SBS makeover for logo, livery

Apr 17

Television

SBSThe multicultural broadcaster SBS will rebrand its logo, livery and presentation across all its platforms in May.

The worldly Mercator map logo will be retained in a refined form, after research indicated the network’s audience wanted SBS to meet its commitment “to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that … reflect Australia’s multicultural society”.

SBS managing director Shaun Brown wasn’t surprised by the findings. But he said it “may be a surprise to some, when some of the recent political debate has attempted to marginalise the label of multiculturalism and replace it with sanitised words”.

The broadcaster will reintroduce a tagline, “Six billion stories and counting”, a phrase that by default rather than design follows the SBS acronym.

Mr Brown said the response to the phrase from the SBS board, community advisory committee and staff was very positive. He said listeners would notice a different soundscape and “a brighter, more vibrant and consistent (TV) channel”.

Clearly the network has learned lessons from the ABC launch of ABC1 and ABC2 and the contentious watermarking.

“We don’t really want people to be hit in the face with this,” he said. And the Mercator map, like the ABC squiggle, is unlikely to be dumped.

“Why get rid of it?” MrBrown said. “We love it anyhow, and the research has confirmed it’s widely admired, so we were only going to make it a little bit more contemporary.”

The 18 months of research and creative development that drove the rebranding process, overseen by marketing director Jacquie Riddell, threw up some surprising results.

Among them was the viewers’ belief that the broadcaster lagged behind its audience technologically. Consequently, its online presence will be boosted.

Mr Brown said SBS undertook the rebranding to ensure the SBS brand was consistently represented across its platforms and to give the logo more of a contemporary feel.

But the network, still under siege for allowing advertising within programming, will be accused of window-dressing an increasingly Anglocentric and commercial TV schedule. This week, lobby group Save Our SBS Inc sent a petition with more than 7000 signatures to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy requesting SBS cease interrupting programs with ads.

“To focus on content rather than marketing issues, that plays to the old-fashioned view that public broadcasting is just about content,” Mr Brown said. “Well, it isn’t. It’s about connecting to your audience.”

Source: News Limited

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