Max Pulls Out Promotional Stops In Rebranding Promo Push As Warner Bros Discovery Looks To Make A “Second First Impression”
17.04.2023 - 10:13
/ deadline.com
The last time the parent company of Warner Bros and HBO promoted the launch of a streaming service, it faced the once-a-century challenge of the coronavirus pandemic.
HBO Max debuted in May 2020 — the last of five new multi-billion-dollar streaming entrants hitting the market in a seven-month span — but grand plans for a boost across TV, buses and billboards were dashed by the shelter-in-place reality of the time. Today, nearly three years on, HBO Max accounts for a majority of Warner Bros Discovery’s 96.1 million subscribers and has earned a place in streaming’s top echelon. After a press event last week highlighted strategic and programming initiatives, the marketing push toward Max’s May 23 debut is gaining intensity.
“It’s very rare that you get a chance to have a second first impression,” said Pato Spagnoletto, global CMO for WBD Streaming in a press release. Elaborating in an interview with Deadline, the exec said the campaign has two primary stages. “Number one is to tease – ‘What is this thing? I haven’t heard of this before.’ So it’s just to try to get people’s attention,” he said. “When we get closer to launch, intent is something that a lot of brands forget to do, especially in our space. That is, to build a bit more of an emotional connection to the brand. Not the content — the content is amazing in and of itself and pulls its weight day in and day out. But if we’re going to win as a brand, we’re going to make people fall in love with the brand as much as they are the content.” Adding to that mission is the fact that Max’s debut isn’t the same as launching from scratch. “This isn’t really a launch campaign, it’s something we can come back to over and over, including our tagline, ‘the one to watch.'”
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