Successes and Failures of Idents Final Copy

Successes and failures of idents

An ident is a video identification of a channel which advertises the different programmes to an audience. This is done by introducing the next programme and the time schedule of the shows that are coming on. They usually last about 10- 20 seconds. They have both opportunities and limitations. 

Opportunities idents have are that they allow 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  a target audience of different age groups.

However, some limitations that must be considered when designing an ident are typography-which is essentially 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. This could be a difficulty when creating the advert, furthermore 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. An example of this is on a billboard or on a television because the image must fit the dimensions of the screen.

These limitations and opportunities mean that there are successful and unsuccessful idents. The first example of this is UKTV Gold’s idents from 1992 and 2004, this is an unsuccessful ident as the tempo is very slow which makes it very tedious and dull. In addition 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 the complete opposite. Furthermore there is no verbal information and it is not visually clear to what is going on, this is because it does not show the channels logo until the end of the advert. Additionally the viewer is not engaged with the ident because the music confuses the audience as well as the lack of images to brighten up the mood of the ident itself.

In contrast, 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. At the end, the logo was in the middle of the screen surrounded by various random objects and animations that 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. This line continues throughout the ident which links to the content, of successful jokes must have a “punch line". UKTV Gold uses this animation to reinstate that it is a comedy channel. This links to their target audience that I now imagine to be more younger people because the animations are bright and full of energy and typical teenagers are like this.

ITV has also been a victim to successful and unsuccessful idents because in 2003 they created a very mundane ident. This is because the logo only told us the channel name. There was a lack of information, the viewer was only told what program was 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 and direct. 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. So I believe ITV have aimed this ident to a more older and sophisticated target audience because of the simple yet factual ident.

The levels of information, both visually and verbally were very low. The interaction with the viewers was minimal because the program information was not developed with any enthusiasm. This ident was informational due to its 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 statement identifies that ITV want to aim their shows at younger people as well as keeping their older audience and when he talks about“consistent identity”this means to have all shows relate to all age groups to keep ITV as a popular television channel.

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 that 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 that 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, which 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. 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 idents will be, attracting an audience from all ages. If the ident is a failure, then the channel would have to be rebranded to 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.