Lessons From Blockbuster A UVP Worth Writing Home About
Lessons From Blockbuster A UVP Worth Writing Home About
What was Blockbuster's problem? Well, aside from the rental site being technologically inferior, the movies not being updated when they are released (on DVD, let alone in the theater) and poor customer service, Blockbuster Online had no reason for being. Essentially, they had no Unique Value Proposition. Blockbuster could not convince me, and many others, that their service was worth using over their primary rival, Netflix.
A few weeks ago Blockbuster convinced me to switch back. What changed? In short, Blockbuster Online found its UVP (Unique Value Proposition).
By finding their UVP, now called as "Total Access," Blockbuster was able to completely revamp site and create a user interface that is actually superior to Netflix's. It also forced them to step up their game in getting movies updated on time as well as provide better customer service. But couldn't all of these things have been done without the new UVP? Yep, they could have, but the UVP gave them a reason to step up their game. It helped them figure out how best to meet their customers needs.
But Blockbuster's UVP has almost zero to do with all of that stuff mentioned above. Those are just side effects of a business that knows how to meet its audience's needs.
*Carve out a new and compelling opportunity*
Smartly, Blockbuster figured out how to leverage their offline properties for their online rental service, namely the local Blockbuster Video store. Instead of putting your movie back in the mail to be shipped back, you can now take your movie, which you received in the mail, directly to the local Blockbuster store. Who cares, right? Wrong. When you return a movie you received in the mail to the local store, you can exchange it for another movie immediately and free. In a few days, your next movie will be shipped to you from the online service, despite the fact that you already have another movie in your hand.
What does this mean for me, an avid movie watcher? I can watch more movies via Blockbuster online than I can with Netflix for essentially the same price. Or I can pay less with Blockbuster and watch the same number of movies. With Netflix, they won't ship the next movie until they've received one back via the mail. That's at least a two or three day wait. A single trip to Blockbuster gets me another movie if I have my online rental ready to return.
By doing this, Blockbuster is able to effectively compete against Netflix on Netflix's turf. And they've done it by using, what some might have argued was a quickly-becoming-outdated way of renting movies (the video store). Blockbuster's Total Access not only leverages an advantage where Netflix has none (no offline presence) their UVP also creates a strategic advantage for Blockbuster where Netflix once dominated.
And who knows, Blockbuster very well may have saved the video rental store from becoming obsolete.
Lessons From Blockbuster A UVP Worth Writing Home About - To learn more about this author, visit Stoney G deGeyter's Website.
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When Blockbuster first came out with their online movie rental service it was a joke compared to Netflix. I tried it out for several weeks and was sorely disappointed and quickly switched back.
What was Blockbuster's problem? Well, aside from the rental site being technologically inferior, the movies not being updated when they are released (on DVD, let alone in the theater) and poor customer service, Blockbuster Online had no reason for being. Essentially, they had no Unique Value Proposition. Blockbuster could not convince me, and many others, that their service was worth using over their primary rival, Netflix.
A few weeks ago Blockbuster convinced me to switch back. What changed? In short, Blockbuster Online found its UVP (Unique Value Proposition).
By finding their UVP, now called as "Total Access," Blockbuster was able to completely revamp site and create a user interface that is actually superior to Netflix's. It also forced them to step up their game in getting movies updated on time as well as provide better customer service. But couldn't all of these things have been done without the new UVP? Yep, they could have, but the UVP gave them a reason to step up their game. It helped them figure out how best to meet their customers needs.
But Blockbuster's UVP has almost zero to do with all of that stuff mentioned above. Those are just side effects of a business that knows how to meet its audience's needs.
*Carve out a new and compelling opportunity*
Smartly, Blockbuster figured out how to leverage their offline properties for their online rental service, namely the local Blockbuster Video store. Instead of putting your movie back in the mail to be shipped back, you can now take your movie, which you received in the mail, directly to the local Blockbuster store. Who cares, right? Wrong. When you return a movie you received in the mail to the local store, you can exchange it for another movie immediately and free. In a few days, your next movie will be shipped to you from the online service, despite the fact that you already have another movie in your hand.
What does this mean for me, an avid movie watcher? I can watch more movies via Blockbuster online than I can with Netflix for essentially the same price. Or I can pay less with Blockbuster and watch the same number of movies. With Netflix, they won't ship the next movie until they've received one back via the mail. That's at least a two or three day wait. A single trip to Blockbuster gets me another movie if I have my online rental ready to return.
By doing this, Blockbuster is able to effectively compete against Netflix on Netflix's turf. And they've done it by using, what some might have argued was a quickly-becoming-outdated way of renting movies (the video store). Blockbuster's Total Access not only leverages an advantage where Netflix has none (no offline presence) their UVP also creates a strategic advantage for Blockbuster where Netflix once dominated.
And who knows, Blockbuster very well may have saved the video rental store from becoming obsolete.
Lessons From Blockbuster A UVP Worth Writing Home About - To learn more about this author, visit Stoney G deGeyter's Website.
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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