New ABC tagline embraces hashtag revolution
A rebrand of Australia's national broadcaster will see the ABC adopt a hashtag as a central part of its identity.
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Australia's national broadcaster has thrown itself into the digital landscape with a rebrand that will see it adopting a hashtag as part of its primary branding.
The ABC will now advertise itself with the tagline #ourABC, a Twitter-style slogan that will be rolled out across the channel's idents -- the advertisements promoting the broadcaster on the ABC's own channels.
The move follows a similar foray into internet-speak for the ABC, which has seen the presenters bylined with their Twitter handles, rather than their full name, across all ABC news programs and bulletins.
The ABC will also keep its "worm" logo, billed as "one of the most recognisable logos in the country," but it will ditch the acronym that has hitherto accompanied it. The changes, which will come into effect on July 20, 2014, have been described by the broadcaster as "bold, simple, raw and real."
"The channel's tagline will be '#ourABC', emphasising the role it plays in all of our lives -- it's about inclusion, togetherness and connection," said ABC Television head of marketing and communications Diana Costantini.
"The hashtag will encourage audiences to engage with us and allow us to collate, curate and share their contributions through a new online destination. The site will launch [on July 20] and highlight imagery, stories and fascinating anecdotes from around Australia."
These stories will be sourced from "real-life Aussies" who have contributed to ABC Open -- a platform that allows regional Australians to produce and publish their own content through the ABC -- and will also feature ABC's on-air personalities. The content will also be accompanied by music from Hunters & Collectors, who have re-recorded their famous song "Throw Your Arms Around Me" to become "the channel's anthem."
The ABC is already well established in the digital space, thanks to the strong integration of its iView catch-up service into its suite of channels. All these channels -- including iView, ABC2 and ABC News 24 -- will maintain their names, but the broadcaster's main channel will change from ABC1 to, simply, ABC.