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In February 2024 Showmax, MultiChoice's African streaming service, relaunched with a refreshed brand. Gadgets Africa reported in November 2023 that the service had released a first look at a completely refreshed logo and brand identity ahead of a relaunch that would also bring a new app and an entirely new product suite.

MultiChoice's announcement set out the context. The new Showmax came ten months after MultiChoice, Comcast's NBCUniversal and Sky announced a joint streaming vision for Africa, and it runs on a new platform that extends NBCUniversal's Peacock technology. The app arrived in stores from 23 January 2024 as part of a staggered migration across 44 markets, with the official launch on 12 February.

TechCentral reported the plan when the new logo was first shown in November 2023: three tiers, Showmax Premier League for mobile, Showmax Entertainment and Showmax Entertainment Mobile, with the football service powered by SuperSport and the entertainment tiers drawing on Universal, NBC, Peacock, Sky, HBO, Paramount, the BBC and others. MultiChoice said the move onto Peacock's platform, which had streamed the Super Bowl to more than six million simultaneous users, meant Showmax was ready to scale fast, and the service's chief executive said it had all the ingredients to become Africa's number one streamer.

The centrepiece was a world first: a standalone Premier League plan for mobile, with all 380 games live for R69 a month. The company paired it with cheaper entertainment plans, a promise to increase African Originals by 150 percent and a steady supply of content from NBCUniversal brands. MultiChoice's chief executive summed up the pitch: nobody understands Africa like we do.

The rebrand marks a change of ownership and ambition rather than a cosmetic update. A new platform, partners and pricing needed a visible signal that this was a different service, and a new logo is the cheapest way to send it.

TechCentral quoted chief executive Marc Jury claiming Showmax had all the ingredients to become the number one streaming service for Africa, and that no other service there could offer what it was bringing in the new year. Ahead of the relaunch, it promised more content in December from partner Comcast, owner of Universal, NBC, Sky and DreamWorks Animation, plus new local shows. A new logo is the least of that list, which is how it should be.

The real brand work is the pricing. In markets where mobile data and wallets are tight, a cheap phone-only football plan says more about who Showmax is for than any identity system could.