DVD Releases and News

Blockbuster Tempting Netflix Users to Switch

In an interesting marketing ploy, Blockbuster announced that through December 21st Netflix subscribers could bring in their address flaps to get free movie rentals, no sign-up or membership required. You heard us right - one free DVD rental for every flap you bring in from your Netflix envelopes. The catch? Well, none apparently. Zowy!

“We want these movie fans to experience getting the movies they want without the wait so they never have to be without a movie,” said Blockbuster chairman and CEO John Antioco.

Thanks John! All we need is to "never be without a movie," as if it weren't hard enough to fit in all the other forms of distraction into our hectic lives. Regardless, you have to admit this is a fairly bold maneuver, if a bit misguided. It's hard to imagine loyal Netflix users doing anything more than taking advantage of the system through December 21st and then going back to their queuing bliss.

What advantages does the Blockbuster system offer over their rival? Let's take a look.

Blockbuster Total Access
The Unlimited plan is $17.99 per month, the same as Netflix's Unlimited plan, where you can have 3 DVDs out at a time with unlimited rentals. The one difference with Blockbuster's plan is that you can return movies you've received in the mail to an actual Blockbuster store if you want to, where you can exchange them for in-store movies (which are then subject to normal in-store rental policies and must be returned to the store). As you're watching these in-store freebies, your Blockbuster Online movies head back to HQ where they are removed from your queue and then the next batch is sent out. I guess this is what they mean by "never be without a movie."

Sometimes having to wait for movies is a pain when you're dealing with Netflix, we admit, so having the ability to exchange them in an actual brick-and-mortar store is an attractive draw. Will it lure the half a million customers away that Blockbuster wants? Only time will tell.

You can sign up for a 2 week trial of Blockbuster Total Access at Blockbuster Online.

Source: Home Media Retailing

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Posted by on December 6, 2006 10:08 AM
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