Pre price-increase/spin-off/Quickster/horrible video announcement — Netflix did not see itself as its customers see it.

The customers’ view of Netflix: beloved, caring, happy, useful, successful, committed, interested, interesting, engaged, part of the family, incredible value at $9.99 per month, dependable, core TV technology/service, “you have to try this.”

How Netflix viewed itself: Customers will leave us for the competition, at risk, fighting for customers, navigating pitfalls, suddenly the Microsoft of the category.

See the difference?

Consumers saw Netflix as a warm-and-fuzzy part of the family — to consumers Netflix had already won — but Netflix saw itself as being in a competition to survive.

This is a common dissonance in consumer electronics.

From the inside, companies often perceive themselves completely differently than they were viewed by their customers.

It’s almost always leans to a negative misperception too: the consumer perception is much more positive than the corporate self-perception.

Which leads, inevitably, to harmful action: overreactions, under-reactions, and, simply incorrect actions.

The first step to effective marketing is to deeply and accurately understand what consumers think about you, and what they want from you.

If you don’t know this, you’re just guessing.

Download the complete introduction to my upcoming book, Evangelist Marketing: What Apple, Amazon and Netflix Understand About Their Customers (That Your Company Probably Doesn’t), here.