SPONSOR CONTENT/AD AGE MARS AND BEYOND With the premiere of its groundbreaking ‘MARS’ series, National Geographic is also launching the largest global rebrand in its history—along with a radical new approach to content and positioning. ther’ celebrates who we are as human beings, why we are here today. It’s all about the idea of further- ing knowledge, science, adventure, entertainment and exploration. At the same time, it represents what National Geographic has always stood for. When the magazine was born 128 years ago, the MOVING goal was to go further, to find places unknown to everyone else, and tell the stories and build maps. “ ‘Further’ brings us back to who we are.” For Ms. Monroe, “Further” is “more than just a tagline. It’s a call to arms, a rallying cry, an ever- shifting marker of progress. One of the things I ‘FURTHER’ love most about ‘Further’ is that, by definition, it never ends—it knows no bounds,” she says. “It conveys to viewers, readers, advertisers and cre- ators that we embody a relentless pursuit to go National Geographic is going further than ever, and Mars is the deeper, to push boundaries and to be pioneering first stop. Tonight’s global premiere of the highly anticipated “MARS” in everything we do. Internally, ‘Further’ serves series introduces a rebranded and reimagined National Geographic—an as our compass, reminding all of us at National Geographic to continually seek, to take risks, to effort several years in the making. remain restless and to never settle.” Under the new tagline “Further,” the network now gives all those assets a unified look and also Ms. Monroe says that “Further” also express- is launching a new look for not only the televi- a public expression of the united strategy. es the network’s goals with its programming. sion channel, but all the other assets under the “It’s a pretty big undertaking,” Ms. Monroe “MARS” is being produced by Imagine Enter- National Geographic umbrella as well. says. “First, we wanted to make sure that anything tainment partners Ron Howard and Brian Grazer “This marks the largest rebrand in National we did worked globally, because we are a global and the award-winning documentary producers Geographic’s history, and given the reach of brand and business. We also wanted to make sure at RadicalMedia. National Geographic’s invest- our vast portfolio—over 700 million consum- that it felt audacious and premium, because those ment in a new level of premium content includes ers each month—it’s arguably one of the largest are not only hallmarks of our brand, but they’re enlisting other A-list creative talents: Filmmakers global rebrands of a media company in history,” hallmarks of the programming strategy that Darren Aronofsky and Leonardo DiCaprio, and says Courteney Monroe, CEO of National Geo- we’re pursuing. actors Morgan Freeman and Geoffrey Rush all graphic Global Networks. “With the premiere of “The third thing was that we wanted to make are working on other projects for the network. ‘MARS,’ we wanted viewers to have an entirely sure that everything we do conveys transforma- Immediately following the premiere episode fresh experience on the network, but it grew into tional change. We really wanted the rebrand to of “MARS,” National Geographic will debut its much more than just the channel—and has now embody all of that.” reimagined version of “Explorer,” a long-stand- been embraced by every division of National The rebrand features a clean, minimalist look ing network franchise now with a new host and a lively new approach to storytelling. “We have been under a great transformation in the past year,” says Tim Pastore, National Geo- graphic Channel president of original program- ming and production. “Our goal is first-class, unabashedly smart programming that’s highly entertaining but lives up to the core promise of Geographic Partners and the National Geo- within the brand’s signature yellow border. “We the legacy of National Geographic. It’s premium graphic Society. We are at an incredibly exciting wanted to address change in a visible, tangible global content that’s genre-busting, and propels inflection point in the life cycle of this brand, so I way,” says Emanuele Madeddu, the network’s se- us and launches us into the future.” can’t think of a better time to roll this out.” nior VP-global strategy and branding, who led Coming soon: The network’s first foray into But it’s more than just a new look. The rebrand the rebrand effort. “We needed to refresh the scripted dramatic series, the anthology series and the “MARS” launch usher in a new premium brand and deliver National Geographic into the “Genius,” set to debut in the spring. Also in de- programming strategy and brand positioning 21st century.” velopment are scripted projects based on recent for the network. “We’re pursuing a really exciting Mr. Madeddu’s team began working on the history, one about the war in Iraq and another and radically new content strategy, and it begins rebrand nearly a year ago, after the creation of portraying the world inside ISIS. in earnest with the premiere of ‘MARS’ and our National Geographic Partners. The goal was to Both “MARS” and “Explorer” will premiere new brand strategy,” Ms. Monroe says. create “a springboard for the content, allowing globally in 450 million homes across 171 coun- Ms. Monroe began working on that new ap- it to live in an elevated, elegant, contemporary, tries. Mr. Pastore says the programming team proach when she joined National Geographic sophisticated place,” he says, while also provid- is keenly aware of its mission. “We are not just five years ago. When 21st Century Fox increased ing flexibility for each division to build its own storytellers; we have our roots in [being] story ownership interest in National Geographic in persona. makers,” he says. “We are refocusing on how to September 2015, the expanded joint venture be- To reinforce the notion of one National Geo- launch these global events to create global con- tween Fox and the National Geographic Society graphic, as part of this new branding effort the versations—utilizing these TV events as ignition brought the television network, magazine and network is dropping the word “Channel” both on points for the rest of the National Geographic other assets together under the new National air and off all around the world beginning Nov. 14. family through social media, books, speakers Geographic Partners organization. The rebrand As for the tagline, Mr. Madeddu says, “ ‘Fur- and events around the world.” C2 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC • NOVEMBER 14, 2016 SPONSOR CONTENT/AD AGE is happening now. The rockets are being built and this is no longer just a science-fiction dream. It’s the next great human adventure story. This story is so much more interesting because the stakes are real and it’s all rooted in fact. “When you add in the yellow rectangular filter of National Geographic and its legacy in science, adventure and factual programming, it was a nat- ural fit for us to tell this kind of story.” Mr. Wilkes says that, as with any project his documentary team tackles, the first step with “MARS” was research. Access to Mr. Musk and the SpaceX crew working on reusable rockets allowed the “MARS” team an unprecedented view of space travel today. The documentary portions of the se- ries also used insights and interviews from a host of world-famous pioneers, authors, researchers and scientists—from astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson to astronaut James Lovell to Andy Weir, au- thor of the best-selling book “The Martian.” MAKING The genre mashup between the documentary and the drama is something Mr. Pastore is proud of, but admits “cracking the format to marry these genres together at times was a difficult pro- cess. It was born of significant trial and error.” The science, Mr. Wilkes says, ultimately drove ‘MARS’ the drama. “When you start to take yourself through the steps of such a mission ... you real- ize that it’s often the small things that start to add Tim Pastore calls “MARS” the “first-born of the National Geographic up and can be catastrophic. We mapped out what the mission architecture would look like: Where programming evolution and refocusing.” The six-part global-event series, a craft would land, what tonnage of cargo you which premieres today on National Geographic in 45 languages and 171 would need, what can go wrong. It makes for great drama—very real, very human and very dramatic. countries, is the channel’s “most ambitious project to date,” says Mr. “We really wanted to get the science right— Pastore, the channel’s president of original programming and produc- what it’s going to look like and feel like—but also tion. It’s also a cross-platform program that ties in many facets of the play into the humanity of such a mission.” Like everything else about “MARS,” the year channel’s National Geographic Partners family. 2033 wasn’t picked at random. “That was Elon’s The series combines a scripted dramatic story trol team based in London. The first half of the number,” Mr. Wilkes says. “It’s the window of of the fictional first crewed mission to Mars with series is set in 2033 and the remainder in 2037, time when the orbits of Earth and Mars are best documentary sequences that unpack the real-life when the base on Mars is beginning to come to- suited for such a trip, and about the soonest when current science and technology working on just gether and faces entirely new challenges.