Encore entered a new era of premium content in 2013, as parent company Starz strengthened its family of thematic multiplex channels with programming enhancements designed to further super-serve the nation’s evolving demographics. Along the way, Encore Drama became Encore Black, showcasing popular programming for African-American subscribers; Encore Classic replaced Encore Love with a mix of generational movie favorites and classic TV series geared toward the boomer set; Encore Suspense crept in, bringing top horror flicks to younger viewers; and Encore Español launched its own Spanish-language film programming, rising to new heights from its previous incarnation as a Spanish-language version of the flagship Encore channel.

When the dust from all this freshening up had settled, it was clear that the on-air look across Encore’s eight distinct channels (which also include Encore Action, Encore Westerns, Encore Family and the Encore Play mobile service) had become “a bit antiquated,” said Dave Baldwin, EVP of program planning for Starz. “The whole style of how we were promoting our assets was very traditional.”

In addition to creating a sleeker, hipper logo, the time had come for an on-air rebrand that not only communicated Encore’s new and improved premium service to its rapidly diversifying audiences, but showed “our distribution family of cable, telco and satellite partners that it should be valued in their perspective and in our contracts at a higher level,” said Baldwin. At the same time, “we didn’t want to change the character of Encore. [The network] was built and made for people that like movies [and TV shows] they’re familiar with.”

Encore’s tagline, after all, is “Playing Favorites,” a phrase evocative of its position as a curator of iconic material, delivered in a warm, comfortable environment. Aiming to activate that tagline across its newly fortified services, Encore partnered with brand consultancy and creative agency Troika to create a personality for its programming experience that would emotionally connect with viewers. Though that personality would never be referenced on-air, only implied, for the creative teams involved it became a living, breathing, albeit internally facing entity: Bob.

“Bob’s place is a place where you can come in any time,” explained Dale Everett, creative director for Troika. “He’s always got something on that you know and you like. It’s really welcoming, and it’s not about having to pick out a certain movie and watch that movie from start to finish. It’s much more casual… you may get hooked on a scene and watch longer or you might just watch that scene, and that’s okay.”

Baldwin described Bob’s voice as “cheeky. He’s a fan and he’s a wise guy.” On-air, that voice manifests in promo copy that sounds like the kind of chatter one movie buff might whisper to another in the back row of the theater. The various projections of Bob are “meant to be kind of knowing,” said Everett. “There’s a little wink in those voices in that they’re so deadpan and they’re very straight and having a little bit of fun with the copy.”

As Bob’s presence evolved, it deepened, retaining its knowingness while modulating for different kinds of content. Everett’s team realized we “can’t be that brash all the time.” Some promos, such as this spot for “The Notebook” simply let the clip itself do the talking, amplifying its tender emotion with a carefully wrought quip.

Encore’s identity brought Bob to life through a design scheme characterized by bold graphics, dynamic animations and genre-specific imagery respective of each of its eight channels. Utilizing a “Saul Bass lite” aesthetic, film titles came to life in retro, minimalist posters, and through “haiku” spots that sum up the nature of each channel’s specialty with elegant animations and poetic, often funny, sometimes cryptic descriptions.

Everett likened the resulting promo packaging to a communal viewing experience not unlike what often occurs in the Troika office itself. “Encore kind of becomes a lot of times the default viewing in our kitchen area at lunch,” he said, “so it’s an assortment of people and it’s a democratic choice of a movie and then everybody has to watch it. But right there you get a lot of fun chatter about the movies, and so in some ways that sort of became a bit of an inspiration. That’s the way people watch these movies on Encore.”

[Images and video courtesy of Troika.]

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