Page 38 - Payout Magazine Online Volume 10.02
P. 38
The Gay Market:
An Industry Within
An Industry?
by Alex Lecomte | 7 Veils Social Media However, quite a few brands have It is also very interesting to note how last
Marketing recognized over the years their gay month, during the XBiz and AVN tradeshows,
customers were some of the most reliable we could see how the gay male porn business
Our industry is evolving and changing very and that they represented some of their is resisting the clipsites tsunami.
fast, but can we really say our group of best long-term profits. To understand why it
professionals is open-minded? is relevant to pay more attention to the gay While the adult industry is shifting, we
market, we need to analyze the consumption even saw a new summit being created:
A couple of years ago, it was very common within a social context. First of all, gay men the Str8upGayPorn Summit, based on the
to hear questions or comments during panels are less frequently raising children which, famous blog activities and award ceremony.
at the tradeshows about “the gay niche”. Many logically, increases their power of acquisition The summit, presented by the famous LGBT
smart marketers have, since then, updated and therefore their capacity to spend money ally clipstore ManyVids, offered some film
their speech and sales strategies. on entertainment services. The situation is projections, conferences and fan meetings,
changing thanks to the legalization of same- and was an unqualified success. Celebrities
We can probably say that, globally, the sex unions, we can observe some changes are also joining the cause and giving more
industry is now more inclusive and respectful in this trend, but still, globally, gay consumers visibility to the community; the award
toward gay male businesses than a decade have a higher budget to spend online. It also ceremony was hosted by the very famous
ago, but we can still note some surprising appears that gay people, in general, seem to Kathy Griffin.
points. be more comfortable with their sexuality and
fantasies. This could partially explain why, A couple of weeks after, AVN’s gay section,
For example, for most of the numerous they are more likely open to keep buying porn Gayvn, held their own huge gay porn awards
webcam awards categories, we can find even if they enter in a relationship, without any event for its third year in a row, a super
a plenty of nominations for cis-female “shame or moral” social stigma. production co-hosted by Alec Mapa and
performers, such as best Latina, Tattooed, Nicole Byer.
International, Fetish, Premium, Freemium, and Another interesting fact about gay
Cosplay camgirl, etc... consumers is that because of the “Straight In a nutshell, from a business point of
norm” society, one of the best ways to explore view, we can see that even with a smaller
The cis-guys, meanwhile, are very often one’s gay sexuality is through anonymous, amount of companies and in a context in
nominated for only one or two categories: hidden or secret sources... aka the Internet. which producers are wondering how they will
best male cam model and, eventually, best gay Online, many gay men have found a real way profit from their partnership with their models
cam couple. to satisfy their impulses, without any shame and (as an extension) their clips fanbase, the
or guilt. gay male porn business is still strong and
Would it mean there are more straight profitable.
and lesbian cis-women performers than cis- Times are changing but online gay porn
men? Possibly. This would also explain why has always been a safe space to enjoy their Some networks like Say Uncle and
many companies are also putting all the traffic desires and discover the wide variety of acts ZBuckz are even launching new platforms
and the offers toward a global Gay market and fetishes. This is partly because of the and new brands, such as RawHole, proof gay
without offering any proper segmentation. comforting relationship with digital media, and consumers are not going to stop spending
The volumes of traffic are indeed very small that gay men are also very welcoming when it on porn. And the Industry segment is only
compared to straight porn, which means that comes to legal gay porn consumption. beginning to develop its full potential.
the gay market itself must be smaller.
38 PAYOUTMAGAZINE
