The Importance of Branding and Rebranding – If No One Knows Who You Are and What You Are Doing, You're Not Doing Anything

During the past few years, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to re-evaluate many components of our work as anesthesiologists and the organizations in which we work. Part of this organizational reflection has been to identify key features that make up our “brand.” Branding has long been a way for organizations to communicate internally within a company as well as externally with consumers. When you think of a brand, do any medical organizations come to mind? Johns Hopkins and their COVID-tracking platform has been front and center in their branding efforts as a leading medical system. As we consider the use of branding within medical organizations and Fortune 500 companies, successful branding evokes unconscious, emotional attachments, cognitive expectations/associations, increased awareness, and product consumption. When you hear the name Southwest (Airlines) or Chick-fil-A, what immediately comes to mind? Do you automatically think of them versus their respective competitors, and why?...