Page 48 - AVN November 2016

FEATURE
“What I know is that France for me is more the
language, the French language,” Artonne said. “I
think we should consider France as something
bigger than just France the exact country and talk
about how there is a market in Quebec; there is a
market in Benelux. … France I think is more about
languages and to develop business in France is just
to say we should focus on the language.”
The activities at the Doubletree by Hilton
also included the GAYVN Lounge, sponsored
byFlirt4Free, Supermen, Buddy Profits, Mr. Man
and CCBill; the GAYVN Happy Hour; Speed
Networking, sponsored by Terpon; and the Female
Empowerment Lounge, sponsored by Chaturbate.
As the afternoon turned to evening, the AVN
Meet Up got underway as a prelude to the dinner
hour. By 8 p.m. a couple hundred VIPs headed to
the Traffic Dinner at Geisha Lounge ahead of the
night’s main event, the GFY Party at the SkyLounge
on the top floor of the DoubleTree by Hilton.
Sector Specifics
The state of the industry took priority on September
18 as leaders from every major tech sector graced
the seminar stage. Executives representing dozens
of blue-chip companies shared insights on the live
cam community, dating sites, mobile traffic, media
buying, gay trends, tax regulations and virtual
reality content at the DoubleTree by Hilton Centraal
Station.
The “Mobile Makeover” panel kicked off the
day with SexGoesMobile CEO Andy Wullmer;
Tommy Johnson, senior affiliate manager for
BitterStrawberry; Ler Khodaverdy, VP of operations
for Twistbox; and moderator Brian Elkan, traffic
director at Affil4you.
The panelists discussed the ever-increasing role
social media sites such as Facebook plays in mobile
traffic as well as the profitability of niches.
Speaking of traffic, JuicyAds Global Publisher
Strategist Jimmy “Wizzo” Foreman moderated the
“Traffic Matters” panel, which featured Macarena
Cenalmor, VP of client services for Mobusi;
Remi St. Maur, sales director for TrafficStars and
xHamster; Thomas Skavhellen, chief brand officer
for PlugRush; Nelson Nascimento, media buyer
for Mobidea; and William Soares Pinto, business
48 | AVN.com | 11.16
development manager for Hubpeople.
“In the traffic market one of the biggest changes we’ve seen is the explosion of mobile,” Foreman said. “If you
don’t have a mobile strategy in place, you’re in trouble, because that’s where the world is going. That’s one of the
biggest trends of the last few years that we have to recognize and address.”
St. Maur revealed that xHamster.com has more than 30 million visitors per day and he’s witnessed a shift: “We
have more mobile traffic than desktop now,” St. Maur said.
The group also addressed the ongoing issue of fraudulent traffic.
“If anyone tells you they have 100 percent real traffic they’re full of shit,” JuicyAds’ Foreman said. “Everyone
has a certain amount of bots, but it needs to be substantially less. … If a publisher comes in and has a high level
of fake traffic we switch them to a CPA; if their traffic converts we switch them back.”
Mobusi’s Macarena Cenalmor noted, “the carriers are changing from one-click flow to two clicks.”
Meanwhile Mobidea’s Nelson Nascimento suggested it’s a tall order to forecast the future of media buying
because “it’s so dynamic and things change.”
“The only thing we can do as companies is diversify,” Nascimento said.
This year Webmaster Access organizers debuted the GAYVN Lounge and GAYVN Happy Hour in response to
popular demand, so the “State of Gay” panel was a natural addition to the educational program.
Moderated by the president of Bright Guys Inc., Douglas Richter, who is also the lead consultant for Supermen.
com, the panel included Gary Jackson, managing VP of sales for CCBill; Jeff Wilson, head of the traffic acquisition
at Flirt4Free; Shaun Loftus, owner of JockMenLive; and Alex Lecomte of JuicyAds.
CCBill’s Jackson noted the gay industry is an “amazingly loyal market.”
“If you look at the gay community we’re very brand loyal,” Jackson told the audience.
He recalled the progressive marketing campaign that Absolut vodka implemented as it rolled out its product
in the U.S., gearing its advertising toward the LGBT consumer in an effort to reach a wider audience starting in
1981.
“It picked up and vodka became the drink of the mainstream,” Jackson said.
“We think branding is wildly important,” Jackson continued. “If a company steps up and supports the
community and us as a segment, then we trust that brand.”
Not surprisingly, the subject of “mobile” also became a talking point. Jackson said the seismic shift is
“generational.”
“The younger gays are much more mobile savvy, usually juggling three or four devices. So that checkout has to
be incredibly mobile, incredibly touch friendly.”
JockMenLive’s Shaun Loftus pointed out there are a low percentage of chargebacks on the gay side.
“These guys pay,” Loftus said. “They’re low risk.”
The group delved into features that are driving users to convert into paying customers, such as trials and
premium services as well as the importance of social media in a company’s marketing strategy.
“Would you hire a media buyer or a social media manager right now?” the moderator Douglas Richter asked.
“I would hire a statistician that does analysis,” answered CCBill’s Jackson, who noted he’s seen “a huge push
on just testing content, testing checkouts and doing a lot more analysis.”
JuicyAds’ Alex Lecomte suggested gay marketing is much more community-oriented so it’s tailor-made for
social media.
It’s never a bad idea to try something new, so Flirt4Free’s Jeff Wilson said his company for the first time this
summer began uploading content to tube sites, which is “way out of anything we were doing before.” Less than
three months later, Wilson noted Flirt4Free already has attracted 1000 subscribers and a couple million views
based on their tube site marketing. >