LAS VEGAS – How the adult industry can attract more female customers was the theme of a heavily attended second-day seminar titled "What Women Want."
A panel of six high-profile women from both the production and marketing of adult entertainment confronted that age-old conundrum with passion and humor, under the brisk guidance of Erica Heathman, managing editor of Adult Novelty Business.
Participants were Kimberly Wilson and Shirley Isaacson, partners in Lennox Films and Inpulse Digital TV; Joanne Mason, marketing v.p. of Australia-based Abbywinters.com; feature director Kelly Holland, now executive producer with Penthouse Media Group; Alicia Relles, Babeland video buyer; and veteran retailer Kim Airs of GrandOpenings.com.
Holland answered the endlessly vexing question of what women want with one word: "Everything."
"Women want to project into the product they're watching. You have to create the sensuality and eroticism and magic that a woman wants to find in her own life."
Isaacson added, "Women want to see wonderful looking men and a lot of them."
Mason, an American who entered adult in Australia after retiring as a schoolteacher, pointed out that women are not automatically aroused by porn, as many men are. "They choose to be entertained. They resent being typecast."
Relles said that buying for Babeland, she looks for " authenticity and passion. We do well with the work of Tristan Taormino, Candida Royalle, Jamie Waxman. The best of the best of what's out there is what we try to carry."
Babeland's DVD division, she added, has been "extremely profitable for us." Their top performer in 2007 was Taormino's Chemistry for Vivid, selling over 10,000 copies.
A show of hands revealed that almost half the audience in the packed conference room were retailers, and they surely appreciated the advice offered by the panel.
Airs strongly advised talking to customers and making recommendations. "Lots of them don't know where to start. They will come back for more if they like what you give them. Give them a bit of guideline."
She also counseled making stores look welcoming for women, which includes not putting up posters they might find off-putting.
When the topic turned to novelty items, Relles revealed that Babeland's hottest items right now are "ergonomic luxury vibrators." Women, she said, are willing to pay higher prices for "savvy, gorgeous, well-made, versatile toys."
"Don't be afraid to bring in more expensive things, because there are customers out there who will buy them," Airs said.
Holland pointed out that for both toys and DVDs, "packaging is key. Showcasing the product is important." Wilson agreed that customers "do want quality." She uses female-friendly Tiffany blue as her theme color on all Lennox releases.
Airs reminded retailers not to ignore the "lesbian market, which is big no matter what kind of store you have." She advised seeking out small producers for the more authentic kinds of the genre.
Holland pointed out that adult video "is still a fringe business… It's open to people with a vision. Three-quarters of my staff are women." She said she has experienced more problems with male hierarchies in mainstream entertainment than ever in porn.
Mason said that from the inception of Abbywinters.com, "we knew we were going to be a woman-centric company. Many women in management positions are former models. This in turn has created an environment that tends to be highly creative."
Abbywinters.com uses strictly amateur talent, all of whom must go through an exhaustive screening process before being signed, with the result that "our performers are really partners in the creative process."
Wilson lamented that though there "so many women in the adult industry, so few are involved in creating entertainment for women."
Holland asserted that "the women's market is the only growth market," maintaining that women will spend their dollars on adult merchandise if it is properly marketed. "They must be reached effectively.
She advised using "passion party" home marketing as an effective way of snagging customers.
Relles mentioned the regularly scheduled workshops that Babeland holds at its East Village store in New York. These encourage women to open up on their feelings about sex, a subject many are still uncomfortable talking about, and in the process turns the store in to a resource center as well as a retail outlet.
"The women's market is out there," Holland maintained, just before a lively Q&A session. "You just must make the road to it."
Pictured, from left: Holland, Isaacson, Mason, Wilson, Relles, Airs.
