The document analyzes the competition between Netflix and Blockbuster, highlighting Netflix's customer-centric business model and data-centric strategies that led to its success. Blockbuster's failure to adapt, its inflexibility, and lost opportunities, such as declining to purchase Netflix for $50 million, contributed to its decline. Ultimately, Netflix leveraged its growing customer base and partnerships to dominate the video-on-demand market.

1. Netflix vs. Blockbuster
The Rise of Video-on-Demand
Blockbuster’s Viable Options: Buy Netflix, or Become Netflix
A Case Study by Angela Collins, Gaylene Meyer,
and Lily Zimmerman
Summer
2018

2. Convenience +
Accessibility
Affordability
Netflix’s Business Model
Studio
Partners

3. Netflix’s (Customer) Data-Centric Strategy
Netflix Tracked specific dimensions of
customer use like:
- Total time spent on Netflix site
- Patterns among actors, directors,
and genres watched
- Time-gap between shows watched
on Netflix site

4. Where did Blockbuster go wrong?
Greed
Hubris
Lack of customer-centric business model.
Inability to adapt and make the operational changes to
harness power of customer data
Netflix offered to sell to Blockbuster and they “laughed
[Netflix] out of the office”.
Inflexibility

5. Blockbuster’s Options - Missed Opportunities
Buy Netflix
Failed 50 Million Dollar sales offer to Blockbuster
Become Netflix
Blockbuster was inflexible and unable to accurately read the changing
market

6. Netflix Eventually Usurped Blockbuster’s Throne

7. Netflix - Threats & Opportunities
Threats
- Risk of shifting too much focus/resources toward
the streaming side of the business before enough
consumers have adopted VOD as a
regular/preferred form of media consumption
- Lack of established partnerships with studio /
content-producers (in contrast to Blockbuster)
Opportunities
- Fast growing customer base
- Boldness and nimbleness to adapt to changing
technological environment by leveraging
customer data.

8. Netflix
Partnerships:
Prioritize Content
Providers or
Hardware
Manufacturers?
Prioritize partnerships with
content providers!

9. Conclusion
Blockbuster’s Viable Options: Buy Netflix, or Become Netflix

10. References & Image Links
https://missionalmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Netflix-VS-Blockbuster-placeholder.jpg
https://goo.gl/images/NAzXpQ
https://neilpatel.com/blog/how-netflix-uses-analytics/
http://topinfographic.com/smart-tvs-infographic/
https://www.google.com/search?q=netflix+recommendation+algorithm&client=firefox-b-1-ab&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiQi8yu2
ujcAhV3FTQIHUiLB3YQ_AUICigB&biw=1472&bih=983#imgrc=qPNchAwDhB59aM: