BRANDINGAnna Skelding

Channel 4

• Channel 4 was launched in 1982.•It takes creative risks that others video and offers fresh perspectives to diverse society. •They say that they are here to:1. Nurture new talent and original ideas2. Champion alternative voices and fresh perspectives3. Challenge people to see the world differently4. Inspire change in people’s lives•As channel 4 own a FilmFour, it shows many of its in-house productions. Therefore each of the channels within the ‘4’ platforms promote each other as a part of their branding and advertising. This is highlighted through the link provided below.

http://www.channel4.com/about_c4/styleguide/

Film four started in 1982 as Film Four Productions. It was a digital TV channel available in the UK and Ireland. It is owned by Channel Four Television Corporation that screens films.

It broadcasts films in standard definition free of charge. To access high definition of the channel, viewers can pay subscription with Virgin Media or Sky.

In 1998 the channel was re-branded as FilmFour and became Channel 4’s second channel (after channel 4 itself)

The channel now has two spin off channels, one being FilmFour +1 which is broadcasted on Sky. However, it was taken off of free view in order to make room for Channel 4 +1. It recently returned to Freeview on August 27th 2013. The second spin off refers to FilmFour HD which launched on July 20th 2010 on Virgin Media’s cable television platform. It then later launched on sky on September 2nd 2013.

FilmFour Branding The following link shows an ‘Identity Style Guide’ for the channel highlighting factors that

are associated with the channel and used as brand recognition. In some ways it could be argued that the logo itself is the channels brand as it promotes itself through the design.

http://www.channel4.com/about_c4/styleguide/downloads/f4/Film4-on-air-identity-guidelines.pdf

For example, the screenshot to the left shows how each promo is created in the same way in order for the audience to know what channel a certain film is being broadcasted on and to create brand recognition due to a consistent pattern within their work.

Relaunch Advertising Campaign

In order to make the public aware of the channel going free-to-air, FilmFour launched a huge campaign directed by Kevin Spacey featuring well-known celebrities who advertised the programme in odd ways.

The slogan of the campaign was “FILMS FOR FREE”. An example of this is the celebrity Judi Dench who wore a red lobster

costume (connoting the colour of the logo), and operatically sung the words “Film Four”. The image to the right shows abillboard with the relaunch campaign.

Other Examples of the Relaunch Campaign

Ewan McGregore wore a tomato costume Gael Garcia Bernal put leaflets advertising FilmFour onto

cars and set off their alarms. Rhys Ifans advertised the channel by knocking on doors

and explaining to individuals.

This graph shows that since the relaunch of FilmFour, the amount of viewers have vastly increased and that the channel is now easily recognised and favoured by the public.

Target Audience

Film Four do not have a specific target audience as they broadcast films from a variety of different genres. Due to this, the audience is wide spread and aimed at the majority. Therefore I feel that my film would be suitable for this channel.