The goal of connecting people with disabilities, boosting their visibility and giving them courage has been an integral part of Ottobock’s DNA for more than 100 years. The brand relaunch for the healthtech company based in Lower Saxony builds on this. To be fit for the future in which digital will be a growth driver, Chief Experience Officer Martin Böhm and his team went through a transformation process, developing the brand further into a human empowerment brand.

Ottobock undertook the brand relaunch in-house across multiple levels over the course of a year under the leadership of Irwin Pulanco, Head of Global Brand and Experience, anchoring it in the new brand book, from the design elements to the development of the brand. The result is an authentic, innovative and holistic brand experience that networks users, customers and experts with one another in barrier-free medical technology.

”To facilitate the experience of Ottobock as a digital brand, we have introduced a fourth company value: smart,” explains Böhm. “Aside from being human, reliable and inventive, it also forms a bridge to a networked world and digital, intelligent interactions between users.”

Accessible design

Visually, Ottobock is setting new accents in the international brand space with four key elements, as Irwin Pulanco explains: “We have developed a logo with rich contrasts, oriented towards the requirements of the digital world, a bright and life-affirming colour palette, accessible typeface and imagery that visually breathes life into users’ personal stories.” As an expression of life, continuous transformation and the endless possibilities for learning and growing, the circle is another core design element of the Ottobock brand.

This brand message becomes tangible, for example, at live events such as trade shows and sporting events. “Open and accessible spaces with an organic design bring our products to life and encourage the exchange of experiences and interaction,” explains Irwin Pulanco. Virtually, the new Ottobock corporate website builds on the new design elements as a digital brand experience.

Human Empowerment

“We don’t make up stories, we find them,” says Martin Böhm aptly. “The personal stories of medical technology device users are often so moving that they simply need to be told and conveyed to the public to raise awareness in society.” Marketing pursues this goal in a variety of ways, for example:

Ottobock has initiated #IAmAMountain, the first global brand campaign based 100 per cent on user-generated content. The protagonists are 26 users of Ottobock prostheses, orthoses and wheelchairs who share their personal stories on social media. The centrepiece is the eponymous Anthem, which singer-songwriter Sam Ryder presented together with users at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Ottobock has succeeded in raising global awareness of the clinical picture of cerebral palsy and limb loss with the social media campaigns “Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month” and “Limb Loss and Limb Difference Awareness Month” (LLLDAM). In the LLLDAM, people with disabilities posted their personal stories on Ottobock social media channels under the hashtag #ElevateYourVoice.

Ottobock has made prosthesis wearers part of the creative team in product development. The height-adjustable Taleo Adjust prosthetic foot is the result of close collaboration designed to meet users' desire for freedom in their choice of shoes – from trainers to pumps. Our users tested prototypes and their feedback played a key role in driving the development forward.

Ottobock umbrella brand

Ottobock encompasses three pillars under the healthtech company brand umbrella: Ottobock represents all products and activities in the prosthetics and NeuroMobility business segments. Ottobock.care refers to the global care network of our own Patient Care clinics and subsidiaries such as Pohlig, Livit and Scott Sabolich. The goal is to bring all clinics closer together with a consistent brand image.

The third pillar is ottobock.lifelounge. In order to drive forward our user-centric and collaborative approach, the Marketing and IT departments have jointly developed a platform for digital interaction with trend-setting working models. Martin Böhm holds out the prospect of an ultimate user experience: “As a kind of ecosystem, the ottobock.lifelounge aims to connect everyone responsible for the quality of life of people with disabilities, where users will meet experts from the fields of orthopaedics and medical technology.” While the ottobock.lifelounge has already been rolled out in major markets such as the USA and Scandinavia, a soft launch is currently taking place in Germany, which is expected to be completed in the spring of 2024.

“By evolving our brand, we are setting the course for a user-centric, digital future in medical technology,” Martin Böhm sums up.