On February 6, amidst all of the Superbowl bruhaha (will Paul McCartney show any skin? Will the “Daddy” ad run or not? How can I get my very own Pepsi truck? How?) MTV relaunched MTV2.
For those that might not remember, MTV2 was originally created in 1996 (then simply branded as M2) to refill the music video void that MTV itself created with the focus of the network going from “all music, all the time” in 1981 to “nary a video to be found” by the mid-1990s. With shows like Real World and Jackass and Pimp My Ride occupying most of MTV’s airwaves, M2’s launch seemed to be a happy throwback to MTV’s all music roots. That’s changing. I think.
“We used to be simply a music complement to MTV. Now we’re a real business,” said David Cohn, general manager of MTV2. “We had to change and evolve.”
But then I read this:
“What MTV2 is, while a departure from MTV, is really harkening back to the early days of MTV,” says Tina Exarhos, executive vice president of marketing.
And then this:
CNN says this of the reinvigorated network: “this is not your father’s MTV…or maybe it is.”
So I am not quite sure what this new little network is up to. Interestingly enough, it is the new MTV2 logo—a dog with two heads—that is at the center of the new MTV2. The rest of the “revamped” network will maintain most of its current music programming, coupled with psychedelic graphics and “constant injections of randomness.” However the new demographic focus of the sister (brother?) network will be focused on 12-24 year-old guys and to programming focused almost exclusively on hip-hop and youth-oriented rock genres like emo and punk-pop — an initiative MTV2 is billing as its “two-headed dog” strategy. Get the new logo, now?
The logo is also the centerpiece of the new networks revamped website and just launched advertising. According to Jeffrey Keyton, the design guru for all things MTV, the logo was created by Stacy Drummond of Look Here Inc. I think the logo is fantastic: just a bit off center, a visual pun and utterly unique.
If you are interested in seeing any rejected (but also great) logos for MTV2 designed by Number Seventeen, you can either check out the back page of the March/April issue of Step magazine or you can see it here [PDF].
According to Billboard’s Radio Monitor, critics see the new direction as evidence that MTV Networks is further backing away from music videos, and that even the formats still supported by the channel will be narrowly defined and marginalized in much the same way pop music is on the flagship MTV.
For their part, MTV executives are unapologetic. “The days of MTV2 of being the Jewel-to-Tool station are over,” says Tom Calderone, executive VP of music and talent programming for MTV/MTV2/MTVU. “The reason is simple: No one liked it. If you don’t stand for anything and you don’t have people who are deeply in love with you, you don’t sell records, and nobody cares.”
And he adds this from CNN: “We want Green Day to be a kind of house band for MTV2, the way people feel about MTV being the Eminem Network.” Calderone points out that while the branding for MTV2 will be new, the programming will stay much the same. In fact, MTV2 already has been focusing its music programming largely on rock and hip-hop, he says. “Our music-video hours have increased by double-digit percentages because we have been providing since the summertime of last year a very focused, hit-driven rock and hip-hop music channel,” he says.
So far, Viacom is happy with the reaction and the results. Ratings are up and people are talking, writing and blogging about the new look and new(ish) lineup. But they need to be careful: Business 2.0 recently reported a mole citing on the movie news website MovieWeb. Apparently “MarlonB1212” was trying to elicit feedback about the new logo. He was instantly outted and reprimanded by Georgie Girl: Dude it is so obvious you work for a viral marketing company it’s painful….People, Marlon is a MOLE. He is part of a big paid company to come on and get you to see advertising, but here the “advertising” is wormed into his postings. So let me guess this post won’t go intot he packet you submit to eh client (MTV@ in this case I’d guess) to show how successful you were at getting the teen graphic (sic) interested. Ciao liar!
Hmmm…maybe MarlonB1212 should have posted here?
Well…
This is what our parents (those of us in the 25-35 demographic) must have felt like when they saw us watching MTV. I personally feel a huge disconnect with the whole look of MTV2. That's good. There is a very overt sense of immaturity, rebellion and youthful irresponsibility to all the graphics on the site. That's good too. The dog pooping out the menu seems like an apt replacement for giving you the finger. Even that's good.
The idea of the logo… it's good, it's an interesting allusion to multiple personality disorder, allowing MTV2 to wade their toes in any murky water they want.
The execution of the logo… eh. It's cute. And I'm not sure if that's good. I found it a bit gimmicky. I wonder if —besides the four it already has — it will have enough legs to last more than 3-5 years.
On Feb.22.2005 at 04:04 PM