Warner Brothers recently inked a deal with Netflix, where they agreed to allow more of their films to added to the Instant Watching service, in exchange for not receiving any future WB new releases until 28 days after their DVD launch. The cinema giant, along with other companies, has been outspoken of late against movie rentals in general. They pulled a similar move with Redbox last summer.
Why the crusade against movie rentals? DVD sales are down.
WB thinks that the way to increase their profits is to delay movie rentals is to further limit, confuse, and frustrate their customers. (Not to mention the fact that most people aren’t going to buy a movie that they only plan on seeing once…)
Maybe it’s just just me, but that doesn’t seem like a solid business practice. Warner Brothers’ strategy is to attempt to force their customers to bend their habits to their business model, while an ideally a business model should be planned around the customers. It is best to observe what the consumers want, and adapt your business model accordingly.
This is your business tip for today: be flexible. If you’re a content creator in the digital age, you have to be able to adapt. Trying to force people to do things your way only works for so long.
