Staying in the Game

Growing up in the suburbs during the winter months, it was a weekly routine to stop at Blockbuster to pick up a few flicks for the weekend. Family and friends would hang out in the den and relax with a newly released movie on a Friday night. Things have certainty changed. Now it’s obsolete to think about getting off your couch and driving or even walking to a Blockbuster. As we all know, new services and technology such as Netflix, DVR and You Tube are the popular outlets for watching videos. As a result, Blockbuster is in trouble and reportedly mulling a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing. Needless to say, the Blockbuster that I went to growing up is closed for business and my Blockbuster membership card, which was once a must-have item in my wallet, has disappeared to a drawer somewhere in my apartment.

The excitement of going to Blockbuster to get a new release will continue to be a memory for me. But the truth is, why would anyone go to the store when they could order it from their home or watch it on their computer? This makes me wonder what rock Blockbuster decision makers were living under. For years, customers have been migrating to video downloads and mailed rentals and Blockbuster was no where in the conversation. Since I have not rented videos from Blockbuster in years and never visited their website, I decided do some investigating. Apparently, the company did spend heavily and pile up debt to build an online DVD rental service to compete with Netflix Inc. I didn’t even know the chain had a section to download movies on its website or allow people to get movies delivered to their home. Obviously, none of their attempts worked and they’ve lost me as a customer. Perhaps the chain was late to the game or forgot to inform its customers all together about these new additions.

As Vicky Else, President of The Market Artist mentioned in a previous interview on my blog, research is essential. Tracking consumers and understanding their needs is important in order to move forward and stay relevant. While research can be expensive, there are online research techniques that are useful and cost effective. Ultimately, research leads to insights, which can help a company alter their strategy or remain focused. So where did Blockbuster go wrong? Did they think that people adored their chain so much that they would forgo the idea of sitting in their own living room and pressing a few buttons to get the new release? As the world's largest video rental chain, it did have the ability to keep its’ customers loyal. However, this is a perfect example that illustrates how not keeping up with the trends, listening to your consumers and communicating with them, your competition could knock you off your feet. Although these thoughts are only based on my speculation and past relationship with the chain, it seems pretty accurate to say that Blockbuster missed the boat. I have jumped on the Netflix boat and have never turned back to checkout Blockbuster.