Tom Dolatowski explains how this company became the provider of choice for dental benefits programs.

At Delta Dental Plans Association, one size does not fit all. And according to dentists, their patients, benefits managers, brokers, and consultants, that’s reason to smile.

Tom Dolatowski

Ask Tom Dolatowski, vice president of marketing and communication, why stakeholders put Delta Dental a notch above the competition, and he’ll cite the company’s mantra: Think nationally, act locally.

“We’re always searching for that balance between what we require member companies to do nationally and what we allow them to do with the brand locally for the greatest benefit of their customers,” he said. “It gives us a unique flavor. We’re not like our competitors, and we don’t want to be. With their network dentists, they can say they offer the same uniform national contract to everyone. We like to turn that around and say we don’t offer the same contract to everyone; we offer what makes sense at the local level.”

It’s a philosophy that has enabled Delta Dental to grow for an unprecedented 27 consecutive years. And according to Dolatowski, the company isn’t taking its foot off the gas as it continues to strengthen the Delta Dental brand and develop strategies to bring dental benefits to the 50% of the population that currently goes without.

Innovation labs
In 1954, dentists in California, Oregon, and Washington formed service organizations to develop programs for labor unions, laying the foundation for dental benefits in the US.

In 1966, those same local organizations joined forces to coordinate dental benefits programs for customers with employees in multiple states, and Delta Dental Plans Association was born. The organization made its great leap in 1990 when the Department of Defense chose Delta Dental of California as the benefits provider for the Office of the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services.

For the program to work on a national level, other Delta Dental member companies had to agree to share their provider data and centralize the administration of the massive DoD account. The move transformed the company into the first networked dental insurance provider and sparked nearly three decades of growth. Today, Delta Dental is an organization with 39 independent member companies serving more than one-quarter of the estimated 165 million Americans with dental insurance.

Travel to the $13 billion company’s Oak Brook, Ill. headquarters and you might expect to find a small army of employees. Instead, you’ll find less than 30 people. Said Dolatowski, “We’re a small force, but we leverage the expertise and the abilities of the entire Delta Dental System.”

The company taps into that expertise through a series of formal and informal committees. For example, a product development committee includes cross-functional membership from among the 39 member companies. The committee regularly examines Delta Dental’s existing products to determine how they can be improved and is always interested in new product development. This is where the company lives up to its think nationally, act locally mantra.

Like a lean manufacturer that encourages its frontline employees to regularly contribute improvement ideas, Delta Dental encourages its member companies to develop products that meet the specific needs of their local consumers. “Each of the 39 member companies is considered a lab for innovation,” Dolatowski said. “They are our incubators for product development.”

The product development committee is there to offer assistance and then determine if the local product can and should be taken to the national level. Currently, some member companies are experimenting with a tiered network product line, which was first developed by Delta Dental of Massachusetts, and evidence-based plan designs, which were first grown in the Washington Dental Service and Delta Dental of Massachusetts labs.

“We have standards that member companies must adhere to in terms of how they process claims and how they deal with dentists, but for the most part, these companies are free to do their own thing under the national banner,” Dolatowski said. “It’s what makes us unique.”

Brand refresh
Allowing member companies to develop their own products gives the national company a local touch, but it can also create brand inconsistency. That was the challenge Delta Dental decided to tackle when it launched a comprehensive rebranding effort in January 2004.

“In this competitive market, it’s important for us to build the emotional connection with our stakeholders,” Dolatowski said. “Our aim was to develop a consistent message for our individual member companies to deliver to their audiences and customers.”

With the help of global consultancy Interbrand, Delta Dental created a cross-functional rebranding team, with members from across the system, and began conducting internal and external research. Based on the results of the research, the company created new visual elements to refresh the corporate identity and renamed all of its national products to create consistent names throughout the system. The company also established a new brand platform, stressing its commitment to advance solutions for great oral healthcare.

“Those were elements that were in the Delta Dental System and developed over our 50 year history,” Dolatowski said. “In this process, we articulated them and put better definition to them.”

The Delta Dental Board of Directors (CEOs of the individual member companies) approved the rebrand in January 2005, and for the past two years, it’s been implemented nationwide. Internal satisfaction surveys have shown member company personnel are increasingly understanding and embracing the rebrand, and the study by The Long Group indicates stakeholders are increasingly identifying the Delta Dental brand as the market leader.

With its refreshed brand and commitment to thinking nationally and acting locally, the company is now looking to the future. Dolatowski said the company is committed to finding solutions for the 50% of the nation that doesn’t have dental coverage—solutions that will meet the specific needs of specific groups in specific markets. Because at Delta Dental, one size does not fit all, and that’s a good thing.