Digital Advertisements
Targeting Netflix’s use of the algorithm and control of user’s taste, I implement aspects from culture jamming in order to convince people to choose Blockbuster, because they let you choose. Using the similar font and color scheme indicates to any Netflix user that the streaming platform offers recommendations based on the algorithm they use to predict your viewing habits. The physical store space of Blockbuster is able to give freedom to customers to choose what titles they want to watch. The advertisement invites people to choose Blockbuster over Netflix, because they are able to choose the title they want to watch when in the store.
Nostalgia is a large part of the brand image I want Blockbuster to portray through its new Brand. This advertisement references the popular stickers on VHS tapes that served as a reminder for Blockbuster customers to rewind their tapes before returning them to the store. This advertisement invites customers to journey back in time to experience the nostalgia brand identity that the reimagined Blockbuster will offer them. It also literally invites them to rewind their VHS tapes, as they will have the option to rent them out from Blockbuster.
Implementing culture jamming tactics again, I target Netflix’s algorithm and influence they have over taste. This is a similar altered image to the screen that pops up when users of Netflix have not interacted with the streaming platform for some hours. Their titles pause, and Netflix asks if they are still watching it. I inserted where a typical show or movie title would go with the truth behind the titles that Netflix actually suggests for their users to watch. The advertisement gives people the chance to continue letting Netflix shape their taste through their algorithm, or to log off an head into Blockbuster where they have autonomy over the media they consume.
Commercials
Using two past Blockbuster commercials, I interspersed the new branding, welcoming customers back to Blockbuster. By using a past commercial that included a cheering stampede heading towards the clerks in the store represents the exact energy I want the rebrand to bring. Using the popular “Be Kind, Rewind” phrase allows for past lovers of Blockbuster to remember the nostalgia and excitement they felt being in the store. By ending this commercial with clips from another old Blockbuster commercial with the clerk saying, “welcome to Blockbuster,” gives clerks yet another platform. This commercial invites customers to come back into the space and experience it with welcoming clerks.
Following the same technique as my first commercial I created, I decided to use two past Blockbuster commercials with intermittent pausing. For this commercial I commented on the differences between the environment people consume titles in using streaming versus the in-person experience that video stores offer. By including the high energy and exciting old Blockbuster commercials that contrasts with the dull and isolating footage of a woman watching something on her iPad in bed, shows how Blockbuster encourages people to go out and interact in the store space and experience all of the titles they have to offer.