Food Network Canada focuses on its faces

The Shaw Media channel has put the final touches on a brand refresh with a new campaign coinciding with a free national preview for the channel.

Shaw Media’s Food Network Canada has put the finishing touches on a brand refresh it kicked off at the start of this year with a campaign promoting its new fall shows.

The channel, which launched in 2000, unveiled a new logo this January to coincide with the launch of the original production Chopped Canada. Jennifer Abrams, director, brand marketing, Shaw Media, tells MiC the team waited on rolling out the new look in its entirety until this fall because of the number of new shows it had coming.

Food Network Canada’s new look focuses on “characters and stories” with an OOH, digital and on-air campaign featuring network stars from the channel’s new fall shows including Bobby Flay of Beat Bobby Flay, Curtis Stone of Top Chef Duels and Jesse Palmer from Food Truck Face Off.

Creative for the OOH and digital ads feature the hosts surrounded by a pop-out display of food items and the tagline “Feed Your Love of Food.” On-air campaign spots promote Food Network Canada’s new two-hour weekday instructional cooking block, which features shows including The Pioneer Woman, Save with Jamie, Rachael Ray’s Week in a Day and Barefoot Contessa.

In addition to promoting what Abrams says the Shaw Media team believes is the strongest lineup to date for the channel, the new campaign and brand refresh also coincides with a free national preview for Food Network Canada running until Sept. 30.

Specialty channels, including Food Network Canada, are set to see their subscription models change early next month when the CRTC’s Let’s Talk TV hearings begin. Last week the CRTC came out with its latest proposals ahead of the meetings, saying BDUs could allow subscribers to choose channels on a standalone or pick-or-pay basis beyond a basic cable TV package capped at $30 in price.