*Update 2: A glimpse at the new campaign. Extra thanks to Matt.
*Update 1: For those Comedy Central watchers that just can’t wait, a few bits about the new idents. One spot has a giant Comedy Central logo crashing down into a tightly packed alleyway causing an orchestra of car alarms to go off. Another has the logo atop an evening skyline causing a drain on the local power grid. The new stings are particularly refreshing.
A seven-figure sum is being spent on the rebrand of Paramount Comedy to Comedy Central, sources say. Jill Offman, Comedy Central MD explains, “Karamarama’s creative executions perfectly convey that we are the only modern comedy channel in the UK. We love our new look and the whole Comedy Central team looks forward to taking the channel to new levels of success over the coming year.”
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
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.
Rebranded UKTV Documentary channel, Eden, (re)launches today. The branding campaign, via UKTV’s marketing team and Red Bee, began airing on Dec. 26, 2008 with a :60 image/identity spot. The background music in the Eden TV advert is “Feeling Good” by Muse.
I’ve worked on a half dozen Discovery Channel branding & image spots through the years. The content is vast, inspiring, and plentiful. It’s good to see Eden settling quickly into its new creative identity. Looking forward to sharing more of the branding package as it continues to be unveiled. The :60 image spot is “pretty darn feel good”.
Eden’s tagline is “One Amazing World. One Amazing TV Channel”. Eden launches with programs including Superstorm, Ganges, Tribe, and Wild China, as well as top series Planet Earth and Full Circle.
Eden is the first new factual channel rebrand, to be followed by Blighty and Yesterday as part of the broadcasters continuing rebrand strategy.
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