Businessmodel of RockYou

Customer Segments

RockYou has a diversified business model, with two customer segments having clearly different needs:

• Consumers: The company provides a wide selection of games for individuals to purchase and play.
• Advertisers: The company enables companies to advertise their offerings within games to target consumers. ### Value Proposition

RockYou offers three primary value propositions: accessibility, performance, and brand/status.

The company’s platform creates accessibility for consumers by including a vast range of game titles in numerous genres, making it one of the most comprehensive sources for game content. At the same time, it creates accessibility for advertisers, as it has a monthly audience of 75 million consumers worldwide (20 million of whom are in the U.S.) who are demographically diverse.

The company has an impressive performance record for advertisers. Video ads have high completion rates (over 70%, 30% higher than most competitors) and strong clickthrough rates (1%+, 50% higher than most competitors). These figures are indicative of strong engagement among customers.

The company has a strong brand, as it features popular titles from some of the gaming industry’s top publishers, including Wooga, Zynga, and Social Point. Its platform also features its own in-demand titles such as Zoo World and Bingo. RockYou’s renown has led to placement on a number of prominent lists. For example, it is ranked in the Top 10 of comScore’s Top 100 Video Properties.

Channels

RockYou’s main channel is direct sales, through which it contacts potential advertisers. Other key channels are its website and social media pages, through which it markets its offerings.

Customer Relationships

RockYou’s customer relationship is primarily of a self-service nature. Customers utilize the service through the main platform while having limited interaction with employees.

That said, there is also a personal assistance component, as the company offers phone and e-mail support, and a community component, as its website features a forum where customers can answer each others’ questions.

Key Activities

RockYou’s business model primarily involves maintaining a network on which publishers make their games available to consumers and advertisers promote their offerings. The network includes Facebook and other social networks and mobile platforms. The company also designs its own games, but primarily relies on the products of third parties.

Key Partners

RockYou’s main partners are the game publishers/developers who make their products available on the company’s network. Partners include Zynga, Wooga, and Social Point.

Key Resources

RockYou’s main resources are its human resources. These include product managers, engineers who handle technical concerns, and sales/marketing staff who acquire new customers.

The company also relies on financial resources in the form of investors. It has raised $162.7 million from 12 investors as of March 2015.

Cost Structure

RockYou has a cost-driven structure, aiming to minimize expenses through significant automation and low-price value propositions. Its biggest cost driver is likely sales/marketing expenses, a fixed cost. Other major drivers are in the areas of customer support/operations and product development, also fixed costs.

Revenue Streams

RockYou has two revenue streams: game/application purchase revenues and advertiser revenues. The company’s advertiser base includes Verizon, Universal, UbiSoft, P&G, Nestle, Kohl’s, and Dell. No information is available regarding pricing.