Variety: Tubi Gets New Logo, Sonic Brand ID as It Gears Up for International Expansion

Story from Variety:

Tubi has given its logo an overhaul and a new coat of vivid paint — and has introduced a buoyant sonic logo akin to Netflix’s “tudum” — as the Fox Corp.-owned streamer prepares to launch into more international markets.

The free, ad-supported streaming service’s new brand identity was developed in partnership with London design consultancy DixonBaxi. The new logo and sonic brand will begin rolling out across all supported platforms, including in the Tubi user interface, starting Wednesday, Feb. 28.

The new Tubi logo features a purple background, dubbed “Turple” by the company, with the brand name emblazoned in “Hello Yellow,” which represents “the thrill of discovery,” VP of design Simone Magurno said. The sonic branding, which mixes real and synthetic instruments, features a chorus of ethereal voices singing the name (“Tu… bi… Tubi!”) and was designed to have a “bright, playful tone.” (Watch Tubi’s animated logo to hear the sonic brand ID below.)

The circle in the “T” in the new logo is a visual nod to the Tubi rabbit hole, first introduced in 2023 Super Bowl spots on Fox — in which gigantic rabbits kidnapped unsuspecting civilians and threw them into huge holes in the ground, the idea being that Tubi viewers are able to lose themselves in a vast of chasm of entertainment they heretofore never knew existed. And Tubi has a new tagline: “See you in there” (i.e., in the rabbit hole).

Tubi’s updated brand identity comes as the streamer plans to expand in the U.K. this summer, followed by other markets in Europe. The company last fall hired David Salmon, former CTO of Endeavor Streaming, as EVP and managing director of international to head up the expansion.

“As you scale globally you need to make sure there’s visual iconography to establish the brand instead of just text,” said Nicole Parlapiano, Tubi’s chief marketing officer. The new branding “really just brings everything together that we’re doing across programming, product and brand. It creates more cohesion… The goal was to create a design system that works across all touchpoints.”

Tubi’s growth is strongest among young, multicultural audiences, Parlapiano said, and the new branding is meant to underscore that the AVOD platform is “fun, bold and engaging.”

In the U.S., Tubi offers a lineup of more than 240,000 movies and TV episodes — which it claims is the biggest single library of premium content on any one video streamer. New Tubi originals include “Shattered Glass: A WNBPA Story,” following four WNBA players through “an exhilarating journey into the heart of professional women’s basketball”; BBC coming-of-age dramedy “Boarders”; and comedy-thriller series “Dead Hot.” Other titles available on the service for free include Shonda Rhimes’ “Scandal,” “The Edge of Seventeen,” “Batwoman,” “ATL” and “Frances Ha.”

Tubi also boasts higher viewership than rivals like Roku Channel and Pluto TV. In January 2024, Tubi increased its share of total U.S. TV viewing to 1.5% (up from 1.4% in December 2023), according to Nielsen. That put it ahead of Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max (1.3%), the Roku Channel (1.1%), and Paramount Global’s Paramount+ (0.9%) and Pluto TV (0.7%).

Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch, in announcing the company’s fiscal Q1 2024 earnings, touted Tubi’s performance for calendar year 2023. He said Tubi boosted total view time 62% while growing revenue 17%.