Turning brand into a powerful business asset for a global leader

How do you unlock the potential of a brand admired by investors but few others have heard of?

Over the course of nearly 40 years, Danaher has evolved into a global science and technology leader. Comprising more than 15 operating companies across life sciences and diagnostics, Danaher’s financial growth and industry impact have earned it a place among the largest Fortune 150 companies in the world.

But because its impact story was historically always told through the lens of its portfolio companies, Danaher itself remained relatively unknown beyond Wall Street. To reposition the company as a science and technology leader and leverage its brand as a powerful business asset driving growth, Danaher asked Lippincott to help reimagine and reactivate the brand from the ground-up.

Our first step was global research into existing brand perceptions and opportunities across all the company’s audiences. Coupled with an understanding of the organization’s aspirations and the capabilities required to achieve them, this research served as the foundation of a fundamental brand transformation – building Danaher into a powerful corporate brand that serves as a destination for both talent and world class partnerships across the health and life sciences ecosystem.

Lippincott developed a breakthrough brand strategy anchored in a singular yet expansive idea: “Innovation at the speed of life,” positioning Danaher as accelerating the power of science and technology to improve human health. This came to represent the blueprint for the brand’s future vision.

Danaher’s new brand identity needed to assure all stakeholders that the core values of continuous improvement, responsiveness to customers and business performance that had driven its success were unchanged, while helping them better understand the company’s deep capabilities.  Danaher’s visual and verbal brand expression was reimagined and imbued with profound meaning, vibrancy, and purpose.

As a reflection of the strategy, the identity was built around the notion of an “acceleration curve” with every component, from the logo and voice to illustration and motion, conveying dynamism and forward momentum. An essential component of the system was the use of the Danaher brand as a trustmark alongside operating company brands, connecting the dots and capturing the shared aspiration of Danaher’s diverse portfolio of companies, products, and technologies.

To ensure the brand’s ethos and energy was felt across the entire experience, we developed a library of guidelines and assets spanning video, social, events, and tradeshows. The centerpiece of this evolved expression was a new Danaher.com that now serves as a hub for telling the brand story, immersing visitors in the tangible impact of Danaher’s innovations, and generally showcasing the ways in which the collective whole of Danaher is greater than the sum of its parts.

Lippincott supported the brand launch both externally and internally, helping Danaher create a watershed moment for the brand and their 65,000 employees – signaling the way to a bold new future for Danaher as an accelerator of life science and diagnostic innovations that will continue to positively impact billions of lives around the world.