Video Ezy DVD | The Downfall of DVD Rental in the Social Age
In the mid 2000’s, video rental businesses were all the rage. No matter where you were, a video store would always be nearby. Founded in 1983, Video Ezy, a video rental business, quickly dominated the Australian home entertainment industry. From DVD’s, Blu-ray disks to snacks, Video Ezy provided everything needed for the perfect movie night.
Video Ezy dominated a competitive market, with rivals including Blockbuster, Civic Video and Video City. However, as time passed, new competitors in the retail industry, including Kmart, Target, Big W, Sanity, JB Hi-Fi and EB Games were starting to become introduced the market, and quickly gained popularity.
The social media age
After its peak in the mid 2000’s, Video Ezy’s position in the market was quickly overruled by the rise in technology. Consumers started looking for cost effective, convenient forms of entertainment, which video rental businesses including Video Ezy did not forecast for. The introduction of online streaming services and social media video platforms all contributed to the downfall of video rental businesses.
Online streaming services and social media video platforms simplified the user experience. Consumers now had the opportunity to stream cost effect entertainment, on demand, from the comfort of their own homes. Essentially, consumers now have the opportunity to watch whatever they want, whenever they want, wherever they want.
The switch from video rental businesses to online streaming services/social media video platforms impacted the home entertainment industry drastically, and with no prior back up plan, Video Ezy had to act quickly, to keep the business a float.
Unable to afford such high rent costs, and unable to beat the competition, Video Ezy made the switch to Kiosks. Video Ezy’s Kiosks offer video rental services, directly from a kiosk, as opposed to a store. These Kiosks are located throughout Australia, in various shopping centres.
With the rise of technology, consumers were quick to make the switch from physical DVD’s, to the digital alternative. Online streaming services became the new one stop shop to watch movies and TV series, at even higher quality and ease than at physical video rental stores.
Additionally, technology has allowed room for new forms of video entertainment. Social media video platforms including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat provide a form of entertainment for consumers, that is different to the traditional movie or TV show, and allow room for anyone to become a content creator. Social media video platforms have also changed the preference of entertainment for certain consumers, specially consumers in a younger demographic. As video’s become shorter, and consumers become busier, consumers attention spans adjust to this length, and not everyone is interested in watching a two hour long movies anymore.
Although the rise of technology was damaging to the video rental industry, the rise of technology was beneficial, and increased the importance of Social Media Marketing. Social Media Marketing became an opportunity to reach a large number of consumers, all in the one place, and offers a place for both content creators from social media video platforms and online streaming services to make long term sustainable revenue, in addition to the revenue made from the purchase of the video itself.
As technology takes over, social media marketing has quickly become an important tool for businesses to grasp, and it is important for businesses to fully utilise and understand the benefits of social media marketing, and why forecasting for future trends is vital, to ensure what happened to Video Ezy and the video rental industry, does not happen again.
Learn more about Noop’s Social Media Marketing Services, and how Noop can help you with all things social media here.
