We get creative for print and web

How to look professional without looking impersonal

Guardian Nurses was a pioneer in healthcare advocacy when it started in 2004, employing registered nurses to help people get what they needed from healthcare providers and insurance companies. Its early clients were individuals and families. In the years since, the company has grown by also serving large groups of corporate employees and union members. Therein lies a huge opportunity, but there is well-financed competition for those big clients.

Guardian Nurses had been winning market share with its superior service, despite outdated branding that undersold the company's sophistication. The brand needed to catch up. Founder and President Betty Long came to Hollister Creative with a challenge and a caveat: Make us look like the highly competent, professional operation we are today, but don't sacrifice the warm, personal and compassionate approach that truly sets us apart from the competition.

Starting with a redesign of the logo, Hollister updated and upgraded the Guardian Nurses brand across all touch points with clients and prospects, from the website and email newsletter to all the print marketing collateral to the name tags the nurses wear. The look and feel were developed first for the website, because that's where most people who hear about the company will go first to learn more.

Like Guardian Nurses itself, the company's home page strikes the perfect balance of professional competence and personal compassion. Here are three tips that may help you accomplish that on your home page:

  1. Write the home page text in the tone of a personal letter. Show first that you understand the types of problems that lead visitors to seek you out. Validate the pain they are feeling and reach out to help them.
     
  2. Use still images and/or video of real people, not stock photography, on the home page. Show the people you help and/or the people who work for your company.
     
  3. If you are including testimonials, give real names.