Tivo: The great failure of viral marketing (and Naked Conversations?)
By Tom Foremski - March 24, 2006
I was sitting in Harrington's chatting with Julie Crabill and her colleague Khristine Valdez from Shift Communications Thursday evening, and we were talking about this and that, and viral marketing came up. And it struck me that viral marketing was a huge failure when it came to Tivo.
Tivo received a tremendous amount of viral marketing--I heard about it from enthusiast friends of mine for several years before I bought one and became a convert, and a viral marketer. Yet, despite my friends/colleagues passion for the device, and despite the fact that they are peers (high on Edelman Trust Barometer)--I didn't "get" Tivo, until I got one.
To put it another way, I didn't dig it until I got it.
That's not the way viral marketing is supposed to work, I should have become a customer years earlier. And I know many others who are late to Tivo despite massive amounts of positive viral marketing.
And this is a phenomenon that i see a lot. Viral marketing is not all that it's supposed to be. It is usually hailed as the holy grail in marketing because it is free marketing. Yet viral marketing also can produce an opposite reaction, sometimes conscious and sometimes not. It can cause a determination not to buy. For example, going to a movie or reading a book or seeing a TV show that everyone loves.
Is it equal parts positive to negative when it comes to the benefits of viral marketing? I would guess a 70 to 30 per cent split in favor of positive. What would you say?
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BTW, Tivo could have become the Netscape web browser to the TV--instead it thought it was a box maker.
Most recently, it has switched to an annual subscription/commitment model instead of month-to-month payments. Why would someone hand over an annual payment or make a year-long commitment to a company struggling to find its way? Shouldn't Tivo remove obstacles to gaining customers and make it as easy-as-pie to be a subscriber?
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March 24, 2006 | Permalink | Comment | Category: PRWatch | Subscribe to SVW
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Comments (4)
When I first felt the visceral buzz stemming from TiVo several years back, I was resistant to the monthly charge. By the time I finally bought one (and shelled out the yearly fee) my family and I felt very disappointed. It's features are actually *worse* than the cable company add-on DVR that we had been using prior.
You can't tape more than one show at a time and it's tendency to reboot at inopportune times or change the channel while I'm multitasking (sorry: I'm just not into Spanish-language soaps) is annoying, to say the least.
So now we're back to the old DVR while the TiVo sits on the floor, unused.
Eric Berlin
Executive Producer
Blogcritics.org
Posted: March 25, 2006 3:12 PM
I too, was a viral marketer for TiVo. I loved the TiVo more than I ever thought I would. It performed well, had a simple, easy to use interface, and completely revolutionized the way I watch television. The Tivo became a frequent topic of conversation among family and friends, and I was more than happy to wax poetic about it's grandeur.
In the last year however, that all changed. I moved out of the state, before I could renew my Tivo subscription, they instituted the "commitment" billing plan. Strike one.
In addition, I've since purchased an HDTV. The lack of compatibility has forced me to use Comcast's DVR. I can also record two streams at once, a feature I didn't have with the Tivo. Strike two.
Finally, the new HDTV-compatible Tivos cost HUNDREDS of dollars, whereas my cable provider's DVR is a nominal $5/month to rent--a resounding strike three.
I wanted to love the Tivo (their interface is still unmatched), but the competition has gotten the better of them. They stopped delivering a competitive product long ago.
Posted: March 28, 2006 12:00 PM
Old post I know, but very relevant to my current marketing challenge.
I'm promoting a product that is a category creator much like Tivo was. It's an add on for Outlook, but one that nobody knows they need. Once people use it however, they can't live without it (sounds like Tivo huh?). Each new user unleashes a torrent of new word of mouth... Most new users today are coming through press (we've had pickup in Biz Week, WSJ, Business 2.0 and a gazillion blogs).
My big challenge is attracting users outside of the press/word-of-mouth channel. I strongly agree that job number one is to remove obstacles to gaining customers. Attracting passive prospects to try it is a bit more challenging. Any suggestions?
Posted: February 1, 2008 2:31 PM
Sean: One suggestion about getting attention for your product is to tell us what it is its name and where we can find it. You seem to have omitted any of that info...!
Posted: February 1, 2008 3:40 PM