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!

[Ben Jeremy]

No, postage shouldn't be a major concern. How much does it cost to send an envelope and get the return? They pay bulk rates, and there's such a high volume, the USPS is more than happy to give them a sweet rate (Anybody know the exact amount?) I'd be surprised if each disc, round trip, costs them more than $0.20 (they may even have a flat rate plan with USPS that doesn't care how many envelopes are in circulation for a given month). Assuming a no-throttle 4day turnaround (sent Day one, arrived, watched Day 2, returned Day 3, arrived back Day 4), and 26 mailing days a month, that's 6.5 round trips per movie per month, and on a 6 disc plan like mine, I pay $36 a month, so.... 6.5x6=39 round trips per month. That's $0.92 each "rental".

The appeal of the plan is buffet pricing, and in buffet, throughput is king. The above is a theoretical ideal for the customer, minimum possible take for Netflix, but throttling a customer inconsistently (for example, on a single movie) doesn't make sense - all you do is piss him off and drive him away, or perhaps to even lower plans. Ideally, you want him to move UP in the plans, which gives you a higher, fixed income level. If a customer gets saturated, they'll throttle themselves by taking a day or two to return a movie.

The business model has to assume "worst case" - so again, the postage doesn't matter. You simply can't serious consider throttling as a legitimate tool in a business model.

That said, it doesn't mean they don't throttle, but I still get next day movies from the local center, if they are available. My only real beef is the admitted (on that news piece a few days ago) practice of giving people who are quicker at returns the shaft in prioritizing hard to get movies. That's simply poor service, and only decreases the availability of the movies. One way or another, Mr. Frequent will still have movies rolling in and out... why not treat everybody with equal priority? IT doesn't really affect anything to be fair.

[kim]

See, I'm for targetted marketing. Advertising is a fact of life, at least if you're going to see ads, they're for something you might enjoy. I think there's an opt out checkbox for the Netflix emails though.

They really are marketing the hell out of that movie though huh. I've been wanting to see it since I read the book years ago, but I'm already sick of seeing the ads.

[Jeffrey Deston]

I also recieved this but can't remember what movie they subbed in as the reason. The fact of the matter is this: I guarantee you that every single Netflix subscriber got this email, whether they rated 1,000 movies or only watched comedies. This is obviously a business partnership email. However, its only an email. I mean, cmon people. If it really bothers you that much, set up a mail filter for anything that contains 'Netflix recommends'. I mean, you're getting DVDs at a cost not seen at the video store and the selection is the biggest on the net. You can't suffer through one email advertising a movie that actually might interest you. Seriously. Now, if they were sending me ads for popcorn, then I might get a bit angry, but as long as its movie related, send it on.

I haven't received this e-mail, so they didn't just spam everyone.

It's marketing, but it looks like it's responsible marketing (well, unsolicited, but still, somewhat responsible).

[Robert - Moore,ok]

I am only cool with it, as long as it dosn't make my monthly subscription price go up.

[NutflixSux]

No problem with the emails, i get them too, just wish they could have owned up to their mistakes and cared a little about customers so this wouldn't have to be my last month with them !

[Laurie]

Why is this a big deal? First, you can opt out of the email. Second, they're providing a helpful suggestion based on your tastes. They're not going to get any additional income if you choose that DVD over another one. They're providing a service to you in the form of a friendly suggestion. Sounds like we have some CAVE people on here (Citizens Against Virtually Everything)!

[Bond, James Bond]

Well it's not so much that it's a problem as it's somewhat annoying. Tie in the fact that they're using you to generate income without offering you a share of it via reduced rates just adds to it.

Judging from the comments left so far I'd say I agree that this advert is going out to most if not all members with a tie in to whatever movie they've recently viewed within reason.

Just my take, but it should always be opt in as opposed to opt out.

The conventional wisdom on these money making schemes (and it is a money making scheme) is that they're doing you a favor. Problem is they never asked you if you wanted the favor, and that claim would be more believable if they weren't making money from providing you that favor for which you never asked.

Hey if you want to make money on me fine, but lets share the revenue. And no, telling me it keeps my monthly note from going up isn't going to cut it Netflix.

Yeah! I want my cut too! Give me my cut of the .000062¢ you just made off me.

I just got one about holiday shopping. Too bad they can't spell 'Subsriptions'

[Dave]

I have been trying to rent a movie called Alimony and NetFlix keeps sending me the same broked DVD every time. I report it as damaged and ask for a replacement, and they just send the same broken DVD back to me. Is there an email address I can send an email to in order to let them know about it? I tried to call the help number but couldn't get through.

It was kind of frustrating.

[clyde k phillips]

i want to undo my free netflix

[MICHAEL E. WILEY]

Why did has the company created a lying concept and why is it difficult to simply place your email address within your website? You should not attempt to force potential customers to accept your concept of what dishonest business is all about!

TYVM
mew
202-544-1250