Think about the last time you bought a car. Or booked a special-occasion dinner. Maybe you even considered moving to a new city. Chances are, you didn’t make the decision in a vacuum. You asked someone. You read a review. You consulted the expansive world of Google.
That’s human nature. We turn to others to shape our perceptions and guide our decisions. Which is exactly why brand and reputation matter so much, especially in healthcare.
Brand and reputation are not the same, but they’re deeply connected. Brand is what you say about yourself while reputation is what others say about you. And the closer those two are aligned, the stronger your organization becomes.
Here are a few tips for bringing your brand and reputation into alignment (and keeping them there).
Tell the Truth
Authenticity is the foundation of a strong brand. Your brand promise should reflect the actual values and experiences people can expect from you — not just what you wish were true.
That doesn’t mean you can’t be aspirational. A great brand should inspire. But it also needs to be grounded in reality. When your brand consistently overpromises and underdelivers, trust can quickly erode.
When the gap between what you say and what people experience gets too wide, customers lose confidence. Team member morale erodes. And your culture suffers. Instead, build a brand promise that’s both motivating and attainable. One that your team can rally behind — and your community can believe in. Because the most powerful brands aren’t perfect. They’re honest. And that’s what earns lasting trust.
Get Buy-In
You can’t build a brand in a bubble — or a boardroom. Branding decisions should be shaped by listening to your people, to your patients, to your partners.
Talk with your team. Understand their challenges, their passions, their aspirations for the service they deliver. When you invite them into the process, something powerful happens; they believe in the brand because they helped shape it.
That belief shows up in every patient interaction, every supportive hand, every “we’ve got you” moment. That’s where your reputation starts to build — from the inside out.
Communicate Well and Often
Clarity creates confidence. The more your team understands your brand and how they contribute to it, the more consistently they’ll deliver on it. That consistency builds trust. And that trust builds reputation.
It works in reverse too. Your brand shouldn’t just reflect internal goals. It should resonate with the people you serve. Use surveys, focus groups and reviews to learn what your audience values and how they perceive you. By knowing what’s important to them, you can better build a brand promise that resonates with their priorities.
When your brand is aligned with your audience’s expectations, you unlock:
- Strategic clarity. Will a proposed initiative support or undermine how people see you? Does it reinforce the story you’re telling your team about the organization’s direction?
- Crisis resilience. When tough moments arise, knowing who you are (and what matters most to your people) gives you a north star.
- Storytelling strength. Whether in advertising, internal communications or media relations, a believable brand leads to stories people trust and remember about the organization’s direction?
A Real-World Example: Children’s Nebraska
At Children’s Nebraska, I’m privileged to work alongside more than 4,000 team members delivering exceptional care in the state’s only medical center dedicated solely to pediatric care.
For many years, our organization was known as Children’s Hospital & Medical Center. That name served us well. But as we approached our 75th anniversary in 2023, we saw an opportunity to evolve. We became Children’s Nebraska — a name that’s shorter, stronger and more clearly rooted in our identity and geography.
This wasn’t just a name change. It was a strategic signal to people across the country that leading-edge pediatric care is happening right here in Omaha, Neb.
Today, as we tell stories that highlight our core values – Innovation, Collaboration, Accountability, Respect and Excellence — we’re actively building both our brand and our reputation. Whether it’s sharing a powerful patient journey in national media or participating in healthcare leadership panels, our goal is the same: broaden awareness and deepen trust. At the end of the day, it’s about storytelling that’s true, consistent and rooted in the experience we deliver every day.
The work we’re doing at Children’s Nebraska is proof: When your brand is lived out loud, your reputation naturally follows. In an age of transparency and online reviews, your brand can’t just be a slogan on a wall. It must be a living, breathing reflection of who you really are — and who others believe you to be.
So tell the truth. Get buy-in. Communicate relentlessly. Listen constantly. Celebrate the wins — like that five-star review from a grateful parent or the team member who lives your values out loud. (We do this with our “5tars Club,” and it truly never gets old.)
Because at the end of the day, your brand and your reputation walk into the room before you do. Make sure they’re saying the same thing.
