Relaunch of TV4 Sweden

On Monday, September 18, the most popular television channel in Sweden (TV4) will relaunch their on-screen graphics. The current were based on a very nice circular theme and launched in March 2004.

The new idents and graphics have been developed as a co-operation between TV4 and the English branding consultant Martin Poole.

The link below shows a small part of the new idents:
http://www.dn.se/DNet/road/Classic/article/0/jsp/frame_bigimage.jsp?major=1&minor=571182&imageNo=0&maNo=-1

TV4 have also given this short description of the new idents: The theme is "Welcome to our world". The viewers are invited to a sparkling world that takes place behind the scenes before the "On air" sign is switched on. Link

In a news article Poole also says that "Magic" is one of keywords: Watching TV4 should be like opening the doors to a magical place. The viewers should feel welcome to a world were anything can happen. Link

As the new idents will feature "behind the scenes" shots of "channel celebrities", I can't help thinking that the new idents will be a red version of this:
http://tv-ark.org.uk/itv/itv1idents2002/itv1-24-antdec-decb.jpg (From the TV Ark)

I'll post some screenshots of the new package in the next week. If they are good, they might show how the ITV 2002 look could look like it if it was more polished.

I'm curious to who this Martin Poole is. I know he have worked for Sky, BBC and BDA, does anyone know any of his works?

A few shots have been released to the press today:

http://dagensmedia.se/uploaded/image/2006/9/15/tv4profil.jpg
Source

These show idents, a programme menu and a break bumper. Some elements are missing, such as the continuity studio and the promo design.

A quick vocabulary containg the four most crucial words in the Swedish language:
"Reklam": Commercials
"Strax": Coming up
"Nyheterna": The News
"Idol 2006": Pop Idol

The previous identity packages in Sweden have been mostly graphical, these are the first true live action idents. However, judging by the way it looks in the UK, they won't be the last.

What do you think so far? Is this something you would like to see on ITV1 or BBC1?

If I'm honest, they really don't look too bad at all. However, I'd like our channels to do something a bit bolder. Like Channel 4's.

As bad as celebrity packages are, it looks classy compared to ITV1's 2002-2003 set..

http://www.rp-networkservices.com/tvforum/uploads/itv_copy1.png

Something like this would work

Waiting for the new idents to launch, I'm uploading some of the current idents so you can se whatthe new ones are replacing. Peronally, I think these are the best idents on Swedish television right now.

http://www.rp-networkservices.com/tvforum/uploads/tv4previous.jpg

Click here for video file containg a montage of some idents (sorry about the quality, I don't know how to make RealVideo files)



I don't think it suits every channel to have an identity as bold as Channel 4. Bold "in-your-face" idents seem to be something that youthful channels like Channel 4, Five and Swedish Channel 5 tend to use, while broader channels like ITV1 or TV4 tend to have a more modest attitude.

As for the ITV1 mock, I think it could work if you make the logo slightly darker and use the same font-size and font as TV4 (TV4 use Avant Garde Gothic, but 'the ITV font' could work as well).

I don't think it would

I quite like these. they look much better than there currant look

Here are some screencaps from yesterday:

http://www.rp-networkservices.com/tvforum/uploads/tv4welcome.jpg
They started it all by showing a very nice promo featuring all participating celebrities. It ended like this (the text says "Welcome to our world").

http://www.rp-networkservices.com/tvforum/uploads/tv4continuity.jpg
The new continuity studio.

http://www.rp-networkservices.com/tvforum/uploads/tv4promoend.jpg
Promo caption.

http://www.rp-networkservices.com/tvforum/uploads/tv4toilet.jpg
Some of the breakbumpers are surprisingly honest. They feature people going to the fridge to have a snack, or even someone in the bathroom. Thats not what you want your viewers to do during commercials.

All idents have their own audio track and there are more than 50 idents. I like the music which lacks a distinct jingle, but is still recognizable. Here is an example:
Click to listen

I'll post a video tomorrow or later this evening.

Here are two video files from the new TV4 look.

The first one is the launch itself.

Click for file

It starts with an introduction from the old studio, a promo featuring a montage of the celebrities and a look at the new continuity studio. The announcer changed her outfit during the promo, something that may suggest that one of the announcements was pre-recorded...

The second one features some of the idents and bumpers.

Click for file

(apologies for the bad compression)

Thanks for the videos Thinker.

Thanks for all the positive comments about the new look on TV4. I've been working with the in-house team at TV4 for about 9 months to develop this.

As someone has said here I was at the BBC and Novocom and BDA but have set up my own consultancy to help companies with strategy and positioning, particularly helping in-house teams to do what previously they would have done through an agency. The TV4 launch is the first real project to showcase this approach. My consultancy is called Sway Media www.swaymedia.co.uk

Although some of you might think there are similarities with the ITV look of a while back, that's not the case. The central concept of this identity is to invite viewers to come and share in a world where we make magic (ie TV) every day and the whole look reflects that. There is a purpose to showing the stars of the channel - it's not just a piece of window dressing.

Also the design heavily features a variety of perspex curtains that are drawn back to reveal this world.

It's really interesting to see the mock ups of the ITV identity using this look - maybe we can persuade them to change it, it must be about time for them to change again, they're certainly getting enough criticism for what they're doing at the moment!! Martin Poole