ITV's absolute awful branding

What is the ITV corporate logo?

Is it ITV with each letter in a seperate box as per their channels?

http://www.itv.com/images/homepage/whatsonitv3.gif

Is it ITV all in the same box as per their website?

http://www.itv.com/images/homepage/logo_itv.gif

Or is it just the boxes with the ITV font as per the news?

http://thetvroom.com/images-itv-net-news/images-2004/miscell/promo-3a.jpg

ITV1, ITV2, ITV3 have all similar branding, whereas the news channel is different. The web-site as well is a marketing disaster, absolutely awful. How many different domain names does ITV.com branch off to?

How many programmes use their own domain names for email addresses rather than programmename@itv.com. I just think from a basic point of view, they are failing in so many departments.

Even up until recently, the Meridian weather had the "old face" on the sponsorship sting. Similarly, one minute we're told my local ITV station's web-site is www.itv.com/meridian, and then next I'm told its meridiantv.com.

I know its only insignificant amounts of money in terms of ITV, but I reckon the company must have at least 70 different domain names registered for different programmes/regional sites/info pages etc. What a waste. Just one domain name and one huge amount of webspace is required.

Wouldn't it be so much better to get a decent company designing the site, getting everything in one place, and then sorting out a marketing image that is carried through its TV idents aswell...?

I could go on, but thats all for now. Any other crapness from ITV that can be pointed out, please add to the thread...

Same in the Tyne Tees region - it's either itv.com/tynetees or tynetees.tv - both point to tynetees.tv. It gets even more ridiculous once you consider they also have the corporate design site (as per other ITV Plc. stations), which is accessed via itvregions.com which rips all the info off tynetees.tv and redirects everything back to the full site. Even the titlebar name says tynetees.tv . The itvregions site is rarely updated, while the station's own site is.

Same story with the trails - they can't make up their mind, it's either "on Tyne Tees" or "on ITV1".
ITV is a shambles, it's time for a COMPLETE makeover of the whole setup - if they don't want regions, they're going to have to sort out the station into a worthy national broadcaster.

I don't think the integration of all the separate domains into itv.com has gone too badly, to be honest.

Consider that only 4 years ago, there was itv.co.uk operating as a glorified links page, whilst regional stations had their own websites (with no uniformity for naming them - i.e. Anglia was angliatv.com, Westcountry was carlton.com/westcountry, Tyne Tees was and remains tynetees.tv), programmes had their own websites which may or may not have had an itv prefix in the URL, news was accessed from itn.co.uk, weather from another separate website again.

Although I don't think the content of itv.com is particularly stellar, and I particularly don't like the way the regional websites are paid lip service too, but the simpler itv.com/... format for everything works well and I don't think has been badly integrated at all.

The problem isn't just with integration - the site itself is worse than it was when it first launched, the whole thing has slowed down, probably to do with the overuse of blue colour everywhere. It's badly designed, and it's worrying when a regional broadcaster's site can come up with a better design and layout than the controlling company!

The regions websites are also worse, V1 of the generic websites (see dream factory link on Meridian's website) worked much better, and looked better. I don't know who or which company is in charge of running these sites, but they need a good kick up the arse...

indeed the open university website seems to take a while to load due to the blue content aswell

No, no and er, no.
Their corporate logo can be found on their corporate site at http://www.itvplc.com/

http://www.itvplc.com/itv/images/banner.jpg
Why is that logo so cr*p compared to the rest?

It's for ITV Plc. (there's also one which is in blue and white, a bit like ITV3 but joined and 2D)/

The logo which covers "all" of ITV's Channels is based on the 2002 'scratch' logo (a la itv.com). Basically a stylised version of that.

I thought they'd decided on a blue and white corporate logo? That's certainly what was flying around at the time of the merger.

Anyway, the corporate logo they have now looks like ITN's quick mock up of the '3D' ITV logo which they used on the straps on the old ITV News look - i.e. they just added an 80's bevelled effect and altered the colour shades slightly.

It is in a mess indeed.
Hopefully though when Jim Hytner's replacement comes on board she will work with the design team and bring everything in line with one another.

Because the others are seen on air.

I can't see the problem myself

The 3 channels have the logo split up

Everything else related to the on air look uses the scratch logo

ITV News on those titles at least is technically a programme not a channel so can do what it likes. The 'itv' always used to be in white during the old look remember. Could you imagine a blocky yellow and blue logo forming up at the end of those titles?!

You'd only be complaining if everything was identical