True North is the BBC’s documentary strand for Northern Ireland – a home for films that illuminate and challenge perceptions of what contemporary life is like.

We provide a platform for leading film-makers and new talent to showcase cutting-edge films which reflect life in modern times. We want to highlight compelling real lives, interests and concerns. We are living through remarkable times in Northern Ireland and we have a clear purpose: to tell stories that reveal the extraordinary variety and richness of life on our own front doorstep.

We are looking for talented film-makers to come to us with unique and surprising stories to tell. We have had great success since

launching our True North strand. Films such as The Miraculous Tales of Mickey McGuigan, The Joy of Sets, More Than A Flag, and Crossmaglen: Field of Dreams have connected audiences with fresh and intriguing perspectives on this part of the world.

I look forward to working with our stand-out talent to build True North into a strand that will inspire, engage and stand the test of time.

Susan LovellHead of TV CommissioningBBC Northern Ireland

FOREWORD

More Than a Flag

Introduction Who we are Our Role Our Audience Our Brand Guide

CONTENTS

WHAT DOES OUR MARQUE MEAN?

True North aims to highlight various perspectives. There is never just one take on a story; there are not even just two points of view. We want to communicate that there are multiple perspectives to any story.

The typography is simple and contemporary. The axis line does bring a location/geographic message to reaffirm a sense of place, but this has been applied with a very subtle touch.

Our audience is sophisticated so there is no compass, no visual puns, but we do want to refer subtly to what our logotype represents. The True North line hints that this series looks at things from a fresh and honest viewpoint.

TRUE NORTH

MAGNETIC NORTH

MERIDIAN

COURSE

MAGNETICCOMPASS

76

Keepin

‘er C

ountr

y 9

WHO WE ARE

8

FRESH CONTEMPORARY QUALITY THOUGHT-PROVOKING ENGAGING INSPIRING EMOTIONAL RISK-TAKING

A PLACE TO PRAY WONDER WOMEN MY WIG AND ME KEEPIN ‘ER COUNTRY KICK ME JOBS FOR THE BOYS MORE THAN A FLAG THE WALL ANOTHER DAY

1110

TRUE NORTH IS A SERIES OF FRESH, REVELATORY SINGLE DOCUMENTARIES FROM BBC NORTHERN IRELAND

IT IS NOT SURPRISING THAT TRUE NORTH’S PARENT BRAND IS BBC NORTHERN IRELAND WHERE STORYTELLING IS FUNDAMENTAL.

That is what BBC Northern Ireland is all about: reflecting the stories of this place.

Northern Ireland is a home for character and characters. And, that is what the True North brand embodies: Storytelling.

True North stories will always be uniquely personal. They will feature universal themes which our audience can relate to. The documentaries cover a broad spectrum, ranging from the unknown to the familiar, told in new ways.

1312

Cros

smag

len: F

ield

of D

ream

s

My W

ig a

nd M

e1514

The Mercy ShipThe Miraculous Tales of Mickey McGuigan

THINK DIFFERENTLYTHINK DIFFERENTLY

1716

The Last Minyan Prog

ram

me

deta

ils

Will’

s Kitc

hen

Five

Get

Rea

dy F

or B

ig S

choo

l

1918

Wonder Women A Gift from Death

Whistleblowers

2120

The World’s Oldest Family Liam Clarke: A Matter of Life and Death

A Place to Pray

2322

OUR ROLE

A Pla

ce To

Call

Hom

e

2524

THRILL US, MAKE US LAUGH, MAKE US WEEP AND MAKE US THINK

TRUE NORTH IS FOCUSED ON HIGH-QUALITY AND ORIGINAL CONTENT.

True North exists in support of the wider BBC Northern Ireland commissioning vision to create a refreshed and re-branded portfolio of high quality, distinctive and absorbing content which reflects life in this part of the world.

We want to continually engage and captivate our audience with cutting-edge and compelling documentaries about contemporary life in Northern Ireland. The quality of visual treatment, soundscape and storytelling are all important in the mix.

2726

Cloghe

r Mart

OUR AUDIENCE

2928

CONTEMPORARY, RISK-TAKING, THOUGHT-PROVOKING

ALTHOUGH BBC NORTHERN IRELAND’S AUDIENCES ARE VARIED, THEY DO ALL HAVE ONE THING IN COMMON: THEY ARE INTERESTED IN THE WORLD AROUND THEM.

Since launching in 2013, the True North strand has appealed to a wide range of people, including both core and latent audiences.

True North is particularly focused on reaching the latent 25-44 year old audience.

True North can reach this audience if, tonally, the stories have a contemporary tone, a risk-taking attitude and pose thought-provoking and challenging questions.

This group is diverse and at 25-44 years, is younger than our core audience (45+). The latent audience in Northern Ireland has an appetite for reality, drama and events. Examples of content which appeals to this audience includes: The Secret

(UTV/ITV), New Year’s Eve Fireworks (BBC One), Mrs Brown’s Boys (BBC One), I’m A Celebrity – Get Me Out of Here! (UTV/ITV), Great British Bake Off (BBC One), Gogglebox (Channel 4), Strictly Come Dancing (BBC One), Britain’s Got Talent (UTV/ITV), X Factor (UTV/ITV), The Brit Awards (UTV/ITV), Downton Abbey (UTV/ITV) and Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway (UTV/ITV). In terms of local programming, the latent audience likes to be informed and enlightened about life in NI past, present and future. However, parochial matters can be a turn-off. Examples of local content which has attracted this audience includes: Rugby Six Nations, The Blame Game, The NI Leaders’ Debate reaction, Ryan Farquhar – Back on the Road and The Chicken People.

The current slot for True North content is Mondays at 22.45 on BBC One NI (though landmark films may also play out elsewhere in the schedule).

3130

OUR BRAND GUIDE

A Summer on Rathlin

3332

OUR BRAND VALUESAND BEHAVIOURSThe values and behaviours of our brand are really what we want people to feel True North stands for. The words were carefully chosen by our team members and are inspired by our audience.

The overall aim is that audiences will start to feed these words back to us when we ask them what True North means to them.

These values and behaviours inspire not only our commissioning decisions but also our marketing & communications activity.

FRESH, CONTEMPORARY, QUALITY, THOUGHT-PROVOKING, ENGAGING, INSPIRING, EMOTIONAL, RISK-TAKING

3534

More Than a Flag

Wonder Women

Whistleblowers

OUR PHOTOGRAPHYWith True North photography wewant the pictures to tell the storyand tonally be reflective of theTrue North brand values. When taking photographs, try andkeep the shots as natural, authenticand eye-catching as possible. Focus onthe individuals / groups who are key tothe story. Try and capture compellingmoments throughout filming.

If supplied correctly (in a highresolution), photography can beused in a variety of ways in ourmarketing and communications and online activity but the photos need to be the following:

Genuine, memorable, interesting, bold, emotive.

For further information on deliveryof photography, please contact thePress & Publicity Manager.

Crossmaglen: Field of Dreams

3736

USING OUR BRAND MARQUEThe brand values and behaviours are the distillation of everything we want to say about True North content. They also helpfully provide a creative springboard for all marketing and communications about True North.

It can be a creative challenge to translate our proposition, values and behaviours into a press ad, on-air trail, or a piece of branded merchandise. So we’ve come up with a way of working with our brand – a simple set of guidelines to ensure we look and sound consistent in all that we do.

PRIMARY LOGO VARIATIONS YOU MAY USE THE PRIMARY LOGO IN FULL COLOUR, REVERSE AND IMAGE FILLED.

PRIMARY LOGO SUB-BRANDS YOU MAY USE THE PRIMARY LOGO WITH A SUB-BRAND ‘LOCK-UP’ FOR PROGRAMME STRANDS AS SHOWN.

SHORTS LIFE AND DEATH SEASON

3938

LOGO ITERATIONSWhenever possible use the primary logo in full colour and in its true form. Never change the structure or dimension of the logo in any way.

All proportions of the logo are fixed and should not be altered. The elements of the logo cannot be separated. Do not use substitute typefaces.

DO’S DON’TSTHE LOGOTYPE SHOULD NEVER BE MANIPULATED, STRETCHED, DISTORTED OR CROPPED.

4140

OUR TYPOGRAPHYThe True North primary typeface is Gotham which should be used to generate any corporate branding, headlines, quotes and titles.

The secondary typeface is Gill Sans, this should be used for all body copy.

PRIMARY TYPEFACE

GOTHAMSECONDARY TYPEFACE

GILL SANS

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 01234567890

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 01234567890

EXTRA LIGHT

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 01234567890

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 01234567890

LIGHT

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 01234567890

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 01234567890

BOOK

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 01234567890

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 01234567890

REGULAR

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 01234567890

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 01234567890

BOOK

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 01234567890

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 01234567890

BOLD

4342

As they are commissioned programmes we have prepared an identifying pre-title sequence, to signal to the audience that the following documentary is part of the True North strand. It is the only instance of the True North brand appearing on screen and is used before every documentary.

The True North pre-title sequence is added to individual programmes by BBC Northern Ireland Continuity Directors at the point of transmission. Each individual documentary’s own title sequence is still under the creative control of the programme production team, who are free to use their in-house graphic style.

ON SCREEN

4544

47

For further information or clarification regarding the information in this guideline document, please contact:

CONTACT

46

FOR BRAND USE: Sinead Flynn, Brand Marketing Manager.sinead.flynn@bbc.co.uk

FOR PROMOTIONAL USE: Paul Brolly Creative Marketing Manager.paul.brolly@bbc.co.uk

FOR PRESS & PUBLICITY USE: Jeff Magill Press & Publicity Manager.jeff.magill@bbc.co.uk

48