Marketing Style Guide

The following marketing style guide is to be used for marketing collateral for UF Health. Internal communications, news and media and external communications should follow AP Style in most cases. Below are the exceptions from AP Style for marketing collateral.

Referencing health care team members in copy

When referencing members of the health care team in copy – ads, brochures, fliers, etc. – refer to the team as a UF Health team as shown in the various examples below:

UF Health physicians, nurses and clinical staff are all focused on taking care of your needs.

or…

At UF Health, our physicians, nurses and clinical staff are all focused on taking care of your needs.

Or to list a service…

At UF Health Neurosurgery, our physicians offer world class care…

In copy that refers specifically to the Jacksonville hospital programs, services or staff, where you previously used Shands Jacksonville, use UF Health Jacksonville.

Phone numbers

Phone numbers should use periods between the numbers in all marketing pieces: 000.000.0000. Dashes, parentheses should not be used.

Dates

When referencing a month or a month and year without days, spell out all months. No comma is needed between the two. When referencing a complete date – month, day and year – in marketing collateral use spell out the day, month and year as follows: Friday, October 31, 2014

Times

When referencing times in marketing materials, follow the standard:

• Same day part (before noon or after noon)

1 – 2 p.m.

2:30 – 3 p.m.

• Different day parts

8 a.m. to noon

8 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Use an en dash between the times except when referencing noon, where it will be replaced by “to.” There should be a space on either side of the en dash.

Days of the Week

When listing days of the week in marketing materials, spell out the day. When listing a series of dates, spell out the days with an en dash in between with space on each side.

The event will occur every Monday.

Monday – Friday

Listing dates/times in a seminar ad

When listing dates and times in a seminar ad, follow the guidelines above in the headline for the ad. The dates and times would appear as follows:

Free seminar
Thursday, June 10, 2014
3 p.m.

Addresses

When listing an address in marketing materials, follow AP style.

Abbreviate compass points used to indicate directional ends of a street or quadrants of a city in a numbered address. E., W., S., N. would use periods. NW, SW, NE, SE would not.

UF Health Family Medicine – Jonesville
13611 NW 1^st Lane, Suite 200

When listing an address as part of a complete address with the city, state and zip code, the abbreviations for the state must be used with the zip code.

UF Health Family Medicine – Jonesville
13611 NW 1^st Lane, Suite 200
Newberry, FL 32669

States

Follow AP style when listing states in marketing collateral (see below)

SPELL OUT: The names of the 50 U.S. states should be spelled out when used in the body of a story, whether standing alone or in conjunction with a city, town, village or military base. No state name is necessary if it is the same as the dateline. This also applies to newspapers cited in a story. For example, a story datelined Providence, R.I., would reference the Providence Journal, not the Providence (R.I.) Journal. See datelines.

EIGHT NOT ABBREVIATED: The names of eight states are never abbreviated in datelines or text: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah.

OMIT STATE ABBREVIATIONS for well-known U.S. cities such as Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, etc.

Memory Aid: Spell out the names of the two states that are not part of the contiguous United States and of the continental states that are five letters or fewer.

IN THE BODY OF STORIES: Except for cities that stand alone in datelines, use the state name in textual material when the city or town is not in the same state as the dateline, or where necessary to avoid confusion: Springfield, Massachusetts, or Springfield, Illinois. Provide a state identification for the city if the story has no dateline, or if the city is not in the same state as the dateline. However, cities that stand alone in datelines may be used alone in stories that have no dateline if no confusion would result.

ABBREVIATIONS REQUIRED: Use the state abbreviations listed at the end of this section:

• In conjunction with the name of a city, town, village or military base in most datelines. See datelines for examples and exceptions for large cities.
• In lists, agate, tabular material, nonpublishable editor’s notes and credit lines.
• In short-form listings of party affiliation: D-Ala., R-Mont. See party affiliation entry for details.

Following are the state abbreviations, which also appear in the entries for each state (postal code abbreviations in parentheses):

These are the postal code abbreviations for the eight states that are not abbreviated in datelines or text: AK (Alaska), HI (Hawaii), ID (Idaho), IA (Iowa), ME (Maine), OH (Ohio), TX (Texas), UT (Utah). Also: District of Columbia (DC).

Use the two-letter Postal Service abbreviations only with full addresses, including ZIP code.

PUNCTUATION: Place one comma between the city and the state name, and another comma after the state name, unless ending a sentence or indicating a dateline: He was traveling from Nashville, Tennessee, to Austin, Texas, en route to his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She said Cook County, Illinois, was Mayor Daley’s stronghold.

HEADLINES: Avoid using state abbreviations in headlines.

MISCELLANEOUS: Use New York state when necessary to distinguish the state from New York City.

Use state of Washington or Washington state when necessary to distinguish the state from the District of Columbia. (Washington State is the name of a university in the state of Washington.)

Website reference

When referencing the UF Health website, always capitalize the U, F and H and do not use www to start the website reference, such as UFHealth.org. The overall priority is to send consumers and physicians to the UFHealth.org site and not the UF site on consumer-facing marketing collateral. Direct URLs to a specific service should be used as appropriate and the first word should be lower case. For example, UFHealth.org/cancer. Short concise URLs are considered best practice. If a URL has UF Health listed in the middle, the UFH should still remain capitalized. For example, jobs.UFHealth.org.

While search engine optimization best practices suggest longer URLs containing keywords, certain marketing materials (TV, radio, bus wraps, etc.) benefit from short, memorable URLs. In these cases, Web Services will work with Marketing to configure approved (short) vanity redirects for specific URLs (i.e. https://ufhealth.org/uf-health-florida-recovery-center can use UFHealth.org/FRC).

When including a URL in written content, please do not put a period immediately after it. Instead, please rewrite the sentence. In marketing pieces or designs, you can also use a URL as a stand-alone without a period.

Example:

NO: For more information, visit UFHealth.org.
YES: Visit UFHealth.org for details.

Call-to-action

In marketing collateral, use the following straightforward approach to a call-to-action. The optimal approach is a call-to-action that fits on one line:

To make an appointment, call 000.000.0000.

or…

To find a [service] location closest to you, visit UFHealth.org/xxxx or call 000.000.0000.

UF Health in marketing collateral body copy

UF Health exists first and foremost as a brand signature and reflects the academic health center, which is composed of six colleges, centers, institutes, hospitals, physician practices, and other clinical programs and services. When referencing the collective academic health center, UF Health may be used in copy.

Never abbreviate UF Health to UFH.

UF Health should be used in marketing collateral as UF Health on first reference in all local and regional marketing collateral.

If marketing collateral has a statewide or national approach, it is preferred to spell out University of Florida Health on first reference in text or body copy, and may be written as UF Health on subsequent references.

When written as text or body copy, there always should be a space between UF and Health. Correct: UF Health. Incorrect: UFHealth.

Referencing UF Health with a specialty in body copy in marketing collateral

In marketing collateral, lead with UF Health [specialty] to directly brand the service line in body copy. It is recommended to capitalize the specialty name immediately following UF Health as a strong lead for branding. However, there are times when it is best to approach the sentence structure with a physician name in which the specialty would not be capitalized as shown below:

UF Health neurosurgeon Brian Hoh, MD, performs hundreds of procedures annually, including endovascular and open cerebrovascular surgery.

or…

The UF Health Neurosurgery team performs many of the latest endovascular neurosurgical procedures using image-guidance technology.

Listing credentials of providers in marketing collateral

When listing providers in marketing collateral, do not use periods when listing each credential. For example:

Joseph Tyndall, MD

or…

Robert Hromas, MD, FACP, is the chairman of…

Titles of providers in marketing collateral

When highlighting a title of a provider in body copy of marketing collateral, do not capitalize the title.

UF Health is pleased to welcome John Smith, MD, as the new chief of internal medicine.

However, you can highlight the brand of the service line, which would be capitalized, as shown below:

UF Health Internal Medicine is pleased to welcome John Smith, MD, as the new chief of internal medicine.

Highlighting team members in marketing collateral

When highlighting members of a team within a service line in marketing collateral, it is preferred to reference them as a part of a team and not faculty as shown below:

Meet the UF Health Pediatrics Team
Scott Rivkees, MD
Carolyn Carter, MD

Listing specialty under provider name for seminars or under photo in marketing collateral

In cases where you are listing a provider name and their specialty when no other information in necessary, it is preferred to list the provider name, specialty and location (if needed). For example:

William Friedman, MD
Neurosurgery

 Incorrect reference:

William Friedman, MD
Neurosurgeon

If listing a provider in a seminar ad, please use the appropriate naming convention with UF Health for clarity.

William Friedman, MD
UF Health Neurosurgery

Bulleted lists in marketing collateral

IN LISTS: AP uses dashes instead of bullets to introduce individual sections of a list. Capitalize the first word following the dash. Use periods, not semicolons, at the end of each section, whether it is a full sentence or a phrase. Example:

Jones gave the following reasons:

• He never ordered the package.
• If he did, it didn’t come.
• If it did, he sent it back.

In a bulleted list that highlights services, procedures, etc. that are not complete sentences do not use a period and capitalize the first letter. As an example:

At the UF Health Comprehensive Vein Center, our team offers:

• VNUS Closure system
• Ambulatory phlebectomy
• Open surgical vein ligation and stripping
• Radiofrequency ablation therapy

Headlines and subheads

Headlines should be upper and lower case with a period at the end. Only the first word should be capitalized unless it is an official name of a facility, city or state. The subhead should be treated the same.

Give your skin the care it deserves.
Choose the most comprehensive dermatology team in North Central Florida.

Using the UF Health brand

Below is a quick reference to the content provided on the Creative Services website when referencing the use of the UF Health brand or the UF brand. Please refer to creativeservices.UFHealth.org.

• ŸEducational/academic programs
• ŸClinical programs and services
• ŸResearch references
• ŸEmployment and recruitment
• ŸOfficial business & corporate identity (letterhead, business cards and badges)
• ŸSponsorships
• ŸCME materials
• ŸNews releases
• ŸSpecialty items

Common blunders

Following are some of the more common blunders (in no particular order) and some simple tricks to make sure your writing is buttoned AP stylish.

1. More than, over. More than is preferred with numbers, while over generally refers to spatial elements. The company has more than 25 employees; The cow jumped over the moon.
2. Only capitalize formal titles when they precede an individual’s name. If it falls after, lowercase. Mayor John Appleseed signed the proclamation; John Appleseed, mayor of Leominster, Massachussetts, attended the banquet.
3. Write out numbers one through nine; use figures for 10 and above. Jodie bought three apples, six pears and 12 mangoes. For percentages, use numerals with “percent,” not “%.”
4. Because, since. Use because to denote a specific cause-effect relationship: I went because I was told. Since is acceptable in casual senses when the first event in a sequence leads logically to the second, but wasn’t its direct cause. They went to the show, since they had been given tickets. A good tip is to use since for time elements. Since the product’s 2010 launch, it has sold more than 1 million copies.
5. Months and seasons. When using a month with a specific date, abbreviate only Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec., and spell out when using alone or with just a year. Hint: The months never abbreviated fall chronologically and are five letters or fewer – March, April, May, June and July. The seasons – winter, spring, summer and fall – are never capitalized.
6. Toward/Towards. Toward never ends in an s, same for forward, backward, upward, downward, etc.
7. United States, U.S. An easy way to remember the difference: United States as a noun; U.S. as an adjective. The United States is a country; I travel with my U.S. documents.
8. That, Which. AP says to use that and which in referring to inanimate objects or animals without names. Use that for essential clauses, important to the meaning of the sentence. I remember the day that we met. Use which for nonessential clauses, where the pronoun is less necessary, and use commas. The team, which won the championship last year, begins its new season next month.
9. Farther, further. Farther refers to physical distance. John walked farther than Jane. Further refers to an extension of time or degree. She will look further into the problem.
10. Street addresses. Street, avenue and boulevard are only abbreviated when with numbered addresses. Road and other related causeways such as court, drive, lane, way, etc. aren’t abbreviated. 123 Public Relations Blvd., 12 Brady St., 26 Media Ave., 1 Championship Road.
11. Composition titles. Magazine and newspaper titles aren’t italicized; just capitalized. For composition titles such as books, video games, films, TV shows, works of art, speeches, etc., use quotation marks. She read The New York Times before she watched “Inception” and “Friends.” My favorite book is “The Kite Runner.”