TV Channels: Re-branding without turning off couch potatoes

Published November 14, 2013 at 9:22 am

It’s tough to be a TV channel. Never mind all the different ways the entertainment and broadcasting industries are changing: even in its own domain a channel might easily be confronted with a challenge to its very identity after a certain amount of time on the air.

One of the most notorious has been what some see as the slow de-evolution of what is currently the “SyFy” channel. While much of the content has stayed the same, the very name has been a signal to some that it’s moving away from its original mission.

The point is, changing something as fundamental as a name can potentially scare away customers and lead to indecision over what your product or service actually is. But there are other ways to “rebrand” without necessarily losing that thing that defines you most.

The Weather Channel, to choose another example, may appear more cosmetic in its new changes, but they reflect a certain part of the company’s personality. One of the most talked-about aspects of this new approach to their programming, according to Variety, is the way it will be displaying weather information constantly throughout the programming day through on-screen graphics.

This move is supposedly coming as a way to present both the core of what the Weather Channel stands for (information about the weather) while still showing ads and staying current with modern production and broadcast trends.

Such compromises might be tricky to work out without losing something, which is why marketing campaigns should only be launched when providers are absolutely sure about the angle they’re ready to take.