Asante ranks among the nation’s most human-centered brands

Which health care systems have the strongest, most positive image? Or as marketers might put it, the strongest consumer brand?

There’s Mayo Clinic, of course, along with Cleveland Clinic and Johns Hopkins, all of which landed on the 2023 list of the 207 top health care brands in the United States compiled by the national brand consultancy, Monigle.

Monigle’s recently released report, “Humanizing the Brand Experience,” also held a surprise: Asante’s brand image ranks No. 18 in the country — above Cleveland Clinic (No. 32) and Cedars-Sinai (No. 71).

The report relies on in-depth research from more than 25,000 health care consumers who evaluated brands across 64 markets to identify the strongest health care experiences in the nation. The research looked at emotional, intellectual, sensorial (intuitive), behavioral and emotional drivers of how people perceive and use a health care system.

Public image carries important advantages. Trust changes perceptions, which changes health behaviors that can improve outcomes, according to the report.

Since 2018, Asante has shifted how it presents itself. In marketing, advertising and recruiting, the emphasis has gone from talking about medicine and technology to talking about our patients, our people and our community.

“We know our strengths come from our amazing workforce and the fact that Asante has deep roots in this community,” said Lauren Van Sickle, Asante communications manager who leads the brand work. “We launched the Community Lives Here brand five years ago to reflect who we really are.”

This human-centered approach is now used in nearly everything Asante produces — from the public website, to brochures on services, advertising, recruiting, social media and even note cards and slide decks. Instead of the traditional health care materials that show doctors in white coats or the latest high-tech machine, Asante features people living their best lives (some whom also work here).

Most of the work is created by senior graphic designer Darlene Purdy, who created an accompanying brand book to reinforce Asante’s brand principles in pictures and language.

Monigle has ranked the “most human” health care brands for the past six years. In its 2022 report, Asante was noted for showing the most dramatic improvement in its image among all U.S. health systems ranked. Asante had moved from a rank of 142 the year before, to 36 last year. This is the first time Asante has appeared in the top 20.