SMG, the Glasgow-based Scottish media group, is to splash out on a new corporate identity that will see it reborn into a former incarnation - except, this time, without capital letters.
SMG, the Glasgow-based Scottish media group, is to splash out on a new corporate identity that will see it reborn into a former incarnation - except, this time, without capital letters.
The broadcaster yesterday announced that it will change its name to stv Group.
The beleaguered company is now planning to take as its overall corporate identity the brand name of its television subsidiary, which encompasses the central and north of Scotland ITV franchises - formerly STV and Grampian - as well as SMG's production business.
Asked how much the rebranding would cost the company - and ultimately its shareholders - a spokes woman said: "First of all, it still has to be approved at an EGM in September - but assuming it is approved, the cost will be minimal."
The spokeswoman declined to be specific about the cost, but she added that "quite a lot is expected to be done inhouse" and that the current stationary "would be run down".
However, The Herald contacted Edinburgh-based brand identity company Redpath - which counts the NHS, Royal Mail, Bank of Scotland and Royal Bank of Scotland among its client base - to get an idea about how much such a rebranding might cost.
Richard Irvine, Redpath's managing director, said: "It could be anything between £15,000 and £250,000, depending on how much of it they do inhouse. It's impossible to be any more precise.
"But at a minimum, I certainly can't see it costing less than £15,000.
"It's probably going to be a pretty significant job."
While the move, which follows SMG's recent sale of Virgin Radio as part of a drive to focus on its TV businesses, takes the company back to its roots, the City remained unimpressed and SMG's share price plunged 3.7% to 13.75p, giving it a market worth of around £131m.
SMG yesterday insisted that the move "fits with the company's strategy to focus on the broadcasting business".
SMG grew out of the old STV central Scotland franchise in the late 1990s, buying the Grampian ITV franchise and other media assets, including Virgin Radio, most of which have now been sold off.
Rob Woodward, SMG's chief executive, also declined to comment on the cost of rebranding.
Nonetheless, in a prepared statement, Woodward said: "Now that we have disposed of Virgin Radio and Primesight, television is the core of our business and our energies are focused on exploiting our core geographical strength in broadcasting, content and ventures.
"stv (sic) is the original name of the company and the board believes this is the right time to align the corporate name with our primary business activity.
"Our aim is to be the broadcaster of choice in Scotland. Our Scottishness is a core attribute in achieving this and it is both logical and more relevant for us to run our corporate and business affairs under the same name."
Meanwhile, SMG also yesterday said its trading was in line with its May update and that it remained confident of meeting its 2008 expectations, adding that it expected a cash benefit of £10m between 2008 to 2011 as a result of its tax planning measures.
The company has also proposed to return £30m to its shareholders.
Meanwhile, SMG added that it plans to relaunch its website stv.tv later in the summer, introducing simulcast, catch-up and archive video from stv's own library, which stretches back more than 50 years, including episodes of Taggart, and also develop its production business.
The company's ventures division also recently signed a major two-year contract with Setanta Sports.
At the end of last month, SMG agreed the sale of Virgin Radio to The Times of India Group for £53.2m, and last year it sold outdoor advertising business Primesight.
