PS: Netflix Debacle Update: They Shoulda Used More Twitter

Maybe they shoulda used Twitter.

Last month, Netflix infamously upped their subscription prices by 60%, triggering a tidal wave of outrage from customers who previously loved them, would do ANYTHING for them.

The company sat silent on its blog and Twitter page while the comments rained in, apparently hoping that the Hate Hurricane would blow over in time.

It eventually subsided, but is the damage too late to be undone?  “Netflix Perception Free-Falls On Pricing Plan“, according to Marketing Daily, and for once, ‘free-fall’ is not an overstatement.

On the day of the announcement, Netflix had a 39.1 Buzz score.  By the end of July, it was around negative 6.

Whoa.

But one question- what do those numbers even mean, or what do they measure?  They’re computed by a company called BrandIndex, which measures public perception.  Aside from that, I couldn’t find jack on how to explain those numbers in real-life terms.

Except for this:  that negative rating now puts it below Blockbuster, while bumping up the scores of competitors DirecTv and Redbox.  In fact, in the world of video rental, Redbox is now in the lead of consumer perception.

(At least, according to the mysterious BrandIndex.)

Today, the Netflix numbers are still in the toilet, and it’s making me wonder if the “stay silent” strategy wasn’t such a good idea.  Clearly, a giant price jump isn’t going to make any customer happy, but perhaps they could have slowly raised it over a long period of time, the way our beloved health insurance companies do.

Oh, wait- never mind.

But it does lead me to think that you need to show your customers that you are connected with them and listening, especially when they are upset.  Silence is not the tool to achieve that.  Social media, however, is.  You need to show that you are listening and that you care.

And on that note, here’s Jason Alexander pleading you to donate to the Netflix Relief Fund.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgZ_wQPcBEY

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