Of the Old, the New & Wonder
· Airbnb’s invitation · Oh, HBO · More ads, please! · Studios & creators · Netflix om nom nom ·
Welcome to The Colour Bar, today you will find plenty in Entertainment, Brands and Cuts.
Inevitably, there’s the Max re-rebrand. You reckon HBO has now ‘Maxed’ out its branding journey? Elsewhere, a telco brand helps people not get lost in one of the largest gatherings on the planet, and there’s a call for a ‘MAGA’ movement in advertising.
In ▶️ Curated/Cuts, wonder at our world with Airbnb, consider some ‘good-ish’ people, and go for a run with prehistoric man.
There are narratives aplenty around Hollywood and Youtube; I look at some of the latest, swirling around the studios of today and tomorrow. Other entertainment stories- new advertising pushes from streamers, a Formula E docu series, Elmo’s new home, ****the technology driving single-shot goodness, and new podcast charts.
This is the Colour Bar- where creativity, content, culture, tech, brands & humanity collide.
Oh, HBO.
The last few years for the masters of storytelling have had on plenty of drama off-screen. Just in case you hadn’t heard, Warner Bros. Discovery has decided to re-re-rebrand (or un-rebrand?) its streaming service to… HBO Max. That’s right, the more things change…
It has been just a couple of years since they decided to drop 'HBO', for the streamer to be just ‘Max’. The last few months hinted more at the ongoing identity crisis (they moved Max to the black & white colours of HBO), but it seems like the boardroom tug of wars have finally got them here. (I don’t envy those meeting rooms where much pain was surely endured). It would be easy to ride the “I told you so” bandwagon, so let’s not go there- but commentary abounds on the wastefulness (and myopia).
From a branding point of view, some believe it has suffered from that bane of creative teams world over- “creative by committee”. Hard to disagree.
Most redeemingly, the marketing & social teams reckoned the only way to deal with the inevitable chatter is to pre-emptively own it. This, they have done with humour and self-deprecating nonchalance. Well done!
I have to say- as a longtime HBO fan, I was deflated to see the brand neglected. Even if belated, I’m happy to see it regain primacy.
Next stop- call it HBO?
More brand stuff.
Vodaphone-Idea India, or Vi, crafted a fascinating initiative around the recent Maha Kumbh, said to be the world’s largest spiritual gathering. In collaboration with the state government, the telecom company helped reunite lost pilgrims with their families, and prevent others from getting lost. In an event that saw well over 500 million people in attendance, this was no insignificant matter. Particularly for the elderly, women, and children.
- reckons we need to Make Advertising Great Again, because all digital ads are absolutely f’n awful. “I don’t think we realise how deeply nasty it all is; between the lies, the fraud, the scams, the bots, the targeting, the following, the harassment”. Indeed, he believes that marketing is wonderful, brands are important, and that the advertising industry right now has “the best canvas for advertising you could ever possibly imagine”. So what is holding it back?
Jaguar is looking for a new agency, and this is immediately being labeled as an acknowledgement that its radical, pot-stirring rebrand late last year was a failure.
Vinted, an online second-hand store becomes the highest retailer in France. The ‘recommerce’ platform sold more clothes in Q1 2025 than Amazon, Kiabi and Decathlon. Its market share is even higher among young people. Vinted came onto my radar with their spot last year, which stood out both for being visually striking, and a rare message that does not tell us to buy, buy, buy!
🎬 Curated/Cuts.
1. The Grand Adventure
‘The world is full of wonder’ may not be a new insight, but its still a beautiful one to build on. There is a familiar but persistent truth that so much of modern travel has become a checklist, with itineraries drowning out the delight of discovering places. Airbnb wants us to tackle this with their ‘Experiences’, which promise to bring back a wonder that has been lost.
Animation by Buck, music Magical Mystery Tour by The Beatles.
This is part of a wider content push which includes city-specific pieces and posts, all part of their recent redesign and launch of Experiences and Services.
That’s an appealing little film on/from Paris, and here’s a little IG post on Mexico.
2. Good-ish People
Yes Foundation is a Polish charity supporting women across the country. In ‘Nobody Is Good All The Time’, it aims to defeat imposter syndrome in volunteers. "No one's perfect, but every one of us can do something amazing and help us build a better world for women,” says Justyna Lach, Director of the YES Foundation.
· Agency DUDE · ECD Curro Piqueras Parra · Papaya Films · Director: Mateusz Miszczyński ·
3. Run, Forrest, run!
Take a trip with this (prehistoric?) human, who jogs across the countryside (and then some) like his life depends on it, like it is a search for something, like he absolutely must, like...-
Well, just watch it.
Agency Forsman & Bodenfors
Entertainment
Num Num, Tadum.
Sesame Street has a new streaming home- Netflix. The more than 50-year old kids show from American station PBS, lost its streaming partner HBO Max late last year. Finding a replacement was said to be crucial to the show’s financial sustainability. The show will begin streaming on Netflix with a new season later this year, and continue to air on PBS, but ‘day & date’ (unlike the delayed airing deal with Max). Netflix also snagged rights to develop video games.
Om nom nom, or Um-num num.
Formula E : Driver.
With this four-part documentary series on Prime Video, Formula E seems keen to make a distinction between this and other, ‘spicier’ racing streaming series (hmmm, what could that be?)
“While many focus on drama and spectacle, Formula E: Driver provides insight into what truly defines a world-class driver - skill, mindset, and the relentless pursuit of excellence. Is it nature, nurture, or simply in their DNA?” _Aarti Dabas , Chief Media Officer.
“There’s no need to go looking for jeopardy or feel like we’re forced to amplify anything. It’s all right there,” Jon Alwen, executive producer, Astronaut Films.
More Ads! Better Ads! AI!
Because as we all know, there are few things audiences love more than ads.
Upfronts happened, and Netflix shared some numbers (94m GAUs for the ad tier in the US, if you must know), but also announced a new format that can help advertisers ‘blend in’ with its shows & movies. It says this upcoming modular framework “leverages generative AI to instantly marry advertisers’ ads with the worlds of our shows.“
Which sounds like ads that feel unobtrusive and persuasive, but we’ll just have to wait and see how these work- “interactive midroll and pause formats that build custom advertising creative with added overlays, call to action, second screen buttons”.
This comes with the claim that “members pay as much attention to mid-roll ads as they do to the shows and movies themselves.” Make of that what you will about viewers, and the shows they are watching.
At the same time, WBD wants to double down on its movie & TV characters to create more branded partnership opportunities. Dubbed the ‘WBD Storyverse’, this new initiative launches with the never-before known aim media company to “strategically unlock the vault for advertisers and meet the rise in demand for nostalgia and satiate new and established fanbases.”.
Or- use IP to sell more stuff but make me feel cool about it. Not new, just more. “Opportunities to activate around IP include licensed products and promotions, strategic sponsorships, co-branded ads, and custom content featuring program talent.”
Think The Matrix Lays or When Sally Met Hellman’s.
My take: New formats, new ideas, some repackaged. But advertising will never not be an interruption, so please- respect the fandom by not milking IPs, and respect the viewer by not taking their attention for granted.
…”because some things never change...and some things do” (Matrix reference, IYKYK!)
Studios, Creators, Growth.
Movies are dying. TV Is dead. Young People this, Old People that. TV is Youtube. Youtube is TV. Youtubers are on TV. Youtubers don’t need TV, or movies. TV & movies can’t woo Youtubers. Who cares? Gaming!
Any and all of these narratives are true or dominant or fashionable (or some combination thereof), depending on which week of which month of which year you wake up.
Culture with a C.
Youtube’s dominance in entertainment and culture is barely debatable. Its dynamic with creators and the wider streaming space provides much more fodder- different genres, regions, and players bring distinct perspectives.
YouTube, for its part, continues to hammer home the message, “YouTube has become the epicenter of culture. And I don’t mean short-lived fads or a one-off hit show. I mean culture with a capital ‘C’,” said CEO Neal Mohan at last week’s Brandcast.
Much of the most successful Youtube content now resembles TV (production values, scale, planning, crews) with Youtube sensibilities (creators, viewer feedback, ‘authenticity’, a disregard for norms). Call it ‘Independent TV’, if you will. At the same time, the sheer volume of (UGC) content is immense.Ttruly high-quality, professionally produced material is still limited to a fraction of creators. The real trick lies in grasping how both these Youtubes co-exist, and vibrantly.
In different regions, the scale and fierceness of this independent TV model is not as established as in the mature markets (read: US). Just two weeks ago, Mohan called one of their biggest markets- India- a ‘Creator Nation.’ He emphasised the platform’s role in cultural export and business creation, but also highlighted that only a minority of creators reach the scale necessary for professional-grade content. Yet even in India Youtube is transitioning from being “a platform with ‘snackable’ content to a rival for television programming.”
The Studio Life
It might be with differing pace and varying trajectories, but the real force of Youtube’s continued domination lies not with individual creators, but with the teams and businesses grown around this ‘indie TV’ scene. This is the growing (and impending) phase of ‘digital studios’ I touched upon recently.
“…leveraging the reach of their social audiences and the monetisation afforded by YouTube to build proper studio businesses. A new studio system being built next to the old one.”
The trend may not be as widespread outside the US, but it isn’t exclusive to them either. TVF in India is a well known example of Youtube virality growing to independent streaming and then subsequent partnerships with every major streamer, with a steady stream of consistent, resonant, top quality original content.
“As traditional media tries to survive the tumult impacting its business models, creator studios are becoming in many ways the hot place for media veterans to land,” from a THR piece that explores how creators in the US are building their own studio structures, mirroring the growth and breadth. This includes, quite literally, taking know-how from legacy media to supercharge its replacement.
There is a recurrent vibe in such pieces/stories/profiles. The upstarts are the kings. The productions are no less than TV, the scale and quality is as good as TV. But hey, it is not TV! And oh, its much cheaper! Always, cheaper. Except, when not.
“There’s a difference between killing time and spending time,”
_Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos’ gentle poke at the streaming service that leads TV viewing time in the US.
Needs and Wants
Who needs who more? Different answers depending on who you ask, but the drip of Youtubers going to ‘proper’ TV is clearly now more than a steady trickle. At some point, this was seen as ‘Youtubers making it big’ on network television. Increasingly, the narrative has become one of legacy media players luring Youtubers, to convert their popularity to pay-TV viewership and ratings. Just recently, Peacock announced four scripted shows from digital creators, “the culmination of a multiyear project within NBCUniversal to develop new voices and lean into social-first creators.”
But it goes beyond that- Hollywood and legacy media are also looking to invest in or roll up Youtube creators and companies, following ad dollars, eyeballs and cultural cachet. Again, not new in itself, of course- recall more than a decade ago the moves around MCNs, Disney and Maker studios, prime time talk shows with Youtubers.
“Major entertainment companies have come a long way from the days when they sued YouTube. They’ve dismissed it, insulted it and competed with it. Now they are embracing it. Let’s call it the five stages of Hollywood grief.”
For Hollywood, the questions don’t end at Youtube. In a time of tariffs and threatened isolationism, we are now shown how London might just be the new Hollywood. Tax incentives, top facilities and “saner politics” have rendered it into a haven for studios, streamers, and for the stars.
“From the many state-of-the-art shooting facilities running at full capacity to a tax incentive scheme that saves producers millions and a progressive environment that is literally a world away… London is more Hollywood than Hollywood.”
This is not just a an entertainment story, it is an economic, logistical, cultural and political one.
➕ Quickies
Podcasts: Youtube dropped a weekly Top podcasts chart, and this from Nick Cicero is a good comparison of that list with Spotify’s. “These are visual-native, algorithm-fed, monetized shows that just happen to look like podcasts.”
The rise of ‘oners’. That’s the term often used for ambitious single-takes in shows & movies. While not new by any stretch, the ability to pull them off has been supercharged by technology. The most recent- and stunning- use of this creative approach in Adolescence has sparked a couple of good pieces, with some industry views and words from cinematographer Matthew Lewis.
BBC Player expands presence in India by launching on TATA Play Binge, which is looking to become a one-stop aggregator for streaming/ OTT apps.
Cartoon Network’s Last Gasp: The irreverent animation factory once cranked out hits, talent and profits. But with David Zaslav’s retreat from streaming kids programming, the future of the network is in question. (paywall)
“Podcasting isn’t an audio format anymore. It’s a content format.”