I get what you’re saying Don, but a well produced video doesn’t have to look “high and mighty.” I’m not talking about a cinematic epic shot on a RED. A video IN FOCUS, lit well, with good audio and shot on a white background can still come across as simple and on the viewers’ level. And that’s the thing. Anyone who knows video well knows that when it’s done right, you can make it look however you want, w/o the viewer knowing all that went into it. In this video you have poor audio, the other guy looks bored, the setting is awful, it’s out of focus in parts. It all goes to their brand and says “cheap.” It feels rushed, like all the decisions they are making. And I still stand behind the statement that if they did put a little extra into it, they could have created something that might have inspired viewers to have faith. Based on the comments both the apology and the video are going, I think others agree.

As Henry suggested, Google has used this approach as well.

You nailed it on the head Henry when you pointed out they realized up front the video was bad. They knew they made a poor quality video, a video meant to appease the angry customers, and they put it out anyway. It’s either arrogance, ignorance, or a little of both.

I like the low-fi Google instructional videos, they’re edited and produced well. This netflix “announcement” video, as you mentioned rightly looked like something “…thrown together by some intern on FCPX”. A rush job in every way.

There is something about this whole Netflix saga, I feel they have good intentions, but as everyone is saying, their execution & timing is terrible.

Apologising for your past mistakes then repeating a similar mistake instantaneously is not the way to do it. Something tells me the CEO is just winging this without any PR consultation whatsoever. Or should we read more into what the CEO wrote today, “In hindsight, I slid into arrogance based upon past success.

I know Netflix is trying to evolve and not become the “Blockbuster” of the movie rental business, but they just need to slow down a little and take deep breaths. Netflix/Hasting’s obsession with being ahead of the curb seems to be what is hurting them right now. They are making a lot of changes (wrong one’s) all at once.

It’s ironic when you read CEO’s own words, “Companies rarely die from moving too fast, and they frequently die from moving too slowly.” don’t think they’ll “die”, but they’re making some bad moves right now & losing customers. Moving slowly maybe just what is needed right now.

What’s sad is, Reed Hastings knows that video is of poor production value, he even joked about it in his blog post saying, “Andy and I made a short welcome video. (You’ll probably say we should avoid going into movie making after watching it.)”. So then why would a CEO let a poor product out the door? It must be his self confessed “arrogance” sliding again. You’re right Ron, they could learn a lot from Apple.

I will say that at least they poked fun at their video in their blog article when they said: “You’ll probably say we should avoid going into movie making after watching it.” Doesn’t change the fact that they should have put more effort into their communication strategy.

I have been an $8 Netflix customer for a few years and really liked the unlimited streaming and 1 DVD in the mail.. seemed like the right pace for my family. I was very frustrated when I had to choose one over the other. And then it seemed that their online selection went to crap. I am keeping a close eye on Hulu+ to see if they start to get new “popular” movies, maybe I will switch there. It seems like Netflix just took themselves out of a race that they were already winning. I would think they would make a move like this if they had some competition… but this just didn’t make sense to me as an end user. Oh well…. they will reap what they sow.

Thanks for the post Ron,
Dan

Well said Alexis. I didn’t even get into the dress code. Not that they have to wear tuxedos or anything. But even their posture is bad. Like I said. A 99 cent card.

FWIW, I’m no CEO either, and this may actually be the best decision in the long run for all I know. But like you said, presentation is huge.