A brief history of Vipamedia · 1990 to the present day
Vipamedia has been a pioneer in marketing technology, evolving from its roots in digital imaging through software development to e-commerce, apps and AI.
A pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Selling printer hardware and supplies. We became experts in this niche, but the niche became a commodity, so we pivoted.
No film!
We went vertical into real estate and toured a 'medicine man' roadshow, wowing the crowds with futuristic devices that let you view and print pictures. Alongside dozens of independents, we ended up supplying all the national chains.
Everyone's a graphic designer.
We developed software that bridged digital images and colour printers: database-driven publishing, the precursor to the internet. We offered it back to our hardware customers, starting with estate agents, then went horizontal to any business that sells or tells with images.
Hard-copy publishing gives way to online presentation and sharing.
Leading our customers onto the web, adding web upload to our desktop publishing.
People start selling on the internet.
We used our digital marketing expertise to launch our own ecommerce business (in home accessories), learning the new disciplines of digital marketing and advertising, becoming early adopters of drop-shipping.
Product commoditisation, the Covid home-shopping boom and the rise of social media drop-shipping.
We doubled turnover in the Covid era, then sold the business to a large group.
Everyone plays a little game with their morning coffee.
Flush from the ecommerce sale, we indulged ourselves to develop Cryptic DJ, a Wordle-style daily music quiz, applying our entrepreneurial energy to our love of music. The format is live, online and on TV.
Imagine it. Build it. Sidestepping the gatekeepers.
We've thrown ourselves into the new frontier, seeing opportunities rather than threats. We've mastered AI imaging and video production, automated our workflows, and now act instantly on new creative sparks, like this website, from brainstorm to live in half a day.
What all those layers add up to
Every era on this timeline was lived first-hand. We bought the kit, wrote the software, built the shop and burned the midnight oil. Our battle scars are beauty spots for: