What makes a channel rebrand good or bad

[Blubatt]

I consider any package in which the actual main idents don't feature the full channel name and/or logo as such to be pigswill.

Channel 4's 2015 (or whenever it was) ones, with things like the miners, the micro-organism, and the shaman (or whatever that creepy-as-heck dancing person that looked like a humanoid fly was meant to be) were stinkers. I remain flabbergasted that the bound-to-give-people-nightmares Shaman ident was ever approved for broadcast at all (or at least pre-watershed, if it was indeed used pre-watershed?).

I know that they had the pieces of the "4" logo in them (not actually assembled into a finished "4"), but in some of them it was so subtle that "normal viewers" probably didn't even spot them.

I'm sure that the obligatory tossy marketing guff that came which their launch said something about a plan for later additions which would tell an ongoing story. Presumably, the intention was for the "4" to gradually become more apparent? (e.g. the miners eventually assembling the "crystal" pieces into a massive "4", or something?) But none of that ever came to pass, of course. They were a massive step-down from the "floating buildings" etc style idents which each featured (albeit briefly) a clear and large 4.

Admittedly, I'd have liked to have seen a 'Blackstar Music Video' type ritual involving the 4 Blocks, arranged in the familiar shape, in a potential second wave of their bizarre blocks idents, but I was one of a very small number of people who liked the Channel 4 idents from 2015. I thought they were very different, in a good way, if a little too oblique

[Brekkie]

The BBC haven't managed any good modern brand since BBC 3 blobs.

A bit harsh on the curves. On the whole that was a good clean rebrand too until they started needlessly slapping "Channel of the Year" text on the idents.

Sky Arts probably have my favourite set of idents af the moment, but then I probably only catch them once or twice a month so they always feel new.


One factor today is whether to release all the idents up front. Long gone are the days of waiting g for them to be captured when the broadcaster or design house stick them all online immediately. I still think it's quite nice to let them debut in the environment they're designed for, but suspect we'll get some glimpses at least prior to air.

[Morgane]

I'm having some thoughts about it and I think I can list several factors which feel important to me in considering whether a branding or rebranding is efficient or not. (I hope it makes enough sense for something written between midnight and 1am Paris time!)
There is of course a lot of interplay between these factors, several are closely related to each other…

• Clarity. Because a TV identity of made of elements of signalisation, it should be clear/readable to the viewer. (This also applies to idents, where the word "readable" can be interpreted as "the viewer can figure out what is going on".)
  
  Identifiability. The elements of branding, through their design, should allow the viewer to identify the channel. The presence of the channel logo counts, but the branding should also match with the theme/positioning/tone of the channel. My apologies for being more familiar with French examples, but, you wouldn't give Arte the TF1 treatment; you wouldn't give M6 the France 3 treatment (unless M6 underwent a shift in content and tone).
  
  Consistency. This one is almost self-explanatory: elements of branding should not look out of place one with another, and could ideally be linked by a same underlying idea or pattern.
  
  Elegance. This is by far the criterion which is the most subject to individual/subjective judgement: it is better when elements of branding look (and sound) pleasing to the viewer.

In addition, the sound design is just as important as the visual aspect; sound design makes half of the work, this is very perceptible in branding where the visual aspect relies heavily on geometry (Canal+ 1995 is an extreme but relevant case).

[WARNING: contains flashing images]

[CameronYoung]

That Channel 5 now has main idents that *do* take their queue from the surrounding pres is a big improvement.

Didn't they effectively just make the existing break bumpers the idents?

[Ashley]

That Channel 5 now has main idents that *do* take their queue from the surrounding pres is a big improvement.

Didn't they effectively just make the existing break bumpers the idents?

No. The idents and break bumpers and surrounding presentation were introduced at the same time.

[CameronYoung]

That Channel 5 now has main idents that *do* take their queue from the surrounding pres is a big improvement.

Didn't they effectively just make the existing break bumpers the idents?

No. The idents and break bumpers and surrounding presentation were introduced at the same time.

Clearly I've got my timeline mixed up (or I've worded it badly), I could swear the current break bumpers have been in service since before the current idents.