American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP)

BRAND VALUE MESSAGING

ASCP is the leading international professional trade association for clinical pathologists and laboratory professionals with more than 100,000 members worldwide. ASCP committed to re-define its brand, re-connect with its members and re-establish its value with all audiences. McKnight Kurland performed a complete rebranding initiative—a coordinated reorganization, redesign and implementation of all Education, Publication, Certification and Advocacy materials and marketing.

Additionally, ASCP was struggling to engage a younger population of pathologists and laboratory professionals, and convert them to members. Unclear about the source of the problem, they enlisted McKnight Kurland for insight and marketing and communications support. We recommended undertaking an in-depth messaging analysis to understand what the association was actually saying to all its stakeholders, and where there might be gaps in brand and marketing messaging. MK conducted a thorough discovery and research phase, including:

• In-depth messaging analysis

• Communications audit

• Initiatives and product survey

• Audience message frequency chart

• Message hierarchy analysis

Through this analysis we discovered a major gap in messaging that communicated the ongoing value and benefits of ASCP membership to all its target markets, and a complete lack of emotional connection to the brand. We then identified 10 leading brand differentiators, devised key value propositions for each, crafted ‘conversational’ implementation language, planned a cross-channel launch and developed a 1-year communications campaign. By communicating these value statements to current and prospective members, students, residents and young professionals on a personal and emotional level, ASCP saw a 20% increase in membership.