It’s not easy to rebrand AND rename a company or organization. Now imagine doing it when the existing brand has over 100 years of brand equity. Well, that’s exactly what the team at MIT Health (fka MIT Medical) were tasked to do.

Swaay.Health sat down with Emily Wade, Communications Manager at MIT Health to get a detailed behind-the-scenes perspective on their rebrand project.

Key Takeaways

Sometimes, two agencies are better than one. By splitting the rebrand between two firms—one focused on messaging and the other on design—MIT Health got specialized strengths without sacrificing cohesion or speed. Staff should feel seen in your brand. When even the dental team said the new name fit them better, MIT Health knew they’d nailed it. Internal resonance matters as much as external perception. Precision matters when your audience lives on logic. From logo geometry to building layout patterns, MIT Health knew that even “fun” elements had to meet the high bar of accuracy to earn campus-wide credibility. Split the Work, Multiply the Impact

Handing your rebrand to a single agency might be the default, but that doesn’t mean it’s always the smartest move. MIT Health took a different path: splitting their project between two agencies with distinct strengths.

“We went to the two agencies that we want to work with [Jennings and Monigle] and asked if we could split up the project and get the best from both of you?,” recounted Wade. “It was great. Jennings came in and did the initial discovery and research. They gave us beautiful, rich material to work with. And then we handed that to Monigle who was, at that point, kind of fresh and then they got to hit the ground running.”

The result exceeded expectations.

The two teams collaborated with MIT Health to deliver a sharp, tailored brand under tight timelines. According to Wade, this unconventional approached worked because all three teams were willing to work together seamlessly after setting clear expectations at the start of the rebrand.

Could this be a template for future multi-agency collaboration?

Make Sure Everyone Sees Themselves in the Brand

Too often, internal stakeholders feel like an afterthought in brand overhauls. But when one dental staff member said the new name (MIT Health) finally made them feel included, it was clear the rebrand had struck a deeper chord.

“I was getting my teeth cleaned on the fifth floor when Belinda came to me,” shared Wade. “She said: ‘I’m so excited that we’re MIT Health because as the dental service, we’ve always felt like MIT Medical really didn’t fit us.’ It’s funny how the new brand helped people see themselves in the organization a little better.”

That internal buy-in helped to make the transition from the 100-year-old legacy brand smoother. The lesson here: when employees and clinicians feel represented in a brand, it can boost morale, reinforce purpose, and improve patient experience by extension. Marketers should not underestimate how a name, a message, or a new look can help members of your team (or whole departments) feel seen.

Details Matter

When your audience is filled with engineers, researchers, or data-driven clinicians, cutting corners on accuracy is a recipe for backlash. In one case, even the abstract background patterns on collateral had to reflect the actual order of campus buildings. If it didn’t, the community would notice and raise it as a concern.

“This is an audience that is all about getting things right, so we had to get things right [with the brand assets],” said Wade.

The Brand Is Bigger Than the Logo

At a time when trust in institutions is hard-won and easily lost with both internal as well as external audiences, there is extra pressure to get a rebrand right. MIT Health succeeded with an unconventional approach that involved two agencies and careful planning. By being open to new ideas and considerate of all of their brand stakeholders, they delivered a new brand that has precisely hit the mark.

Like the old saying goes: Measure twice and brand once…or something like that.

Learn more about MIT Health at https://health.mit.edu/