Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre

Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) is Melbourne’s destination for big ideas and inspirational events. Hosting more than 1,200 events each year, they’re internationally renowned for their flexible range of spaces, innovative design and mouth-watering food. Whilst they may be known for their big events, it’s the smaller meetings and more personal connections and partnerships where they really shine.

Early in 2020, confidence and optimism at MCEC was at an all-time high – unsurprising given they’d been full for the better part of the last decade. Yet all this changed when the global pandemic hit and they found themselves in uncharted territory, and the world around them seemingly unrecognisable.

MCEC was at a turning point. With uncertainty ahead, a shifting competitor landscape and seismic technological changes, their business model needed to respond quickly. It was at this pivotal moment they realised this was the opportunity to reimagine their world. To challenge the ways of the past. To be brave. To be smart.

To come out the other side stronger than ever, there was a collective sense they needed to define and articulate a purpose that was both inspiring and actionable. Something that could be clearly understood and adopted by the business, translated into strategic decision making, and inform how they looked, felt, sounded and connected with the world – from customers and visitors, to partners and their own people.

In order to stand apart from competitors, MCEC needed a brand made with authenticity, emotion and courage. So FutureBrand focussed on surfacing and strengthening what makes MCEC exceptional, rather than revolutionising the brand into something out-of-reach.

At a surface level it could be said that MCEC is in the business of events, but the further we immersed ourselves in their world, we realised what sits at their core is the ability to make personal connections with immense impact. This gave MCEC their clear and compelling purpose statement, with the elasticity to cover the scale of what they deliver – moments big and small – by connecting people, both inside and out of the business.

With renewed strategic clarity, it was time to connect purpose with experience and create a shared understanding of who MCEC is and what they stand for. As the largest public asset in Victoria, the brand needed a soul and beating heart, to reflect its place in the community. MCEC is not a building, destination or events space. MCEC is a home. As well welcoming people through their doors and sharing their passion, the identity needed to celebrate the unconventional way in which MCEC’s people think, act and see the world.

This set us on a path to build a creative platform that not only provided clarity and consistency but was imbued with meaning too. An identity, just like MCEC, that could stretch from being big and out-of-the-box in some instances, and small and out-of-the-ordinary in others.

FutureBrand strengthened their key assets, refining the brandmark to ensure it was easier to use and apply with consistency, and narrowed in on a confident colour palette which was a nod to their heritage while also being fit for the future. We injected personality with a distinctive typeface and created a framework for photography that allows MCEC to capture and hero people and those moments that matter. Finally, in the spirit of connecting all the parts of the toolkit and taking inspiration from the brand strategy, we developed a suite of unconventional yet useful graphic shapes, all sitting harmoniously with the built form and existing MCEC brandmark.

With their purpose-led brand, MCEC is ready to confidently step out into a new world and welcome people into theirs. With clarity and conviction, it is now clear for all to see and feel who MCEC is and where they’re going.

Peter King, Chief Executive MCEC, said the refreshed brand embraces MCEC’s ambition to be the best, to lead and to innovate, while bringing real value to customers and the community.

“We connect people locally and globally to share, collaborate, learn and inspire. And we do it at a personal level, to build real relationships. We create memorable events - big and small, in-person and online - that drive thinking, activity and economic growth.

Our brand is our personality. It’s what we live inside our doors and what we bring to Melbourne and the world. It’s who we are and who we want to be.”