The Resurgence of Blockbuster ?

Blockbuster, the once great movie rental juggernaut is trying to emerge from bankruptcy with a new national advertising campaign.

I came across a couple of articles detailing Blockbuster’s plans, one with some humorous offerings for campaign messaging. The articles go on to detail how Blockbuster has negotiated with their bankruptcy judge and their lenders to spend $15 – $20 Million in advertising to help get them back on their feet. The main reason for this is to get back in the game with formidable foes RedBox and Netflix. Of course, streaming, on-demand and internet TV are also in the mix vying for consumer attention; with the most convenient and best price point most likely the winner. I learned that Blockbuster’s advantage seems to lie in their ability to distribute new releases 28 days earlier then their upstart competitors due to their contracts with distributing studios. Will consumers care?

As the article stated, a $15 – $20 Million campaign from Blockbuster is going to highlight their 28 day new releases advantage, promote their rental stores, online services and mail services to convince folks to reconsider their rental (or nowadays streaming) provider choice. This is something I had to get a GutCheck on. After all, Blockbuster, once the biggest movie rental chain in the US is now having to play catchup. There must be plenty of former and dormant members of Blockbuster (in addition to the current customers) willing to see them get back on their feet.

Getting a GutCheck

I set my recruitment engine screen to find target consumers aged 18 – 75, that were once (or are) a member or customer of Blockbuster services. I wanted to ask them if they’ve heard from or seen Blockbuster in a while (maybe seen the new ads), been to a store and what their preferences for rental/streaming entertainment are. And, for our Blockbuster friends, what would it take to regain their business? Below is what I found out.
When was the last time you were at a Blockbuster?

over a year ago

never. there isn’t one in our small town.

probably about 2 months ago

over 1 year ago

Responses to why target consumers don’t rent from Blockbuster:

i found that netflix was cheaper and had more movie options for streaming purposes

I’m used to Redbox. If Blockbuster Express was the same price or cheaper & had the titles I wanted, I might try it

We just don’t have a lot of time for movies and when we do it redbox, because they have the new releases and we can go anytime day or night,

well there is only 1 rental location that is within a short distance compared to redbox. I only have to go across the street for redbox

was given subscription to netflix as a gift, so i did not use blockbuster and the price was higher for blockbuster

Are you aware that Blockbuster can distribute new releases 28 days earlier than other services?

I know that there is a delay for new releases with Redbox compared to video rental stores & pay per view

no i did not

Great. Last time I went to RedBox, the movies were already on HBO, etc.

No

no i did not know that

What would Blockbuster have to say or do in an advertising campaign to get you to try one of their services?

it would need to tell me there are more [kiosk] locations or a better selection of movies

their prices would have to be competitive with Redbox & allow online reservations

stress how you release movies up to 28 days before other movie services with a similar price to Netflix

a price competitive with netflix, kiosks and other services; within $2-3 dollars per month

Where do you think Blockbuster should be placing ads that you and your friends will see, that you actually pay attention to?

tv, public transportation, Facebook, twitter

tv or mailers would be most effective, social networks

tv, Facebook and the radio

online ads, direct mail coupons

It turns out (as you’ve read), the interviews indicate that while people haven’t been to a Blockbuster retail location lately, some are aware of the other services Blockbuster provides such as mail, streaming and kiosk services, but appear to be having a difficult time switching. Citing price point, lack of convenient location or lack of titles as factors to continue with their current rental providers. What’s not surprising, is that very few people in this research were not aware of the 28 day new releases advantage that Blockbuster had over their competitors.

Now, I’ve personally seen some Blockbuster tv advertising and I think they’re on the right track, but can they catch up? The ad prominently calls out their 28 day advantage over their competitors as well as promoting their retail, mail and online streaming service. Notable omissions are promoting the kiosk service and price points for their services which our respondents indicated they would have to see in an advertisement.

Where are the offers?

It appears they’ve done some homework on what to communicate to target consumers in an effort to climb out of bankruptcy. However, I haven’t seen any offers being made in the commercials to entice people to come back. If you comb through the various sites, you can find a few trial and free offers, even their blog is mentioning a discount every once in a while. Based on some of our quick insights, it seems Blockbuster is taking the first step in a long journey back to getting into the minds of consumers as the place for movie rentals. Will consumers help them on this journey back?