Station ID

What's in a logo - or a name?

Our friends in advertising will say it's everything - it has to be the perfect (as much as you can make it) represenation of your company's identity, objectives, mission, personality.

But sometimes, without totally changing the logo, a company can just fine-tune it a bit, modernize it, make it trendy to reach an entirely new generation.  Remember when National Book Store changed its logo - and notice now how venerable, redoubtable BPI is making theirs brighter, lighter, sunnier?

The same applies to cable channels.  Without going much into images, chances are a channel's name will or should embody the kind of shows it brings to its audience.  Cable channels, after all, is about niche entertainment - it offers one paricular, specialized genre in all its many varieties in just one number; this is what separates it from free-for-all free TV.

Just take a rundown of your favorite channels:

AXN - action at its best                         

HBO - box-office movies right where you live

History Channel - it's about the lessons taught us in all the events that transpired through the ages

Velvet - sleeky, stylish, naughty, the kind of entertainment that you'd like to watch before you go to sleep and carry with you in your dreams.

Crime and Investgiation - it's self-explanatory

And yes, cable channels have to reinvent themselves, too.  Cinemax had already carved a notorious name as the hub of B-movies and forgettable thrillers until it re-branded itself as Maxx! for maximum entertainment and enjoyment.

Sci-fi Channel, too, captured the niche audience of lovers of specualtive shows until its own archaic programming (old series, TV movies, grade Z sci-fi films) killed it and its competition went to AXN Beyond.  To be upfront, I was one of the few who anxiously waited for Sci-fi Channel to make its debut in Philippine airwaves  -  only to be disappointed with its paltry offerings.

The weakness must also have been present in the other overseas branches of Sci-Fi Channel.  It just re-booted itself a few months ago to call itself Sy Fy - intimating that it's more hip, dynamic, enterprising, inventive, and with a name like that, supposedly pushes is boundaries.

What's in a name, right?