Channel 4 is the UK’s alternative public service broadcaster. Our currency is entertainment – tv and online content that challenges the status quo, provokes debate and creates change. Our idents sit at the heart of that identity and reflect what we’re about – diverse, inclusive, high quality programming, combining both gravitas and humour. Whilst 5 separate idents were created for use on the channel, we launched them as one powerful, hypnotic film, with a specially commissioned voiceover. The work becomes a piece of entertainment in its own right – broadcast in commercial airtime, but also available to stream on channel4.com.

Channel 4 is the UK’s alternative public service broadcaster. As a not-for-profit organisation owned by the public, Channel 4 exists to challenge the status quo, champion unheard voices and take bold creative risks.

Channel 4’s brand line ‘Altogether Different’, reflects the broadcaster's point of view that difference is not the divisive force today’s culture wars have led us to believe. Channel 4 believes difference is a good thing – ultimately a uniting force that sparks debate and creates progress – and that even the most contrasting ideas and opinions can exist side by side.

This whole piece is distinctly and intentionally British, both nostalgic and modern. The worlds depicted reflect imagery deeply familiar in British culture, such as an urban fox in a disused public telephone box, a school leaving day where all the excited leavers sign each other’s shirts, or a frozen tableau of revellers at the end of a classic British high street saturday night out. They also portray less mainstream parts of our culture, such as a ceremony for the UK’s smallest registered religion, Zoroastrianism, or a spiritual gathering in an ancient forest.

The words that accompany the piece are equally as specific to British culture, from calling out anything from old football rivalries “Blackburn, Burnley”, to famous news anchors “Guru-Murthy”, as well as turns of phrase you might find on seaside souvenirs “I’d rather be beside the sea” or the initials of our four countries “the N-I-R, E-N-G, W-A-L, S-C-O-T” (Northern Island, England, Wales, Scotland).

Channel 4 is the U.K’s alternative public service broadcaster. In an ever-expanding world of broadcasters and streamers, our brand love and recognition is critical. This had declined in recent years as our on-screen branding consisted of a deconstructed version of our logo, and didn’t align with our current brand positioning of ‘Altogether Different’.

We embarked on a major rebrand, pulling together our linear and streaming offering under one Channel 4 masterbrand. Within this, our idents are the jewel in our brand crown, seen 40+ times a year by 80% of the UK population.

We were therefore tasked with creating new idents for the TV channel (and its online service), that put the iconic ‘4’ back at the heart of the visuals and connected it to the spirit of ‘Altogether Different’ – a positioning that celebrates the diverse, inclusive, and alternative nature of the U.K.

As a mass-market broadcaster, we needed to appeal to the whole UK population – no easy task. As the ‘alternative’ mass broadcaster, we knew our audience wouldn’t respond if we presented a sanitised, rose-tinted view of the UK, and our brand positioning demanded we be anything other than homogenous. So, it was of strategic imperative to reflect a multi-layered and authentic view of Britain. We wanted everyone in the UK to see themselves, even if only briefly, within our creative product.

Whereas people view the BBC as a formal authority figure, they see Channel 4 as a more informal, democratic figure. We wanted to reinforce this, so was key that even as we needed our logo to be front and centre, it should feel part of the creative and be ‘one of the people’ and be affected by its surroundings (just like people are), rather than a stately branding device.

The answer was a visual representation of Altogether Different. We devised a template where totally different, contrasting scenes are able to flow into each other and co-exist in an eclectic yet harmonious way. The iconic 4 logo sits centrally and endlessly turns into itself on an infinite loop, presenting a new scene or world around it with each revolution. It is almost entirely the case that two contrasting scenes are on screen at any one time.

17 different directors and artists drew on their own experiences of the UK to reflect the themes of Identity, The Land, System, Release and Love. All 25 different scenes are unified by 3 constants – the 4 logo, the camera move and the cube motif. Employing live action, animation, and full CG, and playing with many contrasting elements (scale, tone, colour, light etc), the result is a hugely ambitious tapestry of modern Britain.

As our most high-profile brand assets, we ensured enough time was built in for development and execution of the new idents. We needed time to test the physics of how to bring the creative idea to life – developing innovative techniques involving highly complex motion control.

As a collaborative effort working with a collective of different makers, each filmic loop required detailed planning to ensure they were as authentic as possible, a true representation of the different communities being brought to the screen.

The process took just under 12 months from brief to launch. The full idents launch film premiered on 14th June 2023 as a primetime full ad break takeover on Channel 4, as well as on YouTube and our Channel 4 streaming service.

The idents themselves have massive reach, running every hour, every day of the week on C4, reaching 81% of the population 40+ times a year.

In addition to the impact of the launch film, the Channel 4 idents appear in every ad break between programmes. They are one of our highest frequency touchpoints, seen by 80% of the UK population, with viewers seeing them 40+ times per year. Its vital viewers find them appealing as they will be on the channel for years.

The full launch film has been viewed 100,000 times on YouTube since launch and comments are almost 100% positive. “This is an amazing reflection on the diversity of the British Isles and if I have to say, probably one of the best televisual identities so far in this decade. / “I absolutely love this new ident package. It’s modern, but familiar, and I think it’s great. What a way to pay tribute to over 40 years of Channel 4 as well”.