Advertising Perfectly

I happened across one of the most brilliant advertisements today.

A friend passed it along to me on Facebook.  All you have to do is “Like” the Redbox page and you get a password for a free one night movie rental on June 21st.  Redbox wants people on their “Like” page (at 622,000+ as I type this).  People want free movie rentals. Of course I will share the location for your free movie (below the fold).This is perfect advertising.  And it is cheaper than typical online pay-per-click.  Redbox is only out $1 for each person who gets a free movie and lots will probably forget to turn it in on time.  Click on the picture to go to the Redbox “Like” page.

Redbox is the prime example of “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Remember when you had to go to the local Blockbuster to rent movies?  Then Netflix came in and blew them out of the water.  You have endless variety, and you can have any movie you want if you wait for it.  They had advertisements a while ago bragging of their one billionth rental.

Then comes Redbox.  It has less variety than Netflix or Blockbuster (unless you are willing to drive across town to get the movie you want).  But nine months ago, they celebrated half a billion rentals.

Netflix and Redbox are classic disruptive innovations.  (Check out this post to see what I’m talking about or buy the book, The Innovator’s Dilemma to get the whole story.)

Netflix started out in a completely different market than Blockbuster.  But in short order, they expanded to a wider customer base and then displaced Blockbuster’s customers.  By that time it was too late for Blockbuster.  They may have initially been worried that an idea like Netflix would be cannibalistic to sales.  By the time Netflix forced Blockbuster to copy them, it was genuinely cannibalistic.

Then Redbox comes in to McDonalds, Walmart, and corner stores with lower selection, but 100% convenience.  People who don’t watch enough movies to justify a Netflix subscription will pay $1 for a rental.  I don’t know how much Redbox hurts Netflix, but I bet it’s a good deal.

So why didn’ t you think of it?  (And while I typed this post, 3000 more people “liked” the Redbox page on Facebook.)

Tags: Creativity, Innovation, Marketing Plan, Strategy

This entry was posted on June 14, 2010 at 8:59 am and is filed under Innovation, Marketing Plan, Strategy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.