Ah, the store re-branding. Now that's a sign of trouble if I've ever seen one. This store, formerly known as Blockbuster Video, is about a mile from my house. Driving by a couple days ago, I noticed the video had switched to Media, and the gold was gone in favor of gray. I'm not sure if this is a company or a franchise store, but I can solve the riddle for them pretty quick. Not gonna move your business.
Listen, I get that the blockbuster brand has become somewhat stale and some updates are needed, but the problems run much deeper than a logo, trust me. Since there wasn't anything online (past a reference to the store change on Wikipedia), I called the store to ask them about what media means. The exceptionally polite employee just said, "it just means we have more high end stuff." Like what? Ummm....yeah. I'm not sure how video gets high-end (or more high end than netflix or best buy). I guess it's time to take a trip by the store.
The lesson here, solve the tough problems first, not the easy ones. It's easy to change your logo, not so easy to fix your dying distribution model.
Mack has more on blockbuster.
I'm glad you posted about this because I've been thinking about it too! I was wondering if Blockbuster changed the brand logo to compete with Netflix but the Netflix logo doesn't look like the new Blockbuster one, so that's out the window.
I can't believe the employee used the term "stuff" to describe their new offerings. Blockbuster should try to compete on a newly-engaged customer-service level. There's a slew of opportunity for an in-store video experience to take the lead and run with it, but this turn might require a lot more time and training, moreso than a new store sign. Hmmm...maybe they're pulling a Britney, and this is just the first umbrella-to-the-car-move. Let's see what goes wrong next. I'm being sarcastically pessimistic. Sorry Blockbuster.
Posted by: erin | December 27, 2007 at 02:13 PM
Well, they might not know what's next, but at least they know what's not anymore, and that's video. I just hope the more "high-end stuff" comment doesn't mean they will discontinue carrying "Shark Attack III: Megalodon."
Posted by: ouija repair | January 03, 2008 at 02:46 PM