Dr. Nilesh and Dr. Megha have a combined experience of over 23 years in dentistry. Despite their expertise, they faced a significant challenge in their practice. Patients wanted to be treated exclusively by Dr. Nilesh, even for minor issues. This made the other team members feel undervalued and overwhelmed Dr. Nilesh with work. They feared the same issue would follow them to their new, larger clinic, so they turned to us for help.
Our initial assessment revealed a potential issue, which was personal branding. We found the clinic “Dr Nilesh’s Advanced Dental Care & Implant Centre” was named after Dr.Nilesh’s name. This made most patients think that Dr.Nilesh was the chief doctor, with more experience, and patients insisted on getting treated by him.
As the clinic was focused on personal branding, we suggested Dr.Nilesh to shift to practice branding. This was only possible by changing the clinic name and excluding Dr Nilesh’s name from it. This approach aimed to focus on branding the practice that reflected the entire team and their combined strengths, ensuring they didn’t feel ignored.
The rebranding process posed several challenges:
1. Would Dr.Nilesh & Dr.Megha agree to changing the clinic's name?
2. What name would best represent their expertise?
3. Was the corresponding domain available for registration?
4. Could they obtain a trademark for the chosen name?
Once these concerns were addressed, the next steps involved designing a logo, selecting a color palette, and aligning the overall branding strategy.
We should call ourselves lucky as Dr.Nilesh was open and ready to change the practice's name. Here is how we made the strategic shift.
Dr. Nilesh wanted to highlight four specialty treatments: Smile Makeover, Facial Aesthetics, TMJ Disorder, and Dental Implants. So, we brainstormed ideas until we landed on something special. Considering those four treatments, the concept of a geometric shape, particularly a square, seemed to fit perfectly. All we had to do was associate “Square” with something related to dentistry. Dr.Nilesh liked the concept and wanted the name to be associated with a smile. Thus, we came up with the name "Smile Square" - a name that captured the essence of his practice.
After the name selection, we researched and checked for a trademark availability; unfortunately, “Smile Square” was already registered. So we had no choice but to change the name.
But Dr.Megha liked the name so much that she insisted on finding a way instead of completely scrapping the idea. That’s when we changed the word SMILE to SMYLE, making it Smyle Square. The good news was that no one had trademarked it, and the domain name was also available. So, we immediately filed an application for a Trademark & bought the domain.
Once the name was finalized, we started choosing the right colors for the logo. We wanted an elegant and inviting combination that reflected Dr. Nilesh's preference for rose gold. We experimented with various options and finally settled on a beautiful rose gold and silver combination. It felt like striking gold—the perfect blend of sophistication and warmth.
We had the perfect name and color combination; all it needed was an ideal logo. Usually, a dental logo consists of one icon, but Dr. Nilesh wanted to highlight the four treatments in the logo. We considered incorporating icons representing the four main treatments in the form of a square. Trying to fit four icons into one logo was quite challenging but with a lot of brainstorming, experimentation, and a touch of creativity, the logo was finally finalized.
With the new logo for Smyle Square Dental in place, we decided to give the clinic an inviting, professional look. We incorporated the logo and branding elements into the design during the clinic's renovation. Additionally, we designed the signboards, internal branding elements, and print media materials such as visiting cards, letterhead, mugs, and goodie bags, and internal signages to ensure unified branding throughout the clinic's environment and promotional materials.
Shifting from personal to practice branding was tricky, considering the clinic’s well-established patient base. We redefined the clinic's identity, moving beyond Dr. Nilesh's reputation to highlight the collective expertise of the entire team by creating a strong brand image. We ran campaigns to reintroduce Dr. Nilesh’s Advanced Dental Care & Implant Center as Smyle Square Dental Clinic, same trusted quality treatments in a more advanced and comfortable environment.
With our strategic shift, the transformation of the entire practice took some time, but after a year of effort, we've successfully eliminated Dr. Nilesh's bottleneck. As a result, patients are now coming to the clinic not only for Dr. Nilesh, but for Smyle Square. This outcome indicated that the ultimate goal of the brand transition had been achieved successfully.
