Netflix E-mail Marketing

Netflix sent me an e-mail to let me know that since my wife & I enjoyed The Notebook (we did) we would probably enjoy Memoirs of a Geisha. This is the e-mail:

How do you feel about Netflix using your ratings to promote movies?

Comments

[James Shaw]

It sucks. I'm quite happy getting recommendations when I visit the site, but it's unacceptable to spam people just because (presumably) they made a deal to promote a movie. This could quickly get out of hand with daily emails of new releases.

No thanks!

You should be able to opt out of such emails. Does one of the categories listed here fit?

http://www.netflix.com/EmailSubscription?lnkctr=yadb_addremovesubs_newsletterheader

[Ross Karchner]

C'mon, you're just saying that because the wife is reading ;)

[Ian]

Even though I think it's a good idea, and I have no problem with it, I agree that they should allow people to opt out. After looking at the email subscriptions link in the your account section, it doesn't sound like any of those options would disable these emails, but that's just a guess on my part. Anybody know for sure?

[E. Craig Crawford]

We can opt out of the various mailings. I received one early this morning advertising gift subscriptions; however, I notice that Netflix has not yet had time to log in the movie I mailed back on Moday.

Note: this is not a throttling complaint. ;-) Sorry for the "off topic."

[Jeff]

Interestingly, I've found their recommendations to be decent, so I probably wouldn't mind seeing these, especially if there was a movie I was on the fence about.

[Catana]

Spam is spam is spam.

[netflix email subscription]

http://www.netflix.com/EmailSubscription

On the bottom of that email...

"This informational email has been sent to you as part of your Netflix membership. If you would like to stop receiving these emails, please visit our Email Subscriptions page, uncheck the Member News box, and click "Update Subscriptions". Please do not reply to this email, as we are unable to respond from this address. If you need help or would like to contact us, please visit our Help Center ."

Luckily I didn't like The Notebook and so haven't received that email :)

[Daniel Wayne Johnston]

I feel exactly as I do when Tivo suggests a show I'd like to watch.

[sMoRTy71]

It should be opt-in, not opt-out. And while the "existing business relationship" you have with NF means that it isn't technically spam, I don't want to start getting marketing e-mails for theatrical releases (or any other 3rd party deal that they might make) without an opt-in.

For some reason, NF sending me a recommendation about a DVD that I could get from NF is OK. It's when they are pimpin' for something outside of the NF "universe" that it seems like opt-in is a better approach.

[Morgan]

I received the same e-mail but it was because I enjoyed "House of Sand and Fog."

[CJ]

Good idea for NFLX to use your rental ratings to recommend theater new releases. Doesn't do me any good since I only watch movies as rental DVDs.

However, it can give you a heads up to put that title in your NFLX queue if it looks interesting. I've found the sooner you get a title in your queue, the better chance you have of getting that title as a NFLX rental when it first releases on DVD.

And you can always opt out of these e-mails under NFLX's 'Your Account" if you find them objectionable.

[Nicholas]

Wow, I was thinking of seeing that movie, but now that I see people getting recommendations for it because they liked The Notebook and House of Sand and Fog, I'm having second thoughts.

[Adam]

If they woild lower there prices a bit and advertise to me like this, I would not mind.

I got the same email and did enjoy Notebook.

One thing I wish Netflix had was a better Coming Soon and in Theatres now section.

[Lucas]

I got the same email but it said it was sent because I enjoyed The Last Samurai. Now don't get me wrong, but House of Sand and Fog, The Notebook, and The Last Samurai are quite different movies....

[PlungeBob]

Spam is spam, but a molehill is not a mountain.

I feel that giving us the opt-out option is enough.

Adam, yes, it would be nice, but not feasible, for NF
to match IMDB in the services you describe. Try them.

[Ben Jeremy]

Meh. This isn't bad.

Bad is getting annoying calls, at dinner time, by your credit card company trying to sell you, for the 8th time this year, those stupid Identity Theft Protection Scams (Aren't they supposed to offer something like that for FREE?!??!?) or "Travel Club" memberships and gfetting offended when I immediately tell them NO.

If NetFlix can increase their profitability by using their customer information to solicit targeted advertising (which, to be fair, is not a bad thing in the case of movie recommendations) and not give that info out to others, why not?

What bugs me is getting throttled down (in the form of being given lower priority on high-demand DVDs) because I have a quick turnaround time on my movies. After all, the faster I return them, the quicker SOMEBODY ELSE GETS THEM. Everybody wins, assuming the postage is not a big consideration in their business model (and it shouldn't).

Ah well, slightly off topic rant there, but my point is that targeted e-mails are not a bad thing... these are movies you may be interested in, and as long as they aren't recommending "Horny Hermaphroditic Sex Dwarf Bowling" as a great movie to go see, because of your rental history, what's the big deal?

[Yenta]

I wonder what Netflix gets out of these types of recommendations. I got that same email--why didn't I get an email about Brokeback Mountain instead?

"assuming the postage is not a big consideration in their business model (and it shouldn't)"

You're kidding, right?

"Horny Hermaphroditic Sex Dwarf Bowling"

Hey, I saw that movie! I really loved the 6-10 split!

[THX-1138]

Eh... when it comes from a company I do regular business with, I can't get upset. Although it might be nice to be able to tweak some of the knobs in the algorithm. Maybe look at the newer movies I have rented, and recommend some more obscure or older titles I might have missed.

To be honest, I'm not even sure I've received one. Another idea is to put the recommendation in with the receive and send notices.

Amazon does the same, and I've actually wound up buying things they pointed out to me, because their recommendation algorithm is pretty good. Sometimes I just wander around Amazon's site using the "people who bought this also bought..." links and discover new books and authors.

[Matt]

I have not had any movies recommended to me by Netflix through email.

Is Netflix throttling my emails???? They sent me too many emails this month I guess.

[fubar]

That was so funny I soiled my panties!