ANZAM is an academic body that supports management academics across Australia and New Zealand. As the organisation approached its 40-year anniversary, the leadership team realised the brand’s identity no longer reflected its environment, values, or strategic priorities.
Our challenge was not just to modernise the brand, but to shift perception away from the dusty halls of academia and towards an inclusive, exciting future.
More balance
ANZAM is a complex entity, with layers of organisational and cultural nuance that could easily become competing rather than complementary. The brand needed to retain the maturity and precision expected of an academic institution, without diminishing the openness and warmth that make it uniquely Australasian. ANZAM also sought to acknowledge the Indigenous peoples of Australia and New Zealand with care and inclusivity.
The resulting brand is a careful, cohesive exercise in balance. Authoritative, but not controlling; mature, but approachable; inclusive without losing integrity; and dynamic, without becoming confrontational.
More belonging
The identity was built around the idea of belonging through connection - especially connection to people and to place. We wanted members from all backgrounds and disciplines to see themselves in the brand, not just respect it from a distance.
This led to a concept grounded in place, relationship, and growth. The identity draws on shared ideas from Aboriginal and Māori perspectives, naturally aligned with ANZAM’s values, to create a brand that feels distinctly Australasian, academically credible, and genuinely inclusive.
More continuity
The brand honours the knowledge, experience, and relationships that have shaped ANZAM, from Indigenous perspectives to the organisation’s own 40-year history.
The central symbol brings together two concentric circles informed by the Aboriginal campsite icon, representing home and belonging; the Māori pikorua, symbolising the joining together of people and ideas; and the structure of the poutama, representing learning, growth, and advancement. While this work was initially developed for the master brand, its cultural depth saw it adopted as the identity for ANZAM’s Indigenous Issues Special Interest Group.
The master brand identity respects the legacy of the original ANZAM brand, reimagining its signature colours as a flowing representation of land and sea, connecting Australia, New Zealand, and the wider communities that surround them.
