UKTV Channel Rebranded as Blighty Launches

UKTV People has officially relaunched as Blighty, with the goal of  “unashamedly celebrate all that is great, unique and inspirational about Britain”.

The new website has been fully launched at: www.loveblighty.co.uk

Quick updates:

Update 3:40 PM: UKTV/Blighty Head of Marketing, Tom Lucas visits this blog and shares some of his thoughts

Update 2:45 PM: Blighty Umbrellas given away with Evening Standard at London Bridge Station and Waterloo Station

Update 11:25 AM: Apparently, people are uploading pictures of themselves with their new brollies at: http://www.blightybrollies.co.uk

Update 11:10AM: The kind folks over at Blighty have let me know that a LIMITED EDITION Blighty Umbrella is being given out with the Evening Standard in select locations, tagged with a nice message

Update 10:30AM: Official Blighty Launch Video Updated, New Website Address Posted

My previous Blighty posting received several thousand hits in just a few short weeks- clearly some are really paying attention to this relaunch. As of 10:30AM, this posting has received 1200 views. Feel free to continue emailing me your thoughts on the launch. Congrats Blighty!

And if you’ve been anywhere in Britain this last week, you will have seen the national poster, magazine and newspaper campaign, created by ad agency Watermill. Incidentally, I came across a nifty tray of Blighty branded teabags at Ted Baker this weekend. I tried taking some camera phone evidence but technology was not on my side.

The channel rebrand is being helmed by UKTV’s marketing team (Tom Lucas, Sara Holt, and Gemma Parkinson) and Red Bee.

The channel launches with four idents: chutney, rain, seaside, and tea. The idents are described as “a vibrant showcase involving dancing, synchronized movement and animation combined in a kaleidoscopic and fun world” that has an Austin Powers feel. Each ident features a ditty that pays homage to the best of British. Tea, for example, is called the “saviour of the universe”, while in another ident a man sings about his daily life including the line: “my lager is warm but my summer is not”.

We can share an early glimpse of the chutney ident here.

UKTV’s Tom Lucas is known for his sharp marketing acumen, and the Blighty rebrand is no exception. UKTV History will be relaunched as Yesterday later in March (exact date to be announced). The final wave of the network’s ambitious rebrand to create a portfolio of multi-platform brands will be completed in Q2 2009 with the relaunch of its lifestyle offerings.

We’ll be updating this post through the day with the brand rollout. More details about the Blighty’s themed advertising breaks here.

Or you can get email updates easily by clicking here.

Cheers!