UPMC and Pitt marketing idea

[RINGGOLD94]

Driving through the Mon Valley I saw a WV medicine facility and noticed the WV portion was their University logo.

Made me think a change to the UPMC logo to highlight the P as the Pitt logo (script). Have the U,M and C blue the the P yellow.

To me it's great advertising and keeps Pitt athletics relevant and a better partnership between the University and UPMC

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Driving through the Mon Valley I saw a WV medicine facility and noticed the WV portion was their University logo.

Made me think a change to the UPMC logo to highlight the P as the Pitt logo (script). Have the U,M and C blue the the P yellow.

To me it's great advertising and keeps Pitt athletics relevant and a better partnership between the University and UPMC

WVU Medicine bought Uniontown Hospital. Where else are they buying? Maybe they are trying to expand.

I think its insanely stupid that UPMC uses purple as it's color and tries to make no reference to the "University of Pittsburgh." Are there any other university hospital systems in the nation that don't reference the university? I believe this decision was made about 20 years ago to de-emphasize Pitt.

 

[RINGGOLD94]

WVU Medicine bought Uniontown Hospital. Where else are they buying? Maybe they are trying to expand.

I think its insanely stupid that UPMC uses purple as it's color and tries to make no reference to the "University of Pittsburgh." Are there any other university hospital systems in the nation that don't reference the university? I believe this decision was made about 20 years ago to de-emphasize Pitt.

Near the Mon Valley YMCA

 

[CrazyPaco]

UPMC obviously started out using "University of Pittsburgh Medical Center" and then "UPMC Health System" and used the university seal. They used more of a blue and white motif in their branding such as in the following:

You may still see this is some old signs, but most have them have now been replaced:

Then at some point, probably on the advice of some "brilliant" marketing consultants, they decided to rebrand to just use "UPMC" and use purple as a color because (and this is the reasoning they gave at least publicly) so many other hospitals and systems used blue and white. So purple was supposed to be more unique and soothing, or some such ridiculousness. And they decided to drop the seal and use a mobius strip, one of the stupidest decisions ever, but luckily the mobius was so stupid that it was never widely implemented and lasted like all of 2 months.

But the purple remained, and they've spend a lot of time and money branding on the simple purple "UPMC" wordmark brand with the "life change medicine" tag line.

Note that the font of the characters used in the "UPMC" workmark has always been the same font used for the university's "University of Pittsburgh" wordmark.

But yes, while UPMC is a separate legal entity from, but intricately intertwined with, the university, it does less co-branding with its affiliated university than perhaps any other academic medical center. Keep in mind many academic medical centers are still fully owned by the university, unlike UPMC. However, 1/3rd of UPMC's board appointments is controlled by the university, while another third is elected by the constituent hospitals that make up the system, and the other third goes to community leaders. The university does actually own the trademarks on both the "University of Pittsburgh Medical Center" and the "UPMC" wordmarks and UPMC still reports as doing business as the "University of Pittsburgh Medical Center."

But I would agree, it is dumb not to find more synergy with the branding between the medical center system and the university. I wish they would reintroduce at least the use of the seal or university crest. And as the athletic department uses the stand alone script P more and more, I would be on board with implementing that, but that would be more of a wholesale rebranding of everything and that would propably be more expensive than they think it would be worth doing for any payoff, at least on the UPMC side of things.

 

[RINGGOLD94]

UPMC obviously started out using "University of Pittsburgh Medical Center" and then "UPMC Health System" and used the university seal. They used more of a blue and white motif in their branding such as in the following:

You may still see this is some old signs, but most have them have now been replaced:

Then at some point, probably on the advice of some "brilliant" marketing consultants, they decided to rebrand to just use "UPMC" and use purple as a color because (and this is the reasoning they gave at least publicly) so many other hospitals and systems used blue and white. So purple was supposed to be more unique and soothing, or some such ridiculousness. And they decided to drop the seal and use a mobius strip, one of the stupidest decisions ever, but luckily the mobius was so stupid that it was never widely implemented and lasted like all of 2 months.

But the purple remained, and they've spend a lot of time and money branding on the simple purple "UPMC" wordmark brand with the "life change medicine" tag line.

Note that the font of the characters used in the "UPMC" workmark has always been the same font used for the university's "University of Pittsburgh" wordmark.

But yes, while UPMC is a separate legal entity from, but intricately intertwined with, the university, it does less co-branding with its affiliated university than perhaps any other academic medical center. Keep in mind many academic medical centers are still fully owned by the university, unlike UPMC. However, 1/3rd of UPMC's board appointments is controlled by the university, while another third is elected by the constituent hospitals that make up the system, and the other third goes to community leaders. The university does actually own the trademarks on both the "University of Pittsburgh Medical Center" and the "UPMC" wordmarks and UPMC still reports as doing business as the "University of Pittsburgh Medical Center."

But I would agree, it is dumb not to find more synergy with the branding between the medical center system and the university. I wish they would reintroduce at least the use of the seal or university crest. And as the athletic department uses the stand alone script P more and more, I would be on board with implementing that, but that would be more of a wholesale rebranding of everything and that would propably be more expensive than they think it would be worth doing for any payoff, at least on the UPMC side of things.

I now feel legitimized with a favorable response from Crazy Paco (I'm being genuine by the way Mr Paco)

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Near the Mon Valley YMCA

Interesting. Hospital or like some type of outpatient facility or medical building?

 

[RINGGOLD94]

Looks outpatient. It's next to Demon House.... a.k.a. a haunted house attraction in the area

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Looks outpatient. It's next to Demon House.... a.k.a. a haunted house attraction in the area

Since you are a Ringgold guy, I figured I'd ask how is that enrollment actually growing? I noticed that Ringgold and Uniontown moved up to 5A in basketball and I dont get that. Those 2 areas, I'd figure would just continually lose population.

 

[RINGGOLD94]

They hire and elect morons within. We lost and are losing population.

A school like Belle Vernon is just the opposite. No way in hell they are smaller and they had the foresight of skimming the numbers and won a state title in football when they had no business playing a level down

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

They hire and elect morons within. We lost and are losing population.

A school like Belle Vernon is just the opposite. No way in hell they are smaller and they had the foresight of skimming the numbers and won a state title in football when they had no business playing a level down

I dont understand the hiring comment. The numbers are the numbers. I dont get how Ringgold and Uniontown are getting bigger. Albert Gallatin and Laurel Highlands also are 5A. 3 Uniontown schools all 5A? Major population boom down there? WVU Uniontown Hospital hiring like crazy?

The section Ringgold plays in is crazy. All big and rich South Hills schools and then Ringgold. It doesn't add up.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I dont understand the hiring comment. The numbers are the numbers. I dont get how Ringgold and Uniontown are getting bigger. Albert Gallatin and Laurel Highlands also are 5A. 3 Uniontown schools all 5A? Major population boom down there? WVU Uniontown Hospital hiring like crazy?

The section Ringgold plays in is crazy. All big and rich South Hills schools and then Ringgold. It doesn't add up.

I don't know if this is the reason why or not, but the PIAA made schools start accounting for "non-traditional" students differently than they had in the past, and it caused numerous schools to show a jump in enrollment when they didn't really have any more actual students attending school.

It's part of the reason, for example, that both Norwin and Hempfield played 6A this past season when both had dropped down to 5A the cycle before.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I don't know if this is the reason why or not, but the PIAA made schools start accounting for "non-traditional" students differently than they had in the past, and it caused numerous schools to show a jump in enrollment when they didn't really have any more actual students attending school.

It's part of the reason, for example, that both Norwin and Hempfield played 6A this past season when both had dropped down to 5A the cycle before.

That probably has something to do with it but do Ringgold, Uniontown, LH, and AG jump out at you as areas which have 5A enrollments?

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

That probably has something to do with it but do Ringgold, Uniontown, LH, and AG jump out at you as areas which have 5A enrollments?

I'm not sure why it would or would not jump out at me. If I wanted to know if those schools had a 5A enrollment I'd just look and see what they are. No jumping necessary.

 

[PittPharm2002]

I don’t think UPMC needs help with advertising advice

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I'm not sure why it would or would not jump out at me. If I wanted to know if those schools had a 5A enrollment I'd just look and see what they are. No jumping necessary.

They don't seem to be areas with growing enrollments as big as Bethel, Peters, South Fayette, etc. Maybe everyone is indeed moving to the Uniontown area for the affordable housing?

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

When I played football for bethel, we were in the same conference as ringgold, uniontown, laurel highlands and Albert gallatin.

Not same classification but same conference. That was back when 4A was the highest.

It was the south hills schools and then the trio from Fayette county. Was very odd.

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

WVU Medicine bought Uniontown Hospital. Where else are they buying? Maybe they are trying to expand.

I think its insanely stupid that UPMC uses purple as it's color and tries to make no reference to the "University of Pittsburgh." Are there any other university hospital systems in the nation that don't reference the university? I believe this decision was made about 20 years ago to de-emphasize Pitt.

They’re really expanding in state and trickling into wpa. There’s a few more primary care clinics up here. Also leased a large space at Southpointe for some kind of clinic

 

[joefromlancaster]

I have come to the conclusion that the only way the Pitt sports stays relavent is if UPMC comes onboard and underwrites Pitt sports.
I wonder who has to talk to whom to start the ball rolling. After all, the times they are a changing. (To cite a song).

 

[USN_Panther]

I have come to the conclusion that the only way the Pitt sports stays relavent is if UPMC comes onboard and underwrites Pitt sports.
I wonder who has to talk to whom to start the ball rolling. After all, the times they are a changing. (To cite a song).

Swap script Pitt and blue and gold for purple UPMC Panthers?

 

[HailToPitt725]

I have come to the conclusion that the only way the Pitt sports stays relavent is if UPMC comes onboard and underwrites Pitt sports.
I wonder who has to talk to whom to start the ball rolling. After all, the times they are a changing. (To cite a song).

I don’t think UPMC would ever make Pitt an ‘NIL king,’ but I wonder if they’d consider subsidizing some of the costs if we were ever in jeopardy of dropping out of P4 athletics?

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

It was the south hills schools and then the trio from Fayette county. Was very odd.

Well where else were they going to put the three Fayette schools that would have made more sense?

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Well where else were they going to put the three Fayette schools that would have made more sense?

West Virginia

 

[OH Pete]

Near the Mon Valley YMCA

Yeah, Mon Valley Hospital has sunk to just about the level of quality normally found in West Virginia. They should be the next target.

 

[OH Pete]

They hire and elect morons within. We lost and are losing population.

A school like Belle Vernon is just the opposite. No way in hell they are smaller and they had the foresight of skimming the numbers and won a state title in football when they had no business playing a level down

They also recruited Monessen very well.

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

West Virginia

i worked for years in fayetter county, it might not technically be West virginia but for the most part, it's west virginia.

pa and wv should swap fayette and greene county and we get the panhandle.

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

They’re really expanding in state and trickling into wpa. There’s a few more primary care clinics up here. Also leased a large space at Southpointe for some kind of clinic

WVU medicine is the haven for outcast UPMC executives and they are looking for retribution

 

[chirurgo]

UPMC obviously started out using "University of Pittsburgh Medical Center" and then "UPMC Health System" and used the university seal. They used more of a blue and white motif in their branding such as in the following:

You may still see this is some old signs, but most have them have now been replaced:

Then at some point, probably on the advice of some "brilliant" marketing consultants, they decided to rebrand to just use "UPMC" and use purple as a color because (and this is the reasoning they gave at least publicly) so many other hospitals and systems used blue and white. So purple was supposed to be more unique and soothing, or some such ridiculousness. And they decided to drop the seal and use a mobius strip, one of the stupidest decisions ever, but luckily the mobius was so stupid that it was never widely implemented and lasted like all of 2 months.

But the purple remained, and they've spend a lot of time and money branding on the simple purple "UPMC" wordmark brand with the "life change medicine" tag line.

Note that the font of the characters used in the "UPMC" workmark has always been the same font used for the university's "University of Pittsburgh" wordmark.

But yes, while UPMC is a separate legal entity from, but intricately intertwined with, the university, it does less co-branding with its affiliated university than perhaps any other academic medical center. Keep in mind many academic medical centers are still fully owned by the university, unlike UPMC. However, 1/3rd of UPMC's board appointments is controlled by the university, while another third is elected by the constituent hospitals that make up the system, and the other third goes to community leaders. The university does actually own the trademarks on both the "University of Pittsburgh Medical Center" and the "UPMC" wordmarks and UPMC still reports as doing business as the "University of Pittsburgh Medical Center."

But I would agree, it is dumb not to find more synergy with the branding between the medical center system and the university. I wish they would reintroduce at least the use of the seal or university crest. And as the athletic department uses the stand alone script P more and more, I would be on board with implementing that, but that would be more of a wholesale rebranding of everything and that would propably be more expensive than they think it would be worth doing for any payoff, at least on the UPMC side of things.

Thanks for the thorough response. Having worked within UPMC, I would also add that there was/still is an effort to market the name in Eastern PA and abroad internationally as there are hospitals in Italy and Ireland, maybe other countries at this point.

Let’s not forget the UPMC health plan as well which is marketed in Eastern PA too where the University wasn’t always appreciated. Harrisburg and the Lehigh Valley, for instance, are Penn St proud.

That said, UPMC is due for a rebrand. I wouldn’t be surprised if they come back to it at some point because the market analysis may be quite different given the increase in stature of the University over the last 20 years. It helps also that Romoff is no longer CEO.

 

[HailToPitt725]

I now feel legitimized with a favorable response from Crazy Paco (I'm being genuine by the way Mr Paco)

I’m not sure why he receives as much hate as he does here sometimes… We’re lucky to have him given how much Pitt history he’s documented.

 

[joefromlancaster]

Would like to see UPMC get naming rights to Hein field.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Thanks for the thorough response. Having worked within UPMC, I would also add that there was/still is an effort to market the name in Eastern PA and abroad internationally as there are hospitals in Italy and Ireland, maybe other countries at this point.

Let’s not forget the UPMC health plan as well which is marketed in Eastern PA too where the University wasn’t always appreciated. Harrisburg and the Lehigh Valley, for instance, are Penn St proud.

That said, UPMC is due for a rebrand. I wouldn’t be surprised if they come back to it at some point because the market analysis may be quite different given the increase in stature of the University over the last 20 years. It helps also that Romoff is no longer CEO.

In Western PA, everything should be branded as The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in blue and gold. If you want to use purple and UPMC in other parts of the state, fine.

 

[PittPharm2002]

In Western PA, everything should be branded as The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in blue and gold. If you want to use purple and UPMC in other parts of the state, fine.

Now that’s a terrible idea

Granted Leslie is using the corporate jet to visit her properties in Florida -
But, upmc isn’t going to spend money to change every sign and advertisement for a “rebrand”.

And having different brands is idiotic

 

[forbesfield]

I have come to the conclusion that the only way the Pitt sports stays relavent is if UPMC comes onboard and underwrites Pitt sports.
I wonder who has to talk to whom to start the ball rolling. After all, the times they are a changing. (To cite a song).

UPMC isn't getting involved in that. They are already paying slave wages as it is, with terrible worker morale. If they start paying HS athletes 1000x what a floor nurse is getting, it will get real ugly real fast.

 

[forbesfield]

WVU medicine is the haven for outcast UPMC executives and they are looking for retribution

WVU is also a haven for UPP docs that became disgruntled. Lots of them down that way.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Now that’s a terrible idea

Granted Leslie is using the corporate jet to visit her properties in Florida -
But, upmc isn’t going to spend money to change every sign and advertisement for a “rebrand”.

And having different brands is idiotic

There are companies who brand differently in different regions. Hardees/Carl's Jr, Checkers/Rally's, Panera Bread/St. Louis Bread.

This idea makes perfect sense as it is pretty obvious that UPMC should be branded as the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in blue and gold....because that's what it is and it's name being used is good marketing for the university. If they are afraid of the name Pittsburgh being used in other areas, don't change it. There aren't that many hospitals in other areas anyway, so 90% would be University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.