Martin et Karczinski makes AO Foundation fit for the digital future

The AO Foundation is a medically-led, nonprofit education, innovation and research organization and global network of surgeons specializing in the surgical treatment of trauma and musculoskeletal disorders.

The project, which lasted over 18 months, was characterized by a consistent focus on the requirements and communication needs of a highly skilled and demanding community of orthopedic surgeons around the world.

Today, the new digital ecosystem enables this community to further develop their individual skills in dialogue with colleagues and thus improve the lives of people with orthopedic injuries or degenerations. 

The task was approached from two directions. In an extensive qualitative and quantitative analysis as well as numerous tests of user behavior, the current and future user needs were assessed in order to subsequently translate them into a new digital communication and social media strategy.

At the same time, a new brand architecture was created for the broad range of services and knowledge offered by the AO Foundation. The AO is a globally operating organization characterized by strong local autonomy and high commitment of all members. As a result, the solution now takes into account all of the organization's culture and process-related characteristics and forms the basis for a comprehensive new look for the Foundation. 

The combination of digital solutions for the further development of the community and the comprehensive realignment of the brand makes the AO Foundation fit for the challenges of building and developing its digital knowledge and competence management. At this year's Davos "AO Courses", the brand was launched in early December and is now being implemented worldwide with the digital communication tools.