Keurig CEO on DRM: “Quite honestly, we were wrong”
CNN Money reports (warning, auto-play video!) that Keurig’s recent quarterly report saw a 23% drop in sales of their coffee pod brewers. Part of the large drop is the lack of adoption of the newer Keurig 2.0 brewers, which have been criticized for their DRM (digital rights management) technology that prevents the use of 3rd party coffee pods. Keurig CEO Brian Kelley acknowledges the brewer’s DRM was a mistake:
CEO Brian Kelley says he’s listening to consumers and is ready to make changes. The biggest frustration for customers is that the 2.0 model only brews Keurig branded coffee cups.
“Quite honestly, we were wrong. We underestimated the passion the consumer had for this,” Kelley told analysts on a call Wednesday evening.
[emphasis added]
It will be interesting to see how Keurig responds to this clear message that DRM is not tolerated or desired by their customers. Perhaps Keurig should start by adopting the policy, “be excellent to each other, and your customers!”
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