Re-invent or Defend?
Watch this video:
Compelling, no? But my question is - why are these CEOs of multi-billion dollar businesses spending time, money and effort on this video? If they were busy creating, thriving, growing, as indicated, do you really think they would be so concerned with a few hundred bloggers, pundits, and critics that announce publishing is dead? Truth is, nobody really thinks publishing is dead - newspapers, books, and magazines will be around for quite some time yet. But there is a loud voice that has been warning everyone that the digital era changes the game. So what should publishers and other businesses in similar situations do?
Re-invent or defend?
Why waste time and energy on defense? Do you think this video is going to cause people to rush off and buy more magazines? Do you think it will slow down the pace of change and digital delivery of content? I don’t think so. Instead of whining and defending the past, they should spend more time and energy on re-inventing. Chris Anderson, Editor of Wired isn’t wasting time, he’s re-inventing.
Other companies, like Blockbuster, have chosen to live in the past. I recently had a terrible customer service experience at Blockbuster and all I could think - here is a company that has a shrinking market and a business model that cannot survive, and they cannot even provide decent customer service? Blockbuster would rather defend their past and spend time on creating more convoluted and complex return policies. First stating ‘no late fees’ with a complex set of rules/conditions and now the geniuses have decided to make a return to ‘late fees’? It is not a surprise to see them struggling. While wasting time protecting their existing business model, companies like Netflix and Vudu are whizzing by. Does anyone think that renting physical DVDs is an industry that will grow? Certainly not Walmart, who simply decided to purchase Vudu and enter the market of digital movie delivery. No whining, no living in the past, simply re-inventing.
Same can be said for Amazon, the largest seller of books. It would be easy for Jeff Bezos, owner of Amazon, to sit back and whine about the book industry and try to defend publishers and the medium of the printed book. Instead, Jeff chose to re-invent the industry with the first commercially, affordable e-reader; the Kindle, with a simple cost-effective delivery mechanism. Just as Apple did with the iPod, Amazon has done with books, and now all other book retailers/publishers must play catch-up.
It will be interesting to see which companies will not only survive but thrive in this digital revolution. It’s an ongoing battle and ongoing opportunity. Which companies do you think are doing well or struggling in this transition?
Talking about lousy customer service, I can tell the story we had with Kodak Gallery (Canada). Beginning November 2009 we sent a couple of pictures to print there, mentioning we will going to pick them up at Best Buy, 1 week later we received an email confirmation saying the pictures were there. We went to Best Buy, they looked around and nothing was there. So, we contacted Kodak customer service, they took 4 days for an answer, we called their 0-800, and a machine told us to go to the website… What?!
After we received their answer, we went back and forward, taking almost a month with no answer anywhere, and the pictures were lost… Finally, a good Best Buy representative did a good search on the orders drawer and she told us the pictures were always there! The problem was Kodak doesn’t print the order number on the envelope; the order number on the email is different to the one shown on the package! Unbelievable.
But that’s not the funnier thing; yesterday we received an email from Kodak customer service explaining us how to proceed in case the package don’t arrive, and they said: “Check the order status at the website”! – Yeah, 4 months later they tell us how to proceed… an internet company with a pathetic customer service is also a company living in the past…
Juan,
Truly unbelievable. To expand a bit on my Blockbuster experience; I returned a couple of DVDs that were not working. No big deal, a couple of old kids DVDs, to be expected from time to time. When I returned them, I of course expected an immediate refund. But they basically said that would not be possible, because it was past the 7 day rental period and now into that very murky ‘no late fee’ period, where it is late but you don’t have to pay any late fees, if returned within 30 days. First of all, whether late or not, I don’t understand a policy that states no refunds for renting something that doesn’t work. Plus, its not really “late”, as I do not have to pay any ‘late fees’. I asked the salesperson, where it states that a broken DVD must be returned within 7 days to get a refund - and his answer: “If we printed all the policies, it would wallpaper the entire store”. Nice!! So, here I am returning 2 broken DVDs, that they will not refund. After many complaints with head office, I of course got my refund, but no apology!! Thank-you very much Blockbuster and now you have lost another customer…for life!!
OMG! I can’t believe this: “If we printed all the policies, it would wallpaper the entire store”!
Start using zip.ca, I never had any problem with them, no late fees, all the time you want, and you don’t have to go to the store, just to the mailbox…