Identity Parade by Poz Watson

Televisual, June 2007, pgs 39 – 41.

“Branding is so important these days,” says Bruce Dunlop, “because you are trying to identify one channel in 400.” As the group creative director of Dunlop and Associates underlines, the rapid growth of digital channels has made standing out from the crowd even more important.

And to do that, the channels “have to refresh constantly,” according to Paul Cackett, creative director of Addiction. Desperately trying to halt the migration of viewers to the internet, BBC1, BBC2 and the ITV family have all refreshed their on-air presentation recently, although their new looks have proved to be a little controversial.

Channel 4 is perhaps the only terrestrial broadcaster that receives regular praise for its branding efforts, and the response even to BBC2’s new idents (once so popular) has been underwhelming. Dunlop suggests that ITV would be better off using their score of glamorous personalities than the colour coded animations it does at the moment, but admits that branding is a tough job for general entertainment channels. Dunlop says, “I guess it is easier with smaller channels that only have one direction.”

As the number of channels increases, most of them only have one direction, as Tim Bird, director at Knifedge, points out: “In some respects [channel branding] is getting more straightforward, because the predominant characteristic of channel proliferation is niche markets.”

Cackett notes that the trend seems to be away from individually branded channels though, and towards families of channels, where “all you care about is the broadcaster family”. The way Channel 4, E4 and More4 are all distinct but also clearly linked is something that is seen to be effective, with Sandra Goddard, creative director at Knifedge, noting that it’s true of others too: “What a lot of channels are doing is handling their family of channels really well.”

But, as Cackett adds, “One block is key” when it comes to EPG, something that none of the terrestrial channels are currently able to achieve.

Again referring to Channel 4, Bird says that the role of branding has grown over the years: “It’s more than an ident. It’s embracing the notion that it’s actually a piece of content.” Five is another broadcaster that has embraced longer idents, with Goddard describing it as brave “to just leave them up there that little bit longer.”

But opting for longer idents is just one of the many ways that channels are jostling for attention. “Everyone knows there are lots of channels,” says Goddard, “so they’re aware that they have to make their brand strong. It’s upped the game I think.”

But no matter how many channels there are and how the broadcasting landscape has changed, the basic of branding have remained the same.

According to Dunlop, “relevant is the key word.” Bird agrees, explaining that, “Any brand, not just a channel brand, the design has to reflect a truth about that brand. No one buys a brand that says it’s all wacky and different and actually isn’t.” Which is why Goddard says there’s “nothing like a brief that really ties it down.” It’s when concise and accurate information can be communicated from the broadcaster to the design team that a successful brand can be built, she suggests.

All of which reveals that the first step for successful branding is for the broadcaster to work out exactly what message it wants communicated. Once the broadcaster knows clearly what the channel is, then the designers doing the branding can make sure that clarity is reflected in the on and off air presentation. As Dunlop points out, “There’s a big difference between art and branding, and art for art’s sake is not branding. You’ve got to try and get to the heart of what a channel is about, and then brand it accordingly.”

But no matter how good a channel looks, its got to have substance as well as style, great programmes as well as a great look. Cackett adds: “At the end of the day, the package won’t bring viewers, but hopefully it encourages them to stay within an environment.”

One piece of good news for design companies, is of course, there are more and more media environments that need branding. Bird explains that “with technology moving apace… with more channels being delivered through broadband, with VoD being available” the future looks bright for designers. It means leaving the world of standard definition, so there’s more room for detail particularly in type.

And even if branding is nothing but “smart signposting” as Cackett simply puts it, design houses can at least be proud that, “the UK, and Europe, leads the way in identity work,” according to Dunlop. And to prove it, take a peek across these pages, which showcase some of the most recent examples of channel branding in the UK.