LOS ANGELES—Rob Phaneuf tells AVN that Pipedream Products began exploring the potential of virtual presentations long before the adult industry went into pandemic mode last year.
The Vice President of Product Development says his team’s embrace of the digital format early on made for a smooth transition when the country went into the lockdown last spring.
Phaneuf & Co. will be back in action with new presentations at the upcoming all-digital Adult Novelty Expo Summer edition.
“We participated in the last one and we find these virtual platforms to be very successful,” Phaneuf says.
Back by popular demand, ANE returns June 22-25 on the Expo’s leading-edge virtual platform, where qualified industry members can conduct business in a variety of ways that include 1-on-1 meetings, group demos and virtual exhibit booths.
To register for free as a buyer, click here.
Phaneuf will be armed with Pipedream’s robust suite of digital marketing materials at ANE, where he is looking forward to presenting the latest in their hot-selling Icicles Glass Massagers collection; the Milk Me Silly Mega Masturbator—he calls it “a car wash for your cock”; new additions to the King Cock Plus line; and other surprises that he’ll reveal during the event.
“Before traditionally at a show we’d walk around the booth with the customer and show everybody the new lines. But we could never incorporate videos and all of the digital stuff that we have now. So these virtual shows have really been a blessing for us,” Phaneuf says.
He says two years ago Pipedream CEO Matthew Matsudaira decided to invest in Zoom in addition to acquiring high-end production equipment.
“We were kind of ahead of the curve with that,” Phaneuf says. “A lot of the stuff they were using for virtual presentations in gaming has been adopted by us now in this industry. We bought a lot of stuff early—new cameras and new sound equipment—so we’ve been able to make our presentations stand out from everybody else’s and give them a little bit of flavor a little bit of pizazz.”
Two years later, Phaneuf has become a Zoom black belt, unleashing quick-strike promotional videos and slick overlays with the touch of a button.
“I started putting on these virtual trainings and they’ve been very successful,” Phaneuf continues.
“So ANE is a great extension of that. We’ve been very pleased with the previous ones and we’re looking forward to the next one.”
Pipedream Director of Business Development Lori Scott agreed, noting that ANE also is “a way for us to reach out to the indirect buyers so they know the new items they can get from their local distributors.”
“It just makes it easier for everybody,” Scott says.
Phaneuf adds, “For us the 20 minutes of face time with the customer is invaluable. They see the press releases and this kind of ties it all in. And then we direct them to a way to get the stuff. Most of our distributors are participating in the shows anyway so they get a lot of these indirect customers.”
Phaneuf says the King Cock Plus line—which is made with their Triple Density formula—now includes 20 SKU and is available in six new alternative colors.
“So there’s six new styles plus a new Triple Threat,” he says, referring to the King Cock Plus Thrusting Cock With Balls that is rechargeable.
“We’re coming out with a brown version of that. It’s a 7 1/2 inch… the one that we released last October was a 6 1/2-inch version in our light color and it sold really well. People asked us for something larger in an alternate color. All our new lines going forward are available in alternate colors, not just light. But the King Cock Plus at the time we released it was before we made that switch company-wide. I just want to let people know that the alternate colors are now available.”
He continued, “It’s one of our bestselling lines. It’s a Triple Density formula that nobody else has and now those same great SKUs are available in the alternate colors—light, tan and brown.”
Pipedream Products for more than 45 years has set out to redefine the perception of intimate care and sexual wellness, becoming one of the largest sex toy and novelty manufacturers in the world in the process.
With a family of brands representing virtually every pleasure product category and an expanding portfolio of global partners, Pipedream is enjoying an exciting time in its history.
Phaneuf and Scott collaborate on the company’s visually appealing interactive flip books that give buyers a detailed look at what’s new and next in the product pipeline.
“And now we can embed gifs and we can have videos in there,” Phaneuf says. “It just takes it to a whole other level. People can use their mobile device and as long as they have an internet connection in their browser they can see any of the stuff—and we can link back to retailers.”
Pipedream also incorporates their active Vimeo page which contains more than 800 product videos.
“We found that sites that use videos outsell the product 10 to 1,” he adds. “So especially now that we’re not able to get out there we’re just really relying on all this other media and technology that we traditionally didn’t use."
