Nurture your brand - Michael Sultan

To the outsider most dental brands would appear very similar; we all have parallel visions of what a clinical practice should look like and what the aesthetic of it should be.

The problem arises if people just see their practice brand as a tagline or a logo or an image, they won’t nurture it and the staff won’t buy-in to the mission statement and direction. Thus the brand could loose its significance and impact altogether.

Brand NHS

If you ask people about what makes Great Britain great, high up on that list is the NHS. At its launch in 1948 it was the greatest public healthcare system, and a world-changing phenomenon. But unfortunately, in recent times the brand hasn’t been nurtured or allowed to grow.

If you ask dental professionals about brand NHS they would tend to say it’s marred with time constraints, bureaucracy and lower standards. Although the concept of the NHS is fantastic, it has lost its way and the brand has lost its shine.

Brand Harley Street

Another divisive brand is that of Harley Street. Historically this comes with an image of clinical excellence, where the best doctors and dentists in the world are housed, with the smartest consultants embodying the epitome of charm and style. Perhaps for the outsider it still has that charm, but what does it actually mean when there is no requirement to have any added qualifications to practice here, other than the capacity to pay the rent?

As a brand the name Harley Street is heavily protected, but what we think it signifies and what it actually does are two entirely different things.

Brand SmilePod

Recently I attended a meeting of a small corporate that has five practices. Incredibly they had invited every member of staff from each practice to this meeting: every nurse, dentists, hygienist and receptionist. They went through their vision from conception to future developments, with everyone involved, sharing the same goals and objectives.

I thought that this was a brand that was growing and thriving. It wasn’t just a logo or a title, but an organic entity that had a code and set of principals.

They had embraced the brand philosophy across the whole corporate and made sure that everyone was involved, on board and ‘on brand’.

You wonder how many other practices would do this: actively nurturing the brand by sharing the vision, the mission statement and the clarity of purpose and communicating this with the whole organisation.

Brand Endocare

At Endocare our brand is focused on our mission statement. We aim to provide a service to our patients to relieve them of pain, utilising the best equipment to make a potentially stressful procedure more comfortable, whilst offering the best possible patient journey.

The Endocare brand has benefitted from being nurtured and has now grown away from pure endodontics and our mission has evolved to providing great healthcare, alleviating pain and suffering and truly caring for our patients.

For further information please call EndoCare on 020 7224 0999

Or visit www.endocare.co.uk

Dr Michael Sultan BDS MSc DFO FICD is a Specialist in Endodontics and the Clinical Director of EndoCare. Michael qualified at Bristol University in 1986. He worked as a general dental practitioner for 5 years before commencing specialist studies at Guy’s hospital, London. He completed his MSc in Endodontics in 1993 and worked as an in-house Endodontist in various practices before setting up in Harley St, London in 2000. He was admitted onto the specialist register in Endodontics in 1999 and has lectured extensively to postgraduate dental groups as well as lecturing on Endodontic courses at Eastman CPD, University of London. He has been involved with numerous dental groups and has been chairman of the Alpha Omega dental fraternity. In 2008 he became clinical director of EndoCare, a group of specialist practices.