Since the Country Music Television network debuted in the ‘80s, the music that inspired it has evolved from a style beloved in certain regions to a mainstream pop genre whose ideals are woven into the fabric of not only American life, but Canadian too. And with that evolution, CMT’s outlets in both the US and Canada have become veritable lifestyle channels, with robust programming lineups reflecting every aspect of their viewers’ interests and personalities.

So much has CMT Canada changed in the five years since its last brand refresh, that “there was very little, if any, relevance left in the old brand to the dynamic new primetime lineup that we currently have,” said Dolores Keating-Mallen, VP creative director for CMT Canada’s parent company Corus Entertainment. “Also, there is a fairly big resurgence in country music in Canada right now, so the time was perfect to change it up.”

Updating the CMT Canada brand was a matter of “expanding it,” said Elaine Cantwell, executive creative director for Houndstooth, who designed its new look and feel. The channel looked at “the audience as this slice of life that already love country music but they are interested in food, style, entertainment – all of the aspects that might be inclusive in your life.” Ranging from Storage Wars to Mississippi Snake Grabbers, those aspects are imbued by a current slate of shows that is “quite a departure from just being about country music.”

To stake out a new brand positioning that cut to the heart of its increasingly varied lineup, CMT Canada called on media strategist Lee Hunt, whose challenge was “trying to find the one thing that connects what is very disparate programming that appeals to different audiences during different day parts and different times,” he said. “When we looked through the content, one thing we found in common was that it tended to highlight people that we would call ‘movers and shakers’ who are very grounded.”

In turn, this “high-concept entertainment,” Hunt continued, is “grounded in the authenticity of real country fans, never forgetting where the network came from. Even though the focus may not be entirely on country music, there’s certainly a culture that defines country music, so we tried to incorporate that.”

What emerged was an anthem that could be applied to the design of the new brand: “Uncommon stories about common people.”

It’s not exactly a “consumer-facing line,” admitted Hunt. “Nobody wants to be called common… what we mean by that is the people who really build the country, who make the country, who established Canada and who really turned the continent into a country.”

Those people are really just the hard-working folks “like you and me,” said Cantwell. “We knew we needed to tap into those real people and look at the authenticity that is inherently in them and find a way to express that in an abstract form that would allow the elasticity for this brand to grow.”

When first conceptualizing a rebrand, Cantwell said she “breaks it down into the DNA” of the brand’s positioning, which amounted to three core parts for CMT Canada: 1) the “stories that are uncommon or unique” and which manifest via the programming; 2) the “common people like you and me” that watch that programming; and 3) the channel’s “heritage in music,” which, even though CMT’s shows have evolved drastically from when it actually aired country music videos 24/7, “you can’t forget about,” said Cantwell. “You need to create a bridge from where they were to where they’re going.”

Houndstooth’s ensuing interpretation ranges from a pure expression of sincere emotion in an ident dominated by a fluttering heart shape (above), to a playful rendition of a Rolodex-type flip book (also above). One, slightly more abstract ident is made up of fluttering panels against a backdrop resembling stationary, each one’s shape informed by the curves and angles in the letters of the CMT logo. Another ident is a gentle congregation of elegant wood letter blocks.

Like the shows they frame, these seemingly disparate moments are connected by storytelling. “The package needed to tie into this notion of uncommon stories,” said Cantwell, “so each of those elements were reflecting the turning of the page, the next chapter, a new chapter, continuing the story to see where the story was going… Even in this digital world we live in, we still tell stories in the same way. It’s still about white space and letter forms even though it’s digital, and putting it in that tactile world… gave it the warmth that it needs to tap into the audience, which is common people like you and me.”

The warm vibe also manifests in subtle lighting effects that were “intentionally chosen to really reflect back on the time of day,” said Cantwell. “Whether it’s a sunrise or a sunset, that’s when you get those long shadows,” which are indicative of “kinds of reflection or relaxation.” Nowhere is that motif more evident than in the refreshed CMT logo, which “has the shadow of sunlight moving through it,” said Keating-Mallen, “reflecting the bright, sun-shiny day that is the spirit of CMT.”

Bolstered by this new rebrand, the spirit of CMT Canada now reflects the spirit of a nation where “country music lovers are mostly urban, regular salt of the earth people,” said Keating-Mallen. “They aren’t rural, hicks or rednecks. They are not overly patriotic or religious… Their common values of family, honesty and a strong work ethic are all wrapped up in humor and not taking themselves so seriously. We felt that also made sense in the context of the shows we air in primetime and the fact that the values are equally shared by the Country music stars and fans alike. We wanted to tell big stories about small towns; high concepts grounded by real people. That’s why, to us, CMT is a people brand first – not a niche, not a genre.”

Tags:


  Save as PDF