Atherton Smiles
Since 1966, Atherton Smiles had built an exceptional reputation, growing solely through referrals. With its founder retiring and Dr. Gayatri taking over, we led the transition of a 50+ year legacy, boosting new patients by 100%, Invisalign by 300%, and revenue by 35%, all within three months.
Transition and growth of a fading 50+ year legacy
The story of Atherton Smiles began in 1966, when Dr. Michael J. Brugos established his dream practice. For nearly six decades, he built an exceptional reputation, growing solely through word of mouth. With Dr. Gayatri Sundararajan becoming a part-owner and Dr. Brugos nearing retirement, we partnered to lead the transition of a 50+ year legacy.
Even in a close-knit community like Atherton, word of mouth is no longer enough. Our strategy drove a full digital transformation, building a modern, conversion-focused brand while preserving the practice’s history. Within three months, the transition established Dr. Gayatri’s leadership and delivered 35% revenue growth, 100% more new patients, and 300% more Invisalign starts.
A balanced brand recipe for 35% revenue growth
A weak brand impacts everything, from online conversions to how the interior or new owner are perceived. For Atherton Smiles, squiggly lines, floral motifs, and fantasy-style fonts made their identity feel more like a spiritual retreat than a dental office. That impression made the older interior only amplify the effect - a wild cocktail of spiritual and outdated.
Our strategy focused on creating a modern, premium brand that attracts new patients yet feels established and familiar. Without repainting walls or upgrading furniture, the new logo and teal palette integrated smoothly through updated signage and embroidered uniforms, turning the brown and beige interior from aged to classy and signaling the start of Dr. Gayatri’s new era.
A shift from tasteless to elegant defines a new era
Balancing old and new had clear, research-backed reasons. The new would mark a confident ownership transition and draw younger patients, while the old preserved trust and heritage for the area’s loyal, mostly older demographic. This delicate balance became the guiding principle, starting with a search through hundreds of clean sans serif fonts.
Sans serifs (fonts without decorative strokes) are often the go-to for modern identities. But then we found Kameron, a slab serif typeface. Slab serifs bridge old and new, featuring decorative ends like traditional serifs but with clean, squared edges. The squared ends of the letter "A" resembled a pair of eyes, inspiring the addition of an inverted bracket to form a subtle smiley face.
Before
Atherton Smiles’ old logo hit a rare mix of bland and over the top. Their original teal was neither bright and trendy nor dark and elegant to evoke a premium feel - it was simply meh. The font sat somewhere between horror and fantasy, better suited for a movie about elves than a dental practice. And we haven’t even gotten to their floral logomark yet.
After
The Kameron typeface marked a clear shift from the previous overly decorative style. Paired with Uncut Sans, a clean sans serif used for body text and headlines, the duo became the foundation of our brand upgrade. A deep teal palette infused personality, elegance, and history, while bright green accents across key touchpoints added a youthful energy.
Before
A logomark captures a brand’s essence in a simple, memorable symbol. Designers either create a unique symbol or use letters from the name. If you’re looking for the definition of over the top, look no further. The previous logomark was a mash-up of four tulip-like icons shaped into a tooth, wrapped around the brand’s initials, and merged into one oversized flower.
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After
Focus on the letter “A.” Do you feel like two happy eyes are staring at you? Paired with an inverted bracket, a smiley symbol was born. It’s visible enough to feel smart and cheeky, yet subtle enough to avoid looking childish or cheap. The logomark complements the full logo as shoulder embroidery on uniforms, an elegant imprint on business cards, or a website favicon.
Before
Your online experience usually mirrors your visit. If you expected anything other than animated spiritual circles, floating leaves, mismatched portrait lighting, and clashing colors on Atherton Smiles’ old website, you’d be wrong. The site, developed shortly before our partnership, failed to convert patients online and compromised the ownership transition.
After
The new site brought everything together. The logo and font pairing carried exactly the right energy - elegant and full of personality. Each color played its part, with deep teal as the primary, bright green highlighting calls to action, and beige backgrounds echoing the interior. This allowed the new content to blend seamlessly despite the slightly older interior.
Before
On social media, Atherton Smiles looked like a small mom-and-pop clinic - the kind run by the same owner for decades, ready to retire and sell. Almost every post was a group photo with random filters and fonts, with no mention of Dr. Gayatri, likely made by whoever happened to hold the phone that day. But that wasn’t what Atherton Smiles was or wanted to be.
After
Socials had to show a successful transition to a younger, more innovative owner - a thriving clinic welcoming patients of all ages. Our production shoots focused on Dr. Gayatri as the new leader, while patient case studies and testimonials served as proof. The refreshed aesthetic took a youthful direction with bold layouts and bright green accents.
Digital transformation worth 2x the patients
With the old website bringing zero new patients from paid ads or organic search and word of mouth fading, the new digital experience had one goal - conversions. Development focused on strong calls to action (bright green paid off), conversion-driven content, targeted landing pages, SEO optimization, and a clear introduction of Dr. Gayatri.
Beyond our brand efforts culminating in a beautiful and consistent online experience, the new website started bringing patients from day one. Targeted landing pages for new patients and Invisalign led to a 100% increase in new patients and a 300% rise in Invisalign starts. Today, Atherton Smiles ranks within the top three search results for all of its dental services.
Fresh hero content drives 300% Invisalign growth
A large part of this success goes to Dr. Gayatri and her willingness to do what it takes. She became the focal point of all new content across ads, social media, and the website. She powered through multiple production shoots like a hero, and her patients vouched for her through heartfelt case studies and testimonials. We thank her for her dedication and trust.