By Tom Webster, Partnerships Manager - 18.10.2018
Last weekend, the Medibank Melbourne Marathon Festival cemented its status as a key event in Australia’s running festival calendar by attracting a record 34,734 participants across the five distances; including a sell-out event for the SriLankan Airlines Half Marathon and the Asics 10km Run.
More than 35,000 spectators cheered on athletes, family and friends as they crossed the finish line on the hallowed turf of the MCG with thousands more tuning in online via a live stream of full race coverage.
Six months earlier, Hardhat teamed up with Melbourne Marathon’s event owner and operator IMG, to rebrand the city’s iconic event. After 7 years with the purple running man, Hardhat was tasked with creating a new identity to be rolled out across the race’s channels — website, social, outdoor, merchandise and event signage.
Following the success of the 41st Melbourne Marathon, IMG’s Head of Consumer Marketing, Olivia Ientile said: “The Medibank Melbourne Marathon Festival is an incredible event with a proud history that consistently unites our city. Many of our participants return each year, including multi-generational families. We wanted the new brand to positively reflect the prestige of the event and ensure its appeal to future generations of runners.”
On the inspiration behind the new branding, Hardhat’s Creative Director Reece Ryan said; “This brand is a powerful abstraction of movement and motion, more literally derived from the two M’s of Melbourne Marathon. Our city is a real melting pot of sports, fashion and the arts and so we wanted the new brand to stand bold and confident as a symbol of this that we could wear loud and proud.”
The rebranding project adds to Hardhat’s growing portfolio of work in the health and wellbeing space after winning Bupa and picking up projects with Life-Space, Telstra Health in 2018.
