106.5 The End (WEND) has been an iconic brand in the greater Charlotte, NC area for over 25 years, and to many, it’s not just a radio station; it’s the soundtrack to their daily lives. In other words, it’s an institution, and we had a big job ahead of us to pay homage to the brand’s legacy while also creating something new that would resonate with its listener base.

After a format change and rebranding into an “alternative rock” station in 1995, 106.5 quickly became the go-to for a new generation of listeners looking for something different from the everyday Top 40s pop radio. As the “grunge” era began to take hold, 106.5 filled a trendy niche and has remained at the top of the greater Charlotte, NC, area network ratings list since its inception. It’s still at the top of the area charts and is broadcast worldwide via the iHeartRadio app.

The station was acquired by iHeartMedia in 2015. By 2018, it was very apparent that a new image was needed to reflect the station’s new direction. The grunge era had passed, yet the brand image was still stuck in 1995. The station’s demographic and the definition of what is now considered “alternative rock” were quickly changing, and there was a significant need for a new look to reflect a more modern direction. The team at iHeartMedia reached out, and Sublmnl was happy to work with them on the rebranding process. In the end (<– see what we did there? ;)), we delivered an entirely new identity that pays homage to 106.5’s past but, more importantly, provides a new direction for their future.

A New Twist On A CLT Icon

Charlotte, NC, is affectionately known as the “Queen City” because it was named after Britain’s Queen Charlotte in 1761. The image of a crown has become synonymous with the city. It is instantly recognizable as quintessentially “Charlotte” to anyone who has ever stepped foot in the area. Because of this, we took the idea of the crown as the basis for the brand development direction to create something that is unquestionably “Charlotte.” This was a critical point to drive home, given the wider reach now possible through the iHeartRadio worldwide streaming app.

So, to set the brand apart from the competition, we decided to break it down and determine what makes the concept of a crown and radio station make sense at first glance? We arrived at the answer to that question during a trip to the iHeartMedia Charlotte, NC, offices to see their broadcast studios and get a behind-the-scenes tour.

In the production areas and studios, you see one constant everywhere you look: decibel level meters. We knew we had a winning idea after seeing these lines going up and down all around us, representing the transmission the listeners were hearing on their radios. After presenting the initial concepts to the iHeartMedia team, we were right. We did have a winner. The crown’s “horns” are formed by undulating bars representing the audio decibel levels broadcast from the radio station. It’s an image that immediately brings home the notion of being “Charlotte radio.”

Once the concept of the new mark was nailed down, we cleaned up the rest of the new image with a significant, bold type treatment for the “106.5” call sign that would be legible and stand out at any size. We then used an assertive block serif treatment for the accompanying “The End” monicker to juxtapose it against the roundness of the primary call sign type. We kept the same green/black/white color scheme that has been in use since 1995 to pay homage to the brand’s history and lend some familiarity to the new image. Finally, we tilted the mark at a slight angle, facing up toward the future of alternative rock in the Charlotte market.