Just a head's up... I'm going off topic with this one.
A while back, my wife and I enrolled into Blockbuster's online program - it's a service exactly like Netflix where users are able to create a movie queue online and then for a nominal fee Blockbuster will send rentals in the mail. Surprisingly, we've had a very good experience thus far and I would highly recommend this service.
Some of you are no doubt wondering why we opted to go with Blockbuster and not Netflix. I want to cover this as we seem to get asked this quite a bit. While both options are near identical, Blockbuster won us over with a kick-ass perk that allows subscribers to trade-in their movies at anyone of their thousand stores nationwide. This option especially comes in handy when we receive a movie that we've already seen (but forgot to remove from our list) or when a rental sucks so much that we decide to stop it mid-movie. This reminds me... never, ever, under any circumstance rent "Black Christmas". You're welcome!
Jackie and I are not big movie buffs in any way shape or form, and to be perfectly honest we have very different tastes when it comes to the movies we'd like to rent. She has her picks, I have mine, and somewhere in the middle are the movies that actually make it to our queue. I may not get to see every movie that I want due to our veto agreement, but the more important thing is that each week we get to share in this little bit of quality couch time together... and of course embark on some of my famous homemade popcorn. Yum, yum.
The other night I had an epiphany that I'd like to share with you all - and of course the fine people at Blockbuster - regarding an idea that I believe would not only improve Blockbuster's otherwise flawless system, but would also help them to further stand out from Netflix and their other online competitors while adding a social twist into the mix. And, as everyone and their mother already knows, social media, much like Hulk Hogan did in the late 80's and 90's, is running wild.
Here's my idea:
I'd like to see Blockbuster create a new social media environment that would allow users the ability to connect and share with each other (via a profile) their likes and dislikes pertaining to the movies they've either rented, watched in theaters, or have plans of seeing in the future. In addition, the kick-ass part to this whole idea is that users will then have the ability to "subscribe", "friend", or "follow" one another to the point that when a user recommends a flick (Blockbuster currently has a 5-star rating system) that movie is then automatically added to their follower's movie queue.
Subscription settings could be set for each "friend" and include such options as:
1) only add recommended "5-star" movies to my movie queue.
2) only add recommended "PG-13" rated movies to my movie queue.
3) only add recommended "horror" movies to my movie queue.
4) or any combination of desired stars, ratings, or movie categories.
I think a platform like this would not only be cool from a social stand-point - I mean what a great way to meet like minded people - but it would also be extremely helpful to those people, like my wife and I, who aren't movie buffs and have trouble deciding what to rent. As it is now, I rely mainly on my close friends and the help of @MovieTroll to guide me when it comes to my movie selections, and I think a lot of people do the same.
Labels: ideas, karl-ribas
5 Comments:
The following are a couple of other worthy notes that did not quite fit into my original post, but do hold some value on this discussion.
1) Traditional video stores - that is the idea of going to a brick and mortar store and renting flicks - will soon be a thing of the past. I have no doubts about that. The signs are very clear. In my opinion, it is crucial at this point that the Blockbusters of the offline world begin to think about not only getting online, but also finding ways to differentiate themselves from their competition. As I mentioned above, Jackie and I could only see one major difference between the Blockbuster and Netflix plans - and the interesting part is that in a few years the perk of trading movies in-store may not even be an option. I imagine that's pretty scary if you're Blockbuster.
2) Currently, Blockbuster offers a "5-Star" rating system that is, for a lack of a better word, lame. Users know nothing about the people who vote for or against a specific movie - maybe a person really hates Sci-Fi movies or another really likes Brad Pitt - rather they can only see that a movie on average was rated great, average, or poor. A new social platform would allow for more detailed reviews.
3) Consider this: people in general are more likely to try something when a friend, resource, or some other influencing factor recommends that they do. Think of Opera's book club, Billy Mayes' infomercials, or simply the last time a close friend recommend a restaurant. Movies fall into this same category. With a new social media environment, Blockbuster could really benefit.
4) Such a social platform would create a "stickiness" factor that would help Blockbuster to retain and monetize more of its traffic by providing them with more instances to serve up ads - not to mention the possibility of targeted ads based on each user's individual profile. Sorry, I'm a marketer at heart. I image that most of their daily traffic now comes from those people who login, update their movie queue, and then leave. So much can be gained from "stickiness".
By
Karl Ribas, at August 04, 2009 10:14 PM
Great idea Karl! I won't say that this feature would completely sell me on subscription-based snail-mail-movies, but it would definitely help.
Keep up the good work man. I don't mind the occasional off-topic post.
I'm following @MovieTroll too!
By
dubz, at August 05, 2009 9:33 AM
I'm currently on the 2 week trial of Netflix and while I do like it, I'm already starting to become torn between the two.
Right now, I'm on the $8.99/month deal where I can stream unlimited movies and receive 1 DVD in the mail at a time. I thought this would be fine because I was more interested in just streaming movies whenever I felt like it. I wasn't really concerned about getting the 1 DVD in the mail.
Then I started searching through Netflix's Instant Queue choices and was immediately disappointed! They did not have the TV show Wings as part of their instant queue choices! Hogwash! So I immediately added Season 1 to my DVD queue. That was on a Sunday, by Tuesday I had a package from Netflix. Unfortunately I thought they'd send the entire first season, but no they sent just the first DVD of the box set. So now I have to watch 7 episodes, send it in and wait a few days for the next.
So that kind of makes me want to look into Blockbuster because I can just drive over and turn it in and get the next season - provided that the actual store has all seasons of Wings at my beckon call. I know with Netflix I can upgrade my account to recieve more DVD's at a time, but I'm just too cheap.
Moral of the story - I'm probably just going to buy Wings from Amazon and put it on my Christmas list.
Getting to your whole Social platform - Netflix does allow users to post reviews. So the ratings you see are an accumulation of what other subscribers are giving the movie plus you can read why they gave it that review. I'm not sure though if you can follow certain reviewers. However when you create your account, you can select which types of movies you like (inspirational movies, tv shows, comedies etc.). Then Netflix automatically pulls movies for you on your dashboard page that you might be interested in. As you add movies to your Queue, they also update your dashboard based on the types of movies you've watched/intend to watch.
But I really like your whole idea of creating a following, that could be fun. If Netflix already did that, I'm not sure I'd have a big following. Here's what's on my list:
Wings
Keeping Up Appearance
La Vie en Rose
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
John Adams
Finding Neverland
Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment
Burn After Reading
The Sheik
Pan's Labyrinth
By
Jessica Guadiana, at August 10, 2009 9:30 AM
@Jessica: I for one would not subscribe to your feed. No offense, just saying. But, I imagine you wouldn't be interested in subscribing to mine either. LOL.
Thanks for sharing!
By
Karl Ribas, at August 10, 2009 12:47 PM
oooo burn! I'm glad I didn't post the rest of the list!
By
Jessica Guadiana, at August 10, 2009 4:10 PM
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