Channeling a new identity

Yet another UK TV channel has rebranded. This time, it’s the youngest of the main terrestrial channels, Channel 5.

The channel had developed a reputation as the least discerning of the main channels, often picking up TV programmes, such as Big Brother in 2011, after they were discontinued on other channels. The channel has also been slow to the online game, where ITV, Channel 4 and the BBC already perform well.

The new identity, created by US Media Group, Viacom, which bought Channel 5 in 2014, no doubt aims to shake-off some of the channel’s less than flattering associations. The rebrand is part of a wider effort to improve ratings; Viacom has also invested in new and original programming.

ITV’s rebrand in 2013 is a good example of how a rebrand can work wonders. Like Channel 5, ITV suffered from a reputation for a lack of quality programming. The fun, friendly and relatable new brand propelled it back to the top of its game. In 2013, ITV was the only one of the five main channels to increase its audience share, it also scored its first share increase in 23 years; from 15.7% to 16.5%.

The Channel 5 rebrand launched yesterday morning (11 February, 2016) and features a new logo (the sixth rendition since the channel’s launch in 1997), new on-screen treatments for each of 5’s channels; Channel 5, 5USA and 5Star – designed by New York agency Gretel – and a new brand proposition, ‘Spirited TV with an emotional heart’. 5’s online streaming platform Demand 5 is renamed My5, and has a new logo designed by Troika, a Los Angeles agency. Viacom has also commissioned a wide variety of idents from a range of production companies. The large-scale rebrand took 13 months in total.

The new logo shares characteristics with the recent Channel 4 rebrand – the number is compiled of a group of blocks that can be re-arranged and re-applied. The previous logo was described by Jo Bacon, Channel 5’s VP of marketing, as, ‘tabloid-esque’, and thus non-reflective of the range of programming now available to Channel 5 viewers.

Research conducted prior to the rebrand exercise encompassed media and PR agencies, as well as viewers, ensuring that the new identity would fit the needs of advertisers. The channel’s target audience are described by Bacon as, ‘ABC1s and the 16-34-year-old audience’.