While this is not the company’s first foray into the Australian and New Zealand markets, Wicked will benefit from a new distribution arrangement that pushes the brand as well as the product this time around, according to Steven Vlottes, vice president of international sales for Wicked Pictures.
“We’ve done New Zealand in the past, but it was hit and miss,” Vlottes told XBIZ. “This opportunity came up and we now have a distributor who will market the titles and the Wicked brand name.”
In order to develop the brand in a part of the world where Wicked previously had a presence on a title-by-title basis, Vlottes tapped Vixen Direct’s CEO Steve Crow, citing his experience with Crow in the past.
“They [Vixen] had distributed some our titles before,” Vlottes said. “We’ve had dealings with them for years. They’re a great company.”
Vixen Direct, which has been distributing adult CD-ROMs since 1993, jumped at the chance to market the Wicked name.
“With Wicked, we have not only obtained very high quality product that has traditionally been under-marketed in this region and has therefore not enjoyed the market presence it should have,” Crow said. “We have formed an alliance with a company that is known for high-end marketing which fits exactly with how we do business. I am very grateful to Steve and the guys at Wicked for putting their faith in us to represent their business in this region.”
Plans for the marketing of the Wicked name are still in the works, according to Vlottes, who estimates that it will take about two months to get the titles into stores in the region, and additional time after that to see how the market responds. Once the market has selected its favorite Wicked products, the company plans to aggressively promote itself by sending its girls to various tradeshows in both Australia and New Zealand.
