(1b)Report on Purpose and Design of Idents

Purpose of Idents

An ident is short visual sequence of either animation or live footage.Television channels such as BBC, ITV, and Channel 4 use idents to brand themselves and create an identity for themselves and for the viewers to identify the channel.  Television idents visually communicate with viewers which will allow the viewers to identify their channel.. Idents are aired for 40 seconds going up to a minute and it is used to locate viewers to the channel. 

Channel's Identity and Branding

Branding can allow the consumers to identify the genre of the channel from looking at it. The channel creates an appealing ident in order to bring to the market and compete with other companies. It is important to have an strong ident that is successful in bringing out the channel's identity because a strong visual ident will increase the likeliness of increasing audience viewing and  the viewers would develop the tendency to continuously watch their channel. Therefore, a strong visual ident would lead to mass appeal and guaranteed brand loyalty. 

Horror Channel Ident

For example, this ident has dark colours and have a revealing logo. Darker colours like black or crimson create an eerie tone. For instance, this ident's use of colour creates a sense of unease and nervousness, this ident uses the colour red and black but the red is more dominant because it connotes blood. Another thing to mention about this ident is that it teases the audience and it makes them think that they are watching a movie but then at 0.13, the logo appears meaning that the 15 second film appears to be an Ident. The screen tempo was fast given the movement through the corridor, making the ident more engaging for the viewers because the movement through the red corridor gives off the impression that you are the victim fleeing from a killer.

Segmentation

Not all content being shown from a channel caters to all audiences so television companies undergo a process called segmentation which means the creation of different channels to cater to different audiences . A preferred TV channel needs to have a segmented audience which can be targeted and identified within the cost, effort and time. Segmentation is used solely for the purpose of appealing to a wide range of audiences which would mean a lot of audience research would have to be conducted in order for the strategy to be effective otherwise it will result in having various channels with hardly any viewers because no research was done on what they prefer to see on-screen. An example of segmentation is the BBC. These are the range of channels they have now after audience segmentation now they have each channel for each specific audience.

Segmentation within scheduling

Segmentation within scheduling is achieved when the ident is able to simultaneously inform the audience regarding upcoming TV shows and entertain them with already existing tv shows or cartoons such as Family Guy for the purpose of letting the viewers know that the Family Guy is coming up next. This ident is information-led but you are also being entertained by programmes that are aired on this channel. In this particular ident, there is information on-screen informing the viewers that Family Guy will be coming up next. 

Scheduling

Scheduling is used to indicate when particular programmes will be broadcasted on television. In other words, it is used to enforce watershed which means all the adult shows are broadcasted at 9pm and idents can be used as an indication for when the adult shows will be shown. An example ident which enforces the watershed rule is the channel 4 Tokyo ident. What I found creative about this particular channel 4 Ident is that they used the cityscape of Tokyo for the enforcement of watershed and the use of this particular footage was effective because the visuals of the cityscape is visually appealing in real life and in this ident. This channel 4 logo in the tokyo ident is positioned in the center. The logo is revealed through blocks of light as the camera moves. The logo is fully revealed at 0.37 and then it breaks up again as the camera moves away. This is called a reveal ident. 

Entertainment-led



This E4 ident is entertainment-led given the use of stop motion animation to appeal to a younger audience. Also the design of the ident creates a happy tone which is bright, fun and exciting. Idents like this can interact with the audience because this ident is shown during the day and it creates a link between the time of day it is and when this ident airs. This ident includes screen tempo. The reason as to why screen tempo is quite fast in this particular ident is so that they can appeal to a young target audience and young people have a short-attention span so therefore increasing the pace of an ident will make it more engaging. The colour purple is dominant in this particular ident because this ident is telling the audience that the colour purple is their identity and the colour purple. It is seen at 0.07 when the colour purple starts taking over the two sheds. 

Marketing

One of the purposes of an ident is to market the channel. The channel needs to create a brand identity in order to do so. If an Ident appeals to its target audience then the channel has done their market research. The visuals should revolve around their target audience. This star wars Ident is a prime example of marketing. There is synergy being displayed in this ident. Sky cinema airs blockbuster films and Star Wars is a blockbuster film. In this ident, there is synergy going on between Sky and Disney. Sky is using the Star wars franchise in order get the audience for Star wars. Sky have bought the rights to star wars from Disney so therefore, they can advertise it to the audience.

Packaging and Re-Packaging

Packaging and re-packaging is the evolution of redesigning idents from the same channel whilst keeping the theme and corporate identity intact but with a different brand identity and different designs to appeal to audiences. An example of where re-packaging has occurred is the BBC one ident where they changed the concept from circles to oneness. Oneness represents diversity within the nation. 

Re-branding a channel



This process involves altering the channel's image of a TV channel. Rebranding a channel gives the channel a new look and feel. Channels are re-branded so that it can keep up with time. In other words, giving the channel a more modern or contemporary look. An example channel of where they used rebranding is ITV. This was the old logo. The design of this ident was used to interact with viewers using a gimmick which is a game of snakes and ladders but with scaffolding and builders. The ident is inviting the viewers to play snakes and ladders with the builders.



This is the current ITV logo after the rebranding process. In comparison to the old ident this one is more dynamic and colourful. The reason as to why they rebranded their channel is so that they could encourage younger viewers to tune in and watch their channel. The colours of the flag are identical with the logo given that it is positioned on the left side. The logo is camouflaged in the flag making it look invisible to the viewers. This could also be another reveal ident. The tempo is quite slow but the visuals are appealing and it creates a relaxing tone. This ident is also promoting and supporting the LGBT community.