Client: Päijät-Häme Joint Authority for Health and Wellbeing
Date: autumn 2020
Why was the work done?
The Päijät-Häme Joint Authority for Health and Wellbeing provides healthcare and social welfare (abbreviated sote in Finnish), as well as environmental health services, to more than 200,000 people in Päijät-Häme. As part of its extensive development program, the Joint Authority decided to bring all healthcare and social welfare services in the region under one service. The goal of the service brand being established was to make using and finding the services easier. Since healthcare and social welfare services are provided by several bodies, the intention of the solution was to clarify the customer experience so that the customer wouldn’t have to visit multiple different looking websites or spend time finding their own service.
The brand was intended to evoke values important for healthcare and social welfare services, such as trust, caring and a bold ability to innovate.
What did we do?
We created a name and look for the Päijät-Sote brand in close cooperation with the Joint Authority for Health and Wellbeing. Both the Joint Authority’s representatives and customers got the chance to comment on the various name and look proposals. We organised a virtual meeting with the region’s residents to collect opinions and first impressions of the proposals. The residents’ views ended up having a big impact on both the name and look chosen.
The name Päijät-Sote was chosen because it was easy, straightforward and garnered the trust of customers. In their opinion, public healthcare and social welfare services must first and foremost feel safe. More exceptional suggestions were therefore abandoned.
The look’s font and colour choices are easy to use, optimised for digital services and accessible. The symbol in the middle of the logo consists of two different coloured hearts that form the international cross symbol of healthcare when they meet.
We developed a communication strategy for Päijät-Sote based on a good understanding of communication stakeholders. We interviewed stakeholders and conducted focus group interviews for the region’s residents and staff. We worked on the strategy’s guidelines, goals and indicators together with the management team and communication staff. The end result was a clear and understandable communication strategy that guided the work and helped design effective communication even in the midst of an exceptionally busy period.
Bringing together the diverse healthcare and social welfare services under one name makes them easier to grasp. The solution now made will also be able to withstand the changes brought about by the healthcare and social welfare reform.
How did it go?
Päijät-Sote was announced to residents in December 2020. A new online service and a digital application were launched and the Joint Authority’s social media channels were given a new look. The audience and media in Päijät-Häme accepted the change with ease.
Päijät-Sote’s story is just beginning, but its communication is already on a solid footing. The strategy work has been done by listening to stakeholders and working closely with management. Our cooperation with the Päijät-Häme Joint Authority for Health and Wellbeing continues.
Encountering customers always reminds us why we do these things. Nothing is more valuable than when the end user of a service completely shoots down a proposal.
Aurora Airaskorpi, creative director, Kaskas
The Päijät-Häme Joint Authority for Health and Wellbeing has a small and skilled communication unit. It was great to do strategy work, because in Päijät-Häme they really want to make communication that’s understandable and clear to the customer without needless buzzwords or jargon.
Mari Kiviniemi, senior communications specialist, Kaskas
Kaskas has produced raw material for us that we haven’t had the time or know-how to do ourselves, but equally we’ve bought time from them to think and delve into the effects of changes and communication guidelines. I’ve been very pleased with the professional and insightful contribution they’ve provided to the work. Sometimes even a little shaky ideas have been turned into concrete and functional measures.
Katja Patronen, communications director, Päijät-Häme Joint Authority for Health and Wellbeing