Prescription for TiVo
By Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba
In our August newsletter, we described how TiVo largely ignores its community of fervent customer evangelists.
While TiVo enjoys an evangelistic customer base that rivals Krispy Kreme's, TiVo hasn't made the leap to become a mass-market phenomenon because, in our view, the company's culture is rooted in sales, not evangelism. TiVo's marketing strategy focuses on promotional sales tactics vs. embracing current loyal customers who drive sales on the company's behalf.
Our virtual mailbag filled up with responses to the article. Most agreed, such as this:
"I'm a TiVo customer, and I wholeheartedly agree that it's really too bad they haven't realized that it's word of mouth that has made TiVo the brand to be reckoned with."
-- Heather Gately, Lombard IL
One TiVo fan in our newsletter community disagreed:
"Frankly, I think TiVo is one of the star examples of a company supported fanatically by its evangelistic customer base. I presumed you didnšt include it in your book because it is so obvious a choice that readers would have said 'Tell us something we don't know.' TiVo is the BEST!"
-- Kai Dozier, Gordonsville VA
We also heard from Brodie Keast, TiVo's senior vice president and general manager. In two different emails, he called our piece a "poorly researched cheap shot" and "self serving." (His emails are too long to include here, so we've posted them to our blog.)
Keast contends that TiVo does embrace its most loyal, evangelistic customers, yet industry analysts can't understand why TiVo's subscriber growth rate remains sluggish in the face of fervent word of mouth. Keast says he's "a huge fan of evangelism and creating causes, [and] I think you know it's a bit more complicated than that. I would suggest making your point in the context of how evangelism fits into a larger marketing plan."
Which brings us to part two of our focus on TiVo: Evangelism does not fit into the marketing plan, evangelism *is* the marketing plan. Evangelism is not a marketing tactic. It's a theology. A belief system. All strategies and tactics flow from a well-defined cause. Thousands of TiVotees have testified, "TiVo has changed my life." That's marketing nirvana. To us, there is no "larger marketing plan."
So what should TiVo do? As three-year TiVo customers, we, naturally, have a few ideas.
1. Create a cause.
TiVo's tagline is "TV on your terms." Dump this non-descript meme. TiVo regularly produces testimonials such as "life-changing" and "God's machine." Therefore, "TV on your terms" inspires as much emotion as a statistics class. TiVo should have a bold, emotional cause like "Join the TiVolution!" We see long-time TiVo customers welcome newbies into the online TiVo community with this phrase. They say, "Join us, the community of over 700,000 other people just like you who are no longer a slave to the TV! TiVo has changed our lives, liberated us from network TV schedules and channel surfing so we have more quality time to spend with children and for ourselves." Yes, that's TV on your terms, but it's not very passionate.
Our prescription: Every strategy and tactic emanates from "joining the cause" and becoming a member of this passionate community. It's akin to a political movement: you're not buying a product, you're joining a cause. That's what the early adopters will tell everyone.
2. Create community.
TiVo enjoys a remarkable online community of 45,000 evangelists who have self-organized themselves into a volunteer sales force. That means 600,000 TiVo customers are not yet part of the community. TiVo could steer all customers and prospects to that community via prominent links on their website or, better yet, through the product's special message section that appears on TiVo-enabled TVs . TiVo restricts its email newsletter of customer stories and hints and tips to paid customers only. That's a missed opportunity; the email newsletter for non-customers is a retinue of special offers and pleas to purchase. The "Friends of Krispy Kreme" email newsletter is for anyone, anytime. With stories about customers, new store openings and lots of southern homespun charm, Krispy Kreme's newsletter is a viral marketing machine.
3. Customer plus-Delta.
eBay's executives convene customer advisory boards of Power Sellers several times per year. Meg Whitman, eBay's CEO, often leads these customer sessions. She is a feedback machine who solicits customer input and uses it to make company decisions. As she says, like a mantra, "eBay is a company of customers." The solitary work of Starwood Corp.'s "Lurker" William Sanders, who has posted thousands of replies to the Flyer Talk Forum for frequent fliers, has engendered the fanatical devotion for Starwood and himself.
4. Napsterize your knowledge.
TiVo's FAQs and troubleshooting tips are as stale as year-old bread. How about tips on using the product in an email newsletter or on the front page of the website? How about an employee weblog discussing the latest features, how to use them, tricks and tips, how people are changing their TV viewing habits with TiVo and sneak peeks of things to come?
5. Create bite-size chunks.
TiVo customer evangelists often convert newbies to the TiVolution by demonstrating the machine themselves. TiVo could focus this test-drive experience outside the retail environment by encouraging and rewarding customers to have "TiVo Parties" for friends. eBay helps its evangelists with the party themes, activities, even food menus. [Note: TiVo tried this a few years back, but discontinued the program. They should try again, but this time with customer input on developing the program.]
6. Build the buzz.
TiVo often relies on celebrity testimonials, but a celebrity testimonial, even if it's volunteered, remains circumspect. That's today's nature of trust in Hollywood, whose stars will pitch anything from cars to underwear. Instead, TiVo should sponsor community events, inviting customers and non-customers to try new models. The most active TiVo customer evangelists could be ushered into an invitation-only club, where they are given TiVo-branded merchandise to wear and give away. Customers are encouraged to write and record TiVo love songs the company could feature a la "American Idol," with the best of the bunch delivered regularly through the TiVo special messages section. Warning: this could be homespun and free of slick advertising patina! Buzzworthy? More than imaginable.
Will TiVo change its ways and embrace its customer evangelists? We TiVotees hope so. Several weeks after our initial article, the front page of the TiVo web site changed to feature customer testimonials.
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