AdeleMcanally843

In this analysis and opinion piece, lets take a look at Comcast Miami and their new brand called XFINITY, the reason it is needed, and whether it will succeed.

Suddenly, new competition is changing the environment for Comcast. They are one of those companies who is working hard to re-invent their relationship with the customer. So far it has not worked, so as a next step they are re-branding the company.

They hope if they change the name and the brand that customers will forget the problems. The goal is right, however the plan is not.

The company will be called XFINITY. However they have not yet fixed the things that hurt the Comcast name. Therefore I think the new name will not work the way they want.

Comcast Miami and their relationship with the customer have been hitting sour notes for many years. With competition building, they have been trying to repair their image.

As the company tries to reinvent itself with it's warm-hearted advertising, and improving their customer service by adding more operators, if you ask the customers, generally speaking the problem is not fixed yet.

Because there has been little focus on the customer over the years, even if the company reverses itself completely now, it will still be several years before the customers recognizes the change. This happened with Sprint in the 1990's. Sprint fixed their customer care problems, but did not benefit for several years when the customer finally caught on.

The Comcast problem is they say one thing and do another with the customer.

An example is the recent shift to a digital network. Currently Comcast has two kinds of services. One is the digital network and has a converter box, and the other has a less expensive basic analog cable service.

Comcast has suddenly begun to force its customers of the basic analog service to switch to their basic digital service. That small change in the name does not give a good representation of the problems the customers being forced deal with.

Area by area, Comcast is transforming their network to digital. I hear from reporters all over the country looking for comments on this story as it rolls into their town.

The marketing rule Comcast is breaking is this. Otherwise happy customers who choose to do nothing will lose channels. Customers should be able to opt out of the changes and keep their existing service. At least for a transition period.

Instead these customers will drop from almost 100 channels to 20 something channels. If they wanted the channels they had before they have to spend more every month and rent a converter box for each television.

The problems with forcing the customers to make this change so quickly are many. This goes against the rules of building good relationships. One of the big problems for Comcast is the hit on their brand. Upset customers remember.

First of all there is no quick channel surfing. Changing channels was instantaneous. Now it takes a second or so between channels. That spoils the fun for many. A hit on the brand.

Second it costs more. Customers have to acquire these converter boxes to make the additional channels work. Then they have to pay Comcast, per box, or per TV, on a monthly basis. Many chose not to have digital because they didn't have room for or didn't want the converter boxes. That's a problem customers now have to deal with. Another hit on the brand.

Third, since they have to pay for these boxes on a monthly basis, customers only get boxes for the televisions they watch often. They don't buy boxes for the less frequently used sets. On those customers can no longer watch all the channels. An example is in a guest room. Seldom used, but when someone is in there they can no longer watch television the same as before. Customers are now handicapped with only a few channels. Another hit on the brand.

Fourth are the long lines outside of Comcast stores with very upset customers waiting to rent converter boxes so they can get back to where they were. I stopped by several times to talk with customers. The lines were so long, and lasted a couple months and the customers were very upset. Another hit on the brand.

Fifth is the quality of the signal. Customers had quality problems now and then, but with this new digital network these problems seem to be much more numerous and longer lasting. Another hit on the brand.

The benefits of this digital system are a few extra channels and better quality picture, but to tell you the truth the picture was fine before also. Many customers think this change is not worth it, yet they are forced to make it and incur extra costs, and not have service on all their TV's.

To make matters worse this change was forced on customers, whether they want it or not. Comcast broke a key marketing rule. Don't force customers to change. Offer something new and let them choose. Let the customer stay in charge. If you have to make a change, introduce a transition period of a year or two in order for customers to get a better feel.

Comcast would have looked like the kind of company who cared about the customer by the process. Now they look like bullies in a childhood schoolyard.

Comcast Miami shot themselves in the foot with this move. In the past it did not matter to them. They had no competition so they had nothing to risk. Now however there is growing competition.

First there is satellite television. Now there is a bigger threat. The local telephone company offering television. offering Uverse and Verizon is offering FiOS in a growing number of places. According to various awards they have received it is very good quality.

The good news for the customer is the marketplace is changing to a customer-oriented place, instead of the company oriented place. That means the customer can vote with their feet.

A good customer reputation is key. That is built out of showing respect for the customer. Comcast instead gives with one hand and takes away with the other. They keep ripping open the customers wound and don't give it a chance to heal.

That's where this new brand comes into play. Comcast hopes XFINITY will breath new life into their market worn name. Expect to see them pouring lots of money into advertising the effort. However I don't think it will work, not yet.

Until they realize they have to fix the problems first, then re-brand, I don't think this new name will work. Customers will realize quickly that the name is different, but the problems are the same. The value of the new brand will be lost.

I have met with Comcast executives and like them. They seem like nice people. The problem is they don't connect the dots and realize that what they do with their company in order to grow, also impacts millions of other people, their customers.

They have not explained why they are forcing the customer to deal with these problems. Why they need to upgrade the network. They do not give the customer the respect they demand.