HBO Maxes Out on Rebranding (variety.com) 46
Warner Bros. Discovery said Wednesday it will revert its streaming service name from Max back to HBO Max this summer, just two years after dropping the HBO branding.
The decision, revealed at the company's upfront presentation to advertisers in New York, represents an admission that HBO's premium brand equity remains valuable in the streaming landscape. "Returning the HBO brand into HBO Max will further drive the service forward and amplify the uniqueness that subscribers can expect," WBD stated in a press release.
The decision, revealed at the company's upfront presentation to advertisers in New York, represents an admission that HBO's premium brand equity remains valuable in the streaming landscape. "Returning the HBO brand into HBO Max will further drive the service forward and amplify the uniqueness that subscribers can expect," WBD stated in a press release.
How about Home Box Office? (Score:2)
Makes sense (Score:5, Insightful)
I never understood the dropping of the HBO brand. It had a cachet for "high end".
I guess marketeers gonna marketeer.
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They were not good with branding in the first place. I had no idea until recently that "Max" was any different to "Plus" in regards to OTT streaming services. Turns out it was Max shortened from Cinemax.
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Turns out it was Max shortened from Cinemax.
Within the enlightened teen-age group of refined late night theatre, I believe that was actually referred to as Skinemax. For valid reason.
Lost branding indeed.
(Guess we're kinda glad they didn't rename it? Mom would have been all over that shit.)
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Huh, while I'm familiar with Cinemax I never put that together either. Why on earth would they think a shortening of the softcore porn brand name that was Cinemax is better than the premium brand name HBO?
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Too many companies change shit for the sheer act of changing shit. I guess PHB's are trying to justify their bloated salaries.
Give them Pink Slip Max(tm).
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HBO might not mean anything to Gen Z and later but for us Gen X and earlier, there was still a level of prestige associated with the brand.
It was stupid to throw that away.
LK
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Dropping a brand identity that had been cultivated for (checks notes) 45 years, and switching to a generic three letter word that has no conceptual, linguistic or logical connection to the service being provided, and which will be buried in irrelevant results in searches was some C-Suite nitwit proving their "impact" on the business.
Corporate America has gone through rebranding fads in the past, often opting for such "streamlining" changes. Here are some good examples. [smashbrand.com] Most recent disasters but the Super Ge
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Marketers generally don't know what they're doing and it's gotten more difficult with video, shorter attention spans and anti-capitalism.
Thing is though, the tiny proportion who do know, and get it right can make a company like Apple $hundreds of billions. It's almost like a lottery.
Huh, weird. (Score:1)
Couldn't find their app the other day (Score:5, Insightful)
We wanted to sign up to stream some hbo stuff and couldn't find their app in the tv store. After much digging we found out they had rebranded simply as "Max", which, I can't imagine why they would drop the name brand that brought us sex in the city, have of thrones, the sopranos, for some unrelated generic word
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Yup. One of the great dumb decisions of the business world. Rebranding Dunkin Donuts is high on that same list.
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But it's like if Dunkin Donuts rebranded to just "Hot". The "Max" name was terrible for SEO and pretty weak branding in general while people associated HBO with that and don't care about the original HBO
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Exactly, just moving to calling themselves Dunkin keeps the unique SEO part of the name. Donuts were seen as unhealthy as people are trying to lose weight, and their 1,4000 cal coffees started being the primary thing people bought.
Now they offer coffee, tea, and different breakfast sandwiches and wraps all day along with the donuts. It's no longer get a coffee along with your box of donuts.
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I believe they changed it because "fried" was consider bad for your health.
Excuse me while I fry some eggs, might as well throw some sausages or bacon in the pan too.
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Same with KFC, afaik. I believe they changed it because "fried" was consider bad for your health.
Did they really think every guest would magically assume the “KFC” food is not deep fried, because name change?
It’s getting harder to tell Dumb and Dumber apart. Not that it matters.
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Now it sounds like a basketball league.
Dunking what? I dunno. Not going to bother finding out. I'll just go to Krispy Kreme. That sounds delicious.
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Honestly (Score:3, Interesting)
They'd probably get some credibility back if - as part of the announcement - they brought up some scapegoat and said "This is Ryan, our head of Marketing. Well, FORMER head of marketing who convinced management that this stupid fucking renaming made sense. This occasion is to let him know he's being let go, as well as a letter from our attorneys to let him know that if he claims his golden parachute, we will insist in court that he have the rebranding costs deducted and any excess applied to him personally for malfeasance."
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This goes to show how bad the executives and board of directors are when an idiot from marketing is able to sell a really really bad idea and they buy into it. It's the same logic as, "if an idiot politician wins an election, who is the least intelligent, the politician, or the people who vote for the idiot politician?"
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Well, FORMER head of marketing who convinced management that this stupid fucking renaming made sense.
Well the renaming did make sense. HBO combined with discovery and other groups when they rebranded to Max. In doing so they were trying to distance the low value trash they bought from their own HBO brand. The bigger problem is that they did not at all market the latter. Put me in the bucket of people who were outright confused when I couldn't find the damn HBO app on my TV and phone even though I knew I'd had it before. The dropping of the HBO came out of nowhere.
Some things can make perfect sense and yet
Naming scheme (Score:1)
Maybe they can do like is done with hurricanes. Establish a list of names for the year in advance, and then rotate through them as the year progresses.
Next year (Score:5, Funny)
Next year they'll rebrand to Min
We Called It (Score:5, Interesting)
When this change was made many Slashdotters said it was ridiculous.
Cayenne8 said [slashdot.org]: "Yeah, my first thought was WTF would they ditch the very popular and VERY well known company name "HBO" for just Max? Seems like the latest round of marketing folks coming to businesses these days haven't a clue about the job they are trying to do, and how it all works."
Then we piled on from there...
An American dream for the very privileged: Getting paid generational wealth despite messing up so badly.
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Yeah we called it because we snapped out of ignorance. HBO has huge brand value, that's why they were trying to drop it from their streaming service which they at the time loaded with low value garbage from the Discovery merger. They didn't want to poison their brand with rubbish.
Unfortunately they failed to build the Max brand first, which was quite comical in stories in the past year where people here on Slashdot legitimately asked "what the fuck is MAX"
King of the HBOs (Score:3)
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Rebranding is for when people hear the name of your brand and turn away in disgust or bottomless disinterest,
For example: "Tesla"
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For example: "Tesla"
A textbook example of a brand becoming toxic and repugnant almost overnight.
But no rebranding in the world will ever redeem Tesla; that stench is built in.
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For example: "Tesla"
A textbook example of a brand becoming toxic and repugnant almost overnight.
But no rebranding in the world will ever redeem Tesla; that stench is built in.
Two things need to happen for Tesla to survive:
1. Elmo sells all of his shares, and GTFO.
2. Rebrand the company.
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Two things need to happen for Tesla to survive:
1. Elmo sells all of his shares, and GTFO.
2. Rebrand the company.
I think it's already too late- there are lots and lots of perfectly good alternatives available now from an array of car companies and most of them less expensive, built better, and they don't come with any Nazi/DOGE bullshit baggage.
By the time Telsa or whatever it'll be called rises from the ashes (if it ever does), the market will have outrun them, and they'll still have that lingering Nazi/DOGE/Trump association. They'll just be "the company that used to be Tesla before they fucked up and had to change
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Two things need to happen for Tesla to survive:
1. Elmo sells all of his shares, and GTFO.
2. Rebrand the company.
I think it's already too late- there are lots and lots of perfectly good alternatives available now from an array of car companies and most of them less expensive, built better, and they don't come with any Nazi/DOGE bullshit baggage.
There is a precedent for a successful mfgr with unsavory past political ties. ;-)
Read up on the history of Volkswagen, and you will find a prominent Nazi involved.
idiots need to eat, too (Score:2)
Idiots are always creating churn to justify their existence.
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That fully explains Microsoft. All they seem to do is churn for the sake of churning.
Finally a reversal (Score:1)
Over the years lots of companies have made what were obviously terrible choices.
To me HBO Max going to "Max" was almost on par with Coke changing the formula to new Coke.
So few companies have the courage to actually reverse from bad ideas, it's great to see HBO is willing to admit that was a bad idea and just go back.
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I actually liked new Coke. I can't stand the old Coke.
That said, they should have just came up with a new name for it and kept both in the market.
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They kinda did; Diet Coke is based on the New Coke recipe.
Coke II (Score:2)
That and for a few years, Coca-Cola sold the new Coke formula as "Coke II" alongside "Coca-Cola Classic". However, not a lot of supermarkets would carry it because they already had too much shelf space devoted to Cherry Coke and a bunch of other new flavors.
Underlying cause (Score:4, Insightful)
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As Techdirt would say: "Fail-upwards Brunchlord".
One gets the sense the entire industry will sink. (Score:2)
One gets the sense the entire industry will sink.
Reboots, rehashes and regurgitation of the old cannot keep the industry afloat. And, there seems to be little tolerance from the viewing public for what currently passes as "the new."
The extreme balkanization of the streaming space is also a gaping hole in the ship's hull.
I expect in the end, it's going to be WB on one side, and Disney on the other, and those two will own everyone else.
While they are at it (Score:2)
They could rename Pluto back to a planet, and the Gulf back to Mexico.
Great (Score:2)
Branding isn't the issue (Score:2)
The strategy of Warner Bros. Discovery, that has changed little in nearly 40 years, is more likely to blame. Combined with unrealistic expectations for market growth in a market saturated with media.
Thatâ(TM)s what I still called it. (Score:2)
You really have to wonder (Score:2)
You really have to wonder just how much money they pissed away on this pointless change. Focus groups, surveys, test marketing, etc etc.
Add in the salaries of the corporate dumbasses that conducted this earth-shattering rebrand, and it probably cost $100 million to add the letters "HBO" and a space.
Plus someone has to buy all new letterhead, business cards, logos, signage, etc etc etc etc.
The other question I have is, how much actual revenue will this change generate?
I think we all know the answer is ZERO.