Max Adds Back HBO to Become HBO Max Once Again

And just like that …

I think the marketing and branding world whispered a collective “I told you so” this past week when Max added back the HBO branding to its name that it removed just two years ago. This after just making slight tweaks to its old Max logo a mere few months ago, seemingly trying to make it look a bit more like the old HBO logo.

Perhaps that tweak wasn’t enough, so they just brought the full name back.

Alas … back to HBO Max.

But honestly, we were all wondering the rationale behind taking the HBO branding out of the equation anyway. With such strong equity, really as the originator, why throw it all away?!? It made no sense! I’ve been scratching my head about it this entire time. HBO created this space so why ditch it when it’s heating up? Max didn’t bring any where near as much to the table, especially with so much competition that has come along since HBO created the whole scene. Why oh why oh?

But alas … HBO is back, with a collective sigh of relief to those of us in branding and likely to those watching the programming on the channel.

Changes to branding and logos are tough transitions because everyone has an opinion and we’ve seen how everyone voices them. But in this case, this move back is a smart one. And I’m glad to see that they aren’t afraid to see the pathway forward to fix it and get back on track with the power of the brand they took so long to build. They own it, so keep it!

Let’s applaud them for that! What’s your experience? JIM