4 Branding and Social Media Mistakes Made by Qwikster
Posted by Kelly Ward on Tue, Sep 20, 2011 @ 03:50 PM
On Sunday Netflix CEO Reed Hastings apologized on his blog for how the company handled their recent price changes with their DVD and streaming services. It was an attempt at some long-overdue damage control; two months after they announced their new pricing plan, Netflix has lost half its value.
Surprisingly in the middle of his explanation/apology, Hastings makes an important announcement: "In a few weeks, we will rename our DVD by mail service to 'Qwikster'." Two days later his blog post has over 24,000 not-so-friendly comments. It appears this announcement has not had the warm and fuzzy effect he may have hoped for.
Putting their pricing change blunder aside, let's take a closer look at Netflix's new announcement. The company is off to a "qwik" start with 4 major branding and social media mistakes.
1. Don't Make a Branding Announcement in the Middle of an Apology
Don't overshadow your new brand or product announcement. Let it take the spotlight! The name change should have been a completely separate announcement and should not have been so closely tied to his "I messed up. I owe everyone an explanation" blog post. Including the Qwikster announcement after a 9-paragraph apology diminishes the importance of the new brand name. This was a poor attempt at what should have been a positive and exciting announcement.
2. Choose your Product and Branding Names Wisely
Prior to choosing any brand or product name, make sure you do your research. Hastings writes, "We chose the name Qwikster because it refers to quick delivery." Netflix may intend for the name to refer to quick delivery; but this easily-misspelled name has a plethora of typos – many with definitions that are not very favorable for a reputable company. In addition, there are numerous existing products with similar names.
3. Setup your Website with (at least some!) Information About your Product/Brand
Qwikster does have their domain name registered; however, it seems they were a bit lazy. Their web site consists of a graphic with some very simple "Launching Soon" text. There is no information about Qwikster – other than it is "a Netflix company". They should have included a brief statement about what Qwikster is, or when it is launching ("soon" doesn’t cut it), or a link to the Netflix website, or at the very least links to the Qwikster social media accounts. Which brings me to point #4...
4. Create your Social Media Accounts Before Announcing your New Product/Brand
TechCrunch (as well as several other websites) has been quick to point out that the @Qwikster Twitter account is not owned by Netflix. Worse yet, the foul-mouthed owner of the twitter account tweets about topics that, as TechCrunch's Alexia Tsotsis puts it, are "not representing Netflix at its finest at this point and time."
Forbes has also noted that there is no Facebook page setup for Qwikster yet. It only takes a few minutes to setup a Facebook page for your business. At the very least, they could have launched a "Coming Soon" type of Facebook page similar to their website.
It’s surprising to me that a company as large as Netflix would make such glaring mistakes with their branding and social media. What do you think? Am I being too hard on Netflix Qwikster? Let me know in the comments.
Photo Credit: striatic