Proposed Topic: When it comes to TV idents there are six main purposes they hold:
Identity
Marketing
Packaging
Re-packaging
Scheduling
Segmentation within scheduling
Identity:
The first and arguably the most important purpose of an ident is to give a channel its identity. This is done so that channel stands out from the rest in a positive and eye catching way with the hope that it will attract more viewers to the channel. An ident is designed with specific colours, objects and shapes in order to represent what the channel stands for and its identity. For example E4 have had hundreds of different idents in the past years but they all focus on being unique and different as E4 as a channel itself is very unique and different as they broadcast different and unique programs compared to channels such as BBC and ITV. E4 show that they are unique in their idents by making sure that there is a lot of colour (apart from their known colour purple) and events happening within the ident, they tend to take an animated approach to their idents which again makes them stand out from the crowd as animation is almost like a separate reality from ours which again leads back to E4 being unique and different.
Marketing:
Secondly marketing is another important purpose of an ident within the television industry. Idents can be placed by the channel at both the start and end of a programme, this can be used a marketing technique to remind the viewer what channel they are watching. Not only does it remind the viewer what channel they are watching but it also puts across the channels identity to them which if appeals to the viewer, it makes it more likely that they will return to the channel more frequently. People tend to flick through channels without paying any attention what channel they are on in order to find a programme they like, this leads back to reminding the viewer what channel they are watching as many viewers don't often pay attention to what channel they are on and only what programme they like, so an ident is used as a constant reminder to the viewers.
Packaging & Re-Packaging:
If a channel were to make a change in branding, identity or the type of programmes that they choose to broadcast, the ident can play a huge role in this change as the ident can also change in order to accommodate the other changed happening within the channel. By simply changing/altering a channels ident, that shows how the ident represents the channel and what it stands for, this shows how an ident can package and re-package a channel and the changes it has made. An ident can also package and re-package depending on the time of year, for example during Christmas a channels ident may be altered/changed to suit a more Christmasy image and identity to the channel which would appeal to its audience as it shows that the channel is in touch with its surroundings.
Scheduling/Segmentation within Scheduling:
Last but not least idents are also used with the purpose of scheduling and segmentation within scheduling. Many idents are shown before and after programmes shown on a certain channel, some of those idents have a voice over which tends to tell the viewer what programme is coming up next or what programme is currently showing. Due to the fact that idents represent the channels identity and what they stand for, the ident shown before certain programs may tend to relate to the programme being shown next, for example if there was a football match on next, the ident may consist of an animation of someone kicking a football. This animation would then have a voice over speaking over the ident informing the viewer about what programme/event is being shown next, this will help the channel create some form of scheduling.
Purposes:
I personally hope to achieve a lot from my ident. When creating the ident I will constantly have the target audience and what the channel stands for in mind, i have to come up with an ident that not only represented the channel in an appealing way but also meets the target audience's requirements. I will create this ident with the purpose to be eye catching and represent the channel in a way that the audience will not only love but will learn to live with and it be apart of their lives at home when the turn on their Television sets.
Background:
My aim with this ident is to attract a new type of audience to E4 and expand on its current target audience that the channel caters for at this moment in time. E4 have a current target audience aged 16-34, i aim to attract not only that current audience but expand the age range from 16-45. I believe that the ident i have created contains elements that will appeal to that age group and will hopefully attract more viewers to the channel.
Scope:
I aim to spend maximum 3 weeks in order to find and get in contact with participants whom are willing to help me with this project. Once i have put together a strong reliable team, we shall start making the ident which i hope will take no longer than 2/3 months. There will need to be funding in order for the ident to be successful, therefore i will show my ident to a number of venture capitalists whom may be interested in investing in the idea, once i have the funding i will show my idea to a number of people whom i will interview and then narrow down to 5 people whom i hope will help me make my ident idea come to life.
Method:
My main aim is to create and produce and ident that is leaps and bounds better than the current ident that E4 broadcast. In order to make sure this happens i will undergo a lot of research which will involve showing the ident to 15 people, 10 of whom are a current frequent view of E4 and 5 who hardly watch the channel, from this i hope to gain feedback in which can help me improve my ident if needed in order to appeal to not only the target audience but also that percentage of people who do not watch E4.
Timetable:
Prepare proposal by: 26/6/2014
Complete literature review: 20/6/2014
Complete fieldwork by: 24/6/2014
Complete analysis by: 27/6/2014
Give presentation on: 29/6/2014
Complete final report by: 2/7/2014
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