Page 63 - AVN September 2016

as to the best way to implement Free Porn Day, but there is also a desire to share their experiences
and a general sense that if all goes well this may become the start of an annual or semi-annual event
where the best practices will eventually become a standard used by every company involved.
Some onlookers pointed out the short notice in the timeline as an issue that caused them not
to participate. “While we heard about Free Porn Day, we unfortunately won’t be able to participate
in this event this year,” explained Axel Vézina, COO of CrakRevenue. “We find the idea really
interesting. It’s a great concept! The thing is, we’re currently really busy focusing on future projects
so extensively that we’ve had no time to plan anything else. It’s really just a bad-timing issue for us.
But it’s a great marketing idea for sure. I think the companies that participate in this will see some
great numbers in the short term off of the coverage and exposure. However, I don’t think it will
drastically increase the business in the long run. Indeed though, the ‘freemium’ model is becoming
more and more prevalent—it’s a smart way to get the paysites to join the party!”
Others on the fringe of the adult content business see Free Porn Day as a good thing for adult
industry sites overall. “There can be a fine line between porn and casual dating but while the two
can complement one another, it’s important to remember that they are different services,” Steve
Pammenter, CEO of White Label Dating, pointed out. “It’s hard to strike a balance between the two
in a way that doesn’t alienate either user group. We won’t be participating in Free Porn Day this year
for that reason, but anything that makes people talk more openly about the adult industry is positive
so we’re supportive of this initiative.”
From the free tube perspective, Free Porn Day is more evolutionary than revolutionary.
“McDonalds does their Free Coffee for quite some time and it is a good tactic to get their new line
out there,” remarked Yannick Ferreri, PornDoe head of business development. “They marketed it
hard, and pushed it free so that everyone would get a taste. Since then they really haven’t done so.
… I think Free Porn Day is great for new launches, or at the very least, new users. We believe that
any person who feels entitled to this offer should be kind enough to divulge valid email and CC
information. This gives the product a chance to market to him and allows him a more seamless
subscription process when he decides to come on board.”
For most it’s about getting the word out to fans, and if a picture is worth a million words—and
videos are worth even more than that—then the amount of amazing adult movies that will be
available online during Free Porn Day on September 8 should get the point across to fans quite
conclusively.
“I heard about this through the grapevine some time ago, and immediately committed our
company to it,” Steven Grooby of Grooby.com said proudly. “It’s something new, and anything that
can get more eyes on our websites and more potential mainstream promotion, for a relatively small
investment of time, is worth having a go. We won’t be opening the whole site for free, I think that
could be a bit of a slap in the face for paying customers, but we’ll be selecting a number of scenes
from each of our websites to give away for free on a separate platform.
“We produce 180 to 200 scenes a month so to give away 100 free scenes shouldn’t have any
negative effect. Ideally, we’ll be collecting emails and offering discounted sales on full access. I’ve
seen a few negative comments from the industry but the positive ones seem to come from more
qualified companies and individuals who are committed to the long-term health of their companies,
rather than bemoaning over their failures.”
There is a lot of work to be done in the area of re-educating consumers to pay for digital content,
since a whole generation has grown up in the Napster, porn tubes, and file lockers era. One look
at the death of good shows on television, short list of quality films in movie theaters each year,
reduction of real news services and weak, outdated, incomplete porn clips online for free … and it
starts to become clear that content is worth paying for, if you want to see the very best. Free Porn
Day is a chance for the industry to prove it.
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