IS427:AY1314T1 Europe (G1) - Organizations: Munich: Vidcurl

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About Vidcurl

Vidcurl positions itself as a Daily Video Entertainment App that filters the best videos of the webs for its users. Users can choose and watch constantly curated channels in line with their special interests. This service is provided in a video player optimized for mobile consumption.

Vidcurl's Mission:

• 24/7 layback entertainment
• Gives you access to only the best and for you significant HQ videos
• Special interest channels guarantee personal content relevance
• No searching, no lists, no fragmentation - always running content
• State of the art interfcace & TV-like zapping experience

Long-term Mission:

• The cable TV platform in the cloud

Founding Team

Vidcurl was founded in 2012 by Yulian Patzelt, the CEO. The team currently consists of 6 serial entrepreneurs and veterans.

Current Status

The application is currently in its closed beta stage and has yet to be released in App stores.

Business Model

Vidcurl provides brands and artists with a powerful, contextually relevant ad-placement platform to constantly interact and engage with their target audience.

• CPV (Cost per View) & (Cost per Mille) ad placement in special interest channels
• Monthly/yearly platform fees for Brand channels
• Revenue share of premium 3rd part channels
• Optional pay per view or subscription model for movies and series
• Additional monetisation options:
  • Daily Roadblock Ad Placement
  • Cost per Engagement
  • B2B Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
  • Professional Analytics Client Access

SWOT Analysis

Strengths Content Concept no search, no lists, no fragmentation very simple and efficient interface and use Mobile optimization Usability, easy adoption Transferable for tablet

Weaknesses Lack of clear differentiation What already exists in the market is quite similar with similar purposes and user-interface Adaptable Interface If people catch on that their interface and content presentation style is popular, they can easily adopt it (e.g. through a “live tv channel application” or revamp their own interface) Subjectivity and outreach Difficult to gauge if the concept will appeal in the long As people are now used to searching and filtering, how seamless will the concept adoption be Users will essentially be transitioning back to the previous concept of TV

Opportunities (Enhance) eCommerce Differentiate the service by targeting a specific market (Enhance) mCommerce Differentiate the service by targeting a specific market (Expand) Asian markets - Singapore and India

Threats Mobile video players Applications Frequency (mobile TV) Mass-media targets Youtube, Vimeo, Pinterest, Instagram Cainstream players with high visibility and social media outreach

Competitor Analysis

Type of Competitors/Competitor	VLC	Realplayer	MXPlayer	Vplayer Video Player
"Traditional" (mobile version)	Able to play most types of media files Established OS support	Music & Video Functional Good on Android	N.A.	N.A.
N.A.	N.A.	Functional Optimized Compatibility Reliable	Pay to upgrade Optimization, battery saving Functional Reliable
Cost	Free	Free	Free	Free

Case Study: Frequency

• A personal video service
• Streams video content from most popular websites and social media sites into channels
  • Individual videos from a channel can be selected or all content can be continuously streamed
  • Multiple channels can be combined to create one feed
• Non-stop playback
• Available On:
  • Apple Ipad + Ipad Mini
  • Apple Iphone
  • Apple TV (with AirPlay)
  • Samsung SMART TV
  • Samsung Blu-ray Player
  • Web Browsers
• Cost: Free
• Content: over 1000 channel options, including Facebook, Twitter, TechCrunch, BBC News, HBO Sports, YouTube, Forbes, Discovery Networks, etc.

Takeaways

It is clear that there are offerings with overlapping concepts of “channels” in the market. These offerings, such as Frequency, entered the market earlier and established important connections. They may not have have a better value proposition (in terms of value to customers – but their position is considerably stronger due to their circumstances and profile. In particular, having significant partnerships with well-establish brand names such as Samsung has opened up Frequency's customer pool and acquisition base in ways that is difficult for newly-entered Vidcurl to compete with.

Vidcurl currently does not have an advantage over its competitors in terms of functionality. Differentiation is really important in terms of user interface and experience - there is a need for enhanced or different functions to set Vidcurl apart. Vidcurl needs to focus on a concrete core area in order to move forward.

Proposed Business Strategy

Why Expand to Asia?

• High mobile & smartphone penetration
  • Above the global penetration levels
• Rise of eCommerce & mCommerce:
  • Visa has high hopes for mobile payments and mCommerce in Asia
• Local & regional accessibility of markets
• Strong infrastructure – network, accessibility

Business Strategy

• Target eCommerce, mCommerce and customize solution
  • Link eCommerce and mCommerce to a mobile video player
  • During a new product launch: stream videos of product showcase, link to reviews and other information, link to product website/page
• Training/instructional videos
  • Stream public/end-user generated content: instructional videos (how to do this/DIYs) into modules and channels
  • Offer premium channels with official content from well-established and trustworthy content creators official ones u actually pay for
    • Key industries: language lessons, skills-based
• Allow for social sharing of channels

Asia Expansion

India

• Huge local market and opportunity:
  • The online retail market in India is expected to reach Rs 70 billion by 2015 from the Rs 20 billion market in 2011
• Growing investment and rise in eCommerce
  • Jabong, Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra and Indiatimes shopping are the Top 5 eCommerce sites in India.
  • Each record over 5 million unique visitors per month, with Jabong leading the pack at 11.6 million followed by Flipkart and Amazon with 10.7 million each.
  • Collectively, these five e-tailers cater to 26 million online shoppers, more than a half of total number of online eCommerce visitors in India alone
  • In 2013, $360 million was raised by investors for Flipkart. Flipkart is valued at $1 billion
    • This large investment shows the confidence investors have in the current eCommerce and mCommerce market.
  • Other well-established competitors have also sensed the opportunities available and are rushing to enter India
    • Amazon entered India 3 months ago
    • Ebay India bought Snapdeal in order to enter India ecommerce market
• Opportunities in mCommerce - smart phone penetration
  • Overall mobile phone penetration – 56% (upper tier worldwide)
• High online video consumption levels
  • 3rd highest in Asia (73.1%)
    • Total online video consumption in India has doubled in the past two years to 3.7 billion videos per month
  • Increased number online video viewers
  • Increasing video consumption per viewer
    • Total online video audience in India has grown 74% to 54 million views, with average viewer watching 18% more videos, and spending 28% more time viewing
    • “The rapid online video growth we’re witnessing in India represents a significant opportunity for both marketers and media companies in India. As the Indian online video market begins to realize the value of its existing inventory while continuing its growth in viewers and consumption time, there will be substantial upside for the key players in this market.” said Kedar Gavane, Senior Director, comScore India

Singapore

• Growth: mCommerce to grow 10-fold to $2.4B by 2015
• Thriving eCommerce: success of Zalora, Qoo10
• High social media penetration: 68.1% of total population are regular users
• Heavy reliance on online content for purchasing decisions
• One of the leading countries of smartphone usage (No. 4 in the world, at 74%)
• Good online banking, mobile banking infrastructure

Proposed Market Strategy

India

Opportunities

• Local market size
  • Very large population that can sustain the company
• Internet/Web access through mobile
  • Good network infrastructure and accessibility
• Localization (although English is not a must)

Strategic Targets

• Potential Partners: eCommerce websites/platforms such as Jabong and Flipkart
• Home brands with active video content use

Rollout Plans

• Launch & market evaluation
  • Launch in App stores after end of closed Beta
  • Evaluate market reception
• Selection of focus area & partner collaborations
• Special/introductory projects (events and specific launches)

Singapore

Opportunities

• SMEs - similar focus on viral content ("guerilla marketing")
• Marketing/PR agencies - presence in Singapore
  • Oglivy, edlemen, etc.
• Global brands, regional HQs
  • Singapore can be used as a regional HQ - base for SEA and beyond

Strategic Targets

• Online market sites/places
  • OOMPR
• Companies utilizing high amounts of video content for marketing and publicity
  • Canon, BMW released a series of short films/videos locally as a marketing campaign
  • clicknetwork (DIYs for ladies, budget barbie, tried and tested - L'Oreal new products - review-centric)

Rollout Plans

• • Launch in App stores after end of closed Beta
  • Evaluate market reception
• Selection of focus area & partner collaborations
  • Streamline content on other social media as well
  • Build up collaboration and focus
  • Establish synergy with their Facebook postings and twitter
• Special/introductory projects (events and specific launches)

Additional Information

Why not expand to China?

The video player market in China is already dominated by 3 huge players

Learning and Key Takeaways

- Product differentiation: relooking at content search and display concepts (for Vidcurl, they looked to introduce a new experience to consumers)
- Responding to products/applications in the market that either have some similarities (and are focused on the same platform – e.g. mobile), have varying degrees of similarity but feature on different platforms (e.g. desktop version)