Cathy Johnson

When Channel 4 launched in 1982 its logo (used on and off-screen) was acclaimed as innovative and original. The different coloured blocks making up the graphic number 4 offered a visual representation of the new channel’s mission – to serve a range of diverse minorities within one channel. Yet it was not until the early 1990s that Channel 4 as a corporation began to adopt branding strategies in a systematic way that ran through the operations of the corporation overall.

This paper will outline the reasons why branding emerged as a key strategy for Channel 4 in the early 1990s and examine some of the ways in which it has branded itself as a corporation over the past 15 years. In doing so, it will argue that branding emerges as a valuable strategy within a television industry that has become at once more diversified and competitive.