Successes and Failures of Idents Draft One

Successes and failures of idents 

Idents are small advertisements that market a channel. They have both opportunities and limitations. Some opportunities idents have are that it allows you to brand your channel to various markets, it creates an identity and a tone for your channel as well as displaying text based information more easily. Also it can appeal to target audience of different age groups.

However some limitations that must be considered when designing an ident are typography -which is the font, it must be clear to read, and it must be big and bold enough to understand- the resolution of the ident; this is the quality of the image could be a difficulty when creating the advert, also the colour and the aspect-ratio of the images could be a problem because the designer must take into account where the advertisement will take place. For instance on a billboard or on a TV because the image must fit the dimensions.

These limitations and opportunities mean that there are successful and unsuccessful idents. The first example of this will discuss is UKTV Gold’s idents from 1992 and 2004, this is an unsuccessful ident as the tempo is very slow and dull as well as the transitions of the frames are slow, it doesn’t link to the channel itself because UKTV Gold is a comedy channel but this ident makes it look bland. Furthermore there is no verbal information and it is not visually clear, as it does not show the channels logo until the end of the advert. In addition, the viewer is not engaged, as the music is confusing as well as the lack of images to brighten up the mood of the ident itself.

However in 2012 UKTV Gold created a successful ident, as this one was more futuristic and abstract. This made the viewer more involved, as the music was lively and quite upbeat. Also the tempo was much quicker and this reinforced the youth of the channel. Additionally, there was a lot happening at once which made the viewer find it difficult to look away and at the end the logo was in the middle of the screen surrounded by various random objects and animations which could signify that people have become more interested with UKTV Gold now that they have a more energetic identity. Moreover, at the start of the ident, the logo is punched by a boxing glove and a line comes out of the logo and this line continues throughout the ident and this links to the content of all successful jokes and that is to have a “punch line’” and UKTV Gold uses this animation to reinstate that it is a comedy channel.

ITV has also been victim to successful and unsuccessful idents because in 2003 they created a very boring ident. This is because the logo only told us the channel and there was a lack of information which was shared, the viewer was only told what program is on next and this makes me think that the channel was very strict and the ident looked formal and the information was straight to the point. The logo was in the centre of the screen to show dominance, as it was stationary throughout the ident. I think the ident was set in the present day but the transitions of the logo and the shapes and the movement of the background looked quite futuristic. Which could imply that ITV 1 was trying to become futuristic whilst still being quite ordinary. Even though this logo transition was quite futuristic, it didn’t take away from the fact that the rest of the ident was boring.

The levels of information, both visually and verbally were very low as well as the interaction with the viewers was minimal because of the program information was not developed with any enthusiasm. This ident was informational due to tits plain colours and the information, which was delivered, reinforcing the point that the channel was quite strict.

10 years on, ITV rebranded their logo and changed the name from ITV 1 to ITV. They also changed the colour scheme to “better reflect their program mix”. The main logo is a colour-picking design which changes to suit its backdrop as well as the nature of its programming. The ITV Group Director of Marketing and Research, Rufus Radcliffe said “the rebranding of ITV will allow us to further cement the relationship in viewers’ minds between shows and the ITV brand that produces and broadcasts them. We now have a consistent identity across everything we do.”

This rebranding happened on Monday 14^th January 2013.

This rebranding was evident in ITV’s ‘pugwash’ ident. This was a successful ident because the logo was bold and energetic. The font colour of the logo was purple to make it stand out and this shows that ITV are proud of their channel. Underneath the logo it had ‘channel of the year’ which emphasises how popular the channel is to all ages. Even though it takes a few seconds for the information (commentary) to start, it then blasts us with information. For instance, the person who is speaking is introduced, what the channel is called, the time of day, the channel which is coming on next and then it tells the viewers to go onto twitter to keep up to date with the program. Furthermore the logo appears at the beginning then slowly appears throughout the ident to show the channels’ elegance. The logo is also to the side of the screen so it doesn’t distract the viewer from the pug. This ident is set in the present day as the dog is being washed and this is a realistic thing to do in today’s society. In addition to this explanation of why this ident is successful is the tempo, it begins slow as the camera goes from a wide shot to a close up but the fast paced voice contrast with the slow ident.

The voiceover interacts with the viewer as he introduces himself and any regular ITV viewer would know who it is; Keith Lemon. He also tells the audience to go on twitter and #throughthekeyhole, which is his new show, and get involved by saying whose house he is in. This relates to the viewer as twitter is a main trend for teenagers. Also the music is sophisticated and this is a reoccurring theme throughout the two idents as they both have sophistication and seriousness. Lastly, this channel is entertaining because of the idents that are created because of the programmes which support them and also any fan of Keith Lemon would know that his programmes are entertaining.

My last examples of successful and unsuccessful idents will be from Channel 5

Firstly, in 2007 Channel 5 created a balloon ident which lacked fun and energy. The density of information was lacklustre because the logo of ‘five’ appears which makes us understand what channel it is branding, then the genre of the upcoming programmes where told ‘news and sport’ as well as the presenter was named ‘Helen Fospero’. The tempo of this ident is relatively slow which makes the viewer lose attention but the balloons form quickly but the voiceover is of a slow pace. The blue and white balloons float into the sky to make the logo ‘five’ which is quite simplistic but the blue balloons turn white suggesting that the channel is pure and all the programmes are smooth, meaning that the amount of breaks will be minimal. This ident is set in the present day due to the realistic colours and the situation of the balloons is very simple.

This ident would relate more to older people as a target audience because the music is smooth and relaxing as well. The colours also emphasise the calm identity of the ident. The ident is informational because the voiceover tells us specific details and that is who the presenter is and we have already learnt that this is Helen Fospero, also it tells us the channel once again. Furthermore we learn what programmes are coming up.

Then in 2011 a drum ident was created by Channel 5 as part of a rebranding, Richard Desmond rebranded the channel from ‘five’ to ‘Channel 5’ with a logo of a white ‘five’ in a red background after purchasing Channel 5 Broadcasting from RTL. However some people reacted in a negative way and one person said “it looks like a generic fake news-cast van in the background of a Die Hard film.” But this ident is successful as it has a much quicker tempo and it more upbeat with help from the drums that are being played. This creates a more lively and energetic personality. Furthermore, the channel number is shown in the backdrop as well as the voiceover gives a quick summary of the upcoming programmes. The drums are being played in the centre of the screen to make sure all viewers are focused on it. The logo in the backdrop is loud and bold which also attracts the viewers eye. Again, this ident is set in the present day because nothing peculiar or eccentric is happening; it is just calm and conventional. Additionally, the fast paced and lively music creates a more exciting channel personality. This will then attract a younger audience because they would think that the channel is more entertaining. This ident is entertaining and it foreshadows the captivating programmes which will be played.

So in conclusion, a successful ident has to have design features that are thoroughly thought out, imaginative and the more clever these design features are, the more eye-catching and successful the idnets will be, attracting an audience from all ages. If the ident is a failure, then the channel would have to be rebranded make it more successful and we have learnt here that many of the popular channels had to rebrand their ideas to keep their audience attracted.