Shaw Media is giving its 20-year-old specialty channel Showcase a facelift.
The brand refresh includes a revamped logo that is a throwback to the original, but features a vibrant and interchangeable colour scheme that can be tailored to specific properties. It also features a new tagline, “Beyond ordinary,” that is intended to represent Showcase’s programming.
Showcase is one of the key properties in Shaw’s specialty portfolio, with just over 9 million subscribers and total revenue of $72.9 million in 2013, according to the most recent CRTC data.
“We don’t want to walk away too far from the brand and its heritage, but we recognized that it really did need a more modern, cleaner look that reflected the dynamic content we had on the channel,” said Amanda Ploughman, Shaw’s vice-president of marketing.
Ploughman said the rebrand was in development prior to the CRTC’s recent decision on pick-and-pay (which will enable cable customers to select channels on an individual basis) but expects the new look will help differentiate the channel in what could soon be a highly competitive environment.
“When we look at pick-and-pay, that combination of fantastic content under a strong brand halo can only benefit us,” she said.
Created in-house by Shaw’s creative services department, the new look is intended to position Showcase as confident and modern, said Ploughman.
The rebrand is being supported by a consumer marketing campaign promoting the mid-season premiere of the series Outlander. Also developed in-house, the campaign is built around online, mobile, radio and on-air ads.
Three additional on-air spots promote the channel’s new image, its hit Hollywood movies and the return of tent-pole series including Outlander, The Musketeers and Beauty and the Beast.
Showcase’s core audience is adults 25-54, with shows like Outlander performing particularly well against female audiences. According to Shaw, Sunday’s mid-season premiere of Outlander – which runs on Showcase the day after it’s U.S. premiere on the Starz network – was the day’s top-rated entertainment specialty program among 2+ and A25-54 audiences, and the top-rated specialty program in the country against W25-54.
