to engage and empower people to lead healthier lives.
From there we explored numerous territories and styles before ultimately selecting the name Personify Health, which emphasizes the company’s commitment to bringing more humanity to a category that is too often lacking it. The name was supported with a new tagline, “Because health is personal” and a bold new verbal identity. The brand voice and messaging strategies were modular enough to flex for various audiences and content types and felt freshly disruptive to break from the informative, serious expressions of their competitive set while underscoring the company’s credibility.
Building on the people-first approach, our team crafted the visual identity with an emotive brandmark that acts both as a monogram for the logo and the personification of the brand. With an ability to flex between a bolder, consumer approach and a more measured B2B expression, the rest of the visual identity was designed to feel empowering, highlight the uniqueness of our audiences, and stand out. We developed a color palette around a distinctive yellow to convey warmth and optimism.
Once the decision was made to migrate to a new brand, we had to bring it to life. It was clear that a company offering a first-in-kind combination of solutions needed a first-in-kind way to describe itself. Centering on the strengths of personalization, connectivity, and engagement, we coined the term “personalized health platform,” combining these ideas with key differentiators (integrated tech and scalability) to describe the new category. The brand strategy brought forward this idea, positioning the brand around a bold purpose to engage and empower people to lead healthier lives.
From there we explored numerous territories and styles before ultimately selecting the name Personify Health, which emphasizes the company’s commitment to bringing more humanity to a category that is too often lacking it. The name was supported with a new tagline, “Because health is personal” and a bold new verbal identity. The brand voice and messaging strategies were modular enough to flex for various audiences and content types and felt freshly disruptive to break from the informative, serious expressions of their competitive set while underscoring the company’s credibility.
Building on the people-first approach, our team crafted the visual identity with an emotive brandmark that acts both as a monogram for the logo and the personification of the brand. With an ability to flex between a bolder, consumer approach and a more measured B2B expression, the rest of the visual identity was designed to feel empowering, highlight the uniqueness of our audiences, and stand out. We developed a color palette around a distinctive yellow to convey warmth and optimism.
The new visual and verbal expression is being used across an array of functions, from mobile apps to tradeshow environments. Prophet also designed and developed the new website in partnership with the Personify Health team. The site was designed to reach different audiences, across markets, with varying priorities—all while telling a unified brand story to drive more leads.
Results
In early 2024, the rebranding was publicly announced and garnered overwhelmingly positive reactions, especially from a key stakeholder audience: the employees of both legacy brands. Employees rallied around the new name, positioning and expression. Customers and prospects showed interest too, with many reaching out with questions and partnership inquiries.
- “I love it. [Personalization, patient- and people-centricity]—all things the industry can use more of.” – Industry analyst from Gartner reacting to the launch
- “Celebrating both the great name (which is hard to do these days!) and the great combination you’ve forged. Onward to continuing the bold mission to support people in their best health.” – Health economist
6.1M+
impressions driven by 10 original media articles within the first two weeks (with an exclusive feature in Fierce Healthcare, and coverage in Digital HealthWire, Endpoints, FirstWord HealthTech, HIStalk, MobiHealthNews, Providence Business First, and more)
12k+
impressions of CEO Chris Michalak’s LinkedIn announcement after 8 hours, including 600+ reactions, comments, and shares
Prophet’s interdisciplinary teams worked together to launch the brand and website in rapid time. Our ability to deliver speed-to-impact was enabled by our collaborative partnership with Personify Health’s key decision makers, including Chief Executive Officer Chris Michalak, Chief Marketing Officer Erica Sniad Morgenstern, and private equity owners at New Mountain Capital. The full brand migration will be complete by early 2025.
“Our company’s strengths around personalization, human centricity, and partnerships provide compelling and differentiated opportunities for the new brand. Personify Health emphasizes our commitment to creating health experiences that put people at the center of every interaction. This was an incredibly rewarding project with unbelievable talent and support from Prophet, our CEO Chris Michalak, and others.”
Erica Sniad Morgenstern
CMO