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Any great workplace wellness plan requires many positive attributes to make it work. That can include the value of the health coaches, the evidence-based recommendations, the employee engagement efforts and more.

But according to Employee Benefit News, there's another attribute you may not yet have considered: Branding.

The report states: “Wellness programs can have a variety of positive effects in the workplace — encouraging healthier behaviors, improving employee morale, reducing absenteeism and lower health care costs — and branding that program can make it more successful.”

The piece quotes Charlie Estey, executive vice president of business development at Interactive Health. Branding a wellness program “aligns the program with company, gives the program credibility and gives it value.”

It also can help drive employee engagement.

The piece continues: “Having a goal for the brand and the wellness program is essential, Estey says, such as embracing good health or preventing diabetes. The leadership plays a crucial role, he says, and should email employees introducing the new brand. ‘The C-suite needs to be behind the brand.' Once they are, Estey says, employees are more apt to participate. That’s especially true for unions, he says. ‘It really needs the union endorsement … otherwise it will be ignored.'” The key is knowing your workers.

Some ways that companies are integrating branding include custom URLs, mascots, increased communications and more.

Said Kathy Meacham, vice president of account management at HealthFitness:  “It’s so easy to not be healthy,” she says. As EBN adds, “That’s why a company must have an effective brand for its wellness program.”