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Top of Mind Thursday Memo Archive
Top of Mind Thursday – September 7, 2023: End of the Red Envelope
This month, Netflix is ending the 25-year practice of shipping DVDs in red envelopes to subscribers.
It’s estimated that over that period, the company shipped 5.2 billion DVDs to 40 million customers. Over a million people were still subscribing to the DVD service when it was cancelled.
Why would anyone still order DVDs in today’s world?
For one thing, internet access can be spotty or non-existent, and playing a disk locally doesn’t require one to be connected to the net.
More importantly, the number of titles available from Netflix on DVD was over 100,000, with only about 6000 titles available for streaming in the US at any given time.
That means if you don’t want to watch the new hottest offering Netflix is pushing, you may now be out of luck in terms of finding a niche film, or one from a bygone era.
Other streaming services, such as Disney and Apple, only offer a fraction of their library online at any time. That’s because streaming content is expensive and most streaming services are losing money.
What to do if you’re a film buff looking for the 94% of Netflix films that aren’t available for streaming? It’s a challenge. Or perhaps a good business opportunity for someone else.
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday – August 31, 2023: Aging Out
This week, Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell appeared to freeze for about 30 seconds during a public appearance, following a fall where he suffered a concussion. Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein has had several noticeable lapses over the last year, in addition to hospitalization for a bad case of shingles.
McConnell is 81;Feinstein is 90. President Joe Biden is 80; former President Donald Trump is 77.
There’s a minimum age to run for Congress or president, but no maximum age limit. Should there be?
While elder politicians can show serious signs of aging, others are vibrant at the same age. Henry Kissinger at age 100 is still traveling the world, engaged in current events. Jimmy Carter, now in hospice at age 98, was involved with community events and nonprofits until just a couple of years ago.
On the other hand, we all know people who are old at age 40 or 50–unwell, behind the times, or just not engaged the way they should be.
A century ago, the retirement age was set at 65, after which people really did retire and die shortly thereafter. Now, lifespan expectancy is into the mid 80s, and we likely have half a million people on the planet who are centenarions.
It’s not physical age that should be the limiting factor, but the ability to do one’s job effectively. Our job is to stay sharp enough to keep our leaders on their toes.
racy is far from perfect. There are many things we don’t do well and some which we may do fairly poorly. But safeguarding our democracy is critical, when you consider how easy it is for a supposedly “elected” tyrant to stamp out opposition elsewhere.
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday – August 24, 2023: A Tale of Two Countries
This week, a plane believed to be carrying Yevgeny Prigozhin and nine others crashed outside Moscow.
Prigozhin is the Russian paramilitary leader who unsuccessfully challenged Vladimir Putin, yet was allowed to go free. It’s no surprise to any observers of Russian politics that Prigozhin didn’t die a natural death—people who cross Putin often fall out windows or ingest poison, but they don’t die of old age.
Today, in Atlanta GA, former president Donald Trump surrendered to authorities to face charges related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 US presidential election.
The juxtaposition between the two countries could not be more stark. In one case, those who cross the country’s leader (including his own generals who may have aided Prigozhin) are systematically eliminated. In the other, a man accused of trying to subvert the results of a national election is arrested, offered bail, and released on his own recognizance.
In the US, Trump is considered innocent till proven guilty—of these charges, and others in three separate indictments. In Russia, there is no second chance—regardless of the crime of which you’ve been accused.
American democracy is far from perfect. There are many things we don’t do well and some which we may do fairly poorly. But safeguarding our democracy is critical, when you consider how easy it is for a supposedly “elected” tyrant to stamp out opposition elsewhere.
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday – August 17, 2023: Streaming Saturation
It seems like every streaming service is raising their prices and/or adding advertisements.
There was a time not that long ago when American viewers turned to cable TV for entertainment programming. There was basic cable, then bundles of premium services to choose from if you wanted even more movies or sports.
Then customers began “cutting the cord” to cable and moving instead to the streaming services: First Netflix, then Amazon, Apple+, Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and others.
The problem is the market is limited. As of last year, 85% of American households subscribed to at least one streaming service, and the average person has subscriptions to three. Forbes estimates nearly half of subscribers pay for services they never use. And they’re not interested in continuing to add services or maintaining them at higher prices.
Netflix, whose initial value proposition was based on friends and family sharing accounts, has clamped down on that option. If those folks decide they want Netflix, they’ll have to pay more. . . which means they’ll likely decide to turn off another streaming service instead.
That’s a serious issue for providers, because streaming services aren’t profitable. The cost to buy, generate, and support this stream of content is substantial. Almost all the streaming services expected to subsidize their investments by revenue from cable customers. . . except customers are turning off their cable accounts, so that model no longer works. Whoops.
Where do we go from here? I expect in the not-too-distant future, we will see these separate services consolidate under big umbrellas with discounted pricing for bundles–sort of like the way things used to be with cable. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
This will probably make an interesting documentary some day on a streaming service or two. The question will there be any one left standing to tell the story?
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com