Powergen

Credits

Compiled by
Camenati

Background

PowerGen is an energy supplier based in Coventry, England. Known as one of the largest of its kind in the United Kingdom, it was founded in 1989. Initially, the UK government acquired a 50% stake in the company before 60% of it was sold to private investors two years later. The remaining percentage was sold in 1995.

On July 1, 2002, PowerGen became a subsidiary of E.ON and rebranded to E.ON UK on December 3, 2007. Ever since its ownership by E.ON, the company has made acquisitions on several companies including CHN Group and Npower.

Commercial endtags

Contents 1st Logo (1989-1991) 2nd Logo (1990-1991) 3rd Logo (January 1998-2000) 4th Logo (August 2000?-2003) 5th Logo (2003-2007) 6th Logo (June-Fall 2007)

Sponsor logos

Contents 1st Logo (1989-1993) 2nd Logo (1993-Spring 2001) 3rd Logo (Summer 2001-2002) 4th Logo (2002-2003)

Commercial endtags

1st Logo (1989-1991)

• 
• 

Visuals: On a white background, a teal box fades in with an outlined drawing of a woman holding nothing. Underneath it is the company name in a serif font and the box is "PowerGen is currently a division of the CEGB". After the fade in, gold sun rays fade in and expand out of the woman's palm.

Variant: A later version has the logo inside a more rectangular box and the bottom text is replaced with "THE FUTURE GENERATION.". The tagline would fade in alongside the expanding sun rays.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: A soothing whoosh sound when the sun rays expand.

2nd Logo (1990-1991)

• 
• 

Visuals: Inside a dark mechanical room (the left side has a blue glow and the other is orange), the shadow of a large, round turbine with sharp corners is shown. The turbine spins, moving closer to the two signs while flashing and emitting electricity. Shortly after that, the two signs light up, flashing after the third time. This sequence reveals the National Power and PowerGen logos. Both are against a moving, grided background and the latter logo is against a green color. Throughout this sequence the following text is displayed below:

Issued by HM Government and approved by Kleinwort Benson Limited
its Financial Advisor for these offers, and TSA member
SHARE VALUES CAN GO DOWN AS WELL AS UP
If you need advice consult a Professional Advisor

When the signs light up, the center of the turbine is traced, resembling an outline of a oval planet with a ring inside an outlined white circle. After the flash, the company's phone number is displayed.

Variant: On an advert starring Uri Geller, the phone number is replaced with text reading "OFFERS CLOSE WEDNESDAY 6TH MARCH".

Technique: Live-action.

Audio: An excerpt of "The Power" by Snap!, ending at the verse "I've got the power!". Accompanying this is a male narrator directing viewers to the company's phone number for a special offer.

Availability: Appears on a Star Trek-themed advert and another starring Uri Geller.

3rd Logo (January 1998-2000)

• 
• 

Visuals: On a power plant setting, a colorized version of the PowerGen logo from before is seen on a cooling tower. Underneath it is the company's tagline at the time "THE POWER BEHIND POWER". As the camera slowly zooms into the logo, cirrostratus clouds quickly fly over the power plants and the sun subtly sets.

Variant: On one advert, the logo is superimposed on the end shot of the commercial. Its only animation is deblurring.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The end tail of the commercial alongside a female narrator saying the company name and its tagline.

4th Logo (August 2000?-2003)

• 
• 
• 
• 

Visuals: On a white background, the logo from before is placed above a gold trapezoid containing their phone number in separate arrays and a 3D style.

Variants:

• Beginning in 2001, the logo was updated to reflect their redesign, showing a thicker, curvy, and more stylized version of the 1989 logo.
• On some commercials, the company's website is within a gold box with a green outline next to a play button with the same format.
• On the closing sponsorship sting for the Monsters Inc. advert, the text "Energy for you and your little monsters, come rain or shine" is shown underneath alongside a different phone number inside a green tube box.
• On the "Walking Stick" advert, the Age Concern logo is shown underneath PowerGen's.

Technique: A still, digital graphic.

Audio: The ending theme of the commercial.

Availability: Can be seen on the "Dog", "Walking Stick", and "Bottle Neck" adverts, which used to air during commercial breaks on Channel 4.

5th Logo (2003-2007)

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Visuals: Superimposed into the end of the commercial, the logo from before but with "POWERGEN" larger and "Power in good hands" underneath it all is seen. As the woman opens her palm, several gold sun rays wipe in.

Variants:

• In 2005, the tagline is removed.
• Starting in October 2005, a byline was added, reading "A company of e.on".

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: The end tail of the commercial alongside a narrator saying "Positive energy from PowerGen".

Availability: It was seen on adverts such as one starring Simon Day as well as on sponsorship stings used for ITV Weather. Like before, they were seen on Channel 4 and ITV commercial breaks from this period.

6th Logo (June-Fall 2007)

• 

Visuals: On a red background with spinning, transparent spirals is the logo from before with its E.ON byline intact. Underneath it is their phone number after "Call now on" and website, which also contains "greener" at the end.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: The end tail of the commercial.

Final Note

When the company rebranded to its current name in 2007, they now use the standard commercial logo used by its parent company.

Sponsor logos

1st Logo (1989-1993)

• 

Visuals: On the top right corner, the 1989 logo in a dark green box flips in. After that, "Sponsored by" fades in above.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The ITV National Weather theme.

2nd Logo (1993-Spring 2001)

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Visuals: On the bottom right corner of the sponsorship sting is the 1989 logo lighting up and appearing through a dissolve effect. Within a few second, it loses its glow and the particles dissolve into the logo. Appearing on top of it is "SPONSORED BY".

Variants:

• Beginning on October 5, 1998, "Sponsored by" is in a normal font and italicized.
  • For the closing logo, the logo has a water effect throughout and its byline "THE POWER BEHIND POWER" is inserted below.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: The music from the sponsorship sting.

Audio Variant: Beginning on October 5, 1998, specifically at the end of the programme, a female narrator reads "PowerGen: power whatever the weather".

Availability: It appeared on the intros for ITV Weather such as the "Weathergen" idents. This logo also appeared on a 15 year anniversary clip montage of the programme's intro history.

3rd Logo (Summer 2001-2002)

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Visuals: On the bottom right corner of the screen, inside a vertical white box is the 2001 PowerGen logo with "Sponsored by" above it and its website link underneath.

Closing Visuals: On the same ident as earlier, the logo is seen within a rectangular white box with a custom tagline and website link underneath.

Variants:

• Sometimes, the logo appears on the top right half of the screen and the bottom portion of the box stretches below, revealing more text.
  • On the Monsters Inc. sponsorship sting, the text being revealed reads "Energy for you and your little monsters, come rain or shine."
  • One advert adds the text "Controlling energy for homes and business" below. Unlike the above variant, it has no animation.
  • On the "Snow" idents, the text now reads "Bringing the essentials to life".
• Sometimes, the logo may crossfade to stacked text reading "Gas, Electricity, Telephone". This variant was used in late 2001.

Technique: None for the most part. 2D animation for some of the variants.

Audio: The music from the sponsorship sting alongside a female announcer reading "PowerGen: gas, electricity, and telephone".

Availability: Like before, it appeared on sponsorship stings for ITV Weather, plus one to promote Monsters Inc..

4th Logo (2002-2003)

• 
• 

Opening Visuals: On the top section of the screen, multiple white tiles in three rows appear and then disappear from left to right. After this sequence, the 2001 PowerGen logo is seen in a white box on the top right half of the screen. Then, "POWER IN GOOD HANDS" with a dark glow appears underneath and near the center of the screen.

Closing Visuals: On a white background, the woman, company name, and website on the bottom half of the screen are green whereas the sun's rays and tagline are gold. Its animation is the same as the 5th logo.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: A ding followed by a narrator saying the company name and its tagline. When the text appears, ascending electronic chimes play.

Final Note

Starting in 2003, the sponsorship tags use the standard commercial tags.