There's a lot to smile about for Orthodontist Dr. Paul Pocock and his North Shore practice, Smiles by Pocock. With a new spread of branded marketing materials, he's seen an upturn in team confidence, web site traffic and patient enquiries.
Our work began in 2004 after a call by Dr. Pocock to develop an animated sequence for his home page. This led to two iterations of the site, a slide presentation and a new patient brochure. It was during the brochure development that the yellow and purple colour scheme was born. Yellow to invoke warmth and fun. Purple, yellow’s opposite on the colour wheel and the colour of staff smocks at the time.
In early 2008, a website overhaul and a patient welcome package were commissioned. This presented an opportunity and at the same time, a real dilemma: How do you create a fun and engaging image for kids while demonstrating professionalism and value to parents?
"Fun can be interpreted as childish" says Simon Britchford, Objektiv's principal. "What was needed was an identity that would communicate the culture of the office and staff while retaining the serious nature of the business."
Early feedback obtained by Objektiv suggested a more approachable, 'real person' feel would be more successful in attracting new patients. And so a key part of the approach involved steering clear of 'canned' stock photography or worse still—cliché cartoon "tooth" characters.
The final design is a theme of progressively curving horizontal contours and yellow tints that create an abstract representation of movement—a direct reflection of the work performed by Dr. Pocock aligning his patient's teeth. The design was extended across a wide range of printed marketing materials. On the business cards, a rounded corner treatment was employed to further soften the design. For the water bottle labels, purple was used instead of yellow for increased contrast and variety.
The web site strategy involved the development of a simple framework, designed for optimal search engine inclusion and enhanced with interactive elements to reinforce the 'Smiles By Pocock' message. Content from the old web site was edited down considerably and a welcome video was produced to allow Dr. Pocock’s personality to shine through. An editable news section provides staff with a tool for engaging younger patients through stories and competition announcements, keeping the site fresh for return visitors.
To further enhance patient engagement, Smiles Rewards, a sibling brand was launched on the site. Aimed primarily at kids, this (third-party) online rewards and prize redemption program offers points for being on time for appointments, good dental care practices, writing stories and community involvement. Our involvement was the custom design of a credit card-like rewards card plus the online program information.
Within two weeks of the launch, more than 1,500 visits were recorded on the rewards pages alone and the program has been so successful it has recently been extended for "grown-ups" too. The site has achieved first page rankings in Google's organic results for several lead generating keywords and averages between 40-50 visitors per day on weekdays. The printed marketing materials have received well by patients and have boosted staff confidence. Overall the practice has seen a 20% increase in patients while many have seen a similar percentage fall with the economic slow-down.
Visit the Smiles By Pocock web site: