ABOUT THE PRO JECT
Al Habib Pharmacies was a strategic healthcare retail rebranding project for the pharmacy business owned by Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group. The objective was to transition the existing pharmacy brand, previously known as Middle East Pharmacies, into Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Pharmacies across all branches and customer touchpoints in the Middle East.
The project was not only a visual identity change. It was a sensitive brand transition that required protecting existing customer trust, maintaining business continuity, and building a stronger connection between the pharmacy business and the trusted equity of the Al Habib medical brand
THE CHALLENGE
REBRANDING WITHOUT LOSING CUSTOMER TRUST
The main challenge was to change the name and identity of an established pharmacy business without creating confusion, weakening customer confidence, or negatively affecting sales. The leadership team was concerned that customers who already knew Middle East Pharmacies might not immediately understand or accept the new brand.
Key challenges included:
Managing the transition from Middle East Pharmacies to Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Pharmacies
Protecting customer trust during the rebranding process
Connecting the new pharmacy identity to the parent brand DNA
Creating a distinct visual identity for the pharmacy business
Reducing the risk of customer confusion across branches and touchpoints
Ensuring the identity could work both offline and online across the region
OUR Strategic APPROACH
A RESEARCH-LED BRAND TRANSITION STRATEGY
Before developing the new identity, we started with strategic discovery sessions with the brand manager and the general manager of the pharmacy business to understand the business goals, operational realities, customer concerns, and potential risks behind the rebrand.
We then conducted customer research across different pharmacy customer segments through surveys, structured questions, and focus groups. The research revealed that many customers already associated the pharmacies with Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group because of their proximity to the hospitals and their trust in the medical group itself.
A second important insight was that customers strongly valued the availability of rare and hard-to-find medicines. This became a key strategic foundation for the new brand positioning: a pharmacy brand built on trust, availability, care, and healthcare credibility.
COMMUNICATION DIRECTION
The brand direction was built around the idea of origin, the belief that many medicines trace back to herbs, plants, and natural medicinal sources. This became the creative bridge between pharmacy, wellness, medicine, and care.
The new identity needed to feel familiar enough to inherit trust from Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group, yet specialized enough to stand as a distinct pharmacy brand. The visual direction merged the equity of the parent healthcare brand with a herb-inspired identity system, supported by a green-led palette that communicates health, growth, natural care, availability, and expansion.
Rather than presenting the rebrand as a sudden change, the identity was designed to feel like a natural evolution moving the pharmacy business into the Al Habib name while preserving the confidence customers already had in the experience.
INTEGRATED
COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
A complete rebranding system was developed to support the transition from Middle East Pharmacies to Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Pharmacies across branches, customer touchpoints, and digital channels. The system was designed to protect customer trust, preserve familiarity, and strengthen the pharmacy’s connection to the parent healthcare brand.
The strategy was built on research insights showing that customers already associated the pharmacies with Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group, while also valuing their ability to provide rare and hard-to-find medicines.
CORE ELEMENTS INCLUDED
Parent-brand association with Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group
Customer research to understand trust drivers and purchase behavior
A pharmacy-specific identity rooted in herbs, wellness, and medicine origin
Green-led visual direction to reflect health, growth, and availability
Rollout logic across branches, signage, print, digital, and customer-facing touchpoints
Final Outcome
A TRUST TRANSFER FROM HEALTHCARE TO RETAIL PHARMACY
The final identity helped transform the pharmacy business from Middle East Pharmacies into Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Pharmacies, creating a clearer and stronger connection to the group’s trusted healthcare reputation.
By combining customer research, parent-brand association, and a distinctive herb-inspired pharmacy identity, the project turned a sensitive rebrand into a structured trust-transfer process—protecting existing familiarity while building a stronger healthcare retail brand for the future.
“Branding is not only about changing how a business looks. It is about managing how people understand, trust, and accept that change.”
