Overview
Scoota represents an exemplar of a dyadic solutions business model in the rich media advertising sector. The company offers a bespoke online video advertisement production and distribution service to advertising agencies and website publishers. The videos that Scoota creates are intended to target specific audiences, and are interactive (e.g., individuals can interact with the online video advertisement). Recently the company launched a marketplace business model, which connects advertisers with publishers and complements its software-based solutions business model. This write-up will focus on the solutions business model as this remains Scoota’s core model.
History
Scoota was founded as Rockabox in 2008, in London by James Booth, a digital technology expert, and Torie Chilcott, one of the co-developers for the successful ITV’s original Pop Idol series with Simon Cowell. The aim of the founders was to create a revolution in content marketing. The company was intended to produce rich, interactive media campaigns for publishers. The company recently secured funding of 3 million from Notion Capital supported by Frog Capital and fourteen17 who have both invested in the company previously. In September 2015, the company was rebranded as “Scoota” and the company raised £3.7m from the founders of Innocent. In 2014, Scoota had turnover of £1.9 million, and is forecasting revenues of £5m in 2015.
Customers
Scoota primarily targets companies selling products online such as airline tickets or hotel rooms that require rich media content for Internet users to view and interact with.
Learn more about the Solutions Business Model
A dyadic relationship where your physical good or service can only be designed and delivered after prior interactions with the customer.
Engagement — Value Creation Proposition
The value proposition of the dyadic solutions business model is to help companies develop online advertisements based on content-rich and interactive media. Scoota say the formats deliver engagement rates that are up to twenty times the standard (depending on the creativity and sector). In addition Scoota also provides powerful analytics tool for advertisers to see real-time performance of an advert. This data enables advertisers to understand why certain customers behave differently which could greatly improve the campaign. One of the key areas of concerns of brands on online advertising and video delivery is viewing and impression fraud. Scoota’s RBX platform is designed to detect fraud ensuring the campaign is protected from any fraudulent activities.
Delivery — Value Chain
Brands and agencies (advertisers and publishers) are provided with the Shutters Video engagement unit which is a powerful HTML5 suite that allows creating a microsite-style experience and a video using Widgets. The units can then be displayed as expandable rich media spots that can be published either through the ad exchange or directly on a website and improve direct sales. Users can interact with the content and also publish their interactions socially, therefore improving the reach of the advertisers and audience extension. The software also ensures that the media can easily work and on multiple screens such as mobile phones, tablets and PCs seamlessly.
Monetisation — Value Capture
Customers are charged a fee at the completion of the work. The fee depends on Scoota’s costs, the video’s performance, and the type of project, and is subject to negotiation at the start of the project.
1. Venturefounders.co.uk, (2015). VentureFounders. [online] Available at: https://www.venturefounders.co.uk/opportunities/ro… [Accessed 15 May 2015].
2. Flood, z. (2014). Rockabox are Distributing Branded Video Content Programmatically – VAN – Video Ad News. [online] Videoadnews.com. Available at: http://www.videoadnews.com/2014/01/21/rockabox-are… [Accessed 15 May 2015].
3. Scoota Website: http://scoota.com/home/
Disclaimer — Written by Allen Daniel George and edited by James Knuckles under the direction of Prof Charles Baden-Fuller, Cass Business School. This case is designed to illustrate a business model category. It leverages public sources and is written to further management understanding, and it is not meant to suggest individuals made either correct or incorrect decisions. © 2016 Published 21 April 2016