Putting music to medicine.

Franciscan Missionaries of our Lady, a Catholic Health System based in Louisiana, came to us for a mnemonic that would add dimension to their health care brand. FMOLHS positioned themselves as a warm, human-forward hospital built on listening and understanding. In fact, their tagline is “We Listen, We Heal,” which became one of the pillars in our conceptual development.

This brand, as all brands do, had its own unique challenges. Understanding the dichotomies at work was important. For example, how do we humanize and add warmth to a brand in the science and technology space? How do we come up with a modern and forward-thinking sound, yet touch on their traditions and faith-based roots? Being a Louisiana-based company, FMOLHS also encouraged us to explore ways to incorporate traditional sounds from the south.

To set some final parameters for our exploration, we devised key feeling targets through discovery calls with our clients:

Compassionate
Emotional
Soothing
Trustworthy

Positive
Comforting
Powerful
Spiritual

A few selections from Rd. 1

A pulsing string bed paired with electric guitar melody for an organic/modern palette fusion. Works as a fully realized figure for advertising tags yet could be distilled to a melodic reduction for more brand environment applications.

A pairing of tech/organic roots with acoustic guitar support. A call and response of two elements interacting with one another.

Tender, heartfelt acoustic guitar harmony, ending on an uplifting note. Simple and real. Memorable melody over consonant context.

Ethereal, angelic, and healing. A mixture of organic and modern with a synthesized vocal instrument.

The most electronic-leaning sound of the bunch, but with a positive and approachable melody. Friendly and inviting, clean and modern. Percussive pulses create forward momentum.

Solo guitar with southern heritage evoking a sense of tradition and trustworthiness.

A hybrid of organic and electronic instrumentation. A simple, heartfelt piano figure supported by an ambient ethereal pad that adds an undertone of spirituality.

In our first round, we made sure to cover a spectrum of possibilities. An important part of any mnemonic creation is a narrowing down process: finding out what a brand’s sound is can be difficult. Finding out what it isn’t can be much easier.

The Process

Final Result:

After the initial round of casting the net wide, we had several discussions with the clients to zero in on a direction and continue down a more focused path. In the end, a hybrid electronic/organic palette with soulful piano, humming, and synthesized textures became the brand’s sonic identity.

Give us a shout.

And by shout we mean it, we’ve got the tunes cranked!