The Color Orange

Tampa-based WellCare Health Plans Inc. was founded more than 30 years ago. But only recently, as it has embarked on a growth path — with recent acquisitions in Arizona, Texas, New York and Maine — did it take a step back to evaluate and refresh its corporate brand.

WellCare had $14.2 billion in revenue in 2016, which makes the publicly traded firm the fourth-largest company based on the west coast of Florida. WellCare manages health care plans for more than 4 million Medicare and Medicaid clients nationwide via its network of some 400,000 medical professionals. It's also evolved its offerings over the years to include a prescription-drug plan and Staywell Kids, a health care plan for children.

The newer offerings partially led to the brand redo, which includes prominent use of the color orange and a new tagline: “Beyond Healthcare. A Better You.” The Business Observer recently sat down with Rhonda Mims, WellCare's chief public affairs officer, to talk about the company's new look and messaging. Edited excerpts:

What was the impetus for this corporate brand refresh?
We're continuing to look for more growth opportunities done both organically and through mergers and acquisitions. To support the efforts that we're undergoing as we enter this growth spurt, we needed a strong brand promise that was differentiating and more reflective of who we are and what we do. We started 30 years ago in a strip mall type of environment, and since then we've grown up and gotten to a point where we have national competitors. So it made sense for us to demonstrate a little bit about who we are, and the only way we could do that is to come up with a tagline, a better visual identity product, that would allow us to resonate with members from all walks of life.