In July, Netflix announced plans to separate their streaming and DVD services so that members could choose which service to keep at the same rate they had been paying, or keep both services at nearly double their rate. Many techno-bloggers and pundits explained the business sense behind the move. Some even called it a stroke of genius, with one blogger concluding, “I say we should praise Netflix for pioneering these changes. Don’t chastise them too much for separating these two very different sides of their business. And remember… it’s only $8! Unbelievable value.”

The problem is that the only ‘value’ that matters is the perceived value in the mind of the customer. In this case, the customers are movie lovers who bought into the idea of never paying a late fee. Unfortunately, in changing their business strategy, Netflix forgot about the brand they had built. They suddenly expected customers to care about the cost of postage, distribution deals, and streaming technology. This was our take on the so-called business savvy:

It may be true that Netflix wants and needs to shift their business model. However, they are making a serious marketing blunder. They could have rolled out the plan for separated services to all new customers, and they could have even created a positive PR vibe by offering a grandfathered account to existing customers – allowing them to keep their combined services. They could still raise the price point – let’s say to $12, and existing customers (even with a 50% increase) would be more inclined to feel like they were being rewarded for having already been a loyal customer.

That was July 14. In the three months since, the backlash has been severe. Membership numbers have fallen off a cliff. Even the customers who currently maintain the service are disgruntled. And, the attempt to rebrand the DVD service as Qwikster was shattered before it could even be launched. There is no easy solution from here.

In fact, the pendulum for home entertainment delivery may be accelerating away from the sole provider toward a wide open field of competition again. Many of us remember when the mom-and-pop movie rental franchises gave way to the megabrand, Blockbuster. It seemed like they had a lock on the sector until Netflix shifted the paradigm. Blockbuster ultimately filed for bankruptcy, and it seemed like the sector still only had room for one megabrand. Then, Redbox created a new shift. Names like Hulu and Amazon joined On-Demand providers, and began chipping away at the Netflix streaming market share. Combine all this with Netflix losing the Starz distribution deal, and this marketing misstep could truly be catastrophic for the company.

I still contend that a grandfathered account may be their only hope at redemption. They should close their eyes, take a big bite of crow, and send a sincere apology to everyone who had a Netflix membership in July, along with an offer to restore their combined services. It would be gutsy, but I think they could still increase the fee slightly – perhaps $10/month – and justify it by pointing out that this same dual service will cost anyone else $16/month.

1. There’s plenty of it.
2.  It provides excellent material for critique, to see what didn’t work and to avoid making those same mistakes.
3.  It makes us laugh, and we enjoy laughing.

So I literally LOL’d while reading this excellent critique on the new campaign from Diesel Jeans.

Remember: it’s not wise to buy jeans that cost $285. It’s stupid. And they’re admitting as much. For that, I’ll give them credit. Pretty smart.

Read the whole thing, like a stupid person would (and I mean that in the Diesel sense.)

They’re a great company, and we’re really honored to be working with them. While we don’t usually endorse dining in a restaurant populated by mice, for this occasion we’ll make an exception.  We’re currently in post production, making this our first production to edit in Final Cut Pro X. More details on that soon.

Whether they were poking fun at the PC catching a virus, or how the Mac was better at ‘life stuff,’ the ads were based in truth. Justin Long was perfect as a Mac. His laid-back cool was friendly and approachable. And, John Hodgman was perfect as a PC. It takes a special kind of talent to make the word ‘app’ sound nerdy.

But, the campaign would have never been such a success if it weren’t true – if Mac wasn’t hip, if they didn’t have cool gadgets, if they didn’t make ‘life stuff’ easy, – if they weren’t Mac, the ads wouldn’t have flown. The branding properly reflected the reality of the company. The branding works, not just because of what they say, but how they say it. It captures Apple’s personality, and every interaction with the company reinforces that – whether you’re playing with a new gadget, visiting a retail store, or shopping on iTunes.

Sometimes, it’s what you don’t say

At some point, good marketing and your company’s personality should become like a chicken-egg scenario. It doesn’t matter which came first, as long as they are perpetuating each other. A good example of the personalities of these two companies was on full display in the aftermath of the death of Amy Winehouse.

Apple featured a nice photograph of Winehouse on the iTunes homepage with the simple copy, “Remembering Amy Winehouse.” It felt more like a tribute to Winehouse than an attempt to sell her tunes.

Contrast that with Microsoft’s lame profiteering tweet later that same day:

After tons of backlash from fans accusing Microsoft of being crass and classless, they tweeted an ‘apology’ that sounded like it came directly from the I’m-a-PC-guy, John Hodgman’s mouth. They tweeted, “Apologies to everyone if our earlier Amy Winehouse ‘download’ tweet seemed purely commercially motivated. Far from the case, we assure you.” After reading this, my mind’s eye threw in the image of him sneezing into his virus-infested hankie.

Maybe that’s the real magic of the ‘I’m a Mac’ campaign. Not only did they properly characterize their company, but they also nailed their competitor (in every sense of the word). PC really wants to be cool, but when it comes down to it, they really should just learn when to keep their mouth shut.

MediaPOP is a full service marketing company driven to define and defend your brand.

Defining Your Brand

MediaPOP works with you to get to the essence of who you are, and what role you really play in the lives of your customers. This enables us to build a marketing strategy to tell your story in a way that is meaningful in the marketplace.

Defending Your Brand

MediaPOP will then defend that brand against all enemies foreign and domestic.

That’s right. Attacks on your brand often come from within. It’s easy enough for a well-meaning employee to forget that the brand is more than a logo or a slogan. They pass the logo around like a business card from vendor to vendor, and ultimately lose control of the continuity that helps sustain the brand.

After digging through the site and seeing some of our work, contact us to see how we could help define and defend your brand.