Even deep in the global economic crisis, the plummeting Australian dollar makes the New York market look like a good bet.
So last week a group of seven Australian mobile technology companies -- games developers and other assorted digital media technology companies -- descended on Manhattan to present their wares to a group of ad agency executives and publishers, courtesy of the Australian Trade Commission and the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association.
Mobile has been quick to develop, both in terms of content and as a marketing platform in Australia, and was the focus of three of the presenting companies. MIA International demonstrated a solution that it says lets companies create rich media mobile websites with almost no technical skill in as little as half an hour. Its QuickSites technology is pitched as giving agencies the ability to build functional, low-cost sites for clients with corresponding high margins, backed by a full analytics package that allows for custom campaign creation based on knowledge of the consumer. The company has grown to employ 55 people in Sydney and another 10 in the UK and has yet to take a cent in venture investment.
Also fully bootstrapped was another mobile developer, Front Foot Media Solutions, which was touting its ability to build highly complex, high-transaction mobile websites for clients including Electronic Arts. Meanwhile QMCODES showed off a platform for helping print advertisers drive extra revenue streams from quick response (QR) codes. QMCODES, which is backed by angel investors including Hitwise founder Andrew Barlow, received a strong reception from US magazine publishers keen to find new ways to please media buyers.
Also presenting was TheBroth, a small company with offices in Perth and San Francisco that makes interactive jigsaw puzzles that advertisers can use to entice visitors to spend more time on their sites, and Soap Creative, which has built more than 130 casual and branded game platforms for companies ranging from Marvel Comics to auto and cranberry juice makers. Soap Creative, which has 38 people in offices in Sydney and Los Angeles, was keen to promote its analytics for reporting game players' duration of play and depth of play -- an important statistic for advertisers keen to know more than just how many players downloaded their game.
Finally, Media Equation demonstrated its integrated digital asset management platform, and MCM Entertainment (the only publicly-traded company in the group, with a listing on the Australian Stock Exchange) showed off an analytics package that can track consumers' interactions with online content in real time and display that activity on a map. Real-time analysis means content managers can tweak their offering to consumers immediately based on incoming feedback about their activity.
Australian companies have fared reasonably well on the West Coast, but few (with exceptions such as Hitwise and Looksmart) have grown to a notable size. The East Coast is less familiar territory, although one company that attended the mission last year, mobile and online marketing player TigerSpike has established a New York office. Media Equation used the trip to sign its first distribution deal in the US, while MIA International chief executive Richard Mergler said he's keen to open a New York office as soon as possible.
The companies received a positive response from attendees, such as the managing director of digital marketing player VML, Jim Rodosevic, who was impressed by the quality of what he saw. "There are some fascinating things here," he said. However, he pointed out that most would have trouble breaking into a market that is already highly competitive thanks to local players.
[Top image courtesy of micktravels.com]