ETV
A Branding Case Study
(and Work in Progress)
The Challenges
•Working from assumptions with no research
back-up of perceptions and customers’ needs
•Brand had become diffused with no “corporate”
long-range vision for the organization
•Value of PBS brand had been lost (or at least
misplaced)
•Substantial budget reductions, leadership changes
and technology challenges in recent years further
eroded brand consistency
The Plan
• Initiate research for strategic planning and
branding initiative
• Develop a long-range strategic plan
• Tie branding initiative to strategic plan
• Involve staff at all levels through the process
• Create a long-term vision, not just a short-term
campaign
• Evaluate and re-align when necessary
What makes a strong brand?
A strong brand…
Is familiar
Is highly regarded
Possesses qualities that distinguish it
from its competitors (emotional context)
Delivers a quality product or service
Delivers good value for the dollars spent
Has high customer loyalty
Timeline
• Month 1 (Nov) – develop research priorities with
research firm, start RFP process for agency
• Month 2 (Dec) – develop survey instruments, interview
agencies
• Month 3 (Jan) – carry out research, hire agency
• Month 4 (Feb) – complete and evaluate research
including internal communications audit (share with
staff), begin planning for blueprint development
• Months 5 and 6 (March/April) – Sr. management
begins meetings on strategic planning development
Timeline (cont)
•Months 7 and 8 - (May/June) – Work on preliminary
blueprint completed with next level management
brought in, creative process begins
•Months 9 and 10 (July/August) – Creative work
continues to develop brand position based on blueprint,
testing and research, plans developed for internal and
external roll-out
•Month 11 – internal roll-out of blueprint and new
branding initiative
•Month 12 – external roll-out of new look
Primary Research Findings
•Strong positive reputation among various customer groups when
compared with other media organizations and other well-known
community organizations.
•Strong brand equity and high recognition factor (only Discovery
ranked higher)
•Good value to the state worthy of state and donor support.
•High ranking among viewers, listeners and consumers for product
quality, but lower with staff.
•“High quality” educational broadcasting but lower levels of
understanding of services beyond tv and radio
•“Good value” and important to the state
Measurement Metrics
• Budget for phase II research in 4Q’04 or 1Q’05
•Solicitation of anecdotal feedback through e-mail
and phone calls
•On-going communications audit
•Media clips – use of new brand nomenclature, etc.
Impressions of Organizations
(mean score on scale from 0 to 10, where 10 means very positive)
Discovery
8.2
ETV
8.0
PBS
7.7
Wal-Mart
7.4
USC
7.3
FedEx
7.3
0
2
4
6
8
10
Impressions of Organizations (cont’d)
A&E
7.2
Disney
7.2
FOX
7.1
NBC
7.0
ETV Endowment
7.0
SC Edu. Radio
6.8
CNN
6.8
6.7
Clemson
0
2
4
6
8
10
(Other than ETV) Station Watched Most
35
NBC
19
CBS
History Channel
9
Discovery Channel
8
ABC
7
23
Other
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Term Most Likely to Use
(when referring to television)
80
ETV
17
PBS
0
20
40
60
80
100
Term Most Likely to Use
(when referring to radio)
Educational
Radio
36
31
Public Radio
24
NPR*
9
Don't Know
0
10
20
30
40
Major Corporate Goals Resulting
from Research and Planning
Increase organization’s long-term financial stability by
moving toward a more diversified funding structure
•Cohesive brand better articulates how ETV affects
individuals’ lives
Create multi-platform programs/content that make a
measurable impact on the lives of South Carolinians
•Cohesive brand ensures consistency of message across all
platforms increasing awareness and use.
Primary strategic initiatives
• Create a strong umbrella brand leveraging the strength
of the existing equity of the ETV brand (corporate
ETV)
• Introduce the “ETV Promise” – more than just a
strategic plan
• Tie the “ETV promise” to the brand
• Involve stakeholders at all levels
• Use new branding initiative to introduce the South
Carolina Channel
• Better leverage value of PBS brand
• Develop consistent nomenclature and “look”
across all platforms (logo, etc)
Short term tactical plans
• Roll-out new logo and blueprint to internal
stakeholders in conjunction with launch of SC
Channel – identify “boundary spanners” as
cheerleaders
• Introduce “My ETV” campaign
• Prioritize logo changes to accommodate budget issues
• TV and radio air, Web site (redesign underway)
• Stationery/business cards/some print materials
Lessons learned
• Strike a balance between keeping staff in the loop
and avoiding “design by committee”
• Know when testing is valuable (and the rare
occasion when it isn’t)
• Don’t listen to the perpetual naysayers
• Sometimes intuition will win out over research (not
often, but be open to it)
• You can’t communicate all things to all people –
target messages
• PBS co-branding doesn’t have to be an either/or
decision
• Factor in more time for “real time” working with
logo options
Logos
New Truck Design
Contact information:
Reba Campbell
ETV
VP, Communications and
Government Relations
rcamp@scetv.org
803.737.3515