Let’s Try This Again: Leadership Lessons from the HBO Max Rebrand

You may have seen this in the news recently: Max is no longer Max. It's HBO Max. Again.

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. revealed they're reviving the HBO Max brand — just two years after dropping the “HBO” label in favor of a broader, more generic "Max." Casey Bloys, CEO of HBO and Max, called it a return to what makes the platform special. Or as he put it, “worth paying for.”

You don’t have to lead a Fortune 500 company to recognize the value in this moment.

In fact, its impact is amplified by just how visible (and expensive) the decision was. It’s not every day you see a company spend millions on a rebrand, realize they’ve diluted their strongest identity, and then publicly course-correct. This is what humility looks like at enterprise scale.

It’s also a masterclass in the messy but necessary process of building a resilient brand and owning your leadership decisions, especially when you get them wrong.

Brand Is More Than a Logo — It’s a Promise

Your brand isn’t your color palette, typeface, or logo. It’s the implicit promise you make to the people who interact with your company every day. And in some cases, a brand becomes so tightly linked to its product that the name itself becomes the category. Think Kleenex, Saran Wrap, or Lysol wipes. People don’t just buy the product — they ask for it by name.

That’s the level of clarity and consistency we're all aiming for, not because we expect our name to replace the category but because we want our work to stand for something unmistakable. Your brand is what your Ideal Customers expect when they sign up, log in, or buy. It’s the vision your team believes they’re building toward.

The rationale for removing “HBO” from the name was clear enough: They wanted to highlight the breadth of content — Discovery shows, Warner Bros. films, and originals all in one place. But in doing so, they diluted the very identity that made the platform valuable to begin with.

HBO, for all its imperfections, stood for something. Prestige. Quality. Adult storytelling. A very specific point-of-view. That clarity made it distinct. And distinct is memorable.

As founders, we spend years defining who we are, what we do, and who we do it for. That work isn’t just for boardroom pitches or brand guides. It’s a compass for everything we do. It should inform every decision, from your product road map to how you name a new feature. 

And when we drift from that identity, we can spot early signs of the misalignment: confused customers, teams that seem scattered, a general sense that things just aren’t clicking.

So how do we find our way back?

The Courage to Walk Back a Decision

Think about this for a second: How often do we admit we’re wrong, clearly and publicly?

For most leaders, especially founders, the temptation is to push forward. To tweak, justify, or hope the market comes around. But there’s real strength in walking back a decision that no longer serves our vision. Not impulsively or defensively, but with authenticity and intention.

That’s what happened here. They didn’t just revert to HBO Max — they framed the change as a recommitment to their highest value. They brought humor to it. They engaged their audience. They treated the reversal not as an embarrassment but as evidence of growth and acknowledgment that they made a mistake.

Course correction isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s a sign that you’re still listening to your Ideal Stakeholders, that you’re still willing to evolve.

As leaders, we all have decisions that felt right at the time but don’t hold up months or years later. The key is creating a culture where it's not just okay to admit that, it’s celebrated. Because when you normalize making mistakes, learning from them, and moving forward, you get better decisions over time.

Listening to the Right Voices

This part’s crucial: Warner Bros. Discovery didn’t just change course because their leadership felt nostalgic or because they heard rumblings on social media. They did it because the feedback was clear. Dropping "HBO" didn’t resonate with their core audience.

That’s a lesson worth revisiting. Are you listening to your Ideal Customers or just the loudest ones? Are you confusing volume for meaningful insight?

At Ninety, we talk a lot about the importance of knowing your Ideal Customer Profile. Because when you know exactly who you're building for, feedback becomes clearer (and it matters more). Decisions become easier. You’re no longer chasing everyone — you’re deepening your commitment to the right ones.

And in the age of real-time data and social media blowback, clarity is your best defense. It gives you the confidence to make moves others won’t understand right away, and the wisdom and courage to change course when those moves fall flat.

Course Corrections Are a Sign of Strength, Not Weakness

As founders, we worry that changing our mind makes us look indecisive. That admitting we were wrong will lose the trust of our teams.

But in reality, thoughtful course correction builds our credibility. It tells our teams we’re committed to the vision, not our ego. It tells our customers we care about delivering something genuinely great, not just something “good enough.”

When WBD walked back their decision, they didn’t apologize. They explained. They owned it. They stayed focused on their vision: quality content, positioned clearly.

We can all learn a lesson here. Maybe it’s a feature you launched that’s not getting traction. A new pricing model that’s causing confusion. A vision statement that doesn’t feel true anymore. Whatever it is, the sooner you acknowledge it, the sooner you can fix it. And the more trust you’ll build in the process.

Building Toward a Legacy

We’re all building our own version of a brand. We're crafting a reputation, building trust, and making decisions that, over time, will say: This is who I am. This is what I believe in. This is how I consistently show up.

As founders, this legacy isn’t just the name of our company — it’s how we respond to uncertainty. How we handle mistakes. How we treat our people and our customers when things don’t go according to plan.

HBO Max is just one example, but it’s a helpful reminder: Clarity wins. Identity matters. And humility in leadership doesn’t just earn respect, it strengthens us as leaders.

So here’s the reflection I’ll leave you with:

What decisions might you need to revisit — not because it was wrong at the time, but because your context has changed? What might become possible if you had the courage to say, "Let's try this again"?