athenahealth

Healthcare. Reimagined.

From a health insurance doppelgänger
To a distinct, tech-forward brand.

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CHALLENGE:

athenahealth — an all-in-one, cloud-based healthcare technology company — needed to reintroduce itself to the world. Despite offering smart, connected solutions that improve clinical effectiveness and patient experience, the brand had lost distinctiveness, blending in with traditional healthcare and insurance players. The challenge: relaunch a complex, global brand and make an intricate technology story feel simple, human, and inspiring.

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STRATEGY:

Operating at the intersection of healthcare and technology, athenahealth faced two ultra-competitive categories where sameness ruled. Our task was to bridge the empathy of healthcare with the innovation of tech — creating a brand that could flex credibly between both worlds. 

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CREATIVE SOLUTION:

We looked to color, movement, and storytelling to inject vitality into a historically sterile category, positioning athenahealth as the vibrant, intelligent heart of healthcare IT. A rich visual language combined CG, photography, and illustration to express complex themes like interoperability, clinician burnout, and partnership through striking metaphor. We created custom “clusters” representing over 30 medical specialties and developed a motion language that brought consistency and dynamism across all touchpoints. Anchored by cinematic campaign work — including the hero spots “Lonely Data” and “Olivia” — the revitalized brand set a new benchmark for health-tech storytelling.

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RETURN ON CREATIVE: 

  • +29% Lift in Brand Awareness
  • 2× Industry Norm for Brand Recall
  • +40% Internal Impressions
  • +87% Internal Engagement
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Collaborators


Aggressive
The Voorhes
Randal Ford
Blinkfish

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A colorful collage of brand elements for athenahealth.
A large, downtown building with a multi-story billboard for athenahealth. the ad shows multiple healthcare icons floating in midair with the headline "Welcome to the resolution."
A full magazine spread advertisement for athenahealth. The headline reads "Brain, meet power." and features a futuristic brain with a staircase attached.
Brand photography for athenahealth showing a doctor consulting with his patient against a colorful, highly stylized office environment.
An out-of-home billboard execution for athenahealth. There is a medical device being assembled by a crane and surrounded by construction scaffolding. The headline reads "Hope you're not afraid of heights."
Two subway billboard signs for athenahealth. One headline reads "The Search Stops Here" and the other reads "Build the perfect practice piece by piece."
A tryptic of social posts for athenahealth.
A beautifully designed photograph of a bed pan, sample cup and water balloon set against a cream background. This is a brand element created for athenahealth by Colossus Creative Co.
A beautifully designed photograph of a tissue box, first aid kit, bandaid and thermometer set against a purple background. This is a brand element created for athenahealth by Colossus Creative Co.
A beautifully designed photograph of a human bone, gauze and a medical apparatus set against a purple background. This is a brand element created for athenahealth by Colossus Creative Co.

Employer Brand.

Colossus also launched an internal-facing campaign for the company’s 7,000+ employees. Original wall murals, branded content and LED video screens were installed across athenahealth’s seven global campuses in Boston, Atlanta, Seattle, Austin and India.

A sneaker collab design for athenahealth. The custom Converse hightop features a purple canvas shoe with athena's iconc leaf logo.
A purple athenahealth branded coffee mug designed for employees. It has a yellow handle and says "Leave me alone. I'm fixing healthcare."
A purple jumpsuit with athenahealth branding. This apparel was design by Colossus as a part of athena's internal Employer Brand.
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