XBIZ World is pleased to present “Execs of 2015: The Year in Review.”
Each of the executives we spoke to below has one thing in common — they are among the finalist nominees for the online industry edition of the 2016 XBIZ Exec Awards.
The ability to monetize media content across multiple platforms has been on everyone’s radar this year. -Cristian Gold, Adult SiteRunner
XBIZ captures the thoughts of these influential and motivational leaders as we sought their take of the year 2015.
The following question about the year in review was asked to those running for the Tech Leadership Award:
XBIZ: What tech advancements or trends were most valuable to business this year?
Matt Campos
Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Kingdom Worldwide Web Operations
“One of the biggest trends for technology that has helped a lot is the cost-to-storage ratio of storing content. A lot of people like to talk about buzzwords and new technology when it comes to our industry. Going back to basics and looking at your supply chain and how you do business is just as important as new advancements. When I can store my 60 TB of content for 50 percent cheaper, it makes working with such large volumes of content easier to maintain and more fault-tolerant. Staying up-to-date on new technology is always a necessity, but looking at your nuts and bolts and making wise decisions on how you store content help tremendously when watching the bottom line. Another trend that is always important when working on websites is making sure your websites perform on as many platforms as possible. We use responsive web design as much as possible as well as keeping up with trends of streaming video content. You have to be where your customers are, which in today’s world, is increasingly more on their phones and mobile devices.”
Benjamin Fonzé
CEO and Founder, ExoClick
“From a traffic perspective, the huge growth in Asian connected users has significantly grown our presence in APAC for both the mobile and desktop sectors of our business. The opening up of more mobile billing solutions coupled with our global network of carrier partnerships has enabled our clients to target their offers with increased opportunities for conversions. The rapid development of open-source big data solutions and cloud computing has allowed ExoClick to develop and implement some key ad-tech innovations. Our platform API for programmatic advertising and tracking call-back integrations with third-party partners has launched us into the API economy. Our advancements in data storage have enabled us to give our clients access to many crucial segments of the valuable data that their campaigns generate. Additionally, by introducing 60-second data refresh and sophisticated data analysis tools, our clients can react quickly and make those crucial strategic decisions in order to increase their ROI.”
Cristian Gold
President, Adult SiteRunner
“The ability to monetize media content across multiple platforms has been on everyone’s radar this year. Adult SiteRunner was happy to introduce our customers to yet another way to monetize their content: Roku. Consumers can now purchase anything from single day to monthly Roku access from sites operating on our platform. This is something not even Netflix offers. Offering pseudo-streaming videos with open downloads is a thing of the past if our industry is to remain profitable. Monetizing adult content in all the places consumers are now able to use it is crucial in keeping the revenue stream growing.”
AJ Hall
Co-Founder and CEO, Elevated X
“I think the introduction of more modern, highly interactive sex toys like those created by independent inventors and now being tested through partnerships with companies like Fleshlight and Flirt4Free will prove to be the most valuable tech-based advancement to happen to adult this year. Anything that bridges the gap between recreational porn viewing and day-to-day lifestyle presents massive potential. The value in this technology is tremendous not just for those selling it directly, but for our industry as a whole, as it opens up unlimited possibilities for numerous uses in many different verticals.”
Brian Shuster
Founder and CEO, Utherverse
“I’m excited to be nominated for the Tech Leadership Award this year, as I’ve been trying to rally the adult industry together so that we can take advantage of the biggest new advancement ever to hit the business. Virtual reality is a revolutionary game-changer not just for how content is enjoyed, but even in how it is created and the very nature of the content. New techniques for filming, including new kinds of realism and new kinds of storytelling, are opening up, and this is going to mean more opportunities than ever. Businesses will find new kinds of advertising, sales, marketing and revenue opportunities, along with new ways to connect and retain members. 2015 was the year of talking about and preparing for virtual reality, and 2016 will be the year that the VR revolution takes hold.”
Daniel Chura
Director of Affiliate Development, Adult Empire
“I always find this to be one of the most difficult questions to answer as each business’ situation is unique. For us at Adult Empire, the most valuable advancement was becoming the first adult retailer to offer a completely responsive website. We have also made advancements with our video on demand delivery and options. We now offer pay-per-scene options and a Roku channel as well as seamless delivery on mobile devices, including iPad, iPhone and Android. Continuing to be able to deliver a quality shopping and viewing experience to our users on their preferred method of consumption will be a big part of our focus moving forward and where we see the most valuable advancements coming in the next year.”
