Bringing the truth to life: ITN rebrands to become global production powerhouse and home to ITN Sport
Trackside at the World Athletics in Oregon with World Athletics Productions, a JV between World Athletics and ITN
ITN has reimagined its iconic brand as it looks to evolve from a British news organisation into a global player in news, factual, sports, education and branded content.
Founded in 1955, ITN has built a reputation for producing high-quality, independent journalism by providing news programmes, current affairs series and digital services across the ITV network, Channel 4 and Channel 5.
The new brand positioning, narrative and visual identity has been headed up by agency partners Rudd Studio and Undivided. It replaces ITN’s famous static logo from the 1970s with a new animated logo which responds to its environment, reinforcing ITN’s reputation for innovation; its ability to reflect changing audience needs and its more varied portfolio.
ITN’s business is now made up of seven distinct divisions – Business, Education, Newsrooms (ITV News, Channel 4 News and 5 News), News Production, Post Production, Productions, and Sport.
ITN Sport works with broadcasters and federations to create sports production for a whole new generation of fans. ITN’s joint venture with World Athletics – World Athletics Productions – saw record-breaking coverage this summer in Oregon. The team delivered more than 350 hours of action over 10 days with 120 cameras, 10 live control rooms and a crew of 400. Coverage was broadcast in 170 territories with an approximate audience of one billion.
ITN’s new logo
ITN’s director of sport, Alastair Waddington, said: “At ITN Sport we bring our viewers closer than ever to the athletes with our signature intimate filming style, which captures athletes beyond the sporting arena to share their inspiring personal journeys and reach the next generation of fans. As is reflected in this new brand position, we are able to do all that by harnessing the decades of storytelling craft and state-of-the-art production capabilities at ITN to create world-class sports content, building a powerfully immersive experience that puts audiences right there in the stadium.”
ITN CEO, Rachel Corp, said: “Our challenge was to pay homage to our powerful legacy as a trusted, impartial news provider, at the same time as rearticulating who we are and what we stand for today. We homed in on how we are a purpose-driven organisation with a mission to bring ‘truth to life’ and put people at the heart of everything we do. This resonates across all parts of ITN and creates a distinctive and future-facing business proposition with a clear ethos.”
Stefan Terry, strategy director at Undivided, said: “ITN made its name by telling true stories with more emotional intelligence and impact. It’s something that’s even more important today than it was back in the 50s and it’s clear from working with ITN’s people that the mission to ‘bring the truth to life’ still drives them. As a positioning, it shows how seriously they take their role as a truth-teller, and it sets them apart as a brand that can create magnetic, factual content for all kinds of audiences, from Channel 4 current affairs viewers to true crime lovers on Amazon Prime.”
Matthew Rudd, creative director at Rudd Studio, said: “We knew we needed to reflect the responsive, emotional intelligence that makes ITN special but, at the same time, we didn’t want to walk away from decades of rock-solid news heritage.
“We decided to build the new logo around the original, simple ITN letterforms to signal a continued dedication to accuracy and impartiality. But this time we set free the rigid, angular line around the letters so that it can move and respond to stimulus like a living cell.
“It’s a way of showing how ITN constantly evolves and connects with different audiences without undermining its commitment to the truth.”