2011《財富》最愚蠢商業事件大盤點(上)
Netflix漲價+拆分的雙重悲劇 ????如果客戶對你鐘愛有加,而且公司的股票也在持續飆升。這時你會怎么做?還是讓網絡視頻租賃公司Netflix來告訴你答案吧。2011年,公司漲價60%,推出了一個名為Qwikster的新網站業務,這兩項舉措讓網站的訂閱用戶怒火中燒。 ????公司在7月份公布了Qwikster網站的構想,聽起來是出于合理的長遠考慮:Qwikster網站將主要面向DVD業務,而Netflix將主要負責流媒體業務,因為那才是未來的前景所在。但對于客戶而言,這意味著他們需要處理兩個賬戶,兩筆信用卡收費,而且還得訪問兩個網站。 ????市場的強烈對抗很快爆發。超過100萬名用戶注消了他們的會員資格;而在近幾個月,網飛公司的股價已經下跌了約75%。因此,Qwikster公布僅僅一個月后,公司便放棄了這一想法。公司CEO里德?黑斯廷斯在近期的一次大會上公開承認:“這次行動不夠聰明,我們位次進行了嚴厲的自我批評。這本身就是畫蛇添足。”但他同時又表示:“不過,三、五年之后,我們可能會淡忘這件事情。到那時候,我們更關心的可能會是我們的流媒體業務是否取得了成功。” ????只怕到時候,這家公司又有的忙了。——JP曼加林丹 |
Netflix's double oops: Pricing, Qwikster ????Your customers love you and your stock is flying high. What do you do? If you're Netflix in 2011, you tick off subscribers with a 60% price hike and the launch of a new business called Qwikster. ????The idea of Qwikster, announced in July, was grounded in sound long-term thinking: It would be for the DVD business, while Netflix would be all about streaming, and that's where the future is. But for customers, it meant potentially dealing with two accounts, two credit card charges, and two Web sites. ????The backlash was swift. More than 1 million users canceled their memberships, and Netflix shares have dropped by nearly 75% in recent months. Just one month after announcing Qwikster, Netflix abandoned the idea. ????"We berate ourselves tremendously for that lack of insight because it didn't need to be that way," CEO Reed Hastings admitted recently at a conference. "But you know, in three or five years, we aren't going to remember it. It's going to be, `Did we succeed at streaming?'" ????Until then, the company will have its work cut out for it. -- JP Mangalindan |