A cerulean K with a drop of gold: A deep dive into the making of kykNET’s brand-new and beautiful 2021 on-air look.

by Thinus Ferreira

kykNET (DStv 144) has glossed up its on-air imaging and unveiled its latest on-air look, with the channel's rebranding that includes a more transparent, cerulean "K" - together with a drop of gold and a glass finish - and with its stars decked out in glamour wear.

Here's the story behind the work of how kykNET's latest on-air imaging came about.

kykNET switched to the new on-air imaging, done with help from the Clearwater advertising agency, on Thursday morning, with a new slogan of "Soveel meer as net TV" (So much more than just TV) - and including a set of new idents and interstitials, genre endboards, parental guidance advisories and a video promo.

"Over the last 21 years, the kykNET brand name has shown that we are always finding new ways to innovate. This new look is refreshing and in tune with the world-class Afrikaans entertainment on the channel," says Karen Meiring, M-Net director for the kykNET channels.

Leo Smith, kykNET marketing manager, says that "With the positioning of kykNET as a premium brand name in Afrikaans, it was important to adjust the graphics to reflect the quality of our content".

"kykNET is one of the biggest brand names in South Africa and we are very proud of the impact that the channel has had on the entertainment industry. kykNET is truly so much more than just TV."

Part of the new campaign and on-air look was a week-long photo session where almost 200 kykNET personalities were photographed by Willem Botha - each with two outfits that included a formal outfit, as well as one that reflects the programme that they are known for.

The shoots took place over four days in Johannesburg at Stark Studios where Binnelanders is filmed, and three days in Cape Town at Atlantic Studios, home of Suidooster, Arendsvlei, Kwêla and Tussen Ons.

It was an enormous production with one producer and production manager, a production assistant, three make-up and hair stylists, two people responsible for the hundreds of items of clothing that were worn in front of the camera.

These photographs were given to one head designer, two assistant designers, and three animators that in turn created hundreds of images.

Hennie van Deventer from Clearwater, the agency responsible for the new campaign, says  that "The new branding has a strong focus on the people of kykNET - the names and personalities that viewers welcome into their homes every day".

One musical director, one lyricist and singer, and a sound engineer provided the fresh new sound and two editors put everything together under the watchful eyes of a creative director, a copywriter and a creative head. The theme tune was written by Loki Rothman and James Bassingthwaighte.

"It was a challenge to write lyrics that can be interpreted in two different ways," says Loki Rothman.

"We aimed to write a song for the channel that can be played on the radio or be played on its own without knowing that it was written for kykNET. I think we achieved the perfect balance."

Covid's impact

kykNET originally started working on the channel's new on-air look about a year ago in 2020 just before the global Covid-19 pandemic hit and cause a worldwide shutdown and caused the project's end date to be pushed to 2021.

"We briefed Clearwater about the project in 2020 but when Covid hit we first had to focus on schedule changes, had to adjust our content plans, and announce and roll out new series," Leo Smith tells TVwithThinus.

"Since we couldn't do photo sessions for months, we had to push out the project completely to 2021, after which we could do it within Covid-safe protocols. Clearwater started working full speed in October 2020 on creative options and by December we made the treatment choices."

"In January we started with planning and now during April we could roll out the latest look," says Leo Smith.

He says kykNET decided on the new on-air imaging since the last imaging was introduced in 2017.

"After 4 years on-air it was time for change. Renewal is always important especially if you want to keep the offering enticing for viewers".

"The new imaging reflects the premium positioning of kykNET," says Leo Smith. "kykNET is a premium Afrikaans brand - and also one of the biggest Afrikaans brands in the country."

"It's important that it signals to viewers that the content that they're looking for will be of extremely high quality. The on-air imaging is your glossy magazine cover. The content is the pages inside. It has to appeal to viewers".

Regarding the sound, Leo Smith says that kykNET was looking for a fresh, new sound that would appeal to a wide audience and the channel thought of an artist that would bridge various audience demos whilst representing the future of Afrikaans music.

"We made contact with Loki Rothman who's done the music for things like the kykNET Film Fiela se Kind. He's a very talented artist and his approach was immediately spot-on. He developed 5 different options of which one turned into our final choice," Leo Smith says.

"This year we decided that we want to use one photographer for the entire series of publicity photos for the channel. Willem Botha's profile has grown so much the past few years - he also photographed Miss Universe and the Miss South Africa contestants - that I just immediately knew that he would capture exactly what we needed."

"He's also a singer and artists and a presenter on kykNET and has the ability to bring out the very best from every subject in front of his lens."

Leo Smith says that the most challenging of the process was "to remain 100% true to the brand's history but also the audience - to give them something fresh and new without alienating them from what they're viewing every day. And then to also know that what we've created now must still look good in 3 or 4 years' time from now".

While kykNET is an Afrikaans channel, market research constantly indicates that a lot and an ever-growing number of people who don't have Afrikaans as their home language, tune to the kykNET channels on DStv to watch the content. What does kykNET attribute this to?

"When kykNET lures viewers from other language groups it's because of a very simple reason: kykNET content transcends language," says Leo Smith.

"The quality of our stories are of such a level that viewers constantly return to kykNET for more - and also, of course, that people want to see South African content. We're producing everything 100% locally."

"It's very important for us to do direct audience engagement with viewers through our involvement and support of the various arts festivals, for instance, community activations in smaller towns, or projects like the Silwerskermfees where we create opportunities for a wider ecosystem of entertainment," he explains. 

A glamour-wand of cerulean blues and gold

Marleux Feyt, executive creative director at Clearwater, jokingly tells TVwithThinus that a bit of "obsessive-compulsive disorder" or OCD always helps when it comes to creating beautiful on-air imaging projects for clients like kykNET.

"In some ways, we are a little OCD when it comes to these things. We've been making mental notes since before we got the ball rolling as an official project," she says.

"We also know that kykNET is a personality in itself and retaining that is important - we don't want someone waking up and switching to channel 144 to find something that feels too different."

"There's a fine line between fresh and 'what is this?', so we retained the navy and cerulean blues of the logo, gave the yellow triangle a metallic upgrade and waved a glamour wand over the lot for a glass and gold finish on the logo. 

About the painstakingly Rumpelstilskin-work that starts from a blank slate, she says that "every part of the process has something magical about it - even the crippling 'blank page' phase at the start".

"The best part is always cracking the first design frame. It really is the branding equivalent of an 'ah-ha' moment. It also fuels the rest of the process."

"That design frame also keeps us on course because for the next few weeks, all your test animations are going to look grey and a little sad until the motion is completed and the colour gets added back in."

About working with kykNET, Marleux says that "It is an absolute dream to work with a team that has such deep respect for art in all its forms and the people who create it".

"Leo is also one of the most creatively literate clients you'll ever meet. It's not often someone can tell you exactly which reflection pass they would like to change in an animation. It really does fuel our team to go above and beyond. 

'Distilled storytelling'

About what Clearwater attempts to create, she says their vision "is always to connect people with content and that often means putting the emotion of a show, movies or entire channel in a neat package - anything from a 90-second spot to a 5-minute logo animation".

"We need to use every tool available to us to create an emotional connection - be it a laugh, some goosebumps or just a moment to breathe - with whatever we produce. I always think of it as distilled storytelling."

"The kykNET imagery is definitely an example of that."

"To give it an undeniably premium and luxurious feel, the logo animation - the one with the gold drop - went through 11 iterations."

"Each scene was created using 40 layers of animation, every reflection, particle glow and light flare was considered and discussed as a team and to get the detail we wanted, we digitally rendered the kykNET logo to be 5m tall."

"It seems a little crazy - and we've been called worse," says Marleux Feyt, "but ultimately we're not expecting anyone to notice a reflecting dust particle or a drumbeat in the music that perfectly coincides with a spotlight switching on - but we hope they feel it".

'Absolutely perfect! Magic.' How M-Net keeps wowing with the best on-air promo series South African television has seen in the longest time.

''In a word: triumphant.'' To borrow a phase included in the latest third promo in M-Net's series of astounding, and amazingly well-done ''101 Days of Magic'' on-air campaign, it seems as if M-Net viewers really can't get enough.

''Absolutely perfect! Magic,'' says one of the characters included in the 3rd promo currently on M-Net which forms part of the terrific 101 Days of Magic set. Who even knew there would be more? Yet, nobody's complaining. In fact, quite the opposite. Subscribers are in love with the song, the strong and apt visuals, the clever scene selection and cutting, the sounds, and the whole hilarious collection of physical comedy scenes culled from upcoming and current TV shows and movies on the pay broadcaster.

M-Net and Clearwater, responsible for this incredibly well-done television joy, can justifiable be proud of a great effort.

The first 101 Days of Magic promo kicked-off in September - a delightful, brilliant and creatively as close to perfect as possible promo. But it was never planned to be just one. Turns out it's part of an incredibly well-done series of promos with the 3rd one currently making people wanting to watch it over and over when they see it on M-Net.

As great work went into the current one as kicked off the series, with simply unrivaled attention to detail ranging from the sounds to interlocking visual cues that include characters' movement in scenes, superb pacing, and very, very clever scene selection.

With the wonderful third 101 Days of M-Net promo currently running, I decided to ask the pay broadcaster and Clearwater more about the amazing bit of television that keeps delivering.

Currently there is a third one being shown on M-Net channels. Would it always have been a series, and if yes, were they all produced right at the beginning, or are they made in series, and will there be more or does it conclude with this one?
M-Net & Clearwater: Yes. It was always planned to be a series of themed promos based on the ''101 Days'' big idea. They were also produced sequentially, capturing the big priority content relevant to the current content on air.

Who sings this, and how was the song chosen? 
The song was chosen because the lyrics of "Can't Get Enough" tied in perfectly with the campaign title 101 Days of Magic - there's just so much magic over the 101 Days that you will not be able to get enough! This is a fresh remake of the Depeche Mode classic from the 80's. This modern updated version was recorded specially for M-Net by the guys from the band Cassette - John Savage.

How many actual TV watching was needed of new TV shows and movies to be able to select clips and needed, relevant scenes?
For each of the theme spots it took roughly an entire week's worth of watching in fast forward and then stopping to select the magical clips that best suit the lyrics and the emotion of the track and at the same time best represent the content itself.

Its astounding the way in which the visual narrative of not just the first promo when the campaign started, fits remarkably well together in almost an overlapping ''story''. Who and how was all of this decided or plotted out? And in which modus operandi, for instance – were clips selected and then made to fit, were clips searched for that fits the lyrics, or were there first an idea and then people saying ''Okay lets go and look for clips that fits this idea''?
It takes an experienced editor/ promo director to identify the right shots for this kind of project. Some shots are found because one identifies before viewing what will work with the music and the lyrics - like the dancing shots. Sometimes the shots find the editor - it kind of happens by luck. The entire process is highly complex in terms of selecting and then labeling the shots according to a system so that shots can be found during the editing process. Preparation is key to this - find the right shots and the edit is easy and a lot of fun!

Unlike almost all other promos, the 101 Days of Magic on-air ones actually contain delicate bits of original audio from the actual shows and movies. Why this decision and how was it decided where to allow it to break through?
At Clearwater we always like to improve on our last promo or edit - by mixing things up a bit month to month keeps things fresh and innovative - yet using the same piece of music. The song has sections where sync-sound or voice-over works - not over the chorus or melodic parts, but rather in the quieter sections between.

It's very ''human action orientated'' in a very ''comedic-frenetic'' kind of way. Was that the brief or part of just a creative idea and inspiration, or why the decision to go with people doing funny stuff?
The brief was to deliver a campaign that would have 101% entertainment. That every execution should deliver against this brief. The music's tone and emotion also drives what shots work where - the track is feel-good and upbeat and entertaining - so the shots should match this.

Anything else perhaps interesting about this specific on-air promo effort that viewers won't know or realize?
Every single element - from end boards to channel logo - were designed specifically to suit the look and feel of this campaign. Very specific shots were chosen to reflect the emotion that we wanted to establish over the 101 Days of Magic until the end of 2011. It needed to be fun, colourful, bold, friendly and have a ''stand-out'' factor.