Max is nearly here, and Warner Bros. Discovery wants brands to know it.
During Warner Bros. Discovery’s Wednesday morning upfront week presentation at New York’s The Theater at Madison Square Garden, the company unveiled the full roster of advertising solutions for the ad-supported tier of the combined HBO Max and Discovery+ streaming service, launching May 23.
The usual celebrity-filled extravaganza had a notable lack of talent due to the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike. Still, plenty of executives took the stage to tout the company’s cable and streaming prowess.
“What you’re about to see is not exactly the show we expected to do today,” said ad sales chief Jon Steinlauf. “We made the decision to only have executives on the stage out of respect for our talent, and the WGA.”
Though the company went with just executives for the presentation, CEO David Zaslav—who’s been a major talking point among strikers—did not appear onstage.
Max-imum ad options
With less than a week until Max launches, advertisers got a glimpse of the offerings they can expect from the new streaming service.
Max will continue to offer the light ad load that HBO Max has become known for, and WBD’s ad strategy consists of a three-pronged approach: reach, reward and interact.
On the reach side, Max will have traditional 15-second pre-roll ads before certain content, as well as 15- and 30-second mid-roll video as part of a 30- or 60-second ad pod. There will also be a “takeover” option, where a brand can be the first ad all users see on the platform for a day, with ownership of the pre- and mid-roll ad in each consumer’s first stream.
Designed to “reward” subscribers with an enhanced viewing experience, the Brand Block offering will let a brand exclusively own every ad within a piece of content, and InFront will let brands sponsor an exclusive, ad-free experience and eliminate all mid-roll advertising. Instead, viewers will watch ads before content playback begins.