ROCK IT SOCIAL

Netflix breaks in two

How to make customers unhappy with your service forgive you? Not this way…..  In an effort to save face with customers, Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO of Netflix has taken to emailing users and posting a video blog with a deeper explanation of their rate hike as well as to announce that Netflix will break into two businesses, each with their own name. Netflix will now become synonymous with dvd streaming and dvd by mail will be known as “Qwikster.” An upside to the new dvd service is the ability to upgrade your account to include video games (Sorry Gamefly- I’m sure you have been fearing this day). You will now have to sign into TWO DIFFERENT WEBSITES to be able to do what you did on one (not to mention keeping both updated with your current info, credit card info, etc). People are going to FLIP OUT over this added step especially since the two will not be integrated, which boggles my mind. I didn’t scoff on the price hike because I understood that the cost of improving technology isn’t cheap and honestly at the end of the day, it’s still very cost effective. This is downright stupid. Netflix has already lost over 1 million customers since their rate hike- expect another mass exodus. A one time bullet proof company in the eyes of consumers just became Target #1.

Video: 

I messed up. I owe you an explanation.

It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming and the price changes. That was certainly not our intent, and I offer my sincere apology. Let me explain what we are doing.

For the past five years, my greatest fear at Netflix has been that we wouldn’t make the leap from success in DVDs to success in streaming. Most companies that are great at something – like AOL dialup or Borders bookstores – do not become great at new things people want (streaming for us). So we moved quickly into streaming, but I should have personally given you a full explanation of why we are splitting the services and thereby increasing prices. It wouldn’t have changed the price increase, but it would have been the right thing to do.

So here is what we are doing and why.

Many members love our DVD service, as I do, because nearly every movie ever made is published on DVD. DVD is a great option for those who want the huge and comprehensive selection of movies.

I also love our streaming service because it is integrated into my TV, and I can watch anytime I want. The benefits of our streaming service are really quite different from the benefits of DVD by mail. We need to focus on rapid improvement as streaming technology and the market evolves, without maintaining compatibility with our DVD by mail service.

So we realized that streaming and DVD by mail are really becoming two different businesses, with very different cost structures, that need to be marketed differently, and we need to let each grow and operate independently.

It’s hard to write this after over 10 years of mailing DVDs with pride, but we think it is necessary: In a few weeks, we will rename our DVD by mail service to “Qwikster”. We chose the name Qwikster because it refers to quick delivery. We will keep the name “Netflix” for streaming.

Qwikster will be the same website and DVD service that everyone is used to. It is just a new name, and DVD members will go toqwikster.com to access their DVD queues and choose movies. One improvement we will make at launch is to add a video games upgrade option, similar to our upgrade option for Blu-ray, for those who want to rent Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 games. Members have been asking for video games for many years, but now that DVD by mail has its own team, we are finally getting it done. Other improvements will follow. A negative of the renaming and separation is that the Qwikster.com and Netflix.com websites will not be integrated.

There are no pricing changes (we’re done with that!). If you subscribe to both services you will have two entries on your credit card statement, one for Qwikster and one for Netflix. The total will be the same as your current charges. We will let you know in a few weeks when the Qwikster.com website is up and ready.

For me the Netflix red envelope has always been a source of joy. The new envelope is still that lovely red, but now it will have a Qwikster logo. I know that logo will grow on me over time, but still, it is hard. I imagine it will be similar for many of you.

I want to acknowledge and thank you for sticking with us, and to apologize again to those members, both current and former, who felt we treated them thoughtlessly.

Both the Qwikster and Netflix teams will work hard to regain your trust. We know it will not be overnight. Actions speak louder than words. But words help people to understand actions.

Respectfully yours,

-Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO, Netflix

FACEBOOK removes PLACES

Foursquare: Now You Can Check Into Events

THE SIMS comes to FACEBOOK

Sue Sylvester is proud: GLEE 3D TANKS

AMC Stubs- is it worth $12?

I must admit I’m a sucker for REWARD programs. Frequent Flyer, MyPoints.com, Grocery Stores, Duane Reade, etc.

I see a ton of movies so I’m also a big fan of the movie chain reward cards. When AMC decided to turn their AMC MOVIE WATCHER program into the AMC STUBS program, I balked. “They want me to PAY for this now?!” Now, I’ve been converted. 

Their new program costs $12 ($1 a month) and it allows you free upgrades on your concession stand purchases of popcorn and sodas. $10 award for every $100 spent (purchases on tickets and concessions count towards your total). The best perk though is the online ticket purchase “convenience charge” is waived. You also get an online social dashboard where virtual “ticket stubs” are saved for you to rate, review and share. You can also add the friends (from Facebook) that saw the movie with you. The “Add Facebook Friends” pop up is quite annoying as it makes it scroll through ALL your friends in order to find specific ones to add. It also took me scrolling to the bottom of ALL MY FACEBOOK FRIENDS to find the “Save” function…. very annoying!

I have not been able to find any data on the early results of their new program; however, the marketing exec that thought this up must be quite proud. It’s good for the customer and the incremental revenue is good for the company.

________ The Bear (click me)

Deadline Hollywood- The Game

Nikki Finke dishes daily gossip and scoopage from the  bowels of the Hollywood establishment. Elle magazine has placed her on its list of the 25 most influential women in Hollywood. Now, she is moving into social media with a themed Facebook game.

The game is currently in beta and according to Facebook has 4.8k active users as of this writing. To play, you’ll need to figure out the right amount of bouncing between Hollywood careers of Agent, Actor, Writer and Producer in order to collect necessary items and industry contacts to accomplish career actions that will help you advance. It’s not terribly compelling and after awhile becomes pretty monotonous especially since you will quickly run out of Energy and Karma points. There’s a newsfeed from Nikki’s site included within the game; however, no “real” Hollywood execs/stars, studios, projects, etc are integrated into the game. It would be a much more interesting game if a bit of the Hollywood Stock Exchange game was woven into gameplay. 

A growing (and highly annoying) trend among Facebook games is to limit the amount of free gameplay you can do in any one sitting. If you want to do more unrestricted gameplay and acquire necessary items faster, you can pay with Facebook credits (i.e. exchange real cash for virtual cash and karma points). It’ll be interesting to see if anyone actually spends money in this game. I’d be curious to see the revenue split between Nikki and developer, Liquid Entertainment.

You can check out the game here