Australia’s ABC2 Gets Vibrant New Look, Goes Pink & Lime Green

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Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s ABC2 is getting a bright new on-air identity. The new strapline “Always Brighter” aims to position the channel to “surprise, enthuse, and provoke“. After expanding its channel portfolio during the last few years, it now has four television channels, including ABC News 24, which recently had a very successful rebrand to positive reviews.

ABC2 2011 Rebrand "Always Brighter"

ABC2, which launched back in March 2005, broadcasts a range of original content from ABC1, as well as a strong drama lineup, interesting and eclectic documentaries, some off-the-wall comedies and a growing number of Australian productions. The new on-air package brief was to “tie together the promise of intelligent and distinctly colourful content that will appeal to all Aussie audiences.”

The new lime and pink design is a bold and brave step forward for the broadcaster, who has in the past been (in my opinion) a bit unfairly criticized for its branding decisions. ABC2 Controller Stuart Menzies further explains the new identity, saying “ABC2’s look needed to change to reflect what the channel offers – namely, a bright, sassy and thought-provoking mix of programming … all without taking ourselves too seriously.”

ABC Launches ‘Enter_’, a new Integrated Marketing Campaign

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Breaking News. ABC today debuts “Enter_” a new integrated brand marketing campaign aimed at raising the awareness of Australian audiences about the number of ways they can engage with ABC content across all platforms – Television, Radio, Online, Mobile and ABC Shops.

Outdoor Billboard

The campaign will invite Australians to ‘Enter’ the ABC via different messages, different offerings and in different ways that suit them. It is ABC’s first major advertising campaign in a decade and was led by  Sydney creative agency Moon.

The goal of the new campaign is threefold:

• Increase the awareness of the ABC’s online content at abc.net.au, and online catch-up TV service, iView;
• Encourage more Australians to engage with the ABC, more often, and in more ways; and
• Re-energise the ABC brand so that it is consistent with the reality of the ABC today as an innovative and multi-platform broadcaster.

ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) delivers more than 500 million downloads each year, not including Australia’s first internet television catch-up service iView, streaming over 2 million views a month, plus a myriad of content made for mobile and tablet devices.

ABC Director of Corporate Strategy and Marketing Michael Ebeid adds, “”We tried to keep some of the things Australians love about the ABC (the sting and logo) and added a modern interpretation.”

Outdoor Billboard

It’s the first time the public broadcaster has run an integrated cross-platform ABC promotion highlighting its four TV stations, four national, nine metropolitan and 51 regional radio networks, internet-only catch-up TV service iView, ABC Online, centres and shops.

Outdoor Billboard

I will be updating & sharing additional creative with as new brand components become available. A special thanks to Lisa Hresc, ABC Head of Corporate Marketing, for reaching out and sharing campaign insight.

Australia’s Newest Children’s Channel, ABC3, Launches

Australia’s newest digital channel dedicated to children, ABC3, has launched. The new channel (owned by Australian Broadcasting Corporation) launches with 24 Channel IDs and over 400 branding elements.

ABC3’s challenge was to create a brand to satisfy the needs and wants of their wide ranging 7-15 year old demographic. The research showed that this was a very astute audience who were cynical about traditional marketing but absorb and love social networking, thus the focus of the channel IDs was really about kids telling stories. The branding assignment was helmed by Sydney based Tactic.