In 1971, a group of mothers in Muncie, Ind., decided that their small children ought to be able to watch Sesame Street. They banded together, and through a grassroots effort, WIPB-TV was born. Licensed to and housed in Ball State University, WIPB now serves 27 counties in Indiana, as well as three in Ohio. WIPB converted to a digital signal and added additional streams in 2009. When the conversion was complete, they wanted to update their logo and online presence. Their website was 12 years old, and the logo hadn’t been updated since the early ’90s. WIPB tried to update the logo internally, but couldn’t settle on a final look everyone was pleased with. PBS offered tools and systems for web management, but the station didn’t have the resources to evaluate, let alone implement, the options. After four years of struggling with making these changes themselves, the staff agreed that it was time to bring in a specialist.

 

 

 

Although the logo was outdated, “Arrick didn’t just throw everything out and start from scratch,” said Alice Van Dyke, WIPB’s general manager. “He took the time to get to know the station, and he looked at all of our past logos.” With that understanding of the station’s evolution, Arrick produced a logo that has a completely fresh appearance, but incorporates an element of the original logo: the words “Indiana Public Broadcasting”, which is what the “IPB” in WIPB stands for.  The new logo affects hundreds of things for the station: membership forms, letterhead, on-air spots, local programs, giveaway items for station members and more. Arrick was available for consultation on all of the items.

 

 

“The best thing, to me, was what he did for our website,” said Angie Rapp, marketing manager. “We didn’t have to tell him explicitly what we wanted. He understood our needs, and in the end, he developed a site that was specific to our station and our purposes.” 

 

 

WIPB’s new website has a fresh new look, and more importantly, increased functionality. It can now be updated easily from any computer using Wordpress, which doesn’t involve coding – making it less time consuming to train students, generally a new one each semester. The new website utilizes many PBS features and can embed video, a crucial component for a TV station that produces local content. The old site also couldn’t capture metrics, aside from a click count on some pages. The new site uses Google Analytics, allowing the marketing manager to easily understand web traffic without generating reports and analyzing data.

 

 

WIPB has been inundated with positive feedback from members, partners and competitors since they rolled out their new look in August 2013. “A staff member at another station actually pulled me aside to compliment our new logo and website,” said Alice. “Everyone loves the new look. The staff is happy. Our members are happy. I would recommend Arrick to anyone. He walks you down the path to the perfect destination.”