{"id":4830,"date":"2025-06-06T17:06:38","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T17:06:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tvgla.com\/viewpoint\/?p=4830"},"modified":"2025-06-06T17:06:39","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T17:06:39","slug":"what-the-return-to-hbo-max-shows-us-about-brand-integrity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/lightsail-origin.tvgla.com\/viewpoint\/what-the-return-to-hbo-max-shows-us-about-brand-integrity\/","title":{"rendered":"What the Return to HBO Max Shows Us About Brand Integrity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

HBO NOW. HBO Max. Max. And back to HBO Max. As the company has evolved, so has their name. We should know; we\u2019ve been their lead digital performance agency since 2015, and we\u2019ve been by their side through many a rebrand. This latest reversal is a strategic decision that aligns with the overall shifts in the streaming marketplace and reinforces a crucial tenet of marketing: A recognizable brand identity is as good as gold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a Hollywood Reporter article<\/a>, Sunaina Sharma, executive strategy director at the brand consultancy Landor, said, \u201cThe HBO Max reversal isn\u2019t just a branding U-turn; it\u2019s a flashing neon sign pointing to a critical juncture in the streaming landscape that the \u2018content is king\u2019 mantra is dead; brand equity now reigns supreme.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The key is for all stakeholders to understand the importance of prioritizing brand. Luckily, if streaming services are any indication, it seems that message is getting through.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

HBO Max isn\u2019t the only one to refocus on its long-term brand. Another subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN, is launching a news-streaming service simply called \u201cCNN\u201d that will focus on journalism-heavy programming \u2014 the type of content people associate with the brand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And The Walt Disney Co. announced that their ESPN streaming service would launch this year as \u2026 you guessed it \u2026 \u201cESPN.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs we explored options, we kept coming back to our four letters: ESPN,\u201d said chairman Jimmy Pitaro. \u201cThere\u2019s power in our name, and there\u2019s trust in our name. ESPN is the place of record, and we represent the very best in sports. So that\u2019s what we\u2019re calling it. ESPN. Simple, straightforward, clear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an agency who\u2019s been beating the brand integrity drum for years, we\u2019re excited to see that companies are getting the memo. But there\u2019s still a long way to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A study by The Video Advertising Bureau<\/a> (VAB), in collaboration with Advertiser Perceptions, revealed that 74% of small businesses, 63% of mid-sized firms, and 70% of large businesses said their current KPIs skew heavily toward immediate performance over sustained brand value.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, even when marketing teams recognize the need for brand integrity, often they get a different message from company leaders. In the VAB study, nearly a third of marketers at large companies cited a disconnect between their KPIs and the broader goals set by leadership. Often, there is pressure to meet short-term sales goals even if it jeopardizes the brand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is brand identity so important?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upholding a consistent brand identity saves you time and money. When your brand keeps changing, you have to make an extra effort to be recognizable. Every time you present an offer, you also have to keep reminding people who you are, what your value proposition is, and why they should buy what you\u2019re selling. But if you\u2019ve established and consistently followed your brand guidelines, half of that work is already done for you \u2014 and the returns are magnified over time. In the HBO Max example, the company realized that people strongly associate the name HBO with premium content, and their premium content is what drives tune-in for a large portion of their subscribers. So it only makes sense that they would want to put that long-established moniker front and center. \u201cMy team and I are well aware of what the HBO brand means to the industry and to consumers,\u201d said HBO content chief Casey Bloys.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

OK, I get it; brand integrity is crucial. But how do I maintain it while also driving performance?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What we hope more people start realizing is that you don\u2019t have to sacrifice performance to maintain your brand integrity. At TVGla, our motto is \u201cPerformance marketing with brand appeal,\u201d and we\u2019re experts at balancing both. Performance and brand are both imperative, and they don\u2019t need to cancel each other out. In another one of our ViewPoint articles, we lay out four steps to get results and uphold your brand<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The key is for all stakeholders, from the marketing team to the CEO, to understand the importance of prioritizing brand. Luckily, if streaming services are any indication, it seems that message is getting through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A final word<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A strong brand strategy now will set you up for success both now and later. We\u2019ll keep beating the drum as long as we have to. See how we\u2019re helping our clients maintain their brand integrity and<\/em> reach their short-term goals at tvgla.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When your brand tells your audience what to expect, it\u2019s doing the work for you.\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4831,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4830","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"cs-entry","9":"cs-video-wrap"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat the Return to HBO Max Shows Us About Brand Integrity - TVGla :: Performance Creative with Brand Appeal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/lightsail-origin.tvgla.com\/viewpoint\/what-the-return-to-hbo-max-shows-us-about-brand-integrity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What the Return to HBO Max Shows Us About Brand Integrity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What the Return to HBO Max Shows Us About Brand Integrity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/lightsail-origin.tvgla.com\/viewpoint\/what-the-return-to-hbo-max-shows-us-about-brand-integrity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVGla :: Performance Creative with Brand Appeal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-06T17:06:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-06T17:06:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/lightsail-origin.tvgla.com\/viewpoint\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/vp_image-5.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"TVGla\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"TVGla\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/lightsail-origin.tvgla.com\/viewpoint\/what-the-return-to-hbo-max-shows-us-about-brand-integrity\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/lightsail-origin.tvgla.com\/viewpoint\/what-the-return-to-hbo-max-shows-us-about-brand-integrity\/\",\"name\":\"What the Return to HBO Max Shows Us About Brand Integrity - 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