Kiwi 'Cliptoonz' find US market

By LIBBY MIDDLEBROOK

A small animation company is changing the face of websites, Powerpoint presentations and computer-generated documents from Invercargill to New York.

Three years ago, Auckland-based Inkspot Digital launched Cliptoonz, a cartoon library program of more than 1800 images used to illustrate computer documents.

Since then, more than 60 per cent of New Zealand schools have purchased one of the company's four CD-based illustration programs, which feature cartoon images of anything from clouds to Picasso.

With more than 18,000 programs sold in New Zealand, the tiny company is also starting to make its mark in the United States after generating sales of more than 6000 Cliptoonz programs in the past eight months.

"Out in the market there was a lot of clip art around when we started out, but nothing that was really of cartoon format that was really exciting and stimulating to use," said sales manager Louise Rutten, who established Inkspot along with animators Mark Saunders and Paul Smalley in 1997.

"We decided that we could make a product that children and adults could use to dress up e-mails and documents."

The concept for Cliptoonz originated in 1997, prompted by the lack of quality clip art available on the market to domestic computer users.

After working on animation projects for companies like Walt Disney, Mr Saunders and Mr Smalley spent nine months drawing thousands of cartoon pictures which could easily be lifted from a computer program to illustrate anything from an office memo to an e-mail.

Today Inkspot has four different cartoon image libraries on sale, starting from $50, including two designed for the New Zealand market with kiwiana images such as pohutukawa trees.

The company has also branched out of the static image market, selling individual animated cartoon images via its website for up to $US5 a pop.

Mr Rutten says the secret to the company's success is the high-image quality of its cartoons along with its Scene Builder tool, which allows users to flip, rotate and layer images on to a document.

Increased demand from small businesses has also had a positive impact on the company's growth.

"Desktop publishing has become part of everyday business, but a lot of small companies can't afford to outsource the work. We can supply them with software which allows them to produce high-quality work that reproduces extremely well."

Also key to the company's initial growth was a retail partnership with the New Zealand division of software giant Microsoft. Constrained by lack of funding for marketing and distribution, Ms Rutten said the trio approached Microsoft with a partnership retail proposal targeted at the domestic market.

Microsoft agreed to bundle a limited number of Inkspot's Cliptoonz clip art images with its own Publisher 98 software package in retail stores.

"We've never had any serious budget for marketing, so all through the business we try to form alliances with key companies. Microsoft gave us a great introduction to the market with the credibility of their brand."

The company has taken a similar approach in the United States market, with a deal with giant Apple reseller MicroWarehouse to bundle 500 of Inkspot's Cliptoonz with a Macintosh OS9 launch promotion.

"Always the objective had been to take our products to the States because that's where the biggest market is. Aligning ourselves with major players has been the basis of how we've approached the countries we've broken into and that's been a big part of our success."

Meanwhile, Ms Rutten says the company's future lies with its latest product, E-toonz, an internet-based advertising tool launched about seven weeks ago.

E-toonz is a full-colour animated comic strip designed to entertain internet users while providing space for advertising before the viewer plays the cartoon.

The comic strip, which is updated once a week, can be loaded on to any internet site free.

"At the moment when you go on to websites you get hit with banner advertising. What we've done with E-toonz is bring advertising and content together. The reason E-toonz is free is because then we have an opportunity to sell space, and the charge of the advert depends on what site it's sitting on."

More than 500 websites have already signed up for E-toonz to feature on their websites 24 hours a day. Ms Rutten believes more than 3000 sites will register for E-toonz during the next 24 months, boosting the company's revenue towards the $US10 million mark. "We believe this to be the next generation after banner advertising."

The company plans to spin off E-toonz as a separate company and hopes to list on the Nasdaq exchange.

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Inkspot digital