Blockbuster - Game on

I’ll admit, I’ve been rooting for Blockbuster during these difficult times. I think it has something to do with all the memories I have as a kid, going to Blockbuster and finding the perfect movie or game. 

Those times are lost. Today, I lost all faith in Blockbuster (completely unrelated to their recent ad campaign announcement, which is also stupid), but I will offer my opinion on how they could potentially reinvent themselves. There’s no question that Netflix is just flat out better. I use it. You use it. Blockbuster probably uses it. It’s innovation at its finest. So blocbuster, when I decide to give you a go, I better not walk in a find a new movie rental for $5 for 3 days. What the hell are you guys doing? You increased the price AND decreased the amount of days I can have it? What happened to 5 day rentals? Hell, even the 5 day rentals plus $1 charge for any extra day was a better deal than this. This is even more ridiculous when I tell you that these stupid terms apply to a TV show (I was eyeing The Pacific) which contains several discs. So, at $5 per DVD, with 5 DVDs total, I have to spend on average $25 to watch all of The Pacific. Besides the fact I can buy the series for that much, but with Netflix, I have to spend just $8, but watch them all within a months time (even if I spent 3 months on this particular series, it would still be cheaper). How are you the better deal Blockbuster?

Oh you have movies 28 days before the competition? Ok, that’s barely enough to get me in the door. And I have to really want to see a movie for this to count. But when I see these prices, I find myself walking out empty handed always. Clearly, you guys don’t get it when it comes to movies, so let’s take a moment here and look at areas that could maybe use more attention, or other over looked areas.

I’m of course talking about the game section. Lets face it, there aren’t a lot of places you can go rent games at, and to this day it’s why I still go to Blockbuster. Gamefly hasn’t quite made the same mark as Netflix has, and most game rental stores don’t offer rentals. So Blockbuster, what do you think about the multi billion dollar gaming industry? Maybe you can put some of your focus on your game rental demographic. I know it’s not as presitgue as the movie industry but people are obviously still using you for game rentals, because every time I walk into your store to rent a game, I can’t find it because its sold out. Another reason I leave empty handed. Fix this.

This is still largely an untapped market. Expand your section (both rentals and used games). Expand your volume. Bring back the gaming stations. Go ahead and charge me $8 for a game, that’s better than forking $60 only to find out I don’t like it.

Take it or leave it. But I’m not going to pay $5 for one DVD of a 5-part set. Do something about that, or just go away. 

Ad Schools Need to Evolve

So, now I’m going to talk about an idea I’ve had for awhile. I’ll admit, I’m probably not the first to wonder about it. But I know for a fact, no one has done it yet. I’m talking about online advertising portfolio schools. Yes, there are ad portfolio schools. Miami Ad School, VCU Brandcenter, Portfolio Center, Creative Circus, just to name a few. So what do I mean by online? I mean completely online. No brick and mortar buildings. No classrooms. No locations. I’m talking about a competely online interface where students have the ability to connect with each other and mentors (industry professionals) all in one place. 

How would this work? Well it actually has been done before, just not in the ad world. The animation industry has Animation Mentor, and is actually considered one of the
best animation training programs in the world. And the visual effects industry has a less innovative, but amazing program at FXPHD.com. Animation Mentor has a in-house interface that allows instructors to give weekly lessons, critique work, have live Q&A sessions, and pretty much anything else you can think of. 

But why? Costs, to put simply. Current portfolio schools are incredibly expensive for a two year period. Hell, I’ve spent less than half of what portfolio school costs for my 4 year undergrad degree. Online brings the costs down significantly. Or it should. Of course, in the hands of the wrong investors, the costs could still be sky high. But Animation Mentor costs on average of $19k for the entire program. PHDFX.com costs a low $300 for each 12 week term which allows for your pick of any 4 courses. Another factor is location. Since this provides the ability to stay at home, the costs of moving to and living in a large city is eliminated. 

Who? Instructors would consist of industry leaders and teachers. They are given a platform where they can teach students over the web, and not be limited to location. So instructors do not need to live in West Virginia or Miami to be apart of this. And both students and instructors can be all over the world, connected in one place.

I’ve always been a firm believer in not spending $40K to attend a portfolio school. People who do go to portfolio school are not more talented/smarter and are definitely not more motivated than those you can’t afford or justify the costs (not that I think lowly of people who did, because they are all still very talented). I’m surprised this hasn’t been done yet, since the ad industry claims to be on the “leading edge” of technology. 

Put Your Money Where Your Cars Are

Today, I saw a car commercial. It was the average, run-of-the-mill car commercial, where the car is driving down a road, while a nameless voice over bullet points the cars noteworthy features to us. It wasn’t the first time I’ve seen this commercial. It won’t be the last either. And I’ve seen many other car commercials use the same formula. That being good or bad, isn’t the point. The point I want to make, is why are vehicle companies still using the same traditional format?

I ask this, because, never in my life have I wanted a particular car after seeing it featured on a commercial. Never. In fact, I would say the majority of people pick their car based on real life interactions they’ve had with it, and not from a car commercial. And where do these “real life interactions” take place? Car dealerships. The point of sale. When most people decide they want to buy a new car, they go to a car dealership. Now granted, some people might have a brand preference, but this is also due to past experiences. Anyways, so the person will go to the car dealership, look at some cars, talk to the sales guy, and then take his favorites out for a test drive. 

All those points, are what eventually lead to a sale (or not depending on the situation). A car commercial does not do this - nor does it vuild brand loyalty. Car companies need to put your money where the people buy their cars, not on TV. Imagine innovating the entire car dealership process. Make it more than just wandering a lot of cars, while a stranger shouts all the reasons you should buy the car. Turn it into an experience I will never forget. No car salesmen in the world can tell me what car is best for me. It’s something I have to experience. Not be sold to. 

erickd:

What is Google Chrome OS?

This is awesome. The fact is, this is a crazy simple idea, but it takes a lot background work. Namely, the systems google has already set up such as gmail, google docs, igoogle, etc.

I’m also a sucker for hand drawn animations — which I;ll admit is starting to become a little too trendy.

I used Posterous. I liked it. It was was easy, but more importantly, it was simple. Why did I decide to stop using it? Because it didn’t offer the design options I desired. Regardless, I enjoy watching and hearing about startups, and the people constantly creating new/innovative ways to interact on the web.

While there are a couple of things I can already tell I wouldn’t like (mainly the application arrangement/scrolling), this looks like it could have major potential. I’m actually surprised something like this hasn’t become mainstream yet.

Ogilvy Innovation. Some interesting technology in the works…