So when I got an email this morning from UKTV Brand and Marketing maven Sara Holt, I saw the words “I am loving your blog”. I scrolled down my Blackberry in hopes of finding something delicious, and so I did. First, if you’re a fan of Ted Baker or the Blighty Campaign, I’d recommend you check out Ted’s Blog, where you’ll find the rest of the Blighty idents:
Yesterday fans are in luck as Sara has provided a promo launch spot as an exclusive first look in anticipation of the March 2nd launch of the channel. Here’s the spot in WMV as well as:
Enjoy! Check back later today and through the weekend for the latest news on the launch idents.
Ahh… good old poster advertising. London Ad Agency Watermill (the team behind the Blighty national poster, magazine, and newspaper campaign) sent me over shots of the guerilla poster series promoting the launch of the much talked about new channel. You gotta hand it to ’em, the search engine terms for “Blighty Advertising Poster”, “UKTV Blighty National Poster” and “Loveblighty.co.uk Poster” are up 300% since last week.
Blighty Launch Poster Campaign
Here they are, immortalized for your exclusive viewing. Post no bills? No way! I’m not sure if I’m supposed to show these but… how else do these things become viral?
It showed up like this, don't ask me!
Blighty National Poster Campaign
I think the last time I posted about an outdoor TV channel campaign was for BBDO’s work for BBC World. Remember these?
In just less than 1 week, the “past becomes present” when UKTV History channel rebrands as Yesterday, culminating in the last of UKTV’s factual channels to be renamed and rebranded. Yesterday targets upmarket 30 plus couples, placing serious history in the form of Andrew Marr’s History of Modern Britain and Auschwitz in the same schedule as The Alan Clark Diaries, House of Cards and Antiques Roadshow.
The complimentary website http//www.visityesterday.co.uk launches on March 2nd as well. UKTV’s Director of Factual, Lifestyle and New Media, Jane Mote, says, “Yesterday will challenge traditional beliefs of what a history channel should be by taking a more inclusive, accessible and entertaining approach to the past and making it more immediate and relevant to viewers.”
It is a process that began with UKTV G2 being successfully rebranded by Red Bee as Dave 18 months ago, UKTV has spent a great deal of time and care on the multiplatform brand portfolio, which just saw the launch of Blighty (from UKTV People) one week ago:
Comfort brands are reportedly faring well in these uncertain times. The decidedly “feel-good” relaunches should be a welcome sight to viewers. I mean comon, who didn’t smile at that Eden launch spot? And if you didn’t, the iceberg sculpture with a polar bear and cub floating down the River Thames should have at least been smirk inducing.
Matthew Littleford, UKTV’s controller, explains: “We realized that because we had strong content we needed to have kick-ass brands that would stand out,” he says, stressing the importance of UKTV’s access to BBC programming.” The figures are impressive: six months of research, 32 focus groups, consultation with 120 staff members and 3,500 online respondents, £250,000 spent. Littleford adds, “All of the research about History was that people who came to watch it would be interested in 20th-century history and war. The history channel isn’t just about that,” he says. “We wanted a brand that stretched wider.”
“The whole point of Yesterday is to make history feel more immediate and more personal,” explained Yesterday channel head Richard Kingsbury.
The process has already begun for the UKTV Gardens, UKTV Food and UKTV Style rebrands in the spring. Following their recent launch, both factual channels Eden and Blighty saw their audiences and share more than double as a result of their rebrands, increasing share by 99% and 64% respectively versus 2008 average.
Yesterday’s tagline is “Where the Past is Always Present”.
The holding page and :10 Yesterday Spot can be seen at
The cool folks over at UKTV (and recently rebranded channel Blighty) have inked a marketing deal with British Fashion retailer Ted Baker. Some in the US might know Ted Baker more as the competitor outfit to Paul Smith. The LA flagship store on Robertson is sweet! But I digress. The marketing partnership (which was the first of it’s kind for Ted Baker) will run until March 23, 2009, launched yesterday in the windows of all the retailers shops nationwide.
The deal includes having branded tea bags and Blighty Umbrellas made available to customers who spend a minimum of £100, as well as channel branding on receipts. I’m told the Blighty Umbrellas (that you all keep emailing me about) are still available in select areas for free with a purchase of the London Evening Standard.
Update- Look what arrived this morning for me from the nice folks over at the UKTV/Virgin Media offices:
The Ted Baker deal was negotiated by Caroline Docker at partnership marketing agency Mediator alongside UKTV’s factual (and very talented) marketing manager, Sara Holt and Ted Baker’s brand communication director, Craig Smith.
It’s certainly been a successful, buzz building launch for Blighty so far. We’ll see how many others might follow a similiar channel/fashion collab.
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.
In what seems to be a very busy week of channel launch and relaunch news…
Details of UKTV’s second factual channel relaunch (behind this week’s Eden), and soon to be relaunched Yesterday were announced beginning with the launch time of Tuesday February 17 at 9AM (get your watches ready!). The channel which is described “to unashamedly celebrate all that is great, unique and inspirational about Britain today” is targeted at young couples in their 30s and 40s. In 2007, UKTV committed to a long-term project to realign its entire portfolio of TV channels and “future proof” the business.
Blighty’s new, fun slogan is “One nation under a channel”. The on-air branding is being developed by UKTV’s marketing team in partnership with Red Bee. And with a logo like that, I for one, can’t wait to see the campaign idents and adverts roll out.
Does anyone else think that it would look REALLY GOOD hanging outside my West Hollywood home? Yeah- I think so too.
You can follow me on Twitter or connect to me on LinkedIn, subscribe via RSS / email, or drop me an email to say you enjoy the blog or share your channel's latest work.
"I follow your blog daily and find it to be the number one source for broadcast design. Keep up the tireless and thankless good work. You are doing the unsuspecting world a great service." - Brad Gensurowsky, VP On-Air Design, NBC Universal
"Art & Business in Motion is a great resource for keeping current with broadcast identities from around the world. It provides some wonderful perspective to processes involved in creating them." - Evan Mathis, Creative Director USA Network
“Art & Business in Motion is a great tool and resource to use on a regular basis. It helps our brand teams stay updated on what other channels are doing domestically and globally. I pass the link to everyone I know in the business. I’m a big fan.” - Linas Virbickas, ACD Discovery Creative
"The site has been invaluable in seeing what our colleagues around the world are doing, keeping tabs on the top creative agencies, and a rare resource that speaks to both sides of the coin, touching on both the creative and business aspects of our industry. " - Zhou Xie, VP/Creative Director CCTV
"Art & Business in Motion is the most complete site I’ve seen to keep us informed about the industry in a wide screen point of view. Thank you for the great blog.” - Camilo Barria, Art Director MTV + VH1 Creative
Art & Business of Motion 