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Lessons From Blockbuster A UVP Worth Writing Home About

Written by: Stoney G deGeyter

Article Overview: 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? 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. That has all changed.

Lessons From Blockbuster A UVP Worth Writing Home About

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.

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Article Tags: audience, better customer service, blockbuster online, blockbuster store, blockbuster video store, customers needs, few days, game, joke, local store, mail, poor customer service, unique value proposition, user interface, uvp



Related Forum Posts
Re: Do you think Blockbuster will survive? - Personally, I don't feel that renting movies online has the same "movie rental experience" as going to a bricks-and-mortar store like Blockbuster. It'll be a shame if/when Blockbuster goes out of business because of Netflix and the rise in DVD piracy.
Re: Do you think Blockbuster will survive? - [quote="Kevin":cm77l089]Personally, I don't feel that renting movies online has the same "movie rental experience" as going to a bricks-and-mortar store like Blockbuster. It'll be a shame if/when Blockbuster goes out of business because of Netflix and the rise in DVD piracy.[/quote:cm77l089] It is a real shame that the piracy is killing the DVD business and it is hurting a lot of people in the industry. Used to work in the video distribution industry and know how badly every part of that business is hurt by piracy and it is world wide. MichelleJ
Re: Trade Shows - Are They Worth It? - HI, I have used trade shows (not participated) to collect potential clients. For example, the Home & Garden Industry is extremely behind the time in regards to their websites. I attended an Home & Garden Expo in Denver and collected all the companies contact information. I plan on cold calling & mailing information to each business. It also gave me time to research the industry more, talk directly to the owners in many cases, and learn more about what they need. Jeff
300 rules! - 300 was my favorite movie of 2007 and Kevin you did a great job in highlighting the Business Lessons from the Movie.
Re: What Do You Outsource Mostly? - Writing, Article Spinning, Backlinking.


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