Higher Health (HEAIDS)

Client: Higher Education and Training Health, Wellness and Development Centre

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Period: 2019

Healthcare

01 The sneak-peek

When the mandate outgrows the name

HEAIDS began two decades ago as an HIV-education initiative for South Africa's students. By the time it came to BBA Liminal, its purpose had grown far beyond its name — so we renamed it Higher Health, with an identity to match a mandate that now spans the whole of student wellbeing.

02 The liminal moment

The Higher Education and Training Health, Wellness and Development Centre — HEAIDS — was born about two decades ago, as South Africa's HIV epidemic grew alarmingly and before AIDS treatment was widely available. Working alongside every public university and TVET college in the country, it educated students and staff on HIV, TB and STI prevention and sexual and reproductive health.

Over the years its mandate evolved — from an HIV-centred initiative to a holistic health and wellness programme serving millions of students. The organisation had crossed a threshold its name had not: HEAIDS was too limited to carry its values, its diverse community, or its growing role in championing student development towards a skilled workforce and economic empowerment. BBA Liminal was approached to refresh the brand in a way that honoured the rich legacy of HIV/AIDS education while making room for everything the organisation had become. We began with a new communication strategy — and it led, at the end of 2017, to a new name.

03 The transformation

We found a more meaningful name. We bid farewell to HEAIDS and introduced Higher Health — a name big enough for the organisation's values and its diverse community, with the legacy of two decades of HIV/AIDS education honoured within it.

We made a mark that carries the story. The brand mark combines a universal symbol for health, an information symbol and a book — growth — in a pattern that forms an H. Look closely and it becomes two graduates shaking hands, congratulating one another: wellbeing and achievement in a single gesture.

We made wellbeing whole. The new identity motivates students to become proactive about their physical, emotional and mental health alike — because securing a healthy future for South Africa means investing in the wellbeing and development of its youth today.

04 The craft

Inspiring success by improving wellbeing

One H, holding health, information and growth — and, hidden in plain sight, two graduates shaking hands. An identity that says what the institution now is, rolled out through an integrated marketing programme across the post-school sector.