Akhbar Al Aan has rebranded with the objective of clarifying its purpose and becoming younger and more relevant to the hopes and aspirations of young adults of the region.
The independent news brand wanted to develop a fresh vision, infused with clarity and a new sense of purpose.
Building on the idea that Al Aan works ‘in the now’, telling the stories of today, the news brand has strived to sharpen its focus on giving its viewers and readers an engaging and informative experience of what’s going on at the current time.
Solange El Rassi, head of public relations and corporate communications at Al Aan TV, says: “Akhbar Al Aan changed to a fresh, young and colourful brand, for the ‘now’, which is vibrant, cool, engaging and optimistic.”
The agency in charge of the rebrand, Bellwether, focused on modelling the word Al Aan (Arabic for ‘now’) with Arabic calligraphy, and a light beam, a source of light in motion with a purpose, where it matters. They adopted this concept as it represents the news agency’s philosophy. For the word Akhbar (‘news’), a modern Arabic
font was used to bring it to a contemporary setting.
The intention behind the new look was to communicate the purpose of Akhbar Al Aan as “the inexhaustible source of light that brings clarity to a world full of complexity and contradiction”.
Previously, Al Aan the main brand of Al Aan TV, the network of news sources that includes television news and the Akhbar Al Aan digital platform. The new positioning puts Akhbar Al Aan at the centre as a multi-channel digital publisher that is all about content.
Akhbar Al Aan’s stated brand purpose is ‘To spread hope and optimism throughout the Arab world story by story’. The platform aims to be the story hunter and story tellersfor the youth building tomorrow’s world.
It is vitally important for people to be aware of what’s going on in their world. Therefore Akhbar Al Aan uses a long-form storytelling format to engage people by focusing on interesting and relevant subject matter and providing original, fact-based content and the broader context for a more informative and enjoyable experience.
Akhbar Al Aan acknowledges its responsibility to seek out and find the stories that matter, to get the facts right and to tell the story in the most engaging and informative way possible. The magic of the stories Akhbar Al Aan tells derives from where it finds them and reports from.
Akhbar Al Aan goes to the frontlines, to conflict zones, to wherever it needs to be to get the story and to report it from an on-the-ground perspective that brings its viewers and readers to the frontlines.
Akhbar Al Aan has to be in the thick of the action to ensure that its words, pictures, and videos are compelling. Seeing the story up close enables viewers to feel it and gives them a deeper understanding as well as a more engaging and enjoyable experience.
Because the story belongs to everyone, Akhbar Al Aan gives it to its audience to experience every day.
To become a reliable source of news, Akhbar Al Aan has had to face the challenges pose by a generation of media that is polarised and fragmented. Instead, Akhbar Al Aan has chosen the path of sincerity over sensationalism, accuracy over quantity, and transparency over theatrics.
Being moderate, objective and reasonable can be viewed as being a little bland in a media world where strong opinions and indoctrination have expanded. This is a paradox where objective views, which should be perceived as rich indicators of quality, can fall into a less appealing category. Still, having a strong set of values will always make Akhbar Al Aan stand out from the crowd. Part of the rebrand was to portray this strength.
The future plans for Akhbar Al Aan is to continue improving and providing more value to the audience and advertisers at every step. El Rassi says it will offer “a steady stream of high-impact global exclusives, more original content, more fun, deeper engagement and a single-minded focus on the brand’s own digital properties”.
