NBCUniversal International Networks Refreshes Studio Universal Brand With Help From Ericsson’s Red Bee

NBCUniversal International Networks (NBCUIN) unveiled the brand refresh for Studio Universal, its movies channel available across Africa, Spanish Latin America, Brazil and Italy. Red Bee – the award-winning creative agency, now part of Ericsson group – led the refresh of the logo and on-air packaging, working in close collaboration with NBCUIN’s in-house creative and marketing team, who developed the new positioning and tagline.

The refreshed brand will begin rolling out on Oct. 1 in Africa and follow in other markets over the coming months.

In refreshing the brand, Red Bee was inspired by the iconic world of film. The on-screen presentation graphics take design cues from movie posters – such as a centred layout, type alignment and limited colour palettes – while the redesigned Studio Universal logo is now a confident black & white marque with a cinematic feel. The result is a channel brand that truly celebrates every aspect of the movies.

Eight new idents were also created by Red Bee, with the aim of bringing to life the Studio Universal experience and “We Are Movies” tagline. Each ident draws viewers in to carefully choreographed scenes – providing a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the people whose skill and dedication bring stories to life – reflecting the audience’s emotional connection to the movies. Shot on-location at Universal Studios in Hollywood, each ident has an opposite version – either light or dark in tone – which uses the same set, key actors and props unveiling a very different scene, emphasizing the magic of cinema.

Marco Giusti, SVP, Creative, NBCUniversal International, commented: “In refreshing Studio Universal we wanted to challenge typical movie-channel conventions, taking inspiration from the craft and dedication of movie-makers for our positioning, packaging, logo and tagline. The result, via Red Bee’s inspired creative concept, is that we’ve firmly placedour love and passion for the movies at the heart of the Studio Universal brand with the aim of bringing viewers even closer to the full movie experience.”

Andy Bryant, Managing Director, Red Bee, added: “We’re extremely proud to have been selected by NBCUniversal International Networks to work on the brand refresh for Studio Universal. Our challenge was to design a movie channel identity that would stand out from the crowd, conveying both scale and quality while connecting with audiences around the world. Instead of borrowing design cues from cinemas, we decided to take cues from the visual language of film posters and the process of film-making, itself, to immerse viewers in the movies.”

Studio Universal brings the expertise and magic of a rich cinema heritage to the small screen. Curating the cinematic experience, through a variety of movies across multiple genres, the channel ensures movie lovers (whatever their taste) are immersed time and time again. From the hottest blockbusters to evergreen classics, Studio Universal shares emotional experiences with families and friends everywhere.

Ericsson Awarded for Pay TV Innovation at IBC
Ericsson was selected as the winner of the best IPTV technology and service at the CSI Awards held during the International Broadcasting Conference in Amsterdam on September 11, 2015. The annual program, hosted by CSI Magazine, recognizes technical and product marketing excellence in the cable, satellite, terrestrial broadcasting, mobile and IPTV sectors.

Ericsson MediaFirst, a next-generation cloud-based Pay TV platform that transforms TV and video entertainment, was selected as the Best IPTV Technology and Services at the CSI Awards show. Bringing together the best of traditional Pay TV and over-the-top services, Ericsson MediaFirst empowers operators and content providers to deliver constantly optimized, device agnostic and highly personalized TV experiences. Ericsson announced the commercial availability of Ericsson MediaFirst at the 2015 International Broadcasting Convention.

“Through MediaFirst, Ericsson provides operators with the tools they need to deliver compelling, personalized TV experiences that inspire greater subscriber loyalty and offer more opportunity to drive agility and revenue,” said Mark Weinberg, Head of Business Line, Ericsson TV Platforms. “We’re honored to receive the award from CSI Magazine and look forward to deploying MediaFirst with operators around the globe.”

Ericsson MediaFirst adopts agile development principles and practices to fit the needs of a business-to-business-to-consumer TV platform, providing operators a continuous stream of new innovations. Much like web services, MediaFirst enables operators to act on the platform’s built-in analytics in real time, leading to agile innovation cycles, greater monetization opportunities and faster time to market for new features and targeted offerings.

Ericsson MediaFirst is a key part of the Ericsson media solutions portfolio, reflecting continued investments to enable operators to deliver award-winning TV services to viewers. Along with industry leading IPTV platform, Ericsson Mediaroom, and Ericsson Mediaroom Reach, which extends the platform to all screens, Ericsson’s TV platforms provide the best TV vewing experiences across all devices while addressing various operator needs.

Uniquely placed at the convergence of telecommunications, the Internet and media, Ericsson powers some of the world’s largest and most complex video platforms, and helps the world’s strongest content brands to deliver personalized, high-quality programming to consumers 24/7. Ericsson’s products, services and insights enable broadcasters, content creators and content owners across cable, satellite and telecoms to accelerate their transformation towards TV in the Networked Society.