Radio-Canada wants to be ‘Ici’.
The decision to rebrand itself ‘Ici’ is front page news this morning. And the news is less about
branding and marketing than about politics. Changing or updating the brand identity of a public or private corporation inevitably polarizes. Remember Astral's new visual identity? While good branding is grounded in analysis and strategy, the outcome usually involves a creatively leap. Some will like it. Some won’t.
I happen to think the rebranding was required to unify SRC’s various offerings which go far beyond radio. And I find the result remains true to the brand’s identity. Many obviously disagree but that’s not the main issue here.
In Radio-Canada's case, the branding decision is obviously a political one. First, removing the word Canada from the brand name is politically charged. And you can’t dance around this one by claiming that the legal entity’s name still includes Canada. Second, any branding strategy initiative must involve consultations with all stakeholders. In this case, this includes the Heritage Minister and his department.
According to this Globe and Mail article, the Minister is not amused. “We had no idea the announcement was going to happen today.” This doesn’t mean Heritage was in the dark on that one. Perhaps they were caught by surprise. Either way, it spells trouble.
Our firm has had the opportunity to work on the branding of the National Film Board and Telefilm Canada in recent years. Like Radio-Canada, they are great organizations that play critical roles in Canada’s cultural sector. While they are autonomous in many areas, branding decisions are vetted by board members and by senior bureaucrats at Heritage.
If Radio-Canada chose to do this on its own, this effort could soon join other embarrassing rebranding fiascos like Gap. That one was scrapped one week after being unveiled.
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