Our brand platform is the strategic foundation of our organization. Never consumer-facing, the platform should be viewed as an internal guide and decision-making tool for the organization.

Brand Platform

Brand Platform

Brand voice

What is brand voice?

Just as our logo and design bring the MemorialCare brand to life visually, the language we use and our style of writing are fundamental to our brand expression.

Our unique brand voice activates our savvy, honest and steadfast personality. Consistent use of our voice at every opportunity helps reinforce who we are and communicates what we stand for.

To create content using the MemorialCare brand voice, reference our unique set of voice principles and writing tactics. These pieces serve as inspiration and instruction for the way we sound.

What is a voice principle?

These are the big ideas that guide our voice. Voice principles create a unified, recognizable verbal experience wherever we connect with people across the organization.

What is a writing tactic?

Tactics are the specific methods that bring our principles to life through language. They are writing instructions, characterized by elements like style, structure, vocabulary and more.

Explore our additional links that explain our voice principles and tactics in more depth.

Voice Principle Writing Tactics

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Voice Principle 1
Because we are steadfast, we...   
Inspire confidence

Writing tactics

  • Express proficiency through an active voice. Always communicate definitively. (“Next, this will happen,” “Our physicians know this,” “We have everything you need”).
  • Encourage peace of mind by using words with positive connotations (“Bloom,” “Expansive,” “Glow,” “Human,” “Imagine,” “Support,” “Purpose,” and “Rebound” are all examples of soft, positive words).
  • Emphasize our role as an established, trusted resource by encouraging people to learn and employing a helpful, informational tone.

Don’t

  • Brag or come across as arrogant. While accomplishments and accolades are a big part of why we are confident, keep the focus on our audience and how we can benefit their lives.
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Voice Principle 2
Because we are honest, we...  
Keep it simple

Writing tactics

  • Prioritize clarity and say only what needs to be said. Eliminate “fluff” from the body of text, and avoid using overly emotional language to make a point.
  • Simplify using bullets, lists and call-outs that make identifying important information easy.
  • Trust our audience. In the world of Google and Web M.D., our patients are smarter than ever before. Give them credit by using proper names for service lines and procedures and providing access to clear, comprehensive details in a way that humanizes but doesn’t juvenilize.

Don’t

  • Be clinical and cold. Pair academic language with easy-to-understand, jargon-free explanations to balance facts with humanity.
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Voice Principle 3
Because we are savvy, we...  
Defy expectations

Writing tactics

  • Push the boundaries of what’s expected. Find new, creative ways to express ourselves instead of relying on healthcare clichés.
  • Boldly introduce content with engaging headlines. Try keeping them short and dynamic, or use questions or exclamations.
  • Put the consumer at the center of content by using first and second person, and frame content as a dialogue between the patient and the brand to personalize the experience and empower our audience (“I want to learn more” instead of “Learn more,” “Need a doctor?” instead of “Find a doctor” and “We” instead of “MemorialCare”).
  • Use sentence case and punctuation for primary information, to create a conversational flow.

Don’t

  • Be too colloquial. Our content should feel creative and conversational but also reflect our quality, experience and 
    standards.

Voice Example

The example below is a before-and-after treatment of how our brand voice will change the way we express our message.

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Before:

About MemorialCare Health System

MemorialCare Health System is a nonprofit integrated delivery system that includes five top hospitals—Long Beach Medical Center, Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital, Orange Coast Medical Center and Saddleback Medical Center—two medical groups—MemorialCare Medical Group and Greater Newport Physicians—a health plan—MemorialCare Select Health Plan—and numerous outpatient health centers, imaging centers and surgery centers throughout the Southland (Orange County and Los Angeles County).

An innovator in health care delivery, MemorialCare focuses on evidence-based, best-practice medicine. Our physicians and health care professionals study healthcare’s best practices and work to implement them at all our medical centers. The results are outcomes that frequently exceed state and national averages.

MemorialCare has gained widespread recognition for our unique approach to health care. In 2012 the organization was identified as one of the top 100 integrated healthcare networks nationwide and top 10 in the West Region by IMS.

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After:

Hello. We’re pleased to meet you.

Let us introduce ourselves. We’re MemorialCare, a nonprofit health system that includes five hospitals, two medical groups, a health plan and much more. As the largest health system in Orange County and Los Angeles County, we’re confident that no matter what your needs are, we have the tools, teams and know-how it takes to support you every step of the way.

We have big dreams for the future of health care, so we work every day to make high-quality care more affordable and easier to access than ever. Whether you need a check-up or cardiac surgery, you can rest assured that we’re looking out for you.

How can we help you today?

Voice Diagram

The diagram below illustrates how our writing tactics work to reflect our voice in our communication.

Voice Diagram

Word Bank

A word bank can serve as voice inspiration and help generate on-brand ideas when you create content. This tool can grow and develop as we create more content and apply brand to more communications. The words here are broken out by voice principle category.

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Because we are steadfast, we... Inspire confidence
  • Human
  • Glow
  • Imagine
  • Expansive
  • Dream
  • Rebound
  • Bloom
  • Opportunity
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Because we are honest, we... Keep it simple
  • FAQs
  • From A to Z
  • Go-to
  • Here’s what you need to know
  • Priority
  • See the facts
  • Step-by-step
  • What to expect
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Because we are savvy, we... Defy expectations
  • Brand new
  • Challenge
  • Courage
  • Game plan
  • How can we help you?
  • Optimize your care
  • Teammates
  • Unparalleled
  • Vital

Masterbrand approach

A commitment to a masterbrand portfolio strategy with locked-up entities is the strongest way to connect the dots, signals we are an integrated system and enable us to build a unified organizational brand. This strategy allows us to focus our resources and bring the organization together in a way that is efficient, effective and scalable. In addition, a masterbrand strategy enables us to emphasize our strength as one organization while simultaneously simplifying our organization to proactively create clarity for the consumer experience.

System name

Moving forward, we will be shortening and simplifying our system name to MemorialCare. We no longer use "MemorialCare Health System".

Masterbrand logo
Masterbrand logo
MC Long Beach Medical Center Logo
A masterbrand, locked-up logo
  • Reinforces that we are an integrated system
  • Overtly connects our system brand to our major entities
  • Builds equity in MemorialCare by overtly leveraging our major entities

Nomenclature

Institute

Institutes include research and other unique criteria focused on advancing medicine.

Institutes are physical entities that revolve around a central theme and meet four criteria:

  • Represents an area of sustained strategic commitment for MemorialCare.
  • Provides a broad scope of advanced integrated, multidisciplinary technology/devices. Clinical services are provided either internally or through affiliation(s).
  • Engages in bench and/or clinical research designed to establish a differentiating standard of care for patients.
  • Provides clinical training opportunities for residents and fellows, either internally or through affiliation(s).

Institutes may or may not include Centers and/or Programs.

In branding, Institutes that include Centers and/or Programs express these offerings underneath the umbrella Institute name in the hierarchy.

All Institutes can have a masterbrand lock-up.

Center

Centers, which may fall within Institutes, meet a smaller set of criteria.

Centers designate a specialized area of focus within a clinical area or a range of services within a clinical category (disease, condition or population)and meet three criteria:

  • Provides a wide range of integrated, coordinated services that may be multidisciplinary.
  • Is supported by a centrally organized internal infrastructure specific to the services provided.
  • Achieves threshold for clinical quality and/or patient volume requirements.

Centers may be part of an Institute or stand on their own. Centers may not include other Centers and may or may not include Programs.

In branding, Centers that are part of an Institute are shown underneath the umbrella Institute name in the hierarchy. Centers that are not part of an Institute are shown underneath the MemorialCare service line or other key entity name.

Some Centers can have a masterbrand lock-up if approved by the VAT.

Program

A Program is used to name healthcare education and/or regimens (e.g., Wellness Program, Women Guiding Women Program, Community Safety Program). They are planned learning activities—with a specific area of focus— for patients, providers and others involved in healthcare.

A Program can be part of a Center and/or an Institute, or it can stand on its own.

In branding, a Program that is part of a Center and/or Institute is shown under the umbrella Center or Institute name in the hierarchy. Programs that are not part of a Center or an Institute are shown underneath the MemorialCare service line or other key entity name.

All programs do not have masterbrand lock-up.

Nomenclature Examples

Institute:MemorialCare Orthopedic and Spine InstituteMemorialCare Cancer Institute
Center:Joint Replacement Center
Imaging Center		Breast Center
Infusion Center
Program:Risk and Prevention Center 
(genetic counseling)		Sports Medicine Program
Colorectal Program
Gastroenterology Program
Lung Program
Gynecology Program