Brand Strategy, Writing Samples

Travel Channel 2005 Brand Evolution Strategy

Posted by Jeff Boortz on

Note: This brand strategy followed an extensive period of research on the network and its competitors for the Travel Channel by my agency, Concrete Pictures.

Travel Channel 2005 Brand Evolution Proposal
Part I- What We Should Do

First, let me thank you for giving Concrete Pictures the opportunity to be involved in this project. We see this as a very exciting time in the history of the television, with the medium swirling in the early stages of a huge paradigm shift. We believe firmly that the ones who come out on top when all the dust settles will be the networks that have thoughtfully examined their brands, programs and services, and questioned even their most fundamental business assumptions. It is important to consider where you want to be in five years before you decide what to do today, as, in the words of the Chinese proverb, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” This is the beginning of that journey. We hope to be on it with you, and promise you that along the way, we’ll take nothing for granted.

Branding services, design and promotion are, in essence, creative problem solving. Concrete Pictures’ processes are designed to identify your goals, meet your immediate needs, and exceed your long-term expectations. While we cannot hope to accomplish all that needs to be done in this preliminary exercise, we believe we can demonstrate that we listen, what we know, how we think, and how we translate our ideas into images and actions.

Travel Channel’s Goals

Our process begins with your goals. After considering the information in your document: Travel Channel Brand Evolution Assignment Briefing, August 3, 2005, and the conversations we had on that date in Silver Springs, we have developed the following combined description of the goals of this project and the pitch exercise.

Goal: Develop a comprehensive brand identity for Travel Channel…

  1. …that builds upon the research,
  2. …that builds upon the brand positioning- Travel Advocate,
  3. …that speaks to the travel impassioned,
  4. …that works within the reality of your production budgets,
  5. …that is TV-centric- re-invigorating the network environment,
  6. …that builds the channel brand on the backs of its new programs,
  7. …that is tactically innovative,
  8. …that anticipates changes to media fueled by technological development,

 

…in order to support a new audience-relevant, content-inspiring, advertiser-friendly, and market-competitive strategic direction.

 Though we haven’t discussed it yet, we must assume that the impetus for this brand evolution assignment is dissatisfaction, large or small, with the Travel Channel’s present performance and/or future potential. If everything were working perfectly, why would we mess with it? Though a new network identity and promo package can alter how you are perceived in the marketplace, we caution that it can also be the equivalent of slapping a new coat of paint on your ocean liner to combat sagging ticket sales, while trans-Atlantic jets are rolling out of the hangers across town. If this effort is motivated by larger business issues we need to quantify them and identify their root causes with an eye towards not merely catching up with, but leap-frogging the competition. So our question is this:

  • How will the Travel Channel measure the success of this brand evolution? Ratings? Revenue? Consumer surveys? What level of improvement in each metric is expected? Over what term?

 Knowing the above will let us know how much equity you believe exists in the present Travel Channel and help us gauge how aggressive to be in its evolution.

Context

If the Travel Channel were a brand of pasta, a product whose manufacture and distribution method has remained relatively static over the last 50 years, achieving the above stated goals would be rather straightforward. But Travel Channel is an entertainment and information media brand struggling to survive, and if lucky, thrive in a perfect storm of daily technological advance, and logarithmically expanding competition. “A market competitive strategic direction” must take into account the context in which the Travel Channel brand exists today, and project what it believes that context will be over the next 5-7 years.

  1. The State of the Television Medium
    Remember that buzz word of the mid-nineties, “convergence.” Well, guess what? It’s here. A decade late, and not exactly how we imagined it, but it is upon us. What exactly does it mean? Well, in the nineties dot.com prophets predicted that the computer and the TV set would merge. That hasn’t happened. What has happened is actually more profound: the TV signal has gone digital, modems have gotten very fast, and everyone under the sun bought a cell phone. The result: The media stream (entertainment and information video content, voice, and music) have been liberated from the tyranny of hardware. The same content that used to be exclusive to your television can now be received in some form by your computer, your game console, and your mobile device. We should really call this phenomen “divergence,” as the hardware and production of  the content it displays grow more independent daily.Presently video entertainment and information content can be delivered via broadcast/satellite/cable/dvr/dvd/vhs/game consolve /and the computer to television sets, through cable modems/dsl/ wireless modems or powerlines into your computer; streamed to your cell phone, PSP, and in 5 more minutes, your iPod; or electronically to totally immersive virtual reality “rides” and movie theater screens, and via custom film projectors to giant IMAX domes. That’s today. Scientific American predicts that wearable computers (Pioneer) are only “several years from market” and that “wallpaper” video screens for walls, ceilings, or clothing are a mere 5-10 years from market. The only thing certain about the future of devices to display entertainment and information media is that there will be more of them and they will develop in ways we can’t possibly imagine today.The golden era of television is over. To assume that TV will be the prominent or even desired device through which to experience Travel Channel’s content in the future, or even that every consumer will prefer the same device is short-sighted and dangerous. Many former “television networks” (ESPN, MTV, HGTV, Food included) have already embraced the idea that they are content brands agnostic of display media- we recommend that Travel Channel do the same immediately.“We are not a television company,” says ESPN exec John Skipper. “We’re gonna surround consumers with media.”
      • The Travel Channel’s Entertainment and information media content should be developed and produced centrally then parsed out to be received by a myriad of devices, at any time, and in any place the consumer wants to access it.

(Review Appendix A)

 

  1. The State of Television Advertising
    Everyone knows that television exists to sell consumer products. For the past 50 years viewers have paid for their entertainment and information with attention to sponsor’s advertisements. Advertisers’ seek a powerful connection to a large and desirable audience. The fragmentation of television’s mass audience into ever-smaller niches, technology like Tivo that allows ad-skipping, and the cannibalization of TV viewers by VOD, the internet, video games, and DVDs means that television advertising doesn’t pack the punch it once did.Though cable has made gains on, and even surpassed broadcast in recent upfronts, there is a dark lining to this silver cloud: advertising dollars are moving undeniably from mass to personal media, and television is not the most personalized media around. Advertisers have already begun to spread their money around the media landscape in search of a better ROI. Proctor and Gamble, the biggest advertiser on television, has this year lowered its commitment to the television medium by 30%. Where did that money go? The Internet. While most television networks are attempting to stop the bleeding by offering product placement, branded programming, and interstitial stunts the writing is on the wall. Interactive media like the Internet allows for deep, interactive, and 100% trackable relationships with prospective customers. TV doesn’t now, and may never. A network brand that remains dependent solely on television ad-revenue is already doomed, even if it hasn’t realized it yet.What will endure in the future of advertising, it appears, is the fact that people are willing to pay for their entertainment and information with attention to advertising messages.
      • The Travel Channel must not only expand its content across multiple platforms, it must take its advertisers with it. It must strive to create an advertiser-friendly pan-media environment for advertising in order to thrive in an increasingly complex media future.

(See Appendix B)

 

  1. The State On-Air Identity and Promotion: Desperation
    On-air promo is broken and has been for almost a decade. On-air promos are capable of generating a strong emotional desire to view a television program but are unreliable in “closing” the deal because they rely exclusively on the extremely fallible human memory. Viewers must remember the show name, the network name, the day, and time the show will air in order to find it. The television environment has become so “cluttered” that a viewer typically encounters over 100 such challenges to their memory during a single primetime viewing experience. The situation grows more difficult everyday as viewing choices grow logarithmically to include not only hundreds of linear channels, but thousands of hours of programming available On-Demand.The vast number of possible viewing choices has created an anxious and timid TV viewer, afraid to venture to far from familiar territory; they still only watch an average of 12 networks. Desperate to hold on to viewers and capture surfers, networks have devised ever more intrusive promo devices that encroach on, and undermine the power of a its programming (bugs, banners, violators, etc). These desperate and half-blind attempts to reach and hold viewers may already be driving them away.The Internet doesn’t share television’s User Interface problems. Through search engines like Google, Yahoo!, etc. users are able to manage millions of choices effectively, and without timidity. Whether through an advanced television UI, or through convergence with the Internet (IPTV), an improved ability to manage television’s expanding viewing options is coming. Depending on how and when this happens, all existing On-Air promo methods will be subject to dramatic change. New and provable promotion tactics will emerge.
      • Because technology will very shortly change the way viewer’s manage the vast array of choices on television, we believe the Travel Channel’s On-Air promo operation should focus on generating a powerful desire to view network programs, and on managing vertical audience flow from one show to another WITHOUT intruding on and undermining the immersive experience of its programming.

 

Your Research- Our Interpretations

Key findings of your research include:

  • “Travel is an immense area of passion,” but that people are “not passionate about the Travel Channel.”
  • The Travel Channel is thought presently to be about “tourism, not travel.”
  • A desire to “escape, explore, and immerse” is what’s motivating your audience.

You conclude that your audience is more interested in “the journey,” than a mere description of  a destination.

A destination is a statement, a static set of facts. A journey is a dramatic, free-flowing stream of questions and possibilities. Neither the destination, nor the person experiencing a description of it changes with the telling. A journey, however, changes everything: the traveler, the people he encounters, the places he visits, the people he recounts his adventures to, and in fact, the entire history of the world.

We believe that the true difference between a journey and a destination is “Possibility.”

Your research also points out that different people travel for different reasons. You have identified a dozen “archetypal travelers.” They include:

Cultural Immersionists

Hiptsers

Adrenaline Junkies

Road Warriors

Party Animals

Nature Lovers

Family Travelers

Romance Travelers

Indulgent Travelers

Foodie Travelers

Culture Vultures

Inward Bound Travelers

 

The first four on the list represent the “Empassioned Core.” The descriptions overlap, and a single Travel Channel viewer likely represents several archetypes.

 

Plotting a Strategic Direction for the Travel Channel
Believing they were in the business of selling film, when digital video proved itself a superior medium for capturing life’s “Kodak moments” brought the former brand giant to the brink of extinction. At this important juncture in media history we need to ask ourselves what business is the Travel Channel really in? What fundamental consumer needs does it answer, agnostic of media? Only then can we hope to plot a truly Strategic Direction.

It is clear from the articles we’ve attached that the Travel Channel cannot remain simply in the “television” business much longer. So what exactly is its business? What is the mission of the Travel Channel? We have ventured preliminary answers to some the questions that that help companies develop a mission statement based on our conversations with your team, and our knowledge of the industry.

  1. Which customers or groups of customers does the Travel Channel plan to serve?

(Real and Virtual) travel enthusiasts across the globe.

 

  1. What products or services does the Travel Channel plan to provide?

Virtual travel experiences and travel-related information and advice.

 

  1. What needs does the Travel Channel satisfy?

Wanderlust, the desire for rich, satisfying experiences that expand our knowledge, understanding, and appreciation for the world beyond our everyday routines.

 

  1. How does the Travel Channel’s products differ from the competition’s?

The Travel Channel appears to have two groups of competitors: media brands seeking to attract the same audience (bravo, Food, HGTV, etc), and travel brands existing across media, (Nat. Geo., Conde Naste, Expedia, Travelocity, Amex, etc)

From Media brands: Travel Channel offers “Travel-related” entertainment and information.

 From Travel brands: It emanates from the POV of the traveler not those trying to sell products and services to travelers.

 

  1. What extra value or benefits do customers receive when they choose the Travel Channel over the competition?

Emotionally deeper travel experiences and more personally relevant and accessible travel related information.

 

 We apologize for conducting this important exercise without you. But on based on what we know right now it seems fairly clear that:

    • “Television” must be dropped from the description of what the
      Travel Channel is/does because it has become too limiting.

Though this may not be what we ultimately arrive at together, a “medium agnostic” mission statement for the Travel Channel might look something like this:

  • The Mission of the Travel Channel is to offer emotionally immersive virtual travel experiences and personally relevant travel-related information and advice to travel enthusiasts the world over to entertain, and expand their knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of the world beyond their everyday routines.

We believe that the Mission Statement above is consistent with the goals you’ve outlined for the Travel Channel brand evolution including:

  • It speaks to the travel impassioned.
  • It anticipates changes to media fueled by technological development.

This mission statement is consciously not, “TV-centric” as called for in your goals, because we feel that being so would put it in conflict with all indications of where electronic media is heading long term. That doesn’t mean that the TV expressions of the brand won’t be powerful communicators of the new Travel Channel. In fact, as the “first steps” section of this proposal will detail, TV will be a key part of expressing the Travel Channel brand for the short and medium term.

 

The Travel Channel Brand Position

The Travel Channel brand is the association made between its name and the programming and services it offers in the minds of media consumers. It is the quality and power of this association that persuades viewers to choose Travel Channel over its competitors. The Travel Channel brand is the cumulative result of multiple encounters with every expression of the Travel Channel’s programming, and its name, identity, advertising, promotion, products and services.

The Travel Channel brand positioning statement captures the essence of this desired association and guides the development of all creative expressions of the network brand. In order to develop a creative big idea that is on-brand and helpful in achieving your goals we must first examine and clarify the proposed new Travel Channel’s brand position.

Your assignment brief states that Travel Channel wants to position itself as the “Travel Advocate.” Advocating travel to its viewers is nice, but is it an ownable position? Expedia.com certainly advocates travel, as does Conde Naste Traveler, American Express, Travel and Leisure, Travelocity, Frommers, Lonely Planet and a host of other travel-related brands. A brand should strive to own a word in the mind of the consumer. The word is a distillation of the company brand promise, the promise that leads consumers to chose it. Volvo owns the word “safety,” FedEx owns “Overnight,” E! owns “celebrity,” MTV owns “hip” and ESPN owns “sports authority.” Rather than “travel advocate” we suggest that:

  • The Travel Channel should strive to own the word “experience.”

Experience is what the Travel Channel’s character-driven shows deliver. The word “Advocate” refers to Travel Channel-the network, and while recommending travel, stops short of delivering it. “Experience” is a viewer-focused word, and the promise of a journey fulfilled.

Travel advocacy, however, is an important secondary concept that we believe can be suggested with a slight network name change- not even a change really, but rather by adopting a nic-name. The name “Travel Channel” describes a destination- fixed and static. The name, “TRAVEL” acts as a viewer-focused call-to-action, a command ripe with possibility. We therefore recommend that the word “Channel” in the network’s name be dropped, or  become silent so that every time you utter the network’s name you advocate travel.

  • The Travel Channel (logo) should be read as simply “TRAVEL.”

 Can a category descriptor, “Travel” be transformed into a proper name? Yes. Sci-Fi Channel has dropped the word “Channel” in most expressions of its brand (including its on-air logo), and has effectively turned a category description into a proper name. “It’s on Sci-fi.”

Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations suggests the most crucial ingredient in the success of any brand is its claim to authenticity. Authenticity is a key element of what separates the new travel channel from the old, and we believe it should be referenced in the Travel Channel brand positioning statement. Stating that Coke is “the real thing” implies that every other cola is a copy-cat. Travel Channel’s positioning line should do no less.

A new positioning line for the Travel Channel that incorporates owning experience, advocating travel, and claiming authenticity would look something like:

  • TRAVEL…because there is no substitute for experience.

 When considering this recommended network position from the POV of your stated network goals we think that it works.

It builds upon the research in that it is rooted in a call-to-action, urging viewers to embark on the journey, rather than describing a destination.

It builds upon the brand positioning- Travel Advocate by including implied advocacy in the name (TRAVEL), but goes beyond that to assert ownership of the viewer-focused word “experience.” It further claims authenticity by asserting that there is no substitute- inferring all other travel brands are inferior.

It speaks to the travel impassioned. “Travel…Because there is no substitute for experience” is a double entredre thatBy asserting ownership of the word “experience” the Travel Channel can own the journey (the experience of the traveler) as well as the position of authority (the experience/expertise of the network delivering travel-related information and offering advice).

 

Summary

We believe that creating a powerful brand for the Travel Channel depends on a clear understanding of its long-term mission and the context in which it must operate as a business. This understanding yields a network brand positioning statement (your stake in the ground within the market) from which all expressions of the brand emanate.

While we’ve offered a quick look at the Travel Channel’s mission, the evolving media context in which the network must exist and suggest what we believe to be a truly ownable position, we’ve done so without the most important component for success, you. If, and hopefully when, we go forward as a team we will back up and fully explore all of the assumptions and challenge all of the givens related to the Travel Channel brand together before recommending how best to express it On-Air and off.

What will follow, in the next part of this proposal is a tactical and creative exploration for expressing the Travel Channel brand that assumes the following:

The mission statement:

  • The Mission of the Travel Channel is to offer emotionally immersive virtual travel experiences and personally relevant travel related information and advice to travel enthusiasts the world over to entertain, and expand their knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of the world beyond their everyday routines.

The positioning statement:

  • TRAVEL…because there is no substitute for experience.

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