The definitive health + biotech brand book outline–and why each section matters

By: Beth Cooper JD / MBA

When I say “brand,” a lot of times people think of a logo and a color palette. 

And sure, those visual components are important, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg. Underneath the surface lies the strategy, voice, positioning, and application of your brand that determines how you're perceived, remembered, and trusted. That’s why a comprehensive brand book–when done correctly–isn’t just a guide, it’s a growth enabler.

That's why a comprehensive brand book–when done correctly–isn’t just a guide, it’s a growth enabler.

The first thing I tell people in a brand workshop is this: think of your corporate brand as a person. What time does she wake up? Is it black coffee and NPR, or a venti iced latte and trending TikToks? Power suit or flowy romper? The choices she makes shape how the world sees her. And that’s exactly how branding works–defining not just how you look, but really, who you are. 

And your brand draws your target audience to you–just like in a high school cafeteria. If you’re hoping to connect with the artsy crowd, you’re not showing up in a varsity jacket with a football under your arm. You’re wearing paint-splattered jeans and a patch-covered backpack, expressing your creativity in ways that are unmistakably you. That authenticity signals to like-minded people: you belong here.

But because a corporate brand isn’t one person with one brain, that’s exactly why you need a brand book. You need your brain trust–i.e. your key stakeholders–to come together and decide who your brand really is, in as much detail as humanly possible. That way, anyone who works for or with your company can get inside its head and speak in its voice. 

In B2B healthcare and life sciences, the stakes are even higher. You’re often speaking to sharp, discerning audiences–clinicians, scientists, executives–who can spot inconsistency a mile away. That’s why having a brand that’s clearly and consistently defined isn’t just helpful; it’s critical for earning trust.

Creating one isn’t simple. That’s why health tech, medtech, and biotech organizations often turn to branding experts to navigate this layered, high-stakes process. But whether you’ve chosen to have a go at it yourself or just want to educate yourself on what to expect during the process, here's a deep dive into the essential components of a brand book–and why each one really matters.

Table of contents

Every brand book is a little different, and that’s exactly how it should be. But most of them include a familiar lineup of essentials. Here's what you’ll usually find and what we suggest as a good starting point.

Introduction 

Branding (especially in healthcare) isn’t just aesthetics. It’s about clarity, credibility, and compliance. A brand book aligns everyone –from leadership to sales to your design team–on how your company presents itself. Without this alignment, inconsistencies creep in and erode trust, fast.

Brand core 

This is who you are as a brand. Your essence. The most important part. Everything else flows from here. The brand core explains why your organization exists and what it stands for. This is your north star.

Brand purpose: Your "why." A digital health company might exist "to remove barriers to care for underserved communities." Everyone who works with you needs to be passionate about this.

Vision statement: The ideal future you’re working toward. For example, "a world where mental health services are available on demand." 

Mission statement: What your team does daily to move toward that future. 

Core values: These should be lived daily. A med device company might value "integrity, speed, and accuracy." We always suggest making them extremely memorable with fun wording or a mnemonic.

Brand positioning 

This defines your place in the market. It's where strategy meets storytelling.

Positioning statement: This is internal and crystallizes your unique value. It should follow the proper framework.

Target audiences: Who are you trying to attract to you? State it here. For example, a B2B diagnostics platform may target lab directors, health system CMOs, and procurement leads. This section will give a high-level view of that and link out to the full persona docs that include firmographics, demographics, and psychographics.  

Key differentiators: What sets you apart? A strong UVP could be “FDA-cleared, AI-powered triage that reduces ED admissions by 20%.”

Brand personality 

Your brand should feel human. This section defines your tone and voice.

Brand voice: Are you a startup in pediatric telehealth? Your voice might be warm, clear, and friendly to resonate with young parents. Are you an enterprise RCM analytics platform? You’ll want something more analytical, efficient, and credible. 

Tone by audience: Varies depending on your stakeholders. For physicians, you might use clinical terms. For investors, your tone should feel visionary.

Tagline: A quick hit of your brand's promise. Think “Medical reviews at the speed of need.”

Visual identity 

Yes, here’s where the logos and colors come in—but it goes deeper.

Logo: Usage rules, variations, and what never to do. 

Color palette: Strategic hues that cue meaning—like teal for calm tech-forwardness or deep red for trusted expertise. 

Typography: Readability, professionalism, and accessibility matter in healthcare. Wider font faces tend to show approachability. Tall and thin tend to read as techier. Sometimes, people will scoff at this level of detail and say that font really can’t matter that much. I cheerfully tell them that’s fine, then we’ll just go with Comic Sans. All of a sudden, we get some opinions. 

Imagery: Your brand book should guide image style (e.g., minimal, human-centered, tech-augmented) and iconography. You’ll choose whether lines are angular or flowing, whether you will include people in your photos, etc. 

Brand application 

This is the brand in action.

Templates: Show quick examples of PowerPoint decks, sales one-pagers, email footers. Link out to the full library of templates. 

Boilerplate: Approved company description for use on things like press releases and award applications.

Style guide: Choose whether you’ll use the Oxford comma, how you’ll write dates and times, whether you’ll use sentence case or title case, etc. This keeps every piece of collateral consistent. 

Brand governance + contact 

Who maintains the brand? Where is the most current asset library? Who signs off on updates?

This section keeps brand integrity intact over time, especially when working with outside agencies or growing your internal team.

The impact of getting it wrong 

We once worked with a B2B health tech SaaS company whose visual brand was completely misaligned with their brand core. Their tone was formal and stoic, and their colors were white and hospital blue–yet, their entire value proposition was how easy their analytics platform was to use, even for less tech-savvy people. The mismatch created friction and wasn’t conveying their identify to people. We overhauled their brand to include loads more white space and some bright, primary colors to reflect who they truly were. The makeover made a giant difference..

A well-crafted brand book is more than a checklist–it's a strategic necessity.

At KNB Communications, we don’t just create brand books–we architect brand systems that align health and life sciences companies for long-term growth. If your brand isn’t landing–or worse, if it’s misfiring–let’s fix that. Together.