Winning Campaign:
Brand Revitalisation – Re-branding the Hunter Medical Research Institute

Organisation:
Guts Creative in partnership with Hunter Medical Research Institute

Campaign Background & Objectives

Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) is Australia’s largest regional medical research institute, based in Newcastle, NSW, with more than 1,700 researchers and 25 years of world-leading breakthroughs.

In 2022, HMRI’s new Institute Director set a bold ambition: to help create the healthiest million people on the planet. However, the brand no longer reflected this future-facing vision. HMRI lacked a clearly defined audience, point of difference, and overarching brand strategy, with a visual identity and campaign approach that had not evolved with the organisation.

The objectives were clear:

• Increase donations and corporate partnerships

• Grow awareness and strengthen connection with the community

This transformation needed to balance bold change with deep community ownership, as HMRI itself was originally crowd-funded by the local community.

Approach & Key Activities

Guts Creative delivered a research-led, strategically grounded rebrand, including:

• Market research: 649 participants across surveys, focus groups, interviews and brand health tracking

• Brand strategy: Defining HMRI’s point of difference as its deep community connection, expressed through the proposition “We’re taking healthy further”

• Brand identity: A bold, human and collaborative visual identity aligned to the new positioning

• Launch: A high-impact rollout featuring a large-scale mural, refreshed website, community events and internal brand workshops to embed the change

Results

• 21% increase in donations

• Corporate partnerships doubled to $5 million

• 34% audience growth across social channels

• 153% increase in organic Google search clicks

Key Insights

The success of the rebrand was driven by clarity of purpose and strong foundations. Research-led strategy ensured the brand reflected HMRI’s DNA, while consultation and collaboration helped staff and stakeholders bring the vision to life. This was not just a new logo—it was a strategic shift with measurable impact.

What AMI’s Judges Said

“Our selection of HMRI’s brand revitalisation as the #1 entry was driven by its exemplary fusion of strategic clarity, emotional intelligence and commercial impact. This campaign didn’t just refresh a visual identity, it redefined the role of a regional medical research institute in Australia’s healthcare landscape.”