Brand automation startup Outfit grows to $750k a year company
  • Home
  • Anthill Magazine
    • Funding & Finance
    • Tech & Innovation
    • Marketing & Media
    • Growth & Export
    • Management Matters
    • Startup & Entrepreneurship
    • B2B Sales & Marketing
    • Anthill TV
    • Podcasts
  • WEBINARS
  • TOOLS WE LOVE
    • B2B School
    • B2B Dash
  • About Us
    • What is Anthill?
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • JOIN THE ARMY (FREE)
  • SUBSCRIBE
Tuesday, March 9, 2021
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Contact
ANTHILL MAGAZINE
ANTHILL MAGAZINE ANTHILL MAGAZINE
  • Home
  • Anthill Magazine
    • Funding & Finance
    • Tech & Innovation
    • Marketing & Media
    • Growth & Export
    • Management Matters
    • Startup & Entrepreneurship
    • B2B Sales & Marketing
    • Anthill TV
    • Podcasts
  • WEBINARS
  • TOOLS WE LOVE
    • B2B School
    • B2B Dash
  • About Us
    • What is Anthill?
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • JOIN THE ARMY (FREE)
  • SUBSCRIBE
Home Articles This brand automation startup in Brisbane has grown to $750K revenue in...
  • Anthill Magazine
  • Startup & Entrepreneurship
  • EMAIL SEGMENTATION
  • STARTUP STORIES
  • Tech & Innovation

This brand automation startup in Brisbane has grown to $750K revenue in its first year

By
Gerald Ainomugisha
-
Feb 14, 2017
0
Facebook
Twitter
Google+
Pinterest
WhatsApp
    Bruce Stronge

    Brand automation startup Outfit is a bit like Canva for enterprise – rather than using design software to turn a banner into an A4 page, cloud-based Outfit digitises brand guidelines and allows users to pump out collateral at the click of the button, ensuring it is always on brand and to specs.

    The startup has a pretty cool backstory: global open-source software giant Red Hat holds countless conferences and events every year in 35 countries, meaning they were employing  a heap of design agencies to endlessly re-do marketing collateral such as banners, signage, digital etc. Their brand bible was the size of an old-school telephone directory and about as cutting edge, and they were hugely frustrated that many of the agencies were getting their brand guidelines wrong again and again, leading to multiple rounds of changes, costing a fortune each year.

    Red Hat turned to Bruce Stronge’s company, Brisbane software consultancy NetEngine, to become a central quality control agency so the collateral was checked before it came to Red Hat. Being a clever software house, rather than getting people to manually check and amend piece, NetEngine wrote a nifty bit of software to do it all for them, simply by applying the principles of responsive web design.

    How did that work out for NetEngine?

    Red Hat were blown away and teamed up with NetEngine to develop the software further (with NetEngine holding onto the IP) and Outfit launched a year ago as a result. It is now used by more than 85 Red Hat agencies around the world, but also leading Australian universities, including Sydney Uni, and a variety of franchises in Australia. Customers have reported Outfit allows them to produce content up to 90% faster, some have reduced their content creation budget from $200K to just $60K a year as a result.

    Outfit is already making more than $750K with its recurring revenue model in its first year, and Bruce plans to grow the business to $10 million recurring revenue by 2020. He is looking at a Series A round of funding in the next six months as well.

    Bruce said there has never been greater demand for visual content.

    “Being able to produce the right visuals, on­ brand, in a short period of time has become essential for large and global businesses. For decades the solution has been to throw more resources – designers, brand managers, content authors and Photoshop licences – to cater for the ever-growing need for marketing materials. This ad­ hoc solution is not only costly, but also does not ensure brand control,” he remarked.

    “Rather than replacing the designer, Outfit frees them from menial tasks and allows them to focus on what they do best – developing great creative concepts, rather than endlessly resizing documents.”

    Smart analytics in Outfit’s background also allow companies to analyse which version of their brand assets is the most popular.

    Anthill caught up with Bruce for the brief interview below.

    What are the benefits of having Outfit based in Brisbane?

    Brisbane’s marketplace has matured a lot in the last ten years with established household IT organisations, subsidiaries of global companies and creative agencies setting up bases here.

    Brisbane strikes a great balance between lifestyle and job opportunities. The cheaper cost of living and relaxed lifestyle are a big draw. You can commute to and from work quickly and easily, and avoid the exorbitant property prices of Sydney or Melbourne.

    While the nature of what we do at Outfit means our location is almost irrelevant, being based in Brisbane has enabled us to attract top talent, and not just because of the world-class universities we have up here.

    The Queensland Government’s innovation agenda and the startup community support offered by organisations like River City Labs have really had an impact on talent growing out of (and staying in) Brisbane in recent years.”

    Why is the Australian startup scene perfectly placed to ramp up internationally?

    While Australia’s geographic isolation means it could be lagging behind, Australians are very innovative and our DIY culture is also essential to compete with international players.

    Add to this government policies, public and private funding and you have a growing startup ecosystem. There is obviously room for improvement in all these areas, particularly when it comes to risk appetite, but we can definitely see progress.

    As an English-speaking, Western jurisdiction, Australia is such a good test territory for larger commercial markets such as the US. Tech leaders and investors have been grilling founders to ‘think global’ when building in Australia, and it shows as more and more big Australian tech companies succeed in going global.

    A software platform like Outfit is so translatable to other markets. In fact, Outfit is used in over 40 countries thanks to its ability to localise global campaigns to local markets. It is entirely web-based, making it extremely easy to cross geographical boundaries.

    Singapore and Seattle have been earmarked as a priority for us to expand Outfit operations internationally. A lot of marketing decision-makers and creative agencies are settled there so it makes sense for us. We will look into recruiting local sales talent internationally in the next 12 months.

    Get unlimited access to our FREE business tools…

    Need to raise capital? Want to become a more persuasive presenter? Want to master social media? Is it time to overhaul your website? Unlock the library to get free access to free cheat sheets and business tools. Click here for free business tools.

    Want an ad like this? Learn More
    • TAGS
    • Australian startup scene
    • Australian universities
    • brand managers
    • brisbane
    • Bruce Stronge
    • Canva
    • content authors
    • designers
    • global open-source software
    • marketing collateral
    • NetEngine
    • Outfit
    • Queensland Government
    • Red Hat
    • river city labs
    • Seattle
    • singapore
    • startup
    • Sydney Uni
    • US
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Google+
    Pinterest
    WhatsApp
      Previous articleANZ collaborates with start-up Employment Hero to help business customers manage their HR needs
      Next articleWanna grow big on a tiny budget? Learn these 3 simple and proven marketing strategies used by top serial entrepreneurs
      Gerald Ainomugisha

      RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

      Bringing the smarts to Australia’s catalogue industry amidst the COVID 19 pandemic

      Australian businesses have an unhealthy addiction to Google. What can be done?

      GreaseBoss' Peter Condoleon, Steve Barnett, Tim Hall

      Aussie startup GreaseBoss selected by leading US seed accelerator Y Combinator

      FREE BUSINESS TOOLS

      Learn how to generate more leads in one month than most...

      Anthill Magazine - Jul 6, 2015
      0
      Most business owners are constantly on the lookout for a better, easier and faster way to win more business and increase sales. With this FREE REPORT you will learn how to generate more leads in one month than most competitors would in one year. Over 10,000 business owners across 35 different industries have learnt and benefited from the same 3-step methodology you are about to learn within this FREE REPORT from Alex Pirouz.

      How to confidently raise venture capital… with Jack Delosa [CHEAT SHEET]

      Apr 19, 2016

      Three easy wins when using LinkedIn with David Hobson [FREE REPORT]

      Jul 6, 2015

      Five things to get right before you quit your day job,...

      Jul 6, 2015

      Inbound Marketing Reloaded with James Tuckerman [FREE REPORT]

      Jul 6, 2015

      How Master the Art of Sales Even if it Makes You...

      Jul 6, 2015

      POPULAR VIDEO

      Want to raise capital? Then it’s time to ask yourself these three curly questions.

      Anthill Magazine - Aug 12, 2013
      0

      Sometimes you have to tell the truth; even if it’s bad [VIDEO]

      Jen Storey - Apr 13, 2015
      0

      Making science fiction a reality: a robot that transforms before your eyes [VIDEO]

      Jen Storey - Dec 3, 2012
      1

      The Distraction Machine

      Anthill Magazine - Jun 22, 2009
      0

      This works for me, and there’s not a cat drunk on whisky in sight [VIDEO]

      Jen Storey - Nov 23, 2012
      1

      FREE BUSINESS TOOL

      The Alchemy of Negotiation with Matt Lohmeyer [FREE REPORT]

      Anthill Magazine - Jul 6, 2015
      0
      Negotiation is part and parcel of everyday life. Despite this, the idea of honing our negotiating skills doesn’t go down well with most of us. We fear that we’ll end up being manipulative, exploitative, scheming. To help us break the chains of this retrogressive mentality, we have Matt Lohmeyer. He has worked as a professional negotiator in various fields for over eight years and before that, negotiated deals with biotech pharmaceutical and chemical companies. In short, he’s an Alchemist in the Art of Negotiation.

      Five ways to manage your time by managing yourself, with Helen...

      Nov 6, 2015

      Do you have happy staff? 5 ways to improve performance [FREE...

      Jun 30, 2016

      Seven steps to crafting the perfect email, with James Tuckerman [FREE...

      Jun 6, 2015

      Want more credibility and influence? Unlock the 12 principles of persuasion...

      Mar 24, 2016

      INFOGRAPHICS

      New Zealand’s Xero eyes US IPO, further disruption as subscribers increase...

      Anthill Magazine - Jul 31, 2014
      0
      Xero recently held its annual meeting in Wellington, during which the company revealed some interesting details about its future. As has been widely suspected, the...

      Ever wonder if your ‘content marketing’ is really just crap? You...

      Aug 11, 2014

      7 Business Lessons From Game of Thrones [INFOGRAPHIC]

      Oct 7, 2014

      How to build your own Media Empire… In seven steps with...

      Oct 16, 2014

      5 Business Lessons From Tinder [INFOGRAPHIC]

      Oct 31, 2014

      OPINIONS & ADVICE

      Bringing the smarts to Australia’s catalogue industry amidst the COVID 19 pandemic

      Colin Barnard, - Mar 6, 2021

      Australian businesses have an unhealthy addiction to Google. What can be done?

      Ian Hammond - Mar 6, 2021

      Aussie startup GreaseBoss selected by leading US seed accelerator Y Combinator

      Anthill Magazine - Mar 6, 2021

      Meet the Fazio brothers – homegrown Sydneysiders taking over the telco space

      Anthill Magazine - Mar 6, 2021

      Online boat marketplace Flotespace sees 675% growth over summer months

      Anthill Magazine - Mar 6, 2021

      EVEN MORE NEWS

      Bringing the smarts to Australia’s catalogue industry amidst the COVID 19...

      Mar 6, 2021

      Australian businesses have an unhealthy addiction to Google. What can be...

      Mar 6, 2021
      GreaseBoss' Peter Condoleon, Steve Barnett, Tim Hall

      Aussie startup GreaseBoss selected by leading US seed accelerator Y Combinator

      Mar 6, 2021

      POPULAR CATEGORIES

      • Articles5068
      • Startup & Entrepreneurship3866
      • Tech & Innovation2913
      • Marketing & Media2172
      • Management Matters1750
      • ANTHILL TV1584
      • Funding & Finance1342
      © Ant Hill Enterprises Pty Ltd
      • Subscribe
      • Advertise
      • Contact