MoviePass and the Importance of Strategic Suppliers


Today’s guest post is from Bennett Glace, the primary contributor and Editorial Lead for the Strategic Sourceror. A prolific procurement and sourcing blogger, he is responsible for advocating the function’s value in podcasts, white papers, and other accessible content.

On an almost daily basis throughout this year’s summer movie season, cinemagoers have read headlines charting the struggles of MoviePass. The low-priced subscription service was intended to disrupt the traditional theatre model and get audiences excited to go to the movies once again. While initially successful, the service’s last few months now look like a cautionary tale.

In a recent Harvard Business Review essay, Eddie Yoon points out a number of flaws in MoviePass’ pricing model and approach to customer service. Using the company’s woes as an instructive jumping off point, he provides suggestions for its inevitable successors. His arguments also suggest that MoviePass and its disappointed customer base provide a case study in the importance of developing and nurturing strategic supplier relationships. MoviePass’ subscribers are right to feel burned, but it’s clear a more strategic, informed approach to assessing the ‘supplier’ could’ve saved them a great deal of exasperation and money.

To exist as a strategic function, Procurement requires a strategic approach to its supplier relationships. A key step in establishing an effective Supplier Relationship Management program is identifying suppliers who are willing and able to provide for a strategic relationship. These are suppliers who show an interest in engaging directly with Procurement, tuning into its unique requirements, and providing flexible, dependable services. When it comes to supplier selection, anything that strikes Procurement as one-size-fits-all should raise concern. Effective supplier relationships depend on personal, individualized attention. Whether this means favouring local suppliers and distributors over national options, or consolidation over dispersal, will vary based on the organization, but no supply chain professional would dispute the importance of suppliers who can offer hands-on, tailored services that enable a strategic partnership to take shape.

Over the last few months, MoviePass has shown itself to be anything but a strategic supplier to its more than 3 million buyers. Their one-size-fits all approach to pricing and customer service provided for such a massive expansion, but, in Yoon’s words, “MoviePass had to grow much faster than its customer support could keep up with.” Describing their increasingly hands-off service offering, he continues, “The constant price and product changes clearly show how little it understood what customers wanted.”

He begins by discussing the service’s much-discussed, outrageously-low price. Presented as MoviePass’ primary selling point, the $9.95 monthly subscription fee struck millions as a deal too good to pass up. Recent developments suggest it was something closer to too good to be true. Even rookie supply chain professionals know the perils of making supplier selections based on price alone. Cinema lovers, too, have now learned this lesson the hard way.

While moviegoers across the country would agree that tickets have gotten more expensive, Yoon points out that the definition of “expensive” varies considerably by region. MoviePass’ $9.95 monthly price point is a definite bargain for residents of New York or California, where ticket prices average more than $15.00, but most Kansans are unlikely to consider the service so cost effective. Yoon writes, “It is silly to think that a one-size-fits-all national strategy is the right approach for a market as technically and economically diverse as the United States.”

MoviePass’ dedication to a one-size-fits-all service offering not only left their customer base underserved, but ultimately left them struggling with unpredictable demand. As Yoon writes, “MoviePass failed to recognize how the behaviour of super-consumers, customers who are highly engaged with a category and a brand, differs from that of average consumers.” These super-consumers, attending numerous films every week are not unlike any suppliers customers of choice. Customers of choice expect and deserve value-adding incentives based on their particular needs and buying habits. It’s these extras that differentiate truly world-class suppliers and provide the foundation for long-lasting supply chain partnerships. By tailoring certain aspects of its offering to serve its loyal, high-volume buyers, MoviePass might’ve developed methods for better managing spikes in demand. What’s more, these customers would’ve felt appreciated enough to consider MoviePass a preferred supplier even through the recent growing pains.

MoviePass, for their part, seems convinced they’re here to stay. Speaking to NPR, CEO Mitch Lowe remarks, “Amazon lost money for 20 years. Netflix still loses money … our competitors are the ones who keep spreading rumours that we’re going out of business. And clearly, they’re afraid of us and would much rather have a clear playing field.” Lowe suggests that, as a supplier, MoviePass is less concerned with serving its buyers, less concerned with turning a profit even, than it is with instilling fear. The implications for the business’ corporate culture are eye-opening. Lowe paints a picture of an organization that will forsake its commitment to customer service and spread itself past the point of sustainability in order to appear intimidating. That’s not even to mention the lingering questions about how MoviePass intends to use consumer data. Back in July, Lowe (somewhat infamously) joked, “We know all about you.” While Procurement certainly desires suppliers who know its business in-and-out, these suggestions should raise red flags.

Yoon makes note of MoviePass’ troubling attitudes as well. He concludes his essay by remarking, “MoviePass’s struggles provide evidence that bullying is a bad business plan.” Here and there, Procurement has certainly impressed its peers as a cost-cutting bully. Within leading organizations, however, those days are over. The function is widely engaged in efforts to undo its negative perception, build a better brand, and contribute to a positive corporate culture. Identifying and partnering with ethical, dependable suppliers who share Procurement’s values is an important step in establishing this culture and making Procurement a strategic business partner. Continually, MoviePass has revealed itself to be a supplier of less-than-stellar character walking into a less-than-certain future. If Procurement wants to continue rehabilitating its image and protect the reputation of its organization, it can’t afford to do business with this sort of supplier – at any price.

Thanks, Bennet!