MS NOW puts ‘We the People’ at the center of its election night brand

For the first time in its nearly 30-year history, MS NOW is entering an election cycle under its own coverage brand.

“We the People” replaces the former “Decision” branding the network shared with NBC News since its launch, and will serve as the visual and editorial identity for MS NOW’s election coverage through the midterms and into the presidential election. The network is debuting the branding tonight, March 3, with primetime coverage of Tuesday’s primaries in Arkansas, North Carolina and Texas.

“Elections are one of the most consequential moments in our coverage, and they deserve a visual and editorial system that is purpose-built,” said Robert Poulton, senior vice president of creative for MS NOW and CNBC, in an interview with NCS. “This visual identity gives us a cohesive toolkit that can live across on-air, digital, social, print, and even physical spaces while still being unmistakably MS NOW.”

MS NOW studio design mixes architecture with unique LED arrays

Choosing the phrase

The name “We the People” draws directly from the preamble to the U.S. Constitution and carries a dual purpose for the network. It anchors the election coverage identity while also serving as the throughline for MS NOW’s broader image campaign.

“We The People was a very intentional choice because it names the viewer as the center of the story,” said Poulton. “Those words immediately establish collective ownership, they don’t talk at the audience, they are meant include them. The phrase is rooted in a democratic principle everyone recognizes, but we are using it to express something very current; informed citizens matter, and participation matters.”

“From a brand standpoint, it aligns perfectly with MS NOW’s mission of fact-based reporting, expert analysis, and informed opinion that empowers viewers to draw their own conclusions,” Poulton said.

The campaign, created by creative agency Sibling Rivalry, launched in November ahead of the network’s launch with two 60-second spots. One featured Maddow reading from the Constitution’s preamble; the other used archived audio of poet Maya Angelou reading from her 1996 poem “The Human Family.” The campaign has since expanded, with additional spots featuring other network anchors. The newest version features Joe Scarborough voicing a portion of Robert F. Kennedy’s Day of Affirmation Address, a speech Kennedy delivered in South Africa in 1966.

Poulton noted the branding was designed to serve as a longer-term expression of the network’s identity, beyond just a moniker for election coverage.

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“We The People was always intended to live beyond election night. When we launched the campaign last year, it established a clear identity and a unifying message centered on civic engagement, accountability, and shared responsibility,” he said. “Its real strength is in how it carries forward across breaking news, cultural moments, and civic milestones, reinforcing that democracy is not confined to a single moment.”

“It becomes an on-going expression of our values and a reminder that MS NOW is committed to ‘We the People’ at the center of the story,” added Poulton.

Tonight’s coverage

MS NOW will begin primary night coverage at 7 p.m. ET with Rachel Maddow leading a panel that includes Nicolle Wallace, Ari Melber, Chris Hayes, Lawrence O’Donnell, Stephanie Ruhle, Jen Psaki, Symone Sanders Townsend, Michael Steele and Alicia Menendez.

Ali Velshi, recently named the network’s chief data reporter, will join throughout the evening to break down results as they come in. Menendez, Sanders Townsend and Steele will anchor late-night coverage.

Field reporters Jacob Soboroff, Rosa Flores, Jake Traylor and Alex Tabet will report live from primary states. Analysts Claire McCaskill and Julián Castro, along with senior contributing editor Michele Norris, will also contribute throughout the night.

A look back at MS NOW’s election branding

For most of its nearly 30-year history, MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) aligned its election coverage branding with NBC News, appearing under the “Decision” umbrella that NBC has used to brand its election night coverage for decades. That arrangement meant MSNBC’s election coverage carried shared visual and editorial identifiers with the broadcast network rather than a distinct cable identity.

NBC’s “Decision” franchise traces its roots to the broadcast era, predating cable news entirely.

When MSNBC launched, it inherited that framework, and subsequent election cycles — 2000, 2004, 2008 through 2024 — all carried variations of the “Decision” brand across NBC and MSNBC.

NBC News and MSNBC also tested “The Vote” as a midterm election brand in 2018, but it was not used again.

The need to establish a separate elections identity is part of a broader shift at the network, which is also in the middle of shedding the MSNBC name itself. Where the old arrangement drew a direct visual line between the cable channel and its broadcast parent, “We the People” is designed to stand alone.

“We’re evolving election coverage by building on the strong foundation that’s always defined this work,” Poulton said, “with a focus on carrying it clearly and consistently across the entire election cycle. Anchored by ‘We the People,’ both the coverage and the visual identity work together to create a unified, modern system that emphasizes clarity, context, and the viewer’s connection to the democratic process.”

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