HBO Max's Forssell on Testing Discount Offers: It's Volume, Volume, Volume

Andy Forssell
(Image credit: WarnerMedia)

If you want a higher-level executive position in the business of media and technology, you must be able to respond to tough questions from equity analysts in a way that doesn't deliver a straightforward answer, but nonetheless offers something vaguely provocative and which keeps the discussion moving slooowly forward. They won't let you on an earnings call without that skill. 

As for Andy Forssell, executive VP and general manager of HBO Max, he was asked on Twitter by prominent Lightshed Partners principal Rich Greenfield why HBO Max is encouraging customers to pay $149.99 for a full year of service by offering four free movie tickets for WarnerMedia's upcoming reboot of The Matrix.

Since the full-year offer represents a 16% discount from the monthly $14.99 price of ad-free HBO Max, Greenfield wondered if WarnerMedia and HBO Max are worried about churn. 

Forssell, a grizzled veteran who's logged plenty of hours over center, responded Wednesday morning, acknowledging that it's a "challenge" for "external observers" like Greenfield--and the rest of us!--to understand the machinations behind HBO Max's go-to-market strategy.

And frankly, it still is. 

"We're constantly doing many tests in parallel (volume would surprise you) of so many kinds of offers--really wide ranging, otherwise you don't learn fast enough or broadly enough," Forssell tweeted back, before asking Greenfield if he took advantage of the price discount. (He said he did.)

(Image credit: Twitter)

Daniel Frankel

Daniel Frankel is the managing editor of Next TV, an internet publishing vertical focused on the business of video streaming. A Los Angeles-based writer and editor who has covered the media and technology industries for more than two decades, Daniel has worked on staff for publications including E! Online, Electronic Media, Mediaweek, Variety, paidContent and GigaOm. You can start living a healthier life with greater wealth and prosperity by following Daniel on Twitter today!