Bravoo

What did it do?

Bravoo was an online directory and local business search service set up as a joint venture between Doğan Yayın Holding, the Turkish media group, and the Italian directories company SEAT Pagine Gialle. Users could search for businesses or products by city, district and address, see the results on a map and get directions. Its revenue model relied on advertising sold to small and medium-sized businesses; alongside the website, it also distributed a printed directory.

Why did it shut down?

In a fax sent to its customers, Bravoo said the economic crisis had hit the company's profitability and efficiency and that its business plans were being reassessed (Webrazzi, 2009). An employee who wrote to Webrazzi on condition of anonymity said the crisis had hurt advertising sales at the start of the year but was not the sole reason for the closure. According to this employee, the partners, who had set out with a five-year plan, decided that under changed economic and political conditions there was no longer a case for backing the project; it was not big enough to matter to two large groups. The high cost of the printed directory was also one of the business's heaviest expenses. By way of interpretation, a joint venture between big companies was easily written off when it failed to deliver the expected results in its first year.

The story

Bravoo was an ambitious entry by big players into Turkey's local search and online directory market. In November 2007 Doğan Yayın Holding and the Italian directories company SEAT Pagine Gialle agreed on a five-year plan and put capital into the project. The idea was to combine the technology SEAT had developed in Europe with Doğan's experience of the local market, and to offer small and medium-sized businesses new advertising models.

The site went live in beta in November 2008. Users could search by product or company name, by city, district and address, see the results on a map and get directions. Webrazzi's first impressions were positive; the map and directions feature in particular stood out. Bravoo did not stop there: the Istanbul edition of its printed directory was sent to homes and offices in a run of 1,250,000 copies. According to a MediaCat report from February 2009, the service held information on tens of thousands of businesses across more than 350 categories and offered video ads and interactive maps.

Less than a year after launch, on 1 October 2009, Bravoo announced in a fax to its customers that it would close. The reason given was that the economic crisis had hit the company's profitability and efficiency and that its business plans were being reviewed. Webrazzi wrote that it found this explanation puzzling at a time when the worst of the crisis was already over.

The same day, an employee whose contract had been terminated contacted Webrazzi and filled in more of the picture. According to this employee, the crisis had hurt advertising sales at the start of the year but was not on its own the reason for the closure. The printed directory was very costly but brought in business; the system had bedded in, the team had been trained and money had started coming in. The partners, however, had decided that under changed conditions the case for backing the project no longer existed. The employee feared the closure would once again shake the trust in such platforms that small businesses and advertisers had only just begun to rebuild.

Bravoo's story shows how fragile joint ventures between large groups can be. A project that was small by the standards of two big groups was written off in its first difficult year.

Lessons for founders

• Backing from big partners gives you strength, but if the project stays small relative to their scale, it can be written off in the first difficult year.
• Shutting down a business launched on a five-year plan after just one year leaves lasting mistrust among your target audience.
• Growing print and digital at the same time multiplies costs; measure early which channel actually brings in revenue.

Sources

1. Bravoo is closing! (Webrazzi, 2009-10-01)
2. Exclusive details for Webrazzi on Bravoo's closure (Webrazzi, 2009-10-01)
3. A new client for Nexum Creative (MediaCat, 2009-02-09)
4. Doğan Group's directory bravoo! is live! (Webrazzi, 2008-11-18)

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