FOCUS: BRAND STRATEGY MISFIRES | AUDIENCE: STEWARDS OF PLATEAUED BRANDS
BY: SHOBHA PONNAPPA | BRAND BREAKTHROUGH STRATEGIST | 45 YEARS | 125+ CLIENTS
I helped a telehealth platform rediscover that in healthcare, empathy is the first medicine before any algorithm.
The telehealth brand had grown rapidly during the pandemic, but its growth came from necessity, not loyalty. Patients were using the service out of convenience, not conviction. The leadership team believed that AI triage and symptom automation would make the brand appear cutting-edge. Instead, it made interactions feel cold and impersonal, turning medical reassurance into machine-speak.
As the platform expanded, churn rates grew because users felt unseen and unheard. Their feedback revealed a sense of emotional fatigue and distrust. People missed the warmth of a real doctor’s reassurance even when the advice was accurate. I realised the brand had confused technological precision with human care … and that was a dangerous misdiagnosis.
When I interviewed patients, I found they were not seeking just information … they were seeking affirmation. They wanted someone to say, “I understand what you’re going through,” not “Our data shows mild fever symptoms.” The brand’s digital script was technically correct but emotionally tone-deaf. I discovered that empathy, not efficiency, drives long-term trust in health brands.
Doctors too felt uneasy using the platform, saying it stripped them of their humanity. They felt like operators of a bot rather than healers. Patients and doctors alike needed a shared emotional bridge. The insight was clear: healthcare trust isn’t downloaded, it’s demonstrated through compassion.
My brand breakthrough was to reframe the brand from being an AI-first platform to a Human-Centred AI companion. This meant positioning technology as the listener, not the talker … a silent enabler of empathy. Every interface had to convey care before content. The big brand idea became: “Technology That Listens Before It Solves.”
I redesigned the narrative architecture of the brand, starting with tone and metaphor. The digital voice changed from “triage mode” to “trust mode.” It spoke like a compassionate physician rather than an automated assistant. I replaced sterile precision with emotional reassurance, giving technology a bedside manner.
The new strategy placed relationship before recommendation. Every message, from push notifications to emails, began with empathy. The platform adopted human storytelling to explain tech functions … for example, “Your health partner is ready to listen” instead of “Begin your AI assessment.” Each communication now mirrored the comforting cadence of real conversation.
In design, I guided the UI/UX team to use warm visuals, rounded fonts, and non-clinical tones of blue and green. The platform began integrating short videos of doctors explaining symptoms compassionately. This turned the digital experience from robotic to reassuring. In every touchpoint, I made empathy the new interface.
Here are 10 strategic ideas developed (and several executed) to support the new brand direction:
Doctor Diaries: Short video clips of real doctors sharing how empathy shapes better patient outcomes.
AI Listens Series: Podcasts featuring stories where patient feedback helped improve AI accuracy and tone.
Patient Letters: Anonymous stories from users expressing emotional turning points during teleconsultations.
Compassion Dashboard: Interactive content showing how many “listening interactions” the AI completes daily.
Health Humanity Blog: Articles written by both doctors and patients about the human side of digital healthcare.
Warm Tone Guide: Content toolkit teaching healthcare professionals how to write with empathy online.
#ListenFirst Campaign: A social media movement spotlighting moments where understanding came before diagnosis.
Visual Care Library: Illustrations and infographics humanising complex medical AI processes.
Reassurance Reminders: Push notifications that begin with comfort (“We’re here to help you feel better”) instead of data.
Doctor-Patient Co-Posts: Social collaborations between medical experts and patients sharing recovery journeys.
32% increase in patient retention after empathy-based messaging was introduced.
48% rise in positive sentiment scores across app reviews and social mentions.
Doctor engagement hours grew by 27%, with higher satisfaction in platform usability.
Average consultation time improved by 15% without compromising quality or empathy.
CONFIDENTIALITY CAVEAT: This case study represents a confidential engagement. For privacy, specific brand identifiers, campaign names, and project phases have been withheld. It has been shared with permission while preserving client discretion.
If you’re an investor seeking momentum for your portfolio brands, this Case Study Post I wrote could interest you: “When Venture Capital Vows Turned Into Empty Echoes of Promise.“
And if you’re a solo expert looking to sharpen traction, this Case Study Post I worked on may resonate: “When a Strategy Advisory Firm’s Rebrand Won Strength in Silence.“
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