41 - HEALTHCARE COMMS

Global healthcare communications agency AXON has revealed its new brand identity. The launch of the new logo reflects recent changes made within the company as part of its new vision in driving positive change through communication in the healthcare industry.

Commenting on the need to move with change, Chuck Johnston, managing partner at AXON Clinical Studies, said: “The healthcare landscape continues to change at pace; therefore it is critical that AXON continues to evolve too.”

In order to convert its ideas into a logo encompassing the company’s values, AXON’s new image uses an eye-catching purple colourway, with emphasis placed on the ‘X’ – according to the company, this represents its goal to unite the diverse thinking of its team and assists its clients in better engaging with their target audiences.

Ralph Sutton, international managing partner at AXON shared his thoughts on the recent developments within the company: “In recent months we have been working on defining a new vision and purpose for AXON to set us up for the future. We are very proud of our new visual identity that reflects this vision.”

Miranda Dini, managing partner at AXON Europe commented on the changes: “We believe that engaging and effective healthcare communications have the potential to change the lives of patients and those who care for them. Our new brand identity also speaks to our vision of creating an environment where we can change the lives of talented individuals looking to build careers in our industry and the opportunities they have at AXON.”

AXON, established in 2002, offers a range of services to support clients in clinical studies, marketing, medical affairs, advocacy and communications using creative strategy and insights, with a background of experience spanning across 20 years.
Colette Balaam, managing partner at AXON US, said: “The launch of our new brand identity comes at an exciting time as AXON US continues to expand its presence. Our vision acknowledges the profound impact that communications have in the healthcare process and we are committed to supporting our clients in improving patient care.”

Intel and Dell Technologies – in collaboration with the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) and Rolls-Royce – have worked alongside VMLY&R to produce a new book called I Will Always Be Me, for people living with motor neurone disease (MND). The first-of-its-kind book is for people living with MND and banks their voices as they read the story out loud.

I Will Always Be Me, written by Jill Twiss, a New York Times bestselling author, is told from the point of view of a person living with MND.

The narrative explains the person’s journey, describing what they will be going through, including insightful thoughts and feelings in an informative and accessible way via an immersive virtual experience.

As a neurodegenerative condition, MND leads to a deterioration of muscle nerve cells, taking away a person’s ability to talk. The project aims humanise the person’s experience through integrating the highly emotional task of explaining their condition to loved ones with the use of voice bank technology.

The creators launched the project by producing a documentary which showed a group of people living with MND and their respective families as they see the book for the first time.

People can learn about how the programme works by visiting the website’s homepage and can begin the recording from there. The book opens and the user’s voice is automatically recorded as they read through the book to their loved ones.

Every sound needed in order to create a digital voice is embedded into the story naturally. Once the reader has finished the book, their digital voice can be processed efficiently. As soon as the pages are recorded, they can review and listen back to their recording.

The process of voice banking involves extracting specific sounds from the recording and matches them with pre-written text. Through the use of an algorithm, unique vocal qualities are then applied – based on age, gender, accent, etc – to produce a synthetic voice which can then be installed onto any assistive technology device.
The book is available at iwillalwaysbeme.com and a video of the documentary can be viewed on YouTube.

AXON reveals new brand identity

I Will Always Be Me – a book and documentary offering a unique insight into motor neurone disease