New Brand Identity for the Sci-Fi Channel

On July 7th, NBC Universal will be rolling out a new brand identity for its cable television property, the Sci-Fi Channel. The new look is shown at left.

Home to such popular shows as Ghost Hunters, Primeval, Moonlight and Equilibrium, the channel has a relatively small but loyal audience. While I would love to hear from some of them to get their reactions... I'm going out on a limb and predicting that no one's going to be too fond of the new identity for the Sci-Fi brand.

First off, humans are usually fairly resistant to change. 99% of the time we'll take the old. (Thank you very much.)

Secondly, and more troubling to me, is the fact that the new logotype has no connotation of anything scientific, nothing that says science fiction. Four rather plain, very round-ish letters. In white. Blandsville.

And finally, while I'm ranting, I cannot quite come to terms with how the new brand name comes across phonetically. Does anyone hear: "Siffy" or perhaps "Sife-E?" Somewhere between the two "y's" and the lowercase "f" everything breaks down. The mini Web site that explains the new branding approach is even all jacked up.

On a positive note--and for the sake of balance--I will say that the new positioning statement is pretty good. It's an action-oriented invitation to me to imagine. I like that. With the word "Greater," they are hinting at some bigger, better things to come. That sounds good and promising, also.

Let's hope Sci-Fi, or Siffy, lives up to its promise ... and hope that the programming is better than the logo design work. Marketing geniuses and Sci-Fi brand evangelists, please tell us (post a comment) if your feelings are contrary.