Blockbusters And Bubblicious Bubble Gum

Imagine chewing three different flavors of gum...here are all 22 flavors of Bubblicious, pick three and this is how i’ll explain my peculiar analogy today:

* Original
* Cotton Candy
* Savage Sour Apple
* Blue Blowout
* Strawberry Splash
* Watermelon Wave
* Twisted Tornado
* Sour Mania
* Orange Outbreak (discontinued)[1]
* Bursts with Thunder
* Gonzo Grape
* Paradise Punch
* Island Squeeze
* Sour Cherry (Bursts
* Original (Bursts)
* Radical Red (discontinued)
* Tropical Tango (discontinued)
* Bahama Blast (discontinued)
* Lightning Lemonade (discontinued, then re-introduced)
* Frantic Fruit
* Kickin Cola (discontinued)
* Lebron’s Lightning Lemonade

Let’s now turn those three flavors into Blockbuster Inc., their "no late fees" marketing campaign, and my business moral and chew them together. Wtf, right? Doesn’t taste like Lightning Lemonade, Tropical Tango, or Gonzo Grape...it has no one, distinct flavor.

"Yes Emily, I can understand the relation of Bubblicious Bubble Gum to your strange mix of a major mogul corporation, their skills, and your thoughts but get to the point." OK. This is why is doesn’t taste good: Blockbuster Videos, the most profitable video rental company in the world, cut out late fees in 2004. Netflix had just arrived and was becoming a leader in video rental...online and straight to the mail box comes a video. Blockbuster felt this hit of competition, probably for the first time in it’s history and realized

1. Our customers hate us

2. They hate us because of late fees

3. Netflix has excellent customer service ratings and we don’t

4. We don’t rent online and we need to start. So, what do they do? They cut late fees, a $250 mill- $300 mill a year loss in profit ( ya, that’s right- that’s what all our late fees added up to ya’ll) and start Blockbuster online. Their marketing campaign was around $50 mill to let us know, HEY EVERYONE, WE WONT BE STEALING OUR LOYAL CUSTOMER’S MONEY ANY LONGER( $300 mill) BECAUSE, WE CARE NOW AND HAVE TO MANY LAWSUITS AGAINST US!

They said, "no more late fees", kept their 2 day and 5 day rental agreements telling their customers it is more of a "honesty policy" now but in small print you agree to purchase the movie after 7 days of no return. This will be refunded if the film is returned in 30 days. So, those are two different flavors: Blockbuster inc ( Gonzo Grape), Their public image campaign (Tropical Tango), and here are my Lighting Lemonade thoughts: I was thinking about how great I could be in marketing for these huge corporations...top profits, researched campaigns, witty slogans, fine print, expensive lawyers, and quick reflexes.

Then, as I was thinking about it I recognized the point where my own creative, witty, intuitive response to a business challenge crushed up against my innate, conditioned, greedy solutions. There is a point in business (life even) when, usually without noticing it, the individual creative drive and fire dwindles to a heated flint, and greed floors everything. The typical example is a company trying to save face by paying major bucks to repair their image without any truth behind the cash.

FINE PRINT. The greed, drive, competition, and need to survive is in everyone in varying quantities AND in my opinion is forgivable on many accounts. This is how we learn. It seems to me though that due to the supreme amount of dough some companies have, no lessons are learned because the greed is too thick. So, I’ve been chewing on these 3 flavors of Bubblicious today and they don’t mix. I’m ready to spit it out. I prefer a pure flavor over the combo that no one can distinguish a flavor for.
I’m happy to inform you that I’m happy to have learned the 22 flavors of Bubblicious today.

Love, Em