October 2002 - September 2003
Idents 1
On the morning of Monday October 28 2002, ITV 1 replaced its heart logo with a series of short films featuring many of its big name celebrities in seemingly 'off-duty' situations - having their make-up done or relaxing between takes. Over a hundred idents were produced by ITV's Network Promotions Department.
In an effort to regain the ratings lead over BBC One, the network was pumping more money into programmes and introducing a single brand image to cover the whole country.
"The new channel identity launches as ITV 1 benefits from an increased programme budget for the autumn and for 2003 and is integral to the channels strategy for attracting mass audiences in a multi-channel environment. The rebrand will create a more modern and coherent channel identity and fosters the principals of warmth and wit in its communication with viewers."
The introduction of the heart idents in 1999 was an attempt by the communications and marketing director, John Hardle, to create a homogenous ITV brand, united under the slogan, 'TV From The Heart Of Life'. ITV chiefs had hoped the hearts would become as recognisable as the BBC's globe emblem. UTV, Scottish and Grampian boycotted the new look and Carlton went for their own heart-themed idents.
A similar branding exercise in 1989 was even less successful. Although many of the regional companies initially adopted dual branding, including a new corporate style ident, many soon discarded the design in favour of their own locally-produced efforts.
Although still widely used nearly three years on, the hearts logo had undergone sustained slating by critics who claimed that the look was naff and portrayed ITV as an overly soft and cuddly brand. The hearts device obviously didn't sit well with LWT; they ditched their hearts ident after only four months, switching to their own in-house video wall design in March 2000. The series of short introductory live-action films included on the hearts idents were discarded in all regions by August 2001.
In early-December 2001, ITV announced that it was ditching its 'TV From The Heart' slogan as part of a new marketing campaign to reverse the decline in ratings. The campaign was to be led by Bogle Bartle Hegarty, the agency that created Levi's most expensive ever ad, where a couple ran through walls and off the planet. It was also suggested at this time that the company was contemplating axing the hearts logo device as well, but this was denied by the network. Jo Walker, head of viewer marketing:
"We are conducting a strategic review of all parts of the marketing mix and BBH will be a part of that. We have not yet decided whether to continue with the heart symbol."
ITV spent £1m on the heart logo and slogan which was introduced on promotional trails and marketing material in 1998 (and in 1999 in corporate station idents) to give the station a friendly, approachable image.
It wasn't until April 24 2002 that it was formally announced that Bogle Bartle Hegarty, had been charged with leading an image relaunch. Branding agency Bruce Dunlop & Associates worked with BBH on the project.
The new format was to see the ITV 1 brand take prominence over regional identities such as Granada, LWT and HTV in a bid to give the network a more unified look. Regional ITV 1 companies in England and Wales retained only a small element of individual identity, around local news and regional programmes.
The usual rebels - Scottish, Grampian and UTV - adopted the new look this time around, although Scottish and Grampian stuck with their existing ident animations a few months longer. In early-January 2003, they launched their own local celebrity idents. However, national celebs were also popping up on the GMG stations, albeit with a Scottish/Grampian logo. Scottish and Grampian came up with their own soundtracks for all idents.
UTV launched the new look in sync with Network in late-October 2002; national celebrities were now appearing in UTV junctions.
A spokesman for the Scottish companies owner, SMG, said: "ITV in Scotland has always been associated with Scottish television and Grampian. They are much stronger brands than ITV."
However, at the launch of ITV 1's new look on Monday October 21 2002, Jim Hytner, the marketing and commercial director, stressed that the branding in Scotland and N. Ireland could change in the future:
"Scottish and Ulster have a brand that people empathise with," he said. "But in the spirit of the future from the markets standpoint, we would want a single brand. We could potentially do ITV 1 Scotland, it is a possible next step."
The rebrand was the brainchild of Jim Hytner, who was drafted in from Channel 5 with a brief to transform ITV's old-fashioned image. The TV marketing budget was increased; it had been sitting at £3m, compared to the £20m thrown at BBC One.
"This is the most extensive rebrand ever undertaken by ITV and creates a new feel for the channel," said Mr Hytner.
"As we face greater competition, it's vital that we express the channel's personality more intently than ever, and what better way to do that than through our talent. In a world of over 200 channels, it is vital that we express our personality more intently than ever and present viewers with a single ITV 1 brand.
"The new idents show some of the biggest names in television being themselves, off-screen, in a way that viewers will find instantly warm and engaging. The overall result is a channel that looks and feels not only more modern but also a special and more distinctive place for its viewers."
Mr Hytner was thought to have been keen to ditch the regional names altogether but such a radical plan would have been politically impossible. Instead, he has devised a new cohesive look for national and regional versions of the ITV 1 idents. The new image will end 'dual branding' whereby continuity announcers use phrases such as "you're watching Carlton, part of ITV 1" and show both logos. "It will either be ITV 1 or Tyne Tees - but never both together," a source said.
New break stings and an updated 3D version of the ITV 1 logo were also produced.
The rebrand also saw the introduction of a new style end credit promotion, with the aim of helping viewers plan a night's viewing on the Network.
If you're looking for a particular celebrity ident(s), here's an at-a-glance guide to the pages that they're listed on:
PAGE: Idents 1
CELEBRITIES: Declan Donnelly Anthony McPartland Caroline Quentin Davina McCall
PAGE: Idents 2
CELEBRITIES: Gaby Logan Robson Green Brian Dowling Tess Daly Johnny Briggs Diane Parish Jane Danson Amanda Redman
PAGE: Idents 3
CELEBRITIES: Ross Kemp Chris Tarrant Pal Aron Karl Collins Mark Wingett Frank Skinner Carol Vorderman Katie Derham
PAGE: Idents 4
CELEBRITIES: Martin Kemp Cilla Black Pete Waterman Geri Halliwell
PAGE: Idents 5
CELEBRITIES: Mary Nightingale Sir Trevor McDonald Trisha Goddard Tracy Shaw Tina O'Brien William Roache
PAGE: Idents 6
CELEBRITIES: Harry Hill John Suchet Emma Atkins Kelvin Fletcher Sammy Winward Glynis Barber Keira Knightley David Suchet Des O'Connor Graham Cole Trudie Goodwin
PAGE: Idents 7
CELEBRITIES: Jeff Stewart Paul Usher Claire King Fern Britton Hermione Norris Robert Bathurst Martin Brundle Des Lynam Linda Henry Paul Amory
PAGE: Idents 8
CELEBRITIES: Robbie Earle Jim Rosenthal Gaynor Faye Derek Fowlds Ali McCoist Alastair Stewart Unknown
In an effort to regain the ratings lead over BBC One, the network was pumping more money into programmes and introducing a single brand image to cover the whole country.
"The new channel identity launches as ITV 1 benefits from an increased programme budget for the autumn and for 2003 and is integral to the channels strategy for attracting mass audiences in a multi-channel environment. The rebrand will create a more modern and coherent channel identity and fosters the principals of warmth and wit in its communication with viewers."
The introduction of the heart idents in 1999 was an attempt by the communications and marketing director, John Hardle, to create a homogenous ITV brand, united under the slogan, 'TV From The Heart Of Life'. ITV chiefs had hoped the hearts would become as recognisable as the BBC's globe emblem. UTV, Scottish and Grampian boycotted the new look and Carlton went for their own heart-themed idents.
A similar branding exercise in 1989 was even less successful. Although many of the regional companies initially adopted dual branding, including a new corporate style ident, many soon discarded the design in favour of their own locally-produced efforts.
Although still widely used nearly three years on, the hearts logo had undergone sustained slating by critics who claimed that the look was naff and portrayed ITV as an overly soft and cuddly brand. The hearts device obviously didn't sit well with LWT; they ditched their hearts ident after only four months, switching to their own in-house video wall design in March 2000. The series of short introductory live-action films included on the hearts idents were discarded in all regions by August 2001.
In early-December 2001, ITV announced that it was ditching its 'TV From The Heart' slogan as part of a new marketing campaign to reverse the decline in ratings. The campaign was to be led by Bogle Bartle Hegarty, the agency that created Levi's most expensive ever ad, where a couple ran through walls and off the planet. It was also suggested at this time that the company was contemplating axing the hearts logo device as well, but this was denied by the network. Jo Walker, head of viewer marketing:
"We are conducting a strategic review of all parts of the marketing mix and BBH will be a part of that. We have not yet decided whether to continue with the heart symbol."
ITV spent £1m on the heart logo and slogan which was introduced on promotional trails and marketing material in 1998 (and in 1999 in corporate station idents) to give the station a friendly, approachable image.
It wasn't until April 24 2002 that it was formally announced that Bogle Bartle Hegarty, had been charged with leading an image relaunch. Branding agency Bruce Dunlop & Associates worked with BBH on the project.
The new format was to see the ITV 1 brand take prominence over regional identities such as Granada, LWT and HTV in a bid to give the network a more unified look. Regional ITV 1 companies in England and Wales retained only a small element of individual identity, around local news and regional programmes.
The usual rebels - Scottish, Grampian and UTV - adopted the new look this time around, although Scottish and Grampian stuck with their existing ident animations a few months longer. In early-January 2003, they launched their own local celebrity idents. However, national celebs were also popping up on the GMG stations, albeit with a Scottish/Grampian logo. Scottish and Grampian came up with their own soundtracks for all idents.
UTV launched the new look in sync with Network in late-October 2002; national celebrities were now appearing in UTV junctions.
A spokesman for the Scottish companies owner, SMG, said: "ITV in Scotland has always been associated with Scottish television and Grampian. They are much stronger brands than ITV."
However, at the launch of ITV 1's new look on Monday October 21 2002, Jim Hytner, the marketing and commercial director, stressed that the branding in Scotland and N. Ireland could change in the future:
"Scottish and Ulster have a brand that people empathise with," he said. "But in the spirit of the future from the markets standpoint, we would want a single brand. We could potentially do ITV 1 Scotland, it is a possible next step."
The rebrand was the brainchild of Jim Hytner, who was drafted in from Channel 5 with a brief to transform ITV's old-fashioned image. The TV marketing budget was increased; it had been sitting at £3m, compared to the £20m thrown at BBC One.
"This is the most extensive rebrand ever undertaken by ITV and creates a new feel for the channel," said Mr Hytner.
"As we face greater competition, it's vital that we express the channel's personality more intently than ever, and what better way to do that than through our talent. In a world of over 200 channels, it is vital that we express our personality more intently than ever and present viewers with a single ITV 1 brand.
"The new idents show some of the biggest names in television being themselves, off-screen, in a way that viewers will find instantly warm and engaging. The overall result is a channel that looks and feels not only more modern but also a special and more distinctive place for its viewers."
Mr Hytner was thought to have been keen to ditch the regional names altogether but such a radical plan would have been politically impossible. Instead, he has devised a new cohesive look for national and regional versions of the ITV 1 idents. The new image will end 'dual branding' whereby continuity announcers use phrases such as "you're watching Carlton, part of ITV 1" and show both logos. "It will either be ITV 1 or Tyne Tees - but never both together," a source said.
New break stings and an updated 3D version of the ITV 1 logo were also produced.
The rebrand also saw the introduction of a new style end credit promotion, with the aim of helping viewers plan a night's viewing on the Network.
If you're looking for a particular celebrity ident(s), here's an at-a-glance guide to the pages that they're listed on:
PAGE: Idents 1
CELEBRITIES: Declan Donnelly Anthony McPartland Caroline Quentin Davina McCall
PAGE: Idents 2
CELEBRITIES: Gaby Logan Robson Green Brian Dowling Tess Daly Johnny Briggs Diane Parish Jane Danson Amanda Redman
PAGE: Idents 3
CELEBRITIES: Ross Kemp Chris Tarrant Pal Aron Karl Collins Mark Wingett Frank Skinner Carol Vorderman Katie Derham
PAGE: Idents 4
CELEBRITIES: Martin Kemp Cilla Black Pete Waterman Geri Halliwell
PAGE: Idents 5
CELEBRITIES: Mary Nightingale Sir Trevor McDonald Trisha Goddard Tracy Shaw Tina O'Brien William Roache
PAGE: Idents 6
CELEBRITIES: Harry Hill John Suchet Emma Atkins Kelvin Fletcher Sammy Winward Glynis Barber Keira Knightley David Suchet Des O'Connor Graham Cole Trudie Goodwin
PAGE: Idents 7
CELEBRITIES: Jeff Stewart Paul Usher Claire King Fern Britton Hermione Norris Robert Bathurst Martin Brundle Des Lynam Linda Henry Paul Amory
PAGE: Idents 8
CELEBRITIES: Robbie Earle Jim Rosenthal Gaynor Faye Derek Fowlds Ali McCoist Alastair Stewart Unknown
Above: ITV 1 ident - Generic [1].
Above: ITV 1 ident - Generic [2].
Above: ITV 1 ident - Generic [3].
Above: ITV 1 ident - Ant & Dec [1]. First broadcast at 10.30am on Monday October 28 2002.
Above: ITV 1 ident - Ant & Dec [2]. First broadcast at midday on Monday October 28 2002.
Above: ITV 1 ident - Ant & Dec [3]. First broadcast at 1pm on Monday October 28 2002.
Above: ITV 1 ident - Caroline Quentin [1]. First broadcast at 10.55am on Monday October 28 2002.
Above: ITV 1 ident - Caroline Quentin [2]. First broadcast at 2.30pm (London) on Monday October 28 2002.
Above: ITV 1 ident - Caroline Quentin [3].
Above: ITV 1 ident - Caroline Quentin [4].
Above: ITV 1 ident - Davina McCall [1].
Above: ITV 1 ident - Davina McCall [2].
Above: ITV 1 ident - Davina McCall [3].
Above: ITV 1 ident - Davina McCall [4].
