Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and
Horizon Healthcare

Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey developed an ambitious business strategy to meet increasing competition and take advantage of the changing health care environment: to expand beyond its traditional New Jersey base to offer seamless health coverage across the Northeast. Its vision was to be the region’s premier health care company.

The organization was prohibited from using the familiar Blue Cross and Blue Shield names and symbols outside of New Jersey. Yet operating under a different brand in other states would put Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey at a significant disadvantage against competitors with strong, singular brands. Lister Butler recommended that the company adopt a unified brand identity strategy, centered on a new core name and visual identifier that would be used with Blue Cross and Blue Shield in New Jersey and by itself in other markets.

Lister Butler developed the Horizon brand name, visual identifier, and supporting nomenclature and visual identity system. The new Horizon brand identity system enabled the company to clearly position itself as a region-wide health care company, while continuing to benefit from the equity in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield brands in New Jersey. To support the organization’s positioning strategy, Lister Butler also developed a themeline, Making Healthcare Work, that is an integral element of the new brand identity system. To further reinforce the company’s business and positioning strategy, Lister Butler developed a unified product branding strategy and system for the company, one that uses Horizon as the core name for all products throughout the region.