If you have experience coming up with clever brand names, the major media conglomerates of the world need you.
CBS All Access is rebranding as… *drumroll*… Paramount+.
Its reason for switching to the Paramount moniker makes sense: Paramount is more recognizable than CBS overseas.
But that “+” sign isn’t exactly the most creative branding. In fact, it’s pure mimicry: Disney+, Apple TV+, ESPN+, BET+… (OK, we admit it — we’ve thought about a Hustle+…)
We’re just circling back to basic addition
HBO Max just barely gets a pass here, but we’ll continue to side-eye them.
Streaming represents the future of these businesses, so one would think that their names would be a bit spicier.
But they’re all basically the same
- Quartz identified a few categories, including the pervasive “Now” (Sundance Now, Epix Now, HBO Now).
- Tubi and Quibi sound like they could also be toothbrush startups.
- Mubi, Vudu, and Fubo TV are trying to take over the “Hulu, but different” linguistic lane.
We’re looking forward to the chaos agent that enters the streaming wars with a minus sign in its name.
