Integrating Marketing, Branding, & Signage into Healthcare Spaces

In this episode of Laying the Foundation, we sit down with one of our incredibly talented Interior Designers: Cathy Koch, to discuss the importance of integrating marketing, branding, and signage into healthcare spaces. Cathy explores how these elements can enhance the patient experience, improve wayfinding, and create a welcoming and informative environment. From effective signage strategies to creative donor recognition, learn how to elevate your healthcare facility's design.

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Episode Transcript

(Skyler): Welcome to another episode of Laying the Foundation. Welcome everyone to another episode of the Laying the Foundation podcast. My name is Skyler. I am your host. And joining me today is Cathy Koch from our Des Moines office.

(Skyler): Cathy, welcome to the show.

(Cathy): Thank you.

(Skyler): Absolutely.

(Skyler): Now, we've had you on the show before, but it has been a while.

(Cathy): Yeah, it might once or twice. We've done a couple, I think, but yeah, right.

(Skyler): It's definitely been too long for sure.

(Skyler): So I'm super excited.

(Cathy): Time to connect again.

(Skyler): Yes, absolutely. And today you're going to be talking to me about marketing and branding and signage within healthcare spaces.

(Cathy): Yes.

(Skyler): Which is really exciting. I know we’ve; we've touched on a lot of different topics within healthcare, but I think this is kind of an interesting area that I'm excited for. Not that I'm not excited for some of the other topics we've done within healthcare.

(Cathy): It's your specialty marketing, but it's marketing.

(Skyler): Exactly. Ah, that always gets me excited. So I'm really stoked. So, first of all, let's jump into just kind of the. We'll start general and then we'll kind of narrow things.

(Cathy): Yeah, sounds good.

(Skyler): So, branding within healthcare spaces, what kind of areas are we talking about here? Like what sort of subtopics within that are we looking at when it comes to the branding within healthcare spaces?

(Cathy): Yeah, that's a good question. I think it really, it's a mix of a whole bunch of things that work together to make it successful. So are you integrating your branding into the space? So, like your logo, your slogans, your company missions, Is that very apparent to not only your patients, but also to, your employees? Because it's really important for them to know all of that. So integrating that all together, there's another added layer of the patient experience with that. So how do the interior materials help people navigate the space? Because these healthcare systems can be hard to navigate. It's just by nature. There's lots of different departments, there's long corridors. How do we make them interesting and also comfortable for people to navigate? Because it's kind of scary. It can be really anxiety inducing to come into a space and not know where you're going, be overwhelmed by it. So how do we reduce that and make it a good patient experience?

(Skyler): Absolutely.

(Cathy): another layer of that is obviously signage. Signage is still going to be important, but also people don't use it. I'll admit myself that I struggle to use signage. It's so much easier just to hope that you can guide your way There. so as designers, how do we integrate that all together into the space?

(Skyler): Absolutely. So jumping off. We'll just jump off that signage bit.

(Cathy): Yes.

(Skyler): So you said that, you know, sometimes it's a lot easier just to kind of jump in and hope. And I know for healthcare spaces, that's kind of. I have a tendency to do that. But then, ironically, there's the anxiety on the other side of, like, you know, I'm in need of healthcare, or maybe I'm with someone that does. Yeah, I'm already kind of, like, on a high anxiety level. And then to trust myself to kind of find my way help. So within that, how do we take the knowledge that we know that some people like to just kind of wing it and hope that they end up where they want to be, but we want to ensure that they make it to the space that they are headed to.

(Cathy): Yeah, for sure. So a recent project we did at, Stuart Memorial in Lake City was. So again, they just naturally, with all of the different specialty departments they have in their facility, we ended up with long corridors, and there's no way to avoid it in healthcare systems. It's just the nature of the beast. So a way we broke that up was we added large graphics throughout the hallways at the different points of intersection through the hallway. So, like, where you turn to go back to main entrance, we have a big corn crib, which you'll see on our website. So rather than directing people, you know, you turn left here and right here, the staff can encourage people to look for that corn crib again because it is such a prominent piece in the space and it's memorable. So helping people remember. Okay, if I go back to this, I'll be able to get back out of the facility again. Or at the intersection where the gift shop and surgery waiting area is, which is a major turn. Another major turn to take. We've got a flower with a butterfly. So again, instead of saying, you know, turn left at the gift shop, we can direct people to that artwork to then flow through the space. So it works pretty seamless, which is nice. when we were there photographing a couple months ago, we actually heard one of the staff members giving that direction to a N, which was really cool. Yeah. So it was fun to just naturally hear them using that as well as intended and integrating that.

(Skyler): Yeah, we're all kind of visual people.

(Cathy): Right.

(Skyler): See the iconography, and we can remember that, and that becomes like a point of interest or whatever you want to call it to help Guide like, you.

(Cathy): Sure.

(Skyler): Just so I. I have an understanding. So you said corn crib, and you said, you know, obviously you can see pictures of it. What is that? Just so I. Because I, like, Googled it, and I'm getting a lot of pictures of, like.

(Cathy): Oh, yeah, like. Yeah, it's an old barn, so.

(Skyler): Oh. It is. Okay, cool.

(Cathy): Yeah, it's a rural healthcare facility, so we are also. I should know. That's a really good question, actually. I'm glad you asked this, because we wanted to keep the artwork local and rural to, again, make people feel comfortable in the facility, knowing that they're getting a lot of farmers, agricultural people. so just making those images local, to resemble what people know is just another way to make people comfortable in these healthcare spaces.

(Skyler): Absolutely. And I love that you brought that up, because obviously we're kind of central, to, like, the Iowa, Nebraska regions.

(Cathy): Right.

(Skyler): You know, we see a lot with, you know, the farming communities and stuff like that, and that's an element that works into the branding for these facilities that we're designing. Right. Is what is the community in this specific project familiar with you? So I'm glad you mentioned that. Like, we. It's. I know. I was just on an episode the other day with somebody, talking about how, you know, at cba, we don't like to do cookie cutter designs. Right. We're not just, like, slamming down the same concept for every project, because every project needs to be unique to the community that it serves, especially when it comes to health.

(Cathy): Yes, for sure. For sure. And a lot of these healthcare systems are really proud of their communities, and their communities are proud of their healthcare system. So how can we, again, blend that together as part of their branding? but also that nature tide. There's so much research about integrating nature into healthcare, so again, there's just so many links that make sense to how we integrated this all in together. It's really.

(Skyler): Absolutely. It's kind of that biophilic design that I feel like comes up in every single episode somehow. It's amazing. Yes.

(Cathy): Yes.

(Skyler): Awesome. So, okay, so we talked about sort of the wayfinding aspects kind of creating these. Is. Are there any other elements of wayfinding that we find as being, like, particularly useful or, like, research suggests that this works better than maybe some of the other things that we've done in the past.

(Cathy): Yeah, that's a good question. I know as interior designers, we work a lot with flooring patterns to help with that, so that helps create interest to, again, these long corridors as well. I keep referencing the Stuart Memorial project, but again, it was a recent one that was a great, example of this. But we put tile flooring at the major nodes where, like departments where you turn into. So again, you visually know where you're coming up on that next intersection, as I'll call it, and then carpeting in between to keep things soft. So again, it just creates that visual interest, but also that foot comfort as you're going through. So that's been really helpful. We also play a lot with colors. So Knoxville, middle school, we actually integrated, again, these nature colors. So each classroom block is its own colors as you’re. Again, you're going down the long corridors, you come to the. Ah, we actually did this with more of the neutrals, but we tied in some colors. So as you're working through, you know that you were moving from the sixth grade to the seventh grade to the eighth-grade block, just kind of naturally, as you're moving through, and then we did a darker carpet that directs you back to the core of the building. So it's kind of hard to explain without a floor plan. But again, we looked at how are people going to navigate the space and how do we best guide them without even knowing that they're being guided through the space?

(Skyler): Yeah, absolutely. And I'm sure there's a lot of elements of sort of color psychology that also probably go into this as well.

(Cathy): Yes, for sure. And, you know, making sure that you're not doing colors that are too overpowering. But even if it's as subtle as changing, like the grayscale, like we did at Knoxville, as you're going through, you still feel that you're moving through the space. It's not just all a monotone color, but, yeah, creating interest because also these spaces are getting more open in the. At the same time. So how do they not just become big white boxes that, again, are overwhelming to navigate because you just have this one monochromatic material that makes things all look the same. Yes.

(Skyler): And that's. Yeah, exactly. And what's the point of putting things into navigate if it all looks the same? Yes, Perfect. So when it comes to the signage, we talked about, you know, some of the way. Finding aspects.

(Cathy): Yeah.

(Skyler): what other parts or elements of signage are we looking at when it comes to appropriately, integrating some of the branding and the elements into these healthcare facilities?

(Cathy): Yeah, that's a good question. I think signage can be really overwhelming because it's so important, but it's also very cumbersome to figure out because you're coordinating all of the room names absolutely. do you want numbers on them? We are seeing a lot more of the paper slots, so where they're easily changeable because again, another buzzword, flexibility and keeping things flexible to change for the future. So we can set up, templates, let the printouts all look cohesive so they don't look random. So that's been a really successful way. We've been doing that. But really sitting down and thinking about how you want people to navigate the building is important to the successful signage component. Because you know, there's departments that maybe your staff go to and those don't need to be on the signage because you're thinking about the patient experience on that end.
(Skyler): you don't want to encourage anybody to walk into this. Like, is this where do I need to go?

(Cathy): Yeah, right, right. Or even we had talked through a lot just some of the medical terms. So like their sleep study department had a pretty technical medical term to it that I apologize it coming to the top of my head. But we decided to call it sleep study on the signage because it made it easier for people to know that that's where they needed to go. So thinking about some of that too, that I know we have terminology in the design world too that people don't understand. So what is that lingo? How do you make sure people understand where they're going and navigate it from there? But yeah, signage is so important, but it is something that takes a lot.

(Skyler): Of time to coordinate, a lot of time and research. And I'm sure you guys are like pitching ideas to people saying like, does this make sense to you? You were a person that was just walking through. Do you know where this is taking you?

(Cathy): Exactly. And you know, as a design team we can provide so much guidance on that. But at the end of the day, we really do need input from the hospital leadership team, ah, as to how they do want to navigate the facility, and how they want things to run. So it is a collaborative process, which is kind of fun too. But yeah, at the end of the day, the healthcare system does need to decide, how they want this to function best, so.

(Skyler): Absolutely. And that's another element to what we do at CMBA is working with the people that are using those spaces every day and saying, what challenges, what roadblocks, what struggles do you have that we can try to find solutions for within our designs.

(Cathy): Right. And we understand that it's important because you don't want People to be late for appointments because they're lost or not understanding even where the emergency department is in an emergency situation. So there's even just this whole, you know, another level of how it affects the healthcare system from a functional perspective. Yeah, absolutely and that you may not think about as well.

(Skyler): And especially when it comes to emergencies.

(Cathy): We want people to know they're supposed to go.

(Skyler): We're not going to go hide the emergency department behind a corner or something like that. Right.

(Cathy): Because especially in an emergency, people aren't thinking clearly. Right. So how can we make sure that it's easy for them to know where they're going?

(Skyler): Absolutely. So let's jump into one of the like, sort of the third, I guess, section of this, which is the branding elements of the hospital themselves. We've talked about some of the iconography and how we you that can be kind of customized to specific facility in their community. what other elements are we looking at when it comes to creating this sort of, marketing and the signage and everything within a particular healthcare facility?

(Cathy): Yeah, that's a great question. So I think a thing that I like to remind people about is that your brand is not just a logo, it's an experience. Right. So even if you've got this great branding that you're using to promote people to come to your healthcare system, so if you're doing these marketing campaigns, you're working with a marketing firm on this, you're drawing people into your facility. But then once they're there, what are they experiencing? Does that tie back into that again? and I think that's a layer that people forget about. Is there that brand consistency from start to finish? You know, even from what you see on a social media post, or what does that mailer you receive look like to what is the facility reflecting? you know, and even when you think about like if a restaurant, if a restaurant doesn't have, you know, it doesn't need to be like the Taj Mahal by any means, but, but if you're not comfortable in a restaurant, do you want to go back there again? So, you know, if you're not comfortable in a healthcare facility, do you want to go back there again? And that's something to think about. so I think that's just an important component that we kind of start the branding conversation with. And then from there it's really integrating it in with is it clear to people? So is it, you know, when you come in, is the welcome desk clear? Do people know where they are especially, if it's a disconnected facility. So, for example, the University of Iowa Healthcare system, we're working with them on a clinic here in Des Moines. So, you know, it's not on campus at the University of Iowa. So how do we make sure people know that they are still at a University of Iowa clinic when they come in the door? So making sure that that branding is apparent, tying in some of those colors, but also tying in the healthcare trends as well. So it's a really cool balance of balancing the brand and some of the healthcare trends that we know, are research based and important. But yeah, I think making sure that when you enter the facility, that's really where you want to make sure that's apparent.

(Skyler): Absolutely, absolutely. Got to make sure people know where they're at and one of the right place. So are there some others? Because you've mentioned before a couple of projects now. Are there other projects that you can think of that had a really, like, successful branding integration that we either we were a part of or maybe we came in and they already had it kind of working really well. And so we got to implement it, into whatever it is that we were working on. Like, what examples do you think can you think of?

(Cathy): Yeah, I would go back to the Knoxville project I had mentioned earlier, because when we came ono to do that project, they had just gone through a rebrand and they had a really cool packet from a marketing firm that, you know, if we have a black, this is. If you're putting the logo on black, this is what it looks like. If you're putting the logo on yellow, this is what it looks like. And as, an architecture team, it helps us tremendously because it makes it really easy for us to decide what logos are going where and really enhance the space through their branding and integrate those logos really seamlessly. But also it gave us a variety, so it really created this dynamic brand experience for them since they had just recently gone through that exercise. so ideally the branding has been, you know, developed in a set before we come on board. That's not always the case. and, you know, sometimes we end up developing what that brand is through the remodel, which is kind of fun too. But, yeah, having those established colors and logos and some rules, so to speak, makes it easy then to keep that consistency back to that from a print marketing perspective through your space.

(Skyler): Absolutely, absolutely. And that is kind of y a fun element to it too, of getting to be a part of, like, the actual creation of things. Yeah, it can be a little bit intimidating because it's a big, you know, it's a big project and stuff. M. But obviously, things should tie together. Right?

(Cathy): 100%.

(Skyler): I'm not saying it makes it easier, I guess, because like you said, it was really nice to have that, like, branding guide from their facility already kind of set-in place. But there's, you know, some fun elements to it where it's like, all right, well, now we get to sort of build it for you and implement it, so.

(Cathy): Right, right.

(Skyler): Awesome. what other elements might I not touched on as far as, like, enhancing the patient experience through some of these elements? helping the organization as a whole with the healthcare facility?

(Cathy): Bet. I was just thinking, you know, we talk a lot about how to break up corridors as a design team, and I think branding is a great way to do that as well. Also reminding people of what your core values are through that experience. I know we've got a college project that the Sioux City office did that has a really great example of that, where they have photos of students on campus, and even staff. So, again, just that reminder. Why you're awesome. Right? You know, you want to keep and retain patients, employees, and having those visible reminders is a great way to do that.

(Skyler): Absolutely. Absolutely. I love that. Yeah. Why? You're awesome. We should use that. I feel like that should be.

(Cathy): Yeah, we need to trademark into that.

(Skyler): Yeah, that's awesome. That's a great, like, slogan. Like CNBA helping you find out you're awesome or something. Those line. Yes, I'm going to save that and send. What about, maybe some upcoming trends or things that we're seeing? as time goes on, you know, obviously new research comes in and we learn new things about how people think or how people feel or how to sort of create spaces that benefit their emotions in a positive way or something along those lines, making them feel more comfortable. what are we seeing as far as that goes?

(Cathy): Yeah, I think, a recent article, I actually read that Steelcase, one of our furniture vendors just released, was about choice of seating in waiting rooms is a big one. And even just having, you know, that choice when you enter a space and not having it feel so sterile and just having lines of chairs and an enclosed room. You also don't want to sit close to people who are sick. So how can you create these dynamic waiting rooms that give you that choice of, do you want to say comfortably? Do you want to sit upright? And really giving that variety because everyone is drawn to something different is Another key component of that, you know, where you may want to sit is different from how where I want to sit. So I think creating dynamic waiting spaces is a trend that we're going toa continue to see and making them more homey, I guess. I know I hate using that word myself, but, yeah, making things comfortable and keeping those colors and nature integrated. So, again, I think I touched on this earlier, but there's this, balance of a blend between your branding and integrating some of these research aspects as well. So how do we balance both of those? And it's possible, and it can really create some cool spaces.

(Skyler): Absolutely. Yeah. And that's. Yeah, it's like comfortable and shoot, I feel like somebody used a word the other day that worked really well in place of, like, homey, per se. Familiar, kind of, almost.

(Cathy): Yeah. For sure use you just recently, your wife just delivered a baby, so you just had a recent healthcare experience where you're in a hospital for an extended period of time. So you have some firsthand experience on this recently as well.

(Skyler): Yeah. And to be honest with you, it was not what I would call, familiar and comfortable. Yeah.

(Cathy): And so that's unfortunate. So it's like, how can we make sure that, you know, even as the dad, like, you want to be comfortable when you're there, too, from an OB perspective. So, yeah, there's a lot to think about when it comes to, designing spaces.

(Skyler): Yeah, I definitely, I've been meaning to send the hospital, like, a message or an email saying, hey, just so far, I work for an architecture fir, and I feel like they would love to, maybe make some adjustments to your. Your rooms to make them a little bit more, you know, friendly and inviting and comforting.

(Cathy): Yes, for sure. I know Shelby's working on a project, up in Northwest Iowa, too, that they're renovating the OB unit. And that's really exciting because that's such a big time for people and also very stressful. I mean, so how do you help combat that with making people feel comfortable?

(Skyler): Exact. Yes, please, please make. I mean, I know there. There's plenty of different areas within healthcare that, all of them should make people feel comfortable, but, yes, as somebody that recently experienced that, that would be amazing. That should be a big focus.

(Cathy): Yes, I agree.

(Skyler): So, what kind of challenges do you see a lot of healthcare facilities maybe running into while they're trying to implement some of these changes when we work in their spaces? As far as the branding and kind of spreading that across or changing signage or things along those Lines.

(Cathy): Yeah, I think, you know, if you're an existing facility trying to integrate this, there'a balance of obviously trying to keep things up and running because you don't want to shut down for too long. So that's a big component. But you know, you look at some projects and you think, wow, we don't have the money or the resources to do this full-blown project. But even just doing some light updates can go a long way. So paint refresh and adding new graphics and adding new signage can really go a long way. Even replacing some flooring in different areas. So I think that's a reminder I like to give as well, is that it doesn't need to be a full-fledged remodel in order to be impactful, especially from a comfort perspective. Absolutely. If things are looking worn out and data is such a bad word to use because what's dated to somebody is not dated to somebody else. But yeah, I think just really thinking about that patient experience and even your staff experience, I know a lot of healthcare systems are struggling with, retaining staff right now and keeping staff happy. So are your staff comfortable at work every day? do you have flooring that's good under feet for them? They're on their feet a lot. Are things easy to clean? Because infection control is really important. I mean there's just so many aspects to it to think about. but yeah, doing just light updates can go a long way with that too.

(Skyler): I'm glad that you mentioned that too, with the staff retention and things, because that is a really big topic and I feel like everybody that we've talked to, when it comes to healthcare stuff, that's one of the top-of-mind things. So, yeah, what I mean, are there any pieces, I mean you mentioned like flooring and making things easy to clean. Are there any other pieces that we've seen, or we've implemented that have been kind of, helpful for staff specifically of healthcare facilities?

(Cathy): Yeah, that's a good question. I think if we can also have efficient floor plans for them, that helps a lot. That's another big topic when we're early in planning. Shane and I are working on a clinic layout right now and a big focus of that layout we're developing is where the nurse station is cohesive to the exam room so that they can have that visibility and also just limited footprint so they're not running all over the place all day. So, that's a big one. I guess that's top of mind right now. But again, we've been talking about patient comfort. I think staff comfort is there as well.

(Skyler): Oh, absolutely. Yeah. It's a key thing, for sure.

(Cathy): It is, it is.

(Skyler): Okay. so firstly, just to mention this, I know I probably should have mentioned it at the beginning, but you got the chance to kind of share a lot of this information already at the SDO convention, right?

(Cathy): That. yes. Yes.

(Skyler): Awesome. And so I should have mentioned that at the beginning. But I really appreciate you willing to kind of reshare everything for the podcast, because I know kind of can feel like it's like a little bit exhausting to tell everybody something and then try to, like, retell. It's like if you saw a movie or something and you tell it.

(Cathy): I'm excited to be able to share this with everybody now because I know that not everyone was able to attend that conference. So now we can share the information with everybody. So this was a great opportunity.

(Skyler): Perfect. Well, with that being said, is there anything that you remember coming up during, that panel that I haven't brought up yet, but you really want to make sure it gets mentioned?

(Cathy): Yeah. So another aspect of that panel, so to kind of recap on that was, I shared the panel with a, ah, group called Fresh Produce. They do marketing. So, like branding, but also, marketing campaigns with healthcare systems. So it was a really cool dynamic that they kind of showed some of their campaign work. And then I talked about how you can tie that into your facility. So back to notes I made earlier about, you know, you invest in these campaigns, you get people in your facility, but then what are they experience when they come in? So that was a really cool dynamic we talked through there. But then we also had a photographer, Rob Long Photography, and he talked about how to capture healthcare photography in a sincere way. So again, kind of hack to that example of if you go to a restaurant and you're not comfortable, are the photographs good? Is it drawing you in? It's the same thing in healthcare. If you're marketing in healthcare, are your photos good? Is that photography you're using? essential. And then that photography can also integrate in with some of the branding you're doing. So back to some of those mission statement walls. Are you integrating photography of your staff integrating with patients? can be really impactful. As a patient, you're walking down the hall going, oh, there's my doctor. You know, that could be just a cool touch that goes there as well. So there's a quick summary of how the three of us kind of integrated together. I know we focused a lot today on the parts that I talked about as part of that, but. Yeah. Just to give it some context for everybody.

(Skyler): Yeah. I mean, maybe we'll have to try to, like, set up a situation where we can get everybody back together.

(Cathy): Yeah. Oh, we should do that. That would be really fun.

(Skyler): Yeah, absolutely. But no, I'm glad that you touched on it because it's important to know, you know, those are the different elements that you got toa be keeping in mind. And obviously you're an expert when it comes to all the amazing interior design stuff and kind of bringing those elements together and how to, like, make those cohesive and they make sense and they fit, and all that stuff. So glad to have your expertise to talk to us about it.

(Cathy): Yeah. And I think, too, that there's so many things that our clients can't think about. You know, that's not something that's front of mind for them is how do we integrate our branding and marketing into our space remodel. Yeah, but that's something we talk to them about, and that's why bringing an expert to the table is really essential for that.

(Skyler): Absolutely. Yes. Yes. And I'm glad you said that. Yeah. Bringing. I mean, we do so much and so much discussion with people that are doing research so that we know what's working and what's not working. So percent bring that to our clients. So, yes, I'm so glad that you mentioned that. Talk to an expert, talk to somebody that knows what they're doing, and let them help you work through those elements that you're not even thinking about.

(Cathy): Right. 100%.

(Skyler): Awesome. Well, Cathy, I think we got everything.

(Cathy): I think so too.

(Skyler): Okay. Okay, good. I didn't want to miss anything, but, yeah, I think that's a pretty solid, like, rundown and summary of everything that you talked about at, the convention and probably maybe even a little bit extra. So if you were at the convention, it's worth listening to the episode just to get that.

(Cathy): Yes, 100%.

(Skyler): So, Cathy, thank you so much for being on the show. I really appreciate it.

(Cathy): Yes, thank you, Skyler.

(Skyler): Awesome.

(Skyler): If you'd like to find out more about the Laying the Foundation podcast, you can head over to any podcast streaming platform, such as Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcast, and others. You can also find out more about CMBA architects through social media, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Additionally, you can head over to the CMBA website at CMBAarchitects.com. if you're an architecture or design professional or an intern looking for an internship within those fields. Please be sure to check out our website and click on the Careers tab to find out more about what opportunities we offer. This has been another episode of the Laying the Foundation podcast. We'll see you next time.