How This HBO Max Marketer Launched Some of Streaming's Biggest Hits

The executive behind global campaigns for hit shows such as House of the Dragon, The White Lotus and The Last of Us didn't even plan on a career in marketing. Pia Barlow, evp of originals marketing at HBO Max, has been in the business for 18 years. But long before that, she first began her post-Dartmouth undergrad life on the law school track. That changed when she met Courteney Monroe—now president of National Geographic Global Television Networks—who oversaw consumer marketing for HBO, and Barlow was quick to join that team. “The way she inspired and challenged us all to be the gold standard bearer in the industry; for our marketing to be as groundbreaking as the programming, to value creativity and innovation and drive culture,” Barlow said. “Those early years at HBO made me want to work in marketing.” Much of her career has been far from linear: Barlow also spent five years at Netflix overseeing marketing for areas of its originals business, including the expansion of international, documentaries and unscripted. The exec also had a brief stint in theatrical marketing for 20th Century Fox. How HBO Ignited House of the Dragon’s Marketing Campaign She returned to Warner Bros. Discovery—then called WarnerMedia—in May 2020 to lead marketing across original programming on HBO and fledgling streamer HBO Max. “I’ve experienced more career change and growth in the last five years than I have in the first 13,” Barlow said. “Which seems par for the course these days, given how quickly the business is moving and evolving.” In the past year alone, HBO and HBO Max launched hit shows like House of the Dragon and The Last of Us—which have been the two most-watched HBO premieres since 2010’s Boardwalk Empire—as well as The White Lotus and The Sex Lives of College Girls, and much of that success can be attributed to Barlow’s stellar marketing plans. As shown with immersive experiences at Comic-Con, a global AR app, partnerships across the Warner Bros. Discovery portfolio, pop-up activations and prolific social campaigns, Barlow knows there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to helping drive a series’ success. The key is to be authentic to the creators’ vision. “Our goal is to create that connection between fans and the story, and the more we collectively know and understand our audience, the better we can answer the question: ‘What emotional benefit, need or value are we fulfilling?’ And express that in our campaign materials,” Barlow said. Things won’t be slowing down as 2023 marches on, with series such as Succession, Barry and Hacks making their returns, and HBO Max and Discovery+ preparing to merge into a single streaming service this spring. "We clearly have our hands very full," Barlow said. 5 Things to Know About Warner Bros. Discovery’s New Streaming Strategy for HBO Max Big mistake “Holding onto sacred cows—whether it’s a strategic or creative approach, process, success metric or whatever. There’s no such thing as, ‘This is how we’ve always done it.’ New day, new curveballs,” Barlow said. Lesson learned Always be ready to pivot. "The most important skill (and attitude) to have during these times of unpredictable change is to be open-minded, flexible and adaptable to whatever curveballs life or work throws our way,” she said. How she got the gig Barlow said one of her mentors, Chris Spadaccini (former CMO of HBO and Warner Media Entertainment), “lured me back” to HBO to help launch HBO Max. Pro tip “Lean into discomfort," she advised. "Easy is good from time to time, but it doesn’t help you grow, and frankly, it’s less fun because you’re not trying [or] doing new things outside your comfort zone."