Max Changed Back To HBO Max (variety.com) 32
"Max" has officially reverted back to "HBO Max," two years after Warner Bros. Discovery dropped the HBO branding. Variety reports: The switch had been anticipated to take place sometime this summer, but Warner Bros. Discovery hadn't revealed an exact day for the reversal until now. The timing is key: Execs wanted to restore the "HBO Max" name prior to next week's Emmy nominations announcement on July 15.
The decision to turn "Max" back into "HBO Max" was first announced in May, timed to Warner Bros. Discovery's upfronts presentation. At the time, WBD said in a press release that "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."
The streamer launched as HBO Max in 2020, but then WBD opted to excise HBO from the streamer's name in 2023, changing it to just "Max." (HBO and Max continued to compete under one "HBO/Max" label for industry awards; for next week's Emmy noms, they can once again just be called "HBO Max.") The streaming giant put out a marketing spot announcing that the change was done.
The decision to turn "Max" back into "HBO Max" was first announced in May, timed to Warner Bros. Discovery's upfronts presentation. At the time, WBD said in a press release that "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."
The streamer launched as HBO Max in 2020, but then WBD opted to excise HBO from the streamer's name in 2023, changing it to just "Max." (HBO and Max continued to compete under one "HBO/Max" label for industry awards; for next week's Emmy noms, they can once again just be called "HBO Max.") The streaming giant put out a marketing spot announcing that the change was done.
Waste of money (Score:4, Insightful)
And someone out there who is billed as a marketing genius came up with the idea for the original rebrand.
Re:Waste of money (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
If I go to Max [www.max.se] I expect hamburgers, not questionable entertainment.
HBO execs had problem developing short app name (Score:5, Interesting)
And someone out there who is billed as a marketing genius came up with the idea for the original rebrand.
The rebranding is probably money well spent. Despite being a user for a number of years, when I see "MAX" my first thought is "Cinemax" not "HBO". My second thought immediate follows, "No, wait, it's 'HBO' for some reason. WTF, was 'HBO' not a good candidate for a short app name?".
Re: HBO execs had problem developing short app nam (Score:2)
That's apparently common. Although the money is still being wasted because it's fixing a problem that wouldn't exist if they hadn't already wasted money rebranding as Max.
Whoever did THAT should be fired and blacklisted in the industry.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: HBO execs had problem developing short app na (Score:2)
That's mostly correct. There was HBO Now (standalone) and HBO Go (tied to HBO cable). Then HBO Now became HBO Max when they expanded the offerings beyond HBO content. Then HBO Max became Max, which was singlehandedly one of the worst branding failures in the history of marketing, but was ostensibly to protect the HBO brand from dilution from all the low quality content added to HBO Max. Now they are - sensibly - reversing that, both the amount of drivel on the service and the rebrand.
Re: (Score:2)
was 'HBO' not a good candidate for a short app name
The HBO brand was setup to mean something premium. The problem was they were loading their streaming service with low cost rubbish shows not related to HBO and they wanted to avoid diminishing their brand value by associating with it.
HBO as the app name *was the problem* for them.
Re: (Score:2)
This was all Zaslav's idiocy.
Re: (Score:2)
It was a strange move. HBO has a reputation for high quality stuff. The Wire, Game of Thrones, Sopranos. Thats 3 of my top 5 shows of all time (The others being breaking bad, and The Expanse). People *like* HBO. Why bury the lead when it comes to naming. Nobody knows or cares what "Max" is, they care about HBO.
Re: Waste of money (Score:2)
"Max" is short for Cinemax. Not as famous as HBO, but still an important brand to them for decades. Kinda lost in today's world though, I do admit.
Re: (Score:2)
"SkiniMax", for us greybeards.
Re: (Score:1)
I've come to realize that whenever you see stuff like this going on, usually what's going on behind the scenes is there's an internal ideological struggle between one management group that's just trying to maximize profits through industry-tested methods and another that's trying to force the timeline to adhere to some childishly insane satanic prophecy.
Re: (Score:2)
And if they did recognize the name, "Skinemax" doesn't have the same brand value that it did pre-internet.
Re: (Score:2)
And someone out there who is billed as a marketing genius came up with the idea for the original rebrand.
It actually made sense, but it was just executed in a horrible way. The whole point of switching to Max was to not pollute the well known HBO brand with the absolute rubbish they were throwing on their streaming service.
The problem was they didn't build up the Max brand first, so people were genuinely confused at what Max was. Good idea from marketing, but horrible execution.
wonderful (Score:2)
I'm still going to cancel my sub for 75% of the year.
News flash (Score:4, Funny)
HBO Max has been rebranded as HBO Max Headroom.
Re: (Score:3)
Max fluff (Score:2)
boldly iterating its strategy
...by going back to the way things were.
Have you ever wondered why they even bother to write these press releases? Today's politicians pretty much just say, "Screw you; deal with it!" and it doesn't seem to make a lick of difference.
Re: can we get the late night softcore back as wel (Score:2)
There's still erotic movies pushed in the app. I haven't watched any, but they occasionally come up while browsing.
I imagine they try to avoid pushing those into the feed that also used to include Sesame Street and today is dominated by a bunch of DC Comics fare.
Re: (Score:2)
Penguin wasn't bad.
Colin Ferrell and Cristin Milioti were fun.
Re: can we get the late night softcore back as we (Score:2)
Penguin is great. Most of the DC content is really good.
But from a branding perspective, pushing erotica alongside animated comic book movies is a miss.
Resume driven development (Score:2)
Because we are always at each other's throats and always fighting and jockeying for position we can't leave anything well enough alone. We all have to have accomplishments so that we can move on to the next job because you can't stay in one place anymore. Otherwise the layoffs come for you someday.
So you get resume driven develop
Re: (Score:2)
The HBO Max thing is just another example of entertainment business VIPs pissing over prior work, to 'make their mark.'
It's what happened to Firefly at Fox, when, just before it was scheduled to air, there was a management shakeup and new vp of entertainment had to tear down his predecessor's work. In this case, it meant broadcasting episodes out of order, moving to Friday evening 'dead zone' time slot and not renewing it.
With WB over HBO, it was David Zaslav doing the same thing, writ large. Got rid of pr
Rebranding was not a good idea (Score:2)
We associate HBO Max with quality series, and therefore changing the name from "HBO Max" to something else is not necessarily very relevant.
Re: Rebranding was not a good idea (Score:2)
The reason it was rebranded was because they were intentionally reaching into their back catalog of dogshit and didn't want to burn the HBO brand.
Re: (Score:2)
That is why the rebranding was a good idea and was tried. HBO was loading their streaming service with low-cost rubbish bought from other companies. You associate HBO with quality, and they were specifically attempting to not deliver that. Hence they tried removing the name HBO.
Home Box Office (Score:2)
Greatest Brand Destruction in History (Score:2)
Scott Galloway called the rebranding from HBO to MAX the "greatest brand destruction in history" (or something very close to that). It's good to see the tourniquet has been loosened and blood is once again flowing to the head of the brand.
What dirt does McKinsey have? (Score:2)
McKinsey is the consulting group who has been paid millions to switch between the various HBO/Max incarnations. They are also the group that got paid $1.6M to tell NYC to use trash cans. [businessinsider.com]
You don't get that kind of graft without having dirt on people.
Would it help (Score:2)
If I pretended I cared?