Critical Path Institute

Guided by their 2007 Comprehensive Marketing and Communication Plan, Godat Design was invited to collaborate with Critical Path Institute leadership to coordinate and execute the first of many far-reaching marketing objectives, and in doing so, help lay the groundwork for longer-term growth.

The strategy acknowledged the organization's limited financial and personnel resources by providing base-level support of multiple communications designed to reach multiple audiences. With target audiences that include media; the public; local, state and federal government officials; donors; the pharma industry; patient interest groups; academic researchers; and the public; Critical Path Institute had reached a crossroads of growth.

Godat Design helped identify the significant shortfall of the institute's prior communications – a logo based on an acronym that failed to communicate, nomenclature that buried the group's powerful tagline, use of misleading stock images of pharmaceuticals, and poorly executed print materials, all conspired to diffuse and confuse the public's perceptions of this young organization.

Both nomenclature and visual strategy analyses were presented to support a return to use of C-Path's legal name, Critical Path Institute, as the foundation for a new identity program. While the organization's two-year old logo held a fond appeal internally, it suffered from its dependence on the swoosh symbolism. Godat Design created a stronger icon that not only communicates the transformative nature of their mission, but also provides a clear banner that identifiably was uniquely theirs.

Additional consulting with management of Critical Path Institute resulted in key diagrams and presentation materials all designed to communicate their complex and innovative role. Special attention was given to shaping marketing tools that can be quickly adapted and updated on the client-side as challenges and opportunities arose.

Today, Critical Path Institute has grown significantly and is hard at work on a variety of projects from patient-reported outcomes to targeted therapies for cancer and major diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's Diseases. Their global mission is daunting but they move forward knowing that their work will make a real difference in the lives of patients needing life saving medicine and medical treatments.