HBO learns from failure

This event report covers HBO's failed attempts to tap into second screening – and how these efforts ultimately helped inform a successful digital strategy for the cable network.

HBO learns from failure

Stephen WhitesideWarc

"I have to tell you about something I screwed up, which makes my PR team a little nervous," Sabrina Caluori, HBO's svp/digital media & marketing, admitted to delegates at Advertising Age's Digital Conference 2015 in New York.

The subject of her marketing confession (and the ultimate road to digital redemption) concerned the cable network's failed attempts to tap "second screening" activity among consumers – efforts that both distracted its audience and resulted in a loss of brand focus.

Caluori's cautionary tale began in 2011 with the launch of HBO Connect, a...

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