RTL 4, the largest commercial TV channel in our country, will soon get a new logo. The same logo is chosen as with our eastern neighbours. “It’s just a huge savings.”
After ten years, RTL 4 is finally getting a makeover. The channel’s new logo was revealed on Twitter last week by AD media journalist Marcus den Blanken. The smaller sister channels RTL 5, RTL 7 and RTL 8 will also have a similar house style. What immediately stands out? The same logo is also used abroad.
Squares
The new logo consists of three squares containing the letters R, T and L and next to it the number of the channel. This is what the logo of the German RTL has looked like since 1992. “Parent company RTL Group already announced two years ago that they are moving towards one brand identity, and that is this,” explains media expert Victor Vlam in The Communicados.
This has also been rolled out in Hungary, says Victor. He does not believe the official reason that RTL wants to have the same image everywhere in order to strengthen the brand. “Because why would it be important that if you are on holiday in Hungary as a Dutch person, that you know that you are dealing with an RTL channel?”
Farmer seeks wife
The Dutch viewer has absolutely nothing to do with those foreign stations, says Victor. “You don’t speak the language and in addition: all those RTL channels also have completely different programs. Farmer Searches Woman, for example, is broadcast on RTL Hungary, while it is broadcast on our public broadcaster.”
He continues: “They are still completely different channels, so one brand experience… I don’t believe that.”
Huge savings
RTL is not CNN or Starbucks, for whom it is relevant to look the same everywhere, says Victor. “Look, what’s really behind this: it’s just a huge savings, a really huge savings. Because if you have the same design for all your channels, then you only have to hire an agency once to do that design.”
He continues: “And of course you can save a lot more in the future, because if those logos are all the same, you can also align the design of RTL News with RTL Aktuell in Germany, for example. That is also a saving. So, of course, that’s really behind it.”
piece of identity
What does Victor think? “I think it’s a shame, because a piece of identity is being lost. It is a bit true that the Dutch RTL 4 is disappearing a little bit. It is now becoming a kind of dependency of a large international company, which we simply do not have much use for.”
It’s a bit like Albert Heijn suddenly getting the house style of a foreign supermarket, he thinks. “Yes, that Albert Heijn suddenly becomes Walmart, for example. Those kind of things.”
Design
Mark’s tweet:
Communicados
The latest episode of De Communicado’s: