Channel branding and identity: A channel's identity or brand is the way in which a channel is perceived by consumers. A brand is a recognisable idea or image of a specific product or service that consumers can connect with. This is often done by identifying the name, logo, slogan, or design of the channel who owns the idea or image. The identity and brand of a channel is often made up of characteristics that define that particular channel. For example, if the identity of a channel is comedic and humorous, the branding for said channel might use a bright colour scheme and a funny slogan. This is because brighter colours tend to represent joy and laughter. Comedy is something that brings joy to people. Successful branding can tell consumers the genre of the channel. As i explained before, branding and identity are made from the characteristics of the content shown on a particular channel. This makes it easier for consumers to know the genre of the channel. The components of a brand (name, logo, tone, slogan, design) are created by a company to reflect the value the company is trying to bring to the market and to appeal to its customers/consumers. In a way, Branding and identity is all about visual communication. The way in which a channel communicates with its audience. This is why, establishing a strong visual identity that connects with consumers is crucial to success. A channel without a unique brand and visual identity is less likely to gain a wider audience share.
Brand Loyalty: Brand Loyalty is the unspoken promise that, a consumer will continue to buy or use a particular product or service. It can be said that "brand loyalty" is a trend or pattern in which a consumer will become committed to a particular brand or service and make repeat purchases from the same brand or service over time. Brand loyalty for television branding is very important. The general aim of a television channel is to build a bigger audience, this means increasing a channel's audience share. If a channel has a wider audience,it means that it is more likely to attract "loyal" consumers. Loyal consumers, lead to increases in audience share, which in turn leads to more revenue. It is for this reason that brand loyalty is so important.
Re-branding a channel: Re-branding is the process of changing the image of a company or TV channel. Essentially, Rebranding is the creation of a new look and feel for an established product or service. a complete overhaul of the corporate image. The usual aim of rebranding a TV channel is to influence a consumer's perception about the channel's content.This is done by rejuvenating the brand and making it seem more modern and relevant to the consumer's needs.
Task 2
ident 1: (Funimation Entertainment)
This is the 2012 ident for the Funimation Entertainment Channel. The ident uses both 2D parallax animation and CGI animation. Funimation is known for broadcasting English dubbed and subbed anime shows.They also broadcast live action Japanese shows and Western cartoons. The content that Funimation provides is mostly anime related and is aimed at teens and young adults. This is reflected in the ident, as you can see animated speech bubbles and various Anime iconography and conventions.This ident reinforces the brand and identity of Funimation, which is about having fun and immersing yourself in fictional world. The fact that the ident starts off with the logo in space, further solidifies this point.The ident includes the logo of the TV channel,it also includes the slogan "You should be watching". The background music creates a Sci-fi feeling. This further reinforces the notion that Funimation wants the audience to "immerse" themselves in a fictional world of anime.
Ident 2: (Channel 4)
This is the ident for channel 4. The channel’s new idents demonstrate an innovative new take on the Channel 4 logo. 4 Creative collaborated with Academy Films (opens in a new window) who produced this part of the project. Director Jonathan Glazer (opens in a new window) (Under the Skin, Guinness ‘Surfer’, Sony ‘Paint’) took the original brief and crafted a story, writing and directing the set of films; a four-part narrative that is to be continued. Globally renowned graphic designer Neville Brody (opens in a new window) (The Times London, Yamaha, Christian Dior, Samsung, Converse, GAP, Nike, Royal College of Art) was commissioned to cut two exclusive new typefaces for Channel 4 named Horseferry (for display) and Chadwick (for information). These can be seen as part of the channel’s refreshed on-screen graphics (e.g. end of programme credit panels, branded stings, menu information graphics and programme title cards) as well as its bold new off-air/poster art direction.
The new on screen identity for Channel 4 will be visible across programme brands that currently incorporate the channel’s branding including Channel 4 Racing and Channel 4 News – for which a brand new title sequence launches on Wednesday 30th September.Mica Levi, and The Shapes, (Under the Skin) composed the music to the idents. She is currently an Artist in Residence at London's Southbank Centre.
At the same time as refreshing the identity of the main linear channel, Channel 4 is introducing an updated corporate brand to reflect the whole network of channels and services it delivers. This brand identity uses the new multi-coloured 4 logo reflecting all the channel brands which was first introduced to launch All 4. This will now be used on all corporate and network branding. The name of the corporation will remain Channel 4 Television Corporation.
James Walker, Head of Marketing, Channel 4 said: “Channel 4’s main channel identity has been running for ten years and has been hugely successful. This ground breaking brand refresh pushes it forward once more, reflecting our public service remit to be diverse, challenging and innovative.”Chris Bovill and John Allison, Heads of 4 Creative said: “Most TV branding these days is like watching wallpaper. It’s pleasant but gets boring very quickly.
However, Channel 4 is much more than just a big shiny number and some nice vibes.
We didn’t want to tell people what channel they’re watching. We wanted to tell them why they’re watching it the first place. They watch because Channel 4 stands for something important. We wanted the new branding to reflect this.
Ident 3: (Film 4)
This is an ident for Film 4; the channel produces contents aimed at teens,young adults and adults .The channel mainly broadcasts films. Film 4 uses a suite of idents. A suite of idents are idents that all have a similar theme that links them together. Having a single theme helps to maintain/brand identity, which is useful because it's less complex than having a lot of themes. In the case of film 4, each ident includes the logo and reflects the genre of the film that the viewer is about to watch. This is done by using a typical location and prop that a particular genre would use. For example, the location used in the ident above, is a location that one would typically see in a thriller/spy movie. Not only does this ident reflect the genre of film, it also reflects the content and theme of the actual channel.The ident is moving as if it is a strip of celluloid film. Celluloid film is widely recognised as a symbol or iconography for the film industry. Therefore, having a ident move in such a way, only reinforces the idea that this channel is about films.
This tells the viewer who is watching this channel, that he/she is about to watch a thriller film. each ident there is a multi-coloured robot, all the robots are dancing to energetic music or doing active things like kicking a beach ball. It basically sums up what teenagers enjoy doing, having a good time with friends. All of the robots in the ident are interacting with the T4 logo. The personality of each robot is enhanced through the costume design, choreography and how they act towards the new 3D logo. The overall framing of this ident is very well composed and established. There’s a lot of movement included in this ident both from the animated robots and the logo itself. Each ident background is very pale and basic but this helps to draw the eye towards the action within the ident. This ident last for 34 seconds at an upbeat, snappy pace which contrasts very well with the fast movement from each dancing robot. This ident is well suited for young adults (16-25 year olds) because of the vibrant vibe throughout.The fluffy clouds that frame the edge of the shot makes it feel as if you’re falling into a dream. This ident is a really fantastic way of enforcing the company title. For a start the saying "you've got your head in the clouds" is said when you completely zone out and start to day dream. I think by putting the clouds on here that's the effect they are going for. The crescent moon with the boy sat on the edge fishing clearly displays a dream sequence and that you can do anything you want to in your dreams.
Ident 5: (E4 ident)
This is an ident for E4; the channel produces contents aimed at young adults. It broadcasts show information, celebrity gossip, shopping and a text message service. In each ident there is a purple flood. all the robots are dancing to energetic music or doing active things like kicking a beach ball. It basically sums up what teenagers enjoy doing, having a good time with friends. All of the robots in the ident are interacting with the E4 logo. The personality of each robot is enhanced through the costume design, choreography and how they act towards the new 3D logo. The overall framing of this ident is very well composed and established. There’s a lot of movement included in this ident both from the animated robots and the logo itself. Each ident background is very pale and basic but this helps to draw the eye towards the action within the ident. This ident last for 34 seconds at an upbeat, snappy pace which contrasts very well with the fast movement from each dancing robot. This ident is well suited for young adults (16-25 year olds) because of the vibrant vibe throughout.
Ident 6: (BBC One ident)
This BBC one ident is aired throughout the year but being aired in winter interacts with the audience by getting them excited for the approaching summer season.The stop motion animation naturally appeals to a younger audience. The colour of the logo creates brand loyalty. This is because the colour of it is shown throughout the ident and establishes the channel and its themes. In addition to this, the logo is incorporated various times throughout the ident in different forms, but ultimately, even when the logo is made out of popcorn in conjunction with the theme of summer and the beach and enjoyment, there is still the presence of the colour purple in the background, which means it doesn’t lose its identity and audiences can still distinguish the channel. Although the content of the ident may seem randomly compiled, in actual fact, it is not. Each of the subjects represent BBC in the way that it broadcasts a wide range of programmes but is most well known for entertainment. This is conveyed when one of the teddies in the slow-moving boat sailing in the sand is pulled into the sand from the fishing rod. This is entertaining, which suggests that the ident is entertainment led. The ident begins with 3 beach huts with primary-coloured doors.
This suggests that the channels content can be classed into 3 sections i.e. subcategories of entertainment such as: Comedy, Drama and Documentaries. Within this ident, it could be interpreted that the busy content attempts to make the audience aware of the channel content, thus encouraging brand loyalty by making this activity and excitement familiar with the audience and finally influencing the audience’s purchasing power. Typically, the use of particular objects or colours result in an association with the meaning of them or what they are intending to represent. The audio in the background is catchy and sets a light-hearted and fun tone, causing the audience to be more interested in the channel.
The ident is 21 seconds in duration an the density of information is quite heavy but being conveyed in visuals, it doesn’t actually feel that way. Being less than 30 seconds long, it works well to keep the younger target audience interested for just about the right amount of time and conveys the information in an entertaining form. If the objects are representative of the variety of programmes on BBC that are all entertainment related (as if the beach is the metaphor for the entertainment and the fact that all the objects are all in this one location on the beach) then the information is portrayed concisely, albeit with a busy screen, in an appealing way.
Task 3
Task 4
Idents
An Ident is a short motion graphic animation sequence that is used by Television and Television streaming channels to brand and identify themselves. Idents often help to create visual communication between the channel/company and the consumer. For example, Idents visually help viewers to identity the channel they are currently watching. This done by including visual representations of the content in which the channel provides. Some television channel do this by combining both camera footage and animation.
Television idents are created, firstly, with the purpose of giving the channel an identity in order for the specific channel to stand out from all others, in the hope of attracting more viewers. This is linked to the importance and purpose of branding through the use of television idents. Idents are designed in a specific way that represents the specific television channel. This is because the short, creative idents are designed to incorporate everything thing that the television channel embodies and what it wants to portrays itself as to the audience. The ident is designed with specific colours, objects, etc. in mind that ultimately represent the channel’s identity, and also suggest to the audience the kind of programmes they can find on this television channel.
Another purpose of television idents is for marketing purposes. By creating an ident, a television channel can than place these at the starts and ends of television programmes, as well as during the advert breaks. This is a marketing technique that can be used by television channels, firstly, to help remind the viewer about what channel they are watching, but to also advertise the identity and branding of the channel to their current audience. This is because the branding and identity, represented through their ident, may appeal to the viwer, and this will therefore result in the viewer most likely returning to the channel to watch other programmes because they like the identity of the channel, and will most likely like the types of programmes they air too. Also, television idents can be especially useful when the channel is siring a very popular programme, and the ident will ultimately make the audience realise what channel they are watching, because it is possible that many may have just turned onto this channel to watch the specific programme, and this give the television channel a great window of opportunity to advertise and market their channel to a large, and most likely diverse, current audience. This would all hopefully mean that more people become familiar with the channel and its’ branding, and are therefore more likely to watch the specific television channel more frequently.
Television idents are also created for the purpose of packaging and repackaging the channel. For example: if there is a change in the branding, identity or even the types of programmes a specific television channel shows, idents can be used to symbolise a change in such things to the audience because idents can be reasonably quickly made to represent the new identity, branding and new programmes that a television channel my now be showing. Television idents therefore have an important role in packing or repackaging a channel and what they represent, by simply changing or altering the channel’s idents. Television idents are also used for packaging and repackaging the channel depending on the time of the year. A television channel may have one main ident, but they will then repackage this and create an ident similar to the original ident but just slightly different so that it suits a certain time of theme. For example: an television channel may want to create a specific christmas ident that is shown on their channel over the christmas period and between christmas television programmes. The graphic designers who create the ident will then take the main original ident and repackage it a little so that it incorporates some christmas themes. Therefore, the audience will still be able to identify what channel they are watching it because it has some of the same elements of the original ident, but then they will also be able to tell that its christmas and that this channel probably has a christmas themed schedule with christmas themed television programmes due to the additional christmas elements that have been added in order to repackage the ident.
