TG4 has revealed a new brand look and introduced a new onscreen presenter for its young people’s schedule.
Cúla4 is TG4's brand for young people, broadcasting daily on TG4 from 7am – 10am and from 3pm – 5pm; available on the player at Cula4.com and on the Cúla4 player app.
Cúla4 caters for all children from preschool to twelve-year-olds. The new brand look aims to reposition and reenergise Cúla4 as an entertainment platform for children who are native Irish speakers and for those who have an interest in the language. TG4 plans to launch a new Cúla4 channel in 2023, and this brand look will set the foundation to grow and develop the brand and increase interactivity with the audience.
Niamh Ní Chróinín is the new presenter of the new look Cúla4. Niamh is from Dublin and has previously worked as a DJ with Today FM, 98FM, Raidió RíRá and RnaG. She was a judge on TG4's Junior Eurovision series and has strong connections with Irish Language events for young people including acting as MC at Oireachtas na Gaeilge's music competition BEO, and Gael-Linn's Scléip competition. Niamh will also act as an ambassador for Cúla4 at events for young people around the country.
"I am excited to be the new presenter of Cúla4! I understand the value of Cúla4 and its importance in the promotion of Irish language amongst young people,” said Cúla4 presenter, Niamh Ní Chróinín. “We aim to appeal to more young people by having a wide range of programmes and by being seen everywhere on social media! Cúla4 will be on the road again soon and I look forward to meeting young people at various events around the country, at music festivals and other Irish language events."
Cúla4’s core strengths are the home-produced commissioned content and acquired international programming. A new schedule of programmes have also been launched, including Animal Fanpedia for older children, which educates the audience about the animals of the world whether on land or in the sea. For younger children, newly commissioned live action series Gailearaí Scú Scú and Nuair a bheidh Mé Mór will be big hits.
Both series are produced by independent production company Fíbín Media. Gailearaí Scú Scú follows Máire Treasa, Scú Scú Scuab, and Gormfhlaith Gailearaí as they design and create. Nuair a bheidh mé Mór follows young people as they dream about the job they would like when they get older. The Job Fairy gives them the chance to experience their ideal job.
The new look consists of one Cúla4 logo that evolves and changes through the day depending on the audience it is catering for. Softer colours are used for younger ages and bolder colours for the older age group. From a design aspect, the new logo references the TG4 brand logo, and stands as part of the TG4 logo family. The new idents introduce creative video in the animation with the logo.
Following a competitive tender process, the set of idents were commissioned from creative agency Red Bee, who worked in collaboration with TG4’s inhouse design team. The inhouse team developed complementary presentation graphics and stings, and other touchpoints to support the idents, which present Cúla4 programming content with brand personality. Red Bee is a creative agency born in entertainment. As the creators of Dave, they deliver brand strategy, create and produce compelling content and integrated campaigns, and design distinctive brand identities for clients including NBCUniversal, Kurt Geiger, Discovery Networks, Oasis, Disney, DreamWorks, and Netflix.
"We are very proud of the collaboration between RedBee and TG4 to create the new brand for Cúla4. We are confident that it will attract new viewers to watch more Cúla4 content. The brand is sophisticated yet entertaining, bold but not in your face,” said Karina Féirtéar, Bainisteoir Cúla4. “Niamh is a strong addition to the team as the face of the brand. We are confident that we have created a brand that is relevant to its audience, and we will continue to build on that and keep developing it.”
Jane Fielder - Head of Design, Red Bee Creative, said: "The creative process to develop a new look for Cúla4 was a truly collaborative process with the wonderful in-house team. They embraced us as a creative partner, sharing our vision and bringing it to life. The TG4 family are such a professional and experienced group of people with a passion and love for their craft and channel. I am so excited to see the work live."
