Dentistes Direct
Building a reliable eCommerce experience for dental equipment.
Brand Strategy, Identity System, Messaging, Web Design & Development, eCommerce
Overview
Dentistes Direct is an online store supplying high-quality dental equipment from Asia to Europe, founded and led by entrepreneurs and practising professional dentists across Singapore, France, and Switzerland.
The challenge
How do we stand out against the tropes of the dental industry? How do we attract and imbue trust in dentists to make large online purchases?
The outcome
Gridhaus collaborated with Dental Dealer Services to build a world-class brand and eCommerce site for continental dental practices.
The Approach
Dental Dealer Services approached us for a complete overhaul of their online storefront, Dentistes Direct. Their website needed to be a true representation of the brand, inspire customers and drive online sales in national and international markets. Out of our sessions, we were able to understand the users, define the brand, and prioritize the goals. We also set up a Slack team to maintain efficient communication between our teams across three different time zones.
Brand Definition
To stand out amongst the tropes of the dental industry and its identities, Gridhaus developed a brand personality that would resonate with Dentistes Direct’s targeted users. A trustworthy, value-based service brand to attract business-minded and tech-savvy dentists. Dentistes Direct also had the goal of building a worldwide online community of dentists where they can share knowledge and best practices with each other. All this defined how the brand would look, sound, and act.
The main target market was European regions, with largely French-speaking users. Understanding what the Dentistes Direct brand is and who they bring value to helped define the positioning statement of the company. This set the tone for everything designed and developed. The brand was this—Dentistes Direct is all about the best products for the best dentists, the right equipment at the right price.
Rebranding
When it came to designing the user’s experience of the Dentistes Direct brand, some of the crucial questions were: “What do we want users to feel when interacting with Dentistes Direct?”, “How do we reassure the users that we’re with them every step of the way?”, “How do we create credibility to convince users to not just make purchases, but align themselves with the brand’s vision?”
Gridhaus developed an entire identity system to make sure every customer touch-point reflected the brand. The rebrand included redesigning the logo, introducing a new color palette, new typefaces, icons, and illustrations.
Gridhaus developed an entire identity system to make sure every customer touch-point reflected the brand. The rebrand included redesigning the logo, introducing a new color palette, new typefaces, icons, and illustrations.
The New Logo
The challenge was to provide the brand with a fresh and exciting visual identity that is distinctive against the tropes of the dental industry (more molar icons anyone?), is relatable on a personal level, while also maintaining an image of professionalism. More importantly, it is about being simple, clear, and effective. Gridhaus’ rebrand for Dentistes Direct is a reflection of their approach to fuss-free service, putting smiles on their users, and helping them promote good dental health.
Instead of resorting to overused symbols, the new Dentistes Direct logomark is based on a typographic construction. The two capital letter ‘D’s are used as the base frame for the logomark, and also bears the resemblance of a smiling face— an embodiment of the service’s commitment to customer satisfaction (both dentists and their patients), building relationships with them, and a picture of what patrons will go away feeling after experiencing these services. The arrow is a signifier for ‘direct’, referring to the efficiency of the service and purchase process, and blends seamlessly into the face—alluding to the aim of putting a smile on the customer’s face.
Website Redesign
The website boasts a host of information that is essential to informing users about the Dentistes Direct service. Therefore, it was crucial for us to ensure that users are guided successfully through the website, from the initial engagement & awareness through to purchase & advocacy.
When it came to designing the user’s experience of the Dentistes Direct brand, some of the crucial questions were: “What do we want users to feel when interacting with Dentistes Direct?”, “How do we reassure the users that we’re with them every step of the way?”, “How do we create credibility to convince users to not just make purchases, but align themselves with the brand’s vision?”
When it came to designing the user’s experience of the Dentistes Direct brand, some of the crucial questions were: “What do we want users to feel when interacting with Dentistes Direct?”, “How do we reassure the users that we’re with them every step of the way?”, “How do we create credibility to convince users to not just make purchases, but align themselves with the brand’s vision?”
The goal is to empathize with users by thoughtfully providing a cohesive and easy-to-use experience. This, in turn, leads to an enjoyable process of purchasing dental equipment from the first click all the way to checkout, with the aim of converting first-time users to returning customers.
