Watch out, Symantec. Take care, McAfee. Internet security software vendor AVG is on the march in Australia – with $1 million to spend on marketing the brand with a view to grabbing more of the majors’ market share Down Under.
AVG is well known here for its free range of anti-malware software, claimed to be installed on around 1 million PCs in Australia and 300,000 in New Zealand. It’s No. 4 in the security software market and some 1300 resellers market the commercial versions of AVG software – but the company has only around 4 percent of the commercial market, AVG Au/NZ MD Peter Cameron told a lunchtime media briefing in Sydney yesterday.
That’s about to change, he said. AVG Au/NZ was set up in October by Melbourne-based local distributor Avalanche, with the blessing of AVG International, also known as Grisoft – a Czech Republic original, but now largely handled from the US.
Larry Bridwell, New Jersey-based vice president of global security strategy, made the trip to Sydney for yesterday’s launch and entertained the media with witty insights into the ongoing battle with the Internet ungodly.
AVG Au/NZ has hired the widely respected Lloyd Borrett as marketing manger to spur its new drive. Formerly with outfits like Oakton, Monash.Net and Expert (Infosys), he has been charged with raising awareness of the AVG brand well beyond the traditional freeby reputation, Cameron said.
Peter Cameron is mightily bucked by the decision to pump $1 million into next year’s AVG marketing budget. Avalanche/AVG is already feeling the effects, with headcount up from about five people a couple of years ago to a current 18: set to become 22-23 by year’s end, he said.
A direct sales force has been established to increase awareness and a program is under way to train resellers to target the SMB market.
AVG likes to target SMBs typically with 200-500 employees: it’s not geared to major enterprises or government departments, Cameron said. The company offers anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall and anti-spam protection on a two-year $63.95