XBIZ World is pleased to present “Execs of 2016: The Year in Review” — a special showcase of the thoughts and strategies of 2016’s most influential and motivational leaders as they offer their take on the year’s top trends.
Each of the executives we spoke to is among the finalist nominees for the Online Industry edition of the 2017 XBIZ Exec Awards.
The most notable trend of this year was the change to the chargeback thresholds established by the card brands. Merchants that had been operating within the acceptable ratios prior to the change found themselves seeking additional processing solutions to accommodate their existing and expanding sales. -Matthew Mund, Mobius Payments
The following question about the year in review was asked to those running for the Business Development Executive of the Year Award:
XBIZ: What trends created the most business this year?
Karll Cloutier
Head of Business Development, Mindgeek
“I guess the short answer to that is that the biggest trend is the internet itself, and more so mobile users. The pace of growth of internet users continues to be a determining factor that creates new business for all of us related to it. The number of reported internet users globally has now grown upwards of 330 million. Mobile users represent more than half of that. Trends like these directly impact our reach, and therefore generate new business, giving us more reach in existing geo’s and giving us access to entirely new markets in some cases. This rapid growing mobile internet penetration allows us to reach our audience in whatever part of the world they find themselves, literally giving us access to clientele in circumstances and settings that some years ago would have been unimaginable.”
Holly Ruprecht
Senior Manager of Business Development, Hustler
“What a year 2016 has been! This year, big industry trends showed the influence of mainstream press and politics. For subscription sites like Hustler.com, the trend was driven by influences such as free porn, the emergence of VR, and exclusive content. Using the power behind the Hustler brand, we started to really push our exclusive titles. Given the enormous amount of content on the web, much of it free, trends now point to exclusive high quality content. For example, looking at the Netflix model, you’ll see the vast amount of exclusive shows they produce. This not only drives sales, but it continues to make them the leader in their industry, with other outlets like Amazon and Hulu following at their heels. Likewise, Hustler is the leader in parody and teen titles, and by pushing this to our consumers we were able to see an uptick in sales.”
Chris Youngs
Business Development, Paxum
“At Paxum, we have seen the most growth within the cam industry this year. We are putting a lot of resources into Latin American cam marketing.”
John Mauser
Director of Sales and Marketing, Too Much Media
“A shift in demographics, primarily with millennials becoming the largest generation, is a trend I have paid much attention to this year. We hear many negative connotations associated with the term millennial, but for our organization, it means growth. For example, in the mobile industry, we are more connected now than ever before, but there is still a fundamental disconnect between the companies and the people they are trying to reach. Companies are trying to understand consumer patterns and habits to form deeper relationships with their consumers. In order to accomplish this, the need to collect and analyze data to optimize the message being promoted has become more relevant for businesses of all sizes. Software like our NATS for Networks platform provides the opportunity for business owners and marketers to gather pertinent data to analyze and optimize their marketing efforts.”
Matthew Mund
Director of Sales, Mobius Payments
“Being a premier payment processor in the adult industry is a continual process of education in trends and regulations that will affect our clients. The most notable trend of this year was the change to the chargeback thresholds established by the card brands. Merchants that had been operating within the acceptable ratios prior to the change found themselves seeking additional processing solutions to accommodate their existing and expanding sales. Mobius Payments, being intricately involved in various professional organizations that help drive the credit card industry, was able to stay ahead of the curve of these changes. Mobius Payments was able to inform our merchants and expand their processing options prior to the enactment date of the new regulations, keeping our merchants open for business during and after the transition to the new regulations. Additionally, Mobius Payments added an industry-leading chargeback and fraud reporting system to the arsenal of tools offered to our merchants, which has helped drive more new business and has allowed us to help even more clients.”
Steve Hamilton
Model Manager, Cams.com
“The buzz this year has largely been around VR, and while there is a quick sprint in the adult world to put out a groundbreaking VR product, I have chosen to focus my business development efforts on shoring up the foundation of Cams.com, which is the member and model experience. Since focusing on improving our user and model experience, we have seen a sizable growth in revenue. This, in addition to giving our models new ways to promote themselves, has been the foundation of Cams.com re-emerging as a serious player in the market.”
Kristi Greer
Sales Director, Segpay
“I would have to say the new chargeback levels have created more business for us. Since the percentage in the E.U. was lowered, many merchants found the need to diversify their traffic to keep the levels below one percent. There was a time when U.S. merchants incorporated in the E.U. to take advantage of the extra point. Now we are seeing many of those merchants back in the U.S. We have also seen an increase in cam programs onboard. Traditional subscription based programs have either added cam options through white label options or created their own platforms. I anticipate this will continue.”
Yannick Ferreri
Production and Business Development, PornDoe
“We all got into this industry because of one thing, content. Anything that comes after content is a byproduct of its micro economy; be it servers, traffic brokerage, or billing. In short, it drives this industry. With the advent of tubes, content took a bit of a hit in terms of its value as the market adjusted to this new medium; however, users are once again seeing the appeal in a premium membership. Our geo specific niche content has helped put PornDoe Premium on the map in a big way and we are thrilled to up our game month after month for years to come.”
