Our brand identity has been created to reflect the dynamic, vibrant, innovative organisation that is Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI).

It's a system that can be flexible and adapt based on the content it needs to support ­­– to look, and sound, as diverse as our research.

This guide provides information, instructions and examples to help you communicate the right messages in the right way every time you create new materials under the HMRI banner.

We're aiming for all our brand communication to consistently reflect HMRI's values, personality, and visual aesthetics. Maintaining consistency across all our platforms, channels, and media, regardless of who creates the content, helps us build trust, recognition, and brand loyalty among our audiences.

What is “We’re taking healthy further” about?

A strapline, tagline or slogan is a concise and impactful phrase that encapsulates the core message and vibe of a brand. It serves as a powerful tool in marketing and communication, reinforcing brand identity and leaving a lasting impression on audiences.

“We’re taking healthy further” represents what the HMRI brand is about. We’re a brand for people who want to be their most healthy. We want HMRI to be their go-to because we turn our world leading research into simple, practical and helpful advice so they can live their best lives. It’s designed to resonate with our audiences, conveying our dedication to collaboration, community and healthcare transformation in every aspect of what we do.

You’ll see “We’re taking healthy further” across HMRI’s marketing and communications assets, campaigns and more.

Brand voice:

Our brand voice represents our unique perspective and the values we stand for. It’s our overall personality: curious, down-to-earth and trailblazing.

Our tone of voice is how we communicate with our audiences. We’re helpful, positive and bold.

We strive for all our communication, regardless of audience, to be clear, professional, friendly and helpful. We modulate our tone depending on our audience and message. Sometimes we can’t, or shouldn’t, use all our brand voice traits at once, or in equal measure. We need to make calls about which ones to ‘dial up’, and which ones to pull back or leave out.

Voice traits

EXPERT

We’re trusted, qualified and experienced – so let's use that as the platform to reaffirm that we are a credible source of relevant health information. But we can only do that if we have the courage to stand up and say ‘yes, we’re experts, and you can trust us’.

When being EXPERT, we…

• Do remind people of our qualifications – our credentials, resources, experience and scale.
• Do be as precise as possible – not “HMRI’s researchers”, instead “The HMRI Mothers and Babies Research Program’s targeted nanoparticle team.”
• Do remember that a specific person’s personal expertise is valuable, and readers will associate that with HMRI.
• Do use a person’s full title in the first instance i.e. ‘Laureate Professor Clare Collins AM from HMRI’s Food and Nutrition Research Program’. But in subsequent mentions, this may be shortened to ‘Clare’ or ‘Professor Collins’.
• Don’t come right out and say something to the effect of ‘this is why we’re qualified’. Reference the qualifications, and let readers infer the expertise.
• Don’t expect people to be able to make the link between the subject matter and the qualifications. For example, what does having a large team have to do with being qualified to measure the impact of diabetes? Take them on the journey from basic science to clinical trials to translation and implementation.

We want our voice to excite and inspire, so we use…

CURIOSITY

Research is all about finding answers. Our researchers are caring, passionate and curious people, who are hungry for answers.  We want to ignite curiosity in our audience and remind them what it feels like to be inquisitive and thrilled by new ideas and exciting innovations. We want to capture their imagination and get their blood pumping!

When using CURIOSITY, we:

• Do put ourselves in the shoes of someone who might be new to the subject matter – what might this topic look like, what might seem surprising about it, to fresh eyes?
• Do be enthusiastic. Our researchers are caring and passionate people, curious themselves and hungry for answers. We want to express that.
• Do lean into emotion. Though curiosity might be created by information and questions, it’s felt, not thought. So, make them feel something with your words.
• Don’t exaggerate, overstate or deceive. We’re about science and facts. With all that we have to offer, we shouldn’t ever have to make anything up.
• Don’t dumb things down. Go for ‘What might this look like to fresh eyes?’, not ‘How do I simplify this for a child?’. Jargon will always be jargon but try and find inclusive ways to talk about something without talking down to others.

We want our voice to propel us forward, so we’re:

TRAILBLAZERS

We’re not just about research and study. The work we do has a real, tangible impact on the health of our communities – and we need to share this fact far and wide. We have to be bold in our thinking, we need to try new things to find new cures. Same old, same old, won’t cut it. We use the impact we’ve made as evidence.

When being TRAILBLAZERS, we:

• Do identify and spotlight the work/actions of HMRI that advances health (locally or globally). Breakthroughs happen slowly, but explaining novel thinking can help show progress and give an idea of where the research is ultimately headed.
• Do remember that empathy is key here – focus on what part of the progress will get people excited or inspired. Reframe something potentially dry in a more engaging and evocative way. We can still be specific here, but ultimately, we focus on the outcome and impact of our work.
• Don’t generalise – if the progress we’re describing is generic, it’s probably not going to sway anyone. Make it feel real.

We want to help make our community healthier every time we connect, so we’re…

DOWN-TO-EARTH and HELPFUL

HMRI is full of passionate, curious experts, but we can’t assume our audience always understands what they’re talking about. Where we can, we want to give them tangible ways to live their best lives.

When being DOWN-TO-EARTH and HELPFUL, we:

• Don’t use jargon – translate, then communicate. We speak in plain language, professional but friendly. Yes, we’re experts but we’re not authoritarian.
• Do identify specific and exceptional features or statistics to elevate rather than speaking broadly.
• Do ask – what’s the most interesting fact, and what’s the best specific example or representation of that?
• Don’t bury readers in detail – this is about being helpful, relevant and real, rather than comprehensive.
• Don’t mistake interesting-to-you or relevant-to-HMRI for interesting-to-them. Use empathy and ensure you have a clear idea of who your audience is.
• Don’t over-promise. Sometimes our audience have found us because they or their loved ones are experiencing trauma from a devastating medical diagnosis. We don’t want to give them false hope. We can only show them we care and we’re doing our best.

If you have any questions about our brand and our values or need any clarification or support, please let us know.