That isn’t a real thing, but if it were Nat Geo would get my vote. The idea came to me twice; once during each of the network’s two big events last week. As it does at the start of every summer tour, Nat Geo put together an amazing opening night party, pulling out all the stops to the journalists together with its executives, publicists and some of its talent in a relaxed space where everyone makes an effort to get to know one another. (Once upon a time that was a hugely important aspect of TCA tours, but as seasoned network executives began retiring and budgets started getting slashed increasingly few networks have demonstrated an understanding of the importance of relationship-building and future-proofing their businesses. That hasn’t been true of Nat Geo, or Crown Media Family Networks, or FX Networks, to name the three that come immediately to mind.)
Nat Geo sent trolley cars to the Beverly Hilton, home of the summer tours, to collect TCA members and take them a short distance from the hotel to Eataly, a shopping and dining complex of its own located within the nearby Century City mall. The views from there were beautiful, especially at sunset. But what struck me upon arrival were the yellow rectangles displayed around the glass walls along the terrace, bathed in the late-afternoon sun. No overt signage necessary. In keeping with Nat Geo’s standard of high quality, the food and drink were top-notch. And there was no shortage of interesting, productive conversation.
The brand reinforcement was even more spectacular the following afternoon in the half-hour before the beginning of Nat Geo’s three-hour session consisting of seven press conferences. The stage was awash in yellow lighting, which gave everything from the lighting racks to the chairs the talent would be sitting in an intense yellow shine. Unfortunately, the picture below doesn’t quite capture the “yellow” of the moment, but the branding was striking, and in its own way set the tone for the sessions to follow.