What's in a name? Everything, if you're White Swan.

For 100 years, the White Swan name has been synonymous with quality, both in the products they sell and people they employ. A major force in the medical and food service industries, White Swan is well known for using innovative and reliable fabrics in its comprehensive line of apparel, and doing so from a value perspective.

Now, the venerable company is in the midst of a rebranding, changing its name and rolling out new sub-brands to build upon its reputation and to better position itself in the ever competitive healthcare apparel marketplace.

Come summer, White Swan will officially be known as White Swan Brands, a subtle but important distinction that its marketing VP says better reflects who the company is these days. "We're really a collection of brands, some our own and some licensed," Jim Decker notes. Falling under the White Swan umbrella are Meta, Fundamentals, and Five Star Chef Apparel, and licensed brands include Jockey Scrubs and Crocs.

In business since 1916, White Swan was originally known for high quality, fashionable white nurses' uniforms. Decades later, it merged with another long-standing name in the business, lab coat supplier Meta. "There's a lot of brand tradition, and we didn't want to lose our history by making any drastic changes to our name," Decker explains. "Not everyone lasts l00 years."

But internal surveys of customers and end users suggested the company needed to reshape certain perceptions. Brand equity with retailers was high; the White Swan name was well known and regarded, its reputation for exemplary customer service second to none.
But information collected from end users told a different story. "End users recognized and liked the Meta and Five Star Chef Apparel lines, but weren't as familiar with White Swan," says Decker. Worse, those that were classified the brand as old and dated, lacking the trendy feel of others. Since the scrubs segment was most closely linked to the White Swan name, the company needed to do a better job defining who it was to end users.

So while White Swan becomes White Swan Brands to retailers, its scrubs line will be rechristened WS Gear, complete with a new logo and catchy, undeniably 21st century tag line – Scrubs that Work. Its website will be updated to reflect the change, as will its POP materials, and the company will engage in social media for the first time.

WS Gear will house seasonal offerings, as well as two sub-brands, the established Fundamentals, and a new entry, Fusion. The Fundamentals line is exactly that: basic and value-driven, a re-orderable house brand designed to meet the needs of individuals and groups. Primarily constructed of 65/35 poplin with a soil release finish, the broad array of core and favorite solids and prints in the program makes it simple to mix and match.

Comfort, style, and as the name suggests, a bit of pizzazz is what customers can expect from Fusion. The Fusion line establishes White Swan as a fashion player, albeit one with value conscious sensibilities. "Fusion is meant to be the most cost effective tri-blend stretch fabric line out there," says Decker. Made with 65% cotton, 35% polyester and 5% spandex, Fusion scrubs are designed for today's busy, on-the-go health care professional. The high cotton content means colors are bright and vivid, while the polyester ensures stability. And the splash of spandex offers just the right amount of stretch that wearers have come to expect. It's the perfect combination of soft, cool and comfortable in scrubs that will last and last – at an affordable price.

White Swan hopes its rebranding efforts will better communicate to end users what has always been its core: people, fabrics and value. Decker elaborates: "We bring to the space consistent, reliable and modern fabrications that customers want and we do so from a value perspective. Further, our products are backed by great people, whether we're talking about a sales rep or customer service agent. That's what today's customer wants and expects from White Swan, and that's what we deliver."

White Swan Brands is a division of the Encompass Group. Learn more about both by visiting www.encompassgroup.net.