Nick Does Cable Rebranding Right
As Moose A. Moose might say, “Hip hip hooray! They did it in a great way!”
If you don’t have a toddler in your house, chances are you’re not familiar with Mr. Moose’s work. He’s the mascot of Nick Jr., Nickelodeon’s newly rebranded preschooler cable network.
The change of brand—at least in our household—was seamless, and that’s just how it should be.
Until Oct. 1, Nick Jr. was known as Noggin. We turned on the TV this weekend to see the new logo, which my kids noticed immediately. When I explained the name change, my boys (ages 3 and 6) just kinda shrugged and asked if they could still call it Noggin if they wanted. I said sure, and they went back to watching “Yo Gabba Gabba.” Of course, in a month or so, I bet they’ll be calling it Nick Jr. without a second thought.
The rebranding, of course, makes perfect sense, as it ties the preschool channel in tighter with the main Nickelodeon channel, Nick Toons and Teen Nick (itself known as The N until this month). Kids get it, and it isn’t confusing to parents either, a plus all around.
Me, I’m still not completely happy with Sci-Fi Channel’s rebranding as Syfy, which made them seem like they were running from the fantasy and science fiction genre loving fans who were their core audience in a desire to acquire a trademarkable moniker. And Syfy still sounds vaguely like a disease to my ears.
But, what do I know? The network is posting all time high ratings, so good for them. But personally, I think Nick played a better name game. They stayed true to their audience and, dare I say it, used their “noggin.”
October 6th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Noggin/Nick Jr.’s rebrand might have gone well, but not many people seem to like the The-N/Teen Nick rebrand.
October 8th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Beth, you’re right. Only a parent could appreciate the ease of this brand switch.
Noggin is the king or queen of repetition. While I was scrambling to read the program guide, my kids had already watched the “between” programming and let me know that “Dad, Noggin is now Nick Jr.” And just like that it was reality.
While we still miss saying Noggin’ my kids, ages 2, 5, 7, already started moving on to Nickolodean and Discovery Kids.
October 9th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Rufus, don’t get to attached to Discovery Kids… 50% of the network was purchased by Hasbro and will be rebranded in 2010 with Hasbro being responsible for programming. We will have to wait and see how they handle it…