How Hospitals Can Leverage the Power of Branding, Signage and Wayfinding

The way hospitals are perceived can have a significant bearing on customer choice, as prospective patients will gravitate to healthcare facilities that have a positive brand identity reflected throughout the space.¹

A healthcare facility can establish strong branding in a variety of ways by incorporating different visual elements, such as floor graphics and hospital signages directing patients to other wings or wall graphics to designate specific spaces.


The Importance of Hospital Wayfinding

Many healthcare facilities feature multiple floors, sprawling wings, and winding corridors, making it challenging for individuals unfamiliar with the building to navigate. Hospital wayfinding promotes your brand via hospital wall or floor signage and graphics while simultaneously guiding visitors.

Distinct benefits of strong wayfinding include:
 

  • Strengthens patient perception: Even before seeing a doctor, a patient’s perception and confidence in their care can be increased through physical branding elements. In fact, according to a recent study by Gensler, ninety-five percent of those surveyed identified wayfinding as being “extremely important” to the patient and visitor experience.²
  • Aids visitors: Enhanced hospital wayfinding that uses bold, clear graphics on walls and floors can reduce the number of visitors that end up lost or wandering the hospital, which can contribute to stress.³

Creating easy-to-read maps and signs lets visitors and patients focus solely on their treatment or spending time with a loved one.


Hospital Interior Branding Opportunities

Inside a healthcare facility, your brand can be brought to life and tell a story, and all surfaces can serve as a canvas for graphic films.

The goal should be to create an engaging experience for any patient or visitor that walks through the door. Interior brand opportunities include:
 

  • Key messaging, such as the hospital’s mission and values, can be prominently displayed on walls with solutions like 3M Printed Wall & Window Graphics.
  • Vibrant wall murals, logos, and floor signage are other ways graphic films can create a new feel within a hospital and create positive brand associations.
  • While privacy is integral and should always remain a priority, it’s also important to ensure private rooms and areas fit the aesthetic of the rest of the building. With 3M™ FASARA™ Glass Finishes, hospitals have the option to pick from more than 50 designs that control light and privacy, as well as enhance the look of interiors.

Branding Beyond the Walls

Beyond the hospital walls, there are opportunities to create impactful branding moments.
 

  • Illuminated hospital signage is visible 24/7 as it shines brightest at night and can catch the attention of future patients.
  • 3M Graphic Films for vehicles are an effective way to reach external audiences out on the road. Reflective print wrap films can be used for emergency and transport vehicles to boost visibility both night and day.
  • Printable graphic films enable hospital vehicles to represent their brand while in transit.

The Business of Standing Out

In a competitive industry like healthcare, branding is becoming increasingly crucial. As a result, it is necessary to differentiate your brand, so that you can stand out from competitors. For all patients and visitors, the hospital they choose should make them feel safe and confident in their care, and branding has the power to help accomplish that.

Contact a 3M sales representative for more information.

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