The change was long overdue, one Mark Hovanec immediately noticed upon starting his new job with Marina Pacific Distributors two years ago. "I looked at the logo, and while it's something of great pride to the organization and it's what started them, it just seemed out of date to me. It just doesn't reflect where the company is in terms of leading-edge customer service," says Hovanec, marketing director for Marina Pacific Productions. "I thought it was time for a face lift."
So this month, a new logo and a more modern, hip website — and a reinvigorated attitude — has infused Marina Pacific with a fresh outlook as it enters its 18th year. "The funny thing is that I would call the company very cutting edge. There's a lot of things going on here that you see in Fortune 250s in terms of marketing strategies, implementation, and customer service and I don't think that they realized they're doing that stuff and how amazing it is. It doesn't really exist in the traditional entertainment industry, let alone the adult world."
Marina Pacific specializes in gay product, but distributes a wide range of gay and straight lines, offering everything from bisexual to transsexual, specialty to fetish. "We had another record breaking year — we just keep expanding and growing. It seems like almost every other week we're adding another vendor," notes owner Nick Boyias. "We decided it was time to bring the logo into the digital age, so to speak, and come up with a more modern looking logo, more appropriately reflecting advancements and changes in technology."
Marina Pacific also has three production companies of its own: Jet Set Productions, a top gay line; Marina Pacific International, which mostly buys gay foreign product; and Matrock Adventures, a straight male/ female hardcore wrestling line that has won an AVN Best Specialty Release award.
"We give the artist final cut. We're not experts on editing, photography, or videography... that's why we've been successful," notes Boyias. "Some owners are their own worst enemies. If they didn't interject themselves so much, maybe their productions would end up better. I've seen videos, sometimes, where I think the people that made it should be ashamed. What does it cost to get an inexpensive location? Do you have to be in the warehouse and move the boxes aside on the floor to have sex?"
In addition to its own production lines, Marina Pacific has 40-plus gay video companies that it distributes exclusively, including such popular lines as Centaur Films, Pink Bird Media/ Active Duty, and Pitbull Productions.
"Not to knock anybody, but we aren't really trying to match what other adult companies are doing," Hovanec says. "We're trying to match what major traditional distribution companies are doing in terms of meeting with our vendors and customers, and looking at their just-in-time delivery needs, their stocking and inventory needs, what they are doing or not doing with regard to their marketing, and how we can facilitate them with the breadth of knowledge we have."
Boyias says that his core philosophy — and one of his operating principles of business — harkens to Greek philosopher Socrates: The one thing he knows is that he knows nothing. He's not looking for a magic formula, and prefers to let the customer decide. That attention to service has helped Marina Pacific, its clients, and its customers build a solid relationship.
"The daily friendly rapport that my salespeople have with their customers, the bonding, knowing them and being friends, supplying the right mixture of product for the store... that's why they're loyal customers," he says. "That is probably the greatest reason why Marina Pacific keeps growing and advancing. The relationship we have with our customers and how we handle them translates into sales and profit for them."
Boyias prides himself on Marina Pacific's diversity, and the inability of customers to pigeonhole it into any one type of product. "If you buy a certain label with some companies, you know that's what you're going to get. And if that's what you want, that's fine. But we're in a position to offer something to everyone," says Boyias. "Some people have special requirements for the region that they're in or their particular store, and we cater to all those requirements. There's nothing you could ask for, unless it's illegal, that we don't have. We're open and receptive, and it works well for us, and it gives our customers something to look forward to."
And the new look and feel to Marina Pacific's marketing strategy is sure to keep customers coming back. It's already done the trick in-house. "All of the corporate identity you develop not only affects your customers, but your people inside — how they look and feel about themselves, how they perform," Hovanec says. "If you get a really high-end, high-quality feel, that's how they're going to act. If you've got a sleazy, cheesy feel, that's how they're going to act. Our logo now really reflects who they have been for the longest time."
Hovanec is equally excited about the future of Jet Set, where he serves as executive in charge of production. Jet Set already has two huge coups under its belt: The Hole, the critically acclaimed Wash West film that won the GAYVN Best Picture award in 2004; and Wet Palms, the multi-award winning gay soap opera that is still going strong.
Coming up on the Jet Set label will be two films from acclaimed editor Andrew Rosen (who has won countless GAYVN awards for his work and was inducted into the GAYVN Hall of Fame in 2005). He makes his directorial debut with Going Under and Doggy Style. Also coming up will be three more episodes of Wet Palms and the third installment in the anthology series Jet Set Direct, which Hovanec notes introduces the new Brat Pack of Porn, a trademark slogan for Jet Set this year. The "Pack" currently numbers six performers, Shane Collins, Derek Cruz, Travis Carlson, Clint Peak, Ricky R, and Taylor Eastwood — all of whom are in one or more of Going Under, Doggy Style, and Jet Set Direct: Take 3.
"We're on a very solid course of having people get our branding and our identification as Jet Set being the hot, collegiate, hung muscle stud kind of guys," he says. "My two- to five-year plan is to solidify in a rock-solid way the image and branding of Jet Set in the adult market."
Also on tap is a two-part blockbuster at the end of the year, more European product on the Jet Set International label and a killer new website that Hovanec promises to be user-friendly, strengthened by a brand new Video-On-Demand system. "The team I put on the membership site, I told them point blank: 'Your goal is to stand up at the Cybersocket Awards and accept an award for Best Site of the Year.'"
It all bodes well for Jet Set and Marina Pacific, which will get even bigger in the coming year. "We have a commodity here... it's a gift," Hovanec says. "There's no denying that we're just going to continue to grow. How are we going to grow? That's going to be the distinction."
Contact Info: 818-503-7741; 800-999-5530; MarinaPacific.com; JetSetMen.com
