Rockbuster Stealth LLC

Online Video Rental Service Launch Strategy

Project Overview

Rockbuster Stealth LLC is a movie rental company planning to launch an online streaming service to remain competitive in the digital age. This project analyzes current rental data to help leadership make informed, data-driven decisions about the service launch strategy.

Key Business Questions

Which movies contributed the most/least to revenue gain?
What was the average rental duration for all videos?
Which countries are Rockbuster customers based in?
Where are high-lifetime-value customers located?
Do sales figures vary between geographic regions?

Tools & Skills

SQL & Databases: PostgreSQL, Relational Schemas, Joins, CTEs, Subqueries
Data Analysis: Filtering, Aggregation, Lifetime Value, Geographic Trends
Communication: Data Dictionary creation, Slide design, Stakeholder reporting

Project Planning

Goal:
Guide the online launch strategy by identifying trends in rental behavior, customer locations, and top-performing films.

Approach:

Reviewed 15 normalized tables in PostgreSQL
Created a custom data dictionary and mapped ERD
Queried key business metrics using SQL
Answered 5 core business questions
Created PowerPoint visuals and strategic recommendations

Challenges & Solutions

Challenge	Solution
Complex schema with multiple joins	Used ERD + custom dictionary for planning
Extracting insights from normalized tables	Applied CTEs, subqueries, and grouping
Data readiness for stakeholder review	Summarized results with clear visuals

Key Resources

Data Overview

Insight:
The database includes 1,000 movies, 599 customers, and 109 countries — with rental rates, replacement costs, and movie lengths providing a strong foundation for segmentation and pricing insights.

Top 10 Categories by Sales

Insight:
Sports is the highest-grossing genre, making it a strong candidate for digital promotion. Family films generated the lowest sales, which may reflect limited demand or catalog saturation.

Sales by Film Rating

Insight:
PG-13 films led in total sales, indicating higher engagement for mainstream/adult audiences. G-rated films underperformed, which could influence marketing and licensing priorities.

Average Rental Duration

Insight:
Customers rent for an average of 5 days, with durations ranging from 3 to 7 days. This can inform pricing models and rental period options for the upcoming streaming service.

Movies by Revenue Contribution

Insight:
“Telegraph Voyage” and “Zorro Ark” topped the charts, while titles like “Texas Watch” and “Duffel Apocalypse” contributed the least. These insights can guide catalog prioritization and targeted licensing.

Sales by Country

Insight:
India, China, and the U.S. generated the highest sales volumes. These markets should be prioritized for digital rollout and marketing campaigns.

Customers by Country

Insight:
Customer volume closely mirrors sales performance — India, China, and the U.S. also have the most users. This reinforces their strategic importance for lifetime value optimization.

Recommendations

Based on the data analysis, the following actions are recommended to support Rockbuster’s 2020 digital launch strategy:

Send out surveys to customers in top-performing cities and countries to gather feedback on movie preferences, rental/streaming habits, and satisfaction.
Provide customer incentives (e.g., discounts, free rentals) for completing surveys.
Launch a Rockbuster points program to reward rentals, reviews, and referrals.
Focus marketing efforts on low-performing markets to boost engagement and brand awareness.
Use high lifetime value customers as beta testers for the online platform.
Phase out movies with consistently low sales and refresh inventory with top-performing new releases.
Expand G-rated inventory and target marketing toward the 1–13 age demographic to grow family engagement.

These recommendations are grounded in customer behavior trends, sales performance, and geographic opportunity analysis.

Curious how I built the queries?
View the full SQL workbook (Google Sheets)