Uniting welcomes everyone no matter their ethnicity, faith or sexual orientation. So for their brand launch, all of Sydney was welcome. A giant welcome mat laid out in key locations featured quotes in 14 languages from clients and staff across all of Uniting’s services, while free tea stations made visitors feel right at home. A lenticular photography exhibition featuring portraits by Gary Heery allowed visitors to immerse themselves in the many stories of hope, courage and inclusion told by the people that Uniting helps every day.

Installed one day before launch, the giant welcome mat was made up of more than 700 individual mats. Messages of gratitude and stories of individual support were emblazoned across the mats in multiple languages, while typography was used to dramatic effect. Large font sizes and different alphabets emphasise the sheer variety of those that have been touched by Uniting in some way, and allowed even the most fleeting of passersby to get a sense of the organisation’s inclusivity. It was exhibited in two prominent Sydney locations: Martin Place because of its high footfall, and Parramatta because of its opportunities for consumer engagement.

The exhibition was seen by more than 167,000 people across the two sites, with more than 2000 direct public engagements. This led to more than 300 meaningful conversations between visitors and Uniting staff.

We held two live day time events in areas of Sydney (Martin Place and Parramatta) with high footfall. With stalls, stands and a large-scale installation in place, these high-profile events were designed to engage and delight a large public audience.

Uniting’s aged care services bring in much of its revenue, which it uses to fund community projects. In 2015 government reforms to aged care funding drastically changed Uniting’s operating environment. These reforms meant that Uniting would need to compete with corporations to win business. We needed to convey Uniting’s core difference from its new profit-driven competitors – the depth and diversity of its services, and the genuine care they have for people from all walks of life. To stay competitive, Uniting needed to show people just how diverse and unique an organisation it is. The new positioning centred on bringing the brand promise of Courageous Action to life.

Uniting has been providing services to the community for over 100 years. From disability, early learning and Aboriginal services to helping the homeless and advocating for refugees, Uniting takes action for marginalised people in countless ways. However, despite offering over 400 services, helping more than 40,000 people each day, and being Australia's largest aged care provider, pre-campaign brand awareness was at 1%. In 2015, government reforms meant that rather than receive guaranteed funding, Uniting would need to compete with corporations to win business. A rebrand was undertaken to bring all of Uniting’s services under one banner, and ‘market’ the organisation for the first time. Throwing a launch event that could draw in and engage new audiences was an essential step toward raising public awareness. We had a budget of $2m to launch the brand within the states of New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory.