Franchise chain Blockbuster Australia is launching a multi-million dollar national branding campaign designed to place the brand at the forefront of movie distribution around the country.

The campaign will be unveiled in six month intervals over the next two years, and focus on Australia’s passion for watching DVDs at home.

Up first will be an advertising campaign across radio, tv and outdoor sites; a redesigned interactive website and Facebook page for customers, suppliers and franchisees; new in-store branding featuring movie scenes and characters, supplemented with new category signage for better navigation.

Staff uniforms will also get a revamp.

Dennis Banfield, Blockbuster Australia’s general manager, operations, said “Our consumers and franchisees wanted a modern, fresh look and feel to the stores and that’s what we’ve given them.

“This is a very exciting time for the company and for our franchisees, whose support, dedication and passion for the brand is strongly reflected in each phase of the campaign,” said Banfield.

Research conducted with more than 5,000 respondents last year was shared with the franchisees who have been involved in all aspects of a campaign which represents the company’s greastest investment in a decade.

Blockbuster Australia has more than 280 stores across the country, and is independent from the troubled US business Blockbuster Inc. The Australian parent company Franchise Entertainment Group also owns Video Ezy and the Ezy-DVD online store.

“The company is in good shape, the industry has enormous opportunity and Blockbuster is at the forefront of taking DVD rentals into a new era,” Banfield said.