Marketing Good, Bad and the Ugly for ABC Family’s Freeform Rebrand
From early shows like The Fosters and Switched at Birth, to Pretty Little Liars, ABC Family was the trademark channel for drama-filled shows, teen favorites and family flicks. Their audience skewed younger, but never failed to attract viewers of all ages with marathons like the “25 Days of Christmas” in December and “Harry Potter Weekend.” However, in January of 2016 the household channel favorite rebranded from “ABC Family” to “Freeform.”
And yeah, it’s the worst.
The Good
What did ABC Family do right in the decision to rebrand? Making the decision to rebrand. Over a decade ago the network began to focus on a generation that was then the millennials. They saw great success with the younger population in America, especially women. As the generation aged and their audience grew older, ABC Family’s brand identity began to lose connection with those viewers. Having the word “Family” in the name hindered their relation to a younger audience — not to mention it sounds like you’re sitting down for a lecture from your parents. ABC Family’s target audience soon became ages 14 to 34 and and a group they dubbed, “becomers.” They campaigned for months before the switch to make sure awareness was high, and created videos to explain the new identity and noted characters their audience would recognize.
On all fronts, the need for a rebrand was long overdue. ABC Family was losing touch with who they wanted to target and so, Freeform was born.
The Bad.
Freeform. First of all, what does it mean? The video depicted above mentions themes like being “free to take whatever shape feels right, free to push beyond the expected.” As a fellow millennial, the name is alienating. I associate ABC Family with nostalgia and the best of the best when it comes to drama television. Freeform is too far from the original name we’re used to and doesn’t feel like a good replacement. In the rebranding of Old Spice, for example, they stuck to their guns (and their name), while redesigning their look and creating a whole new brand voice to target a younger audience. Their success was in humor and reintroducing a product people knew and loved in a fresh and original way.
The ABC Family rebranding team failed to understand that their targeted audience likely won’t take the time to look up the meaning or reasoning behind Freeform. It’s a bold choice, but fell more than a bit too short.
The Ugly.
Nobody likes a try-hard. In the marketing world, it’s common knowledge people hate being advertised to. A brand trying too hard to be something they’re not feels just as bad. Millennials don’t like being called millennials. There’s a bad connotation with the name — somehow labeling us as lazy, privileged and naive. The messaging also plays on more liberal buzzwords, therefore turning off potential audience members with conflicting political views. Whether that was the goal for their brand or not, Freeform’s messaging and name are trying too hard to appeal to their target audience. Don’t put this generation in a box to fulfill. A television channel brand doesn’t need to become their audience, or even tell them who they are. It’s like a bad placement ad — I know they want me to buy into it but chances are I probably won’t.
In marketing, it’s important to be strategic in all of your decisions, especially with rebranding. It needs to be specific and bold to gain attention and the right kind of identification with your audience. In ABC Family’s case, the decision to rebrand was the right one. From a business perspective, all the right signs were there, but everything that came after was a disaster. Their efforts were all too focused on appealing to the viewer and not on how they want to be seen as a whole, moving brand. Defining their audience directly was their downfall. Like advertising, brand identity should be straightforward but not obvious. Tell us who you are and we’ll do the deciding — good, bad and ugly.
