The most unexpected 40th anniversary in business

Believe it or not, the last Blockbuster store celebrates their 40th anniversary. I think that most people miss a crucial point about their decline.

And it’s all about meaning what you say.

On paper, there’s no way they should have lost.

They had a dominant market position and used what sounded like a brilliant core credo:

→ “Make this a Blockbuster Night!”

It scores incredibly high on all four PATH principles: plain and simple, actionable, transformative, and heartfelt.

And for many years, a typical Friday night indeed meant going to a Blockbuster store and setting yourself up for a great movie night with your family or friends.

Until Netflix made a better promise: Why not get your movies by mail and start your movie night directly from home?

Everyone knows that Blockbuster dismissed it and was doomed as a result.

But most people ignore that this shouldn’t have happened. It’s almost unbelievable that Blockbuster didn’t see it coming.

Because if you look at their credo, DVD by mail is clearly a more convenient way to “make this a Blockbuster night”.

Let’s put it that way: DVD by mail is just another LANE on the same strategic PATH.

You can even see how streaming would have fitted neatly into the promise. Also just another lane.

BUT.

The above credo wasn’t their ACTUAL credo.
It was just a MARKETING slogan.

Their actual credo was …
well …

… non-existent.

It was a scattered company with many competing interests and just as many competing voices that couldn’t agree on how to face the changing market conditions.

Their CEO wanted to a push for online.
Investors around Carl Icahn were vocally against it.
Marketing was trying to please customers.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

But when leadership can’t agree on a path, what is the team supposed to do?

More fundamentally, how can you move forward when there’s no agreement on which direction actually is forward?

That is the actual lesson here. Not short sightedness but lack of alignment doomed them.

And it’s why in the book, I’ve dedicated a whole chapter to that first step: You need to make a choice. Someone needs to be brave enough to make the call, define the path, own that choice, and align the team.

This is the actual act of lighting the path. It’s not about predicting the future or persuading harder. It’s about creating clarity so strong that everyone knows where forward is.

That’s not easy, but it’s essential.

What’s your take on Blockbuster’s decline?

Keep lighting the path,
Michael

PS: If you enjoy these real life cases and would like me to dissect one through the PATH lens, hit reply and let me know me which case fascinates you.