All it takes is a spark to ignite a flame. Nobody knows that better than YouTube mega-personality Michelle Phan, whose homegrown beauty-and-lifestyle media empire started with a few uploaded makeup tutorials edited on iMovie in 2006. Nine years and more than 7.5 million subscribers later, Phan has launched the multi-platform network ICON, an endeavor created in partnership with Endemol Beyond.

At its core, ICON is a rebrand of Phan’s original YouTube multi-channel network FAWN (For All Women Network) that will look to push her growing cache of online creators and their programming across Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and other social networks, as well as into OTT and beyond. The time was right to rebrand, said Leslie Morgan, executive director of lifestyle vertical network and programming for Endemol Beyond USA, because “what we found at FAWN was, we were excluding a big portion of millennials.”

The unspoken missing link there is young males and, while ICON’s programming still seems heavily geared toward women-centric offerings, the branding at least communicates a more gender-neutral message, starting with that all-important, very universal spark, an image Phan alludes to repeatedly in the new network’s anthem spot, a montage of tenderly shot vignettes of women and men indulging in creative pursuits.

“I want to share with all of you what was once just a spark,” Phan coos as a couple toting sparklers runs down a beach at sunset, “that will become something so much more for all of us.”

“You’re building off an existing brand so you want to make a splash and do something a little bit different,” Morgan said of the cinematic promo. Shot by frequent Phan collaborator Nate Fu, the spot works to connect the spark imagery to the name ICON, which derives from the endless fires of potential that burn within us to be iconic ourselves.

“Michelle’s entire experience on YouTube has proven that if you set your mind to anything and dream big, you can achieve anything too,” said Morgan. “Michelle has been called an icon. Endemol Shine Group and their programming has been considered iconic, but beyond that we wanted everybody in the audience to feel like they were icons too.”

From that uplifting notion, a tagline was born, “Infinite Possibilities,” along with a logo incorporating the very symbol of infinity. Morgan called that symbol “the heart of the brand identity,” a shape that not only alludes to the “infinite stories you can tell” and the “infinite possibilities you as the audience member could experience through our content” but that serves as a kind of nod to the infinite feedback loop that exists between viewers of today and the digital content creators they adore. “The great thing about digital is you have that instantaneous connection with each member of your community,” said Morgan. “For our audience members it’s really about sharing with them the stories we want to tell but having them share their stories as well.”

Unlike on a broadcast network, promos across ICON will often derive directly from audience participation. The line between promo and content can be thin in the digital network after all, and sometimes nonexistent. ICON’s <i>The FAQs</i>, for instance, which features network talent such as geek chic gal Curious Joi and small-town makeup guru JKissa simply answering audience questions, is very much billed as a show in its own right, but it also serves as a ready-made platform on which to market the network’s rising stars.

Audience inclusion and openness permeates every byte of ICON, even the anthem promo itself, which comes with an accompanying making-of video that breaks down how Fu and his team shot the piece using drones, green screens and visual effects. It’s fun and interesting, but it’s educational as well, a combination that has always been the spark of Phan’s own growing media empire.

“What makes us unique is really providing an inspirational, empowering message to be your best self,” said Morgan. “That’s the lens we run everything through. When we bring in talent, when we’re developing programming, it’s really about having a very positive, uplifting message. We all feel like there’s a lot of negativity out there and it’s important for us to shine a brighter light on what’s happening with millennials.”

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