TVA has revamped its brand positioning and overall look to not just maintain its relevance in Quebec’s cultural market, but carve out a place for its new streaming service.

According to Hugues Choquette, senior director of branding strategy and head of creative at Colab Studio, which handled creative development for the rebranding, the logo change from plain, blue bubble letters to blue bubble symbols that mimic digital coding – plays on TVA’s evolution and modernization.

TVA says the last revamp it did, in 2012, only consisted of the logo change. It’s new positioning, “on se reconnait” (“we recognize each other”), plays to the broadcaster trying to maintain its relevance in a changing media environment by emphasizing that it’s a Quebec company that shares values and vision with its viewers.

“The vision of [president and CEO France Lauziere] was really, ‘How can we make sure that we are still part of the Quebec cultural scene?,’” says Claude Foisy, VP of marketing at TVA Group. “We bring the best content to them, to make sure that we maintain our DNA – which is touching them, bringing them emotion and also that people recognize themselves in TVA.”

Foisy says that’s delivered by TVA’s content, especially made-in-Quebec hits like La Voix (The Voice), Révolution, Star Academie and La Tour that feature Quebecois talent with different skill sets, from singing to cooking to acting.

Part of the reason for the revamp was to reinforce its place with Quebecers amid an increasingly fragmented and democratized media landscape, escalated by the proliferation of streaming services, especially among those under 34.

But it was also needed because TVA has entered the fray with its own streaming service, TVA+.

Replacing the post-broadcast streaming options that were previously available on TVA.ca, TVA+ allows viewers to watch live broadcast streams and view entire seasons of shows.

Streaming and digital TV consumption and competition accelerated during the pandemic – according to a September Canadian Perspectives Survey Series, roughly 42% of Canadians have spent more money on streaming services since the onset of the pandemic and more than two thirds have spent more time using them. But what’s more, almost half of Canadians have increased their use of free streaming video services like YouTube – TVA+ is a free, ad-supported platform.

“The audience is changing, and we must move with them,” Foisy says. “In order to remain a leading brand in Quebec, this had to be not just a cosmetic change, but a repositioning rooted in our DNA.” While TVA is going up against services with more massive content libraries, it hopes the culturally relevant and authentic Quebecois content reflected in the new positioning will help it stand out.