Two years ago, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) changed the name of its HBO Max streaming service to just Max. Now the WBD suits have decided to reverse its decision, and will bring the HBO Max branding back this summer. Just further proof that television and movie executives have no idea what they’re doing.
Who could have imagined that dropping the well-known and highly-recognized HBO brand name from the service could have caused issues? The first thing I always though of when hearing “Max” was the Cinemax movie channel, also owned by the fine WBD folks. Cinemax is perhaps best known for its after-hours “Skinemax,” adult-oriented films and series. Perhaps potential viewers thought the entire library was made up of Shannon Tweed movies? (Turn on safe search before looking to see who she is.)
WBD says that the HBO brand is best known for its consistent, high-quality content, which is what the company wants to focus on.
This evolution has also been influenced by changing consumer needs, and the fact that no consumer today is saying they want more content, but most consumers are saying they want better content. With other services filling the more basic needs with volume, WBD has clearly distinguished itself through its quality and distinct stories, and no brand has done that better and more consistently over 50+ years than HBO.
Returning the HBO brand into HBO Max will further drive the service forward and amplify the uniqueness that subscribers can expect from the offering. It is also a testament to WBD’s willingness to keep boldly iterating its strategy and approach – leaning heavily on consumer data and insights – to best position itself for success.
WBD Streaming CEO JB Perrette said that going forward, HBO Max won’t provide “everything for everyone,” but “something distinct and great for adults and families.”
For those of you keeping score, the HBO streaming service has undergone several rebrandings over the years. The service was first known as HBO Go, then later became known as HBO Now. (I guess WBD executives realized people could watch the service at home also?) Then, HBO Now was renamed just HBO, then HBO Max. The service’s moniuker ws then changed to just Max, and now it is returning to HBO Max. WHEW! Got all that? You can’t keep track of the players without a lineup card folks!
I will give them credit for the meme they included in the press release. Made me smile.
