WWL in New Orleans used its 65th anniversary to take stock of itself. “In this business, at certain points, you have to make certain that you are still hitting the mark that needs to be hit,” says Tod Smith, WWL’s general manager.
TV stations, even ones that have a long and strong news image in a market, should, over time, reevaluate their branding messages to respond to the changing competitive situation.
WWL, Tegna’s CBS affiliate in New Orleans, used its 65th anniversary to take stock of itself, to make sure its branding was still reflective of what it is.
For much of its 65 years, WWL was the legacy station in New Orleans, the go-to news source in all dayparts. At times, some WWL newscasts were often the highest-rated newscasts in the country.
But times change even for one of the most dominant news operations in the country.
“I don’t think it is any secret that the media landscape has changed dramatically over the last five years, over the last 10 years,” says Benjamin Bates, WWL’s marketing director.
Bates says as the station celebrated its 65 years of serving the community, “there comes a point where you ask yourself what now, where does WWL go from here and what does the next 65 years look like for us.”
“In this business, at certain points, you have to make certain that you are still hitting the mark that needs to be hit,” says Tod Smith, WWL’s general manager.
Smith says the station started internally by talking to the employees to find out what they thought. Then they went out to talk to the community and do research.
On Nov.13, WWL introduced its refreshed brand, WWL Louisiana. Smith says WWL Louisiana is more reflective of the diverse lifestyle in the region and the state.
Bates says the brand refresh is based on the research the station conducted inside and outside its building. “We wanted to make sure that the new brand reflected both what our staff believed … WWL is and what we stand for in the community and what they expect from us,” Bates says.
So, adding “Louisiana” was a small but intentional step to be more inclusive to the audience that they serve, Bates says.
WWL Louisiana represents an increased emphasis on covering not only New Orleans news, but news in the broader statewide region.
“This next chapter in our history celebrates Louisiana’s people, those things that make Louisiana so special and the role we play in helping to make Louisiana a better place for all to live,” Smith says.
Making Louisiana a better place to live is part of WWL’s mission. For as diverse as the lifestyles are in different areas around the city and the state, prosperity “is really going to rest upon its ability to come together. We want to be at the center of that coming together so that we can help serve our community and help it prosper into the future,” he says.
The research asked 500 people what they wanted from local news. “They used very strong words,” Bates says. “One of them being fight: fight to get answers, fight to expose wrongdoing.”
So, the full brand refresh became WWL Louisiana, Love Louisiana and Fight For It.
Bates says the major words coming from the research were very action oriented.
“Fight, investigate, dig, address crime, and so that is kind of where it came from,” he says.
Smith says he sees the brand refresh “as more of a north star. We are making a promise to viewers and to online users that that is what we are going to do.”
Love Louisiana and Fight For It represents specific coverage points for WWL. It means fighting to keep people safe during hurricanes, fighting to get the answers they deserve, fighting to address the root causes of crime and fighting for the people and culture that make Louisiana great.
“Whether we’re uncovering corruption and wrongdoing or forecasting weather information that will keep our audiences safe, we’re ready to start this new chapter and renew our commitment to serving this community.” says Nicole Waivers, WWL’s news director.
Smith says he wants WWL to be the catalyst for people to understand where we have challenges, understand what those challenges are and take an active role in addressing those challenges.
Celebrating those things that make New Orleans and Louisiana unique and can’t be found anywhere else is that “balance we are trying to strike with this particular brand positioning and how we approach it,” he says.
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