Germany’s national public television broadcaster is not a network but a channel, with no regional variations or affiliates.

The brief was clear: “We want the new broadcast design to sound fresh, sophisticated and impactful. Oh, and it has to match our new visual identity as well”. 

Thing is, the score had to work on every type of news so, through the power of sound, we had to create consistency and familiarity across the entire news family.

Great challenge, we hear you saying. How did we do that?   

Got your back, ZDF. Our Amsterdam and Berlin offices rolled up their sleeves and envisioned it to be as attention-grabbing as the ‘tone’ of their visuals. 

To quote our Executive Creative Producer Lodewijk Pöttker: “We wanted to both grab the attention of the audience and stay true to the nature of the brand. Our main goal was to create a progressive audio rebranding that could maintain the most recognisable elements from the previous branding while emphasising the gravitas and impact of one of the largest news programmes in Germany.”

We added recognisable elements to every sonic asset – from the main ‘Heute’ show, their most famous programme, all the way through to ‘Logo!’, the news programme for children. 

ZDF Heute now has a music and sound ecosystem that caters to all of its programmes, formats and touchpoints (including Heute 12/17/Spezial, Heute 19, Heute Journal, Heute Journal Update, Heute – In Deutschland/in Europa, Heute Xpress, Wetter and Logo!). 

And we can’t stop zapping.