The history of HBO Max's ridiculously convoluted brand journey

HBO Go debuted in 2010 and was only for linear HBO customers who were traveling or wanted to watch HBO on the go — hence the name.

Smartphone adoption was rising, and tablets were starting to pop up after Apple unveiled the iPad in early 2010.

Then came HBO Now, which brought shows like "Game of Thrones" to cord-cutters for the first time.

Pay TV was just starting to decline from its peak as millennials opted for Netflix and Hulu, which offered on-demand shows and movies at a fraction of the cost of cable and satellite TV.

WarnerMedia, which cellphone giant AT&T ran from 2018 to 2022, launched HBO Max in 2020 during the height of the streaming wars. Its timing was excellent, as the pandemic kept the world inside, which led to a boom in streaming viewership.

However, competition was fierce. HBO Max had to contend with stalwarts like Netflix and Hulu as well as compelling new entrants like Disney+, Apple TV+, Peacock, and eventually Paramount+.

A purple color palette was a purposeful departure from HBO's simple but iconic black-and-white look. It was distinct and "ownable," brand strategist Lily Thaler of Design Bridge and Partners said.

HBO's parent company had a rocky run under AT&T, which cut its losses by spinning it off in 2022. WarnerMedia then joined forces with cable company Discovery to form a new media conglomerate, which had even more exposure to the shrinking pay-TV business.

Enter Warner Bros. Discovery. David Zaslav, who'd run Discovery since 2006, was looking to make a splash and shake up Hollywood.

Armed with HBO's prestige fare and Discovery's guilty-pleasure shows — like "My 600-lb Life" and "Dr. Pimple Popper" — Zaslav dropped the HBO name from its streamer in hopes of being a something-for-everyone service like Netflix.

This move was controversial and heavily criticized by some, though others argued the Max rebrand was necessary to protect the HBO brand.

WBD marked the rebrand to Max by swapping its purple gradient for a bright blue. Patrizio "Pato" Spagnoletto, WBD's then-marketing chief, told Vulture that this change was "intending to signal not just change from HBO Max of the purple, but a much more sustainable premium version of the service."

Max had mixed results. It struggled with a high cancellation rate but found success by bundling with Disney+ and Hulu. The service grew meaningfully in the last year, largely due to international expansion.

WBD foreshadowed its HBO Max rebrand in late March by refreshing its blue color scheme with HBO's signature black-and-white look.

"Typically, moving to black in a space where a lot of brands own color might try to signal sophistication, legacy, respectability," Thaler said.

This move shows confidence, she added: "We don't need to be bright and flashy and cover all colors of the rainbow to get your attention."

This latest rebrand is WBD's clearest signal yet that it's no longer trying to contend with Netflix and is instead prioritizing profitability.

WBD content chief Casey Bloys said putting the HBO brand front and center "far better represents our current consumer proposition," and positions its content as differentiated and valuable.

HBO's three letters stand for high-quality, prestige programming, said Dan Green, a professor and the director of entertainment industry management at Carnegie Mellon University.

"It's hard to get attention, and HBO Max — you know what you're getting," Green said.

However, branding veteran Rosica said this move wasn't necessary — and could backfire.

Rosica said Max already had high brand awareness, especially among younger audiences. Confusion could also emerge, as some consumers may wonder if reality TV shows from Discovery are going away, or if prices are changing.

"A lot of questions will come up that really can be avoided," Rosica said.

Some ad execs said they doubted the rebrand would make a difference either way.

Mike McHale of Noble People said ads on WBD's streamer are still too expensive compared to its peers, given it has an audience that he thinks is reachable elsewhere.

"People who watch 'The Sopranos' — they probably also watch 'The Office.' There isn't an exclusive audience of people I feel like I'm missing when I leave them off buys," McHale said.

No matter what WBD calls its streamer, Thaler pointed out that it won't be able to retroactively change shortcut buttons on Roku remotes. Many of them still say "HBO Max" — albeit now in the wrong color.