WarnerMedia Brand Studio Offers New Marketing Pathways to HBO Max

WarnerMedia’s ad sales team is looking to make HBO Max's new ad-supported tier even more attractive to advertisers. The media company is today taking the wraps off its new brand studio, House of Max, which offers advertisers premium branded storytelling opportunities within HBO Max and other WarnerMedia entertainment brands. The studio is designed to give advertisers the tools and the talent to develop custom creative specifically for HBO Max’s ad-supported tier, HBO Max With Ads, including by letting advertisers tap into some of the IP that makes up the HBO Max and WarnerMedia content catalogue. That work isn’t limited to HBO Max, though: the brand studio can also create custom content for WarnerMedia linear properties like Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, TBS, TNT and truTV, WarnerMedia-owned digital properties and off-platform content and experiences. Maureen Polo, svp of entertainment marketing solutions for WarnerMedia and a former executive at social content agency Fullscreen, will head the newly formed studio. Fellow Fullscreen vet Elaine Andrade, now svp and executive creative director for WarnerMedia, will serve as the studio’s creative lead. We Spent a Day Watching HBO Max With Ads—and Here’s What We Found Fourth quarter kickoff The studio is open for business for any brand working with HBO Max beginning in the fourth quarter of 2021 as part of the scatter market. Branded content created by advertisers with help from the studio can complement WarnerMedia entertainment and programming, including Max originals like Gossip Girl, The Flight Attendant and Hacks. “There’s already a lot of brand interest in terms of being able to work with our IP and layer in and leverage the foundation of storytelling that our company is known for,” Polo told Adweek. “We anticipate having a lot of interest and engagement and are excited to be out there with it.” While WarnerMedia is taking the wraps off House of Max today, Polo and the House of Max team have already been working with advertising partners in the auto, insurance and QSR categories to help them master the ad formats and creative strategies aligned with HBO Max With Ads, which debuted in June with one of the lightest ad-loads in the streaming space. The company has been building out the brand studio since early 2021 in an effort to prepare for the expected influx of advertiser interest that came hand-in-hand with June debut of HBO Max With Ads, which costs $9.99 a month. The focus of the team, Polo says, is to tap into consumers around various pieces of WarnerMedia programming and IP and then work out how to keep engaging those audiences elsewhere—whether it’s via an HBO Max ad or off-platform entirely. “With House of Max, we can create those consumer connections that audiences are intentionally spending time with,” Polo said. “When the credits roll, they're devastated. They don't want the show to end. Well, we can bring those additive incremental experiences that they wouldn't have gotten otherwise.” Those experiences can be extremely varied, based on the IP and based on the advertisers’ goals. Polo’s team is comprised of directors, producers, writers, designers, editors, composers and the team can execute everything from augmented-reality projects to motion-picture animations, she said. Rise of the branded content studio HBO Max is the latest media company to prop up its own branded content studios to attract more advertising dollars to streaming service and platforms. Hulu debuted a branded content studio in early 2020 (which is now part of Disney CreativeWorks), and Roku created its own branded content studio last March. Other media companies, like NBCUniversal, have long operated branded content studios to help advertisers better tap into their audience base. The debut of House of Max comes as WarnerMedia’s ad sales team look to capitalize on advertisers’ focus on making advertising that cuts through the clutter and satisfies increasingly fickle consumers. Last week the company released a study focused on intentionalism, which highlighted that about two-thirds of consumers think more favorably of a brand when they provide fewer commercial interruptions during content. That intentionality means advertisers have a high bar to clear. WarnerMedia, of course, is hoping advertisers will turn to them to do it. “Consumers are so intentional with what they are doing with their time,” Polo said. “Knowing that the consumer is that intentional, we really believe that we have a unique opportunity to give brands some authenticity and an ability to connect with consumers in ways that will garner their attention. Brands need to stand out, and brands need to meet consumers expectations.”