Cruising Pulsepress, I found Julia’s post on the topic of competition for Netflix (I know, I gasped too) and felt the need to comment back.

The appearance of Shomi, the collaborative creation by both Rogers and Shaw, was expected– maybe not so much the creator partnership between Rogers and Shaw, but the idea of a rival for Netflix was heavily anticipated.  And it’s unlikely that Shomi is the first of its kind to take on the beast that is Netflix.  Although, none have been successful as I was not aware of the ‘competition’ until a quick google search enlightened me.

While it is a good move for Rogers and Shaw to follow the trends, as most people now prefer steaming television rather than cable, is it worth it this late in the game?  As recalled from the article for the class 8 prep on positioning, Ries and Trout both agreed that “It is quite difficult to change a consumer’s impression once it is formed.”  Since Netflix was the first one there, everyone remembers it.  Netflix is iconic.  Netflix has left a lasting impression on consumers.  Supposed ‘rivals’ will have a tough time even getting near the level of recognition that Netflix has among the general population.

Yes, there are some weak points in Netflix, particularly in their Canada website which only offers roughly half of its American counterpart (and it seems to offer the bad half to be honest).  However, that isn’t a major issue as there are still ways for Canadians to access the American Netflix site.

I actually don’t think that Shomi will succeed in taking out Netflix, but I also don’t think that destroying Netflix is its purpose.  Shomi’s purpose is to offer another direct streaming source.  They don’t want people to abandom Netflix (as they realize few people will), they want people to embrace Shomi additionally.

And a shout out to Julia for her lovely post. 🙂