Last week Channel 5 unveiled the new Big Brother house in a bid to generate a buzz ahead of the launch of Celebrity Big Brother this Thursday. 

Channel 5 proprietor Richard Desmond paid £200m for the rights to broadcast the show for four years, so he wants us all to be watching. 

So far the celebrity ‘brands’ due to enter the 2011 Celebrity Big Brother on Thursday include Kerry Katona, Pamela Anderson, Amy Childs, Tara Reid, Bobby Brown, Jedward, along with the House of Commons Speaker’s wife, Sally Bercow. 

Channel 5 has a social media strategy in place which will include video footage on the Big Brother Facebook page, real-time news and video updates. The broadcaster also plans to capitalise on mobile audiences, launching iPhone, iPad and Android apps which will feature content from the first show (pending approval from Apple). 

The controversial news stories have already started – and have nothing to do with the contestants. According to The Independent, Channel 5 has accused Channel 4 of dirty tricks to undermine the ailing reality show’s revival. 

To signal Big Brother’s new start on a new channel, Bristol-based design consultancy Hello Charlie has given the branding a makeover, with a new version of the iconic Big Brother eye logo. 

Senior designer at Hello Charlie, Neil Harris, described the new logo as “a hybrid of the human and the mechanical, in an interview with DigitalArts. It’s designed to work across different media including print, online and TV. 

Posted by

Sarah Wright