AUSTIN, Texas — The recent South by Southwest music, film, and interactive festival, featured a panel on marketing in the adult industry featuring Homegrown Video president and founder Farrell Timlake.
The panel discussion, “Porn, the Quiet Pioneer of Marketing,” held at the Hyatt Regency Austin, focused on how porn shaped online marketing and how it has been a driving force in technology in recent years.
The Austin-based SXSW, known as the world’s premiere media and technology event, also hosted the “Future of Porn is 3D Virtual Reality,” featuring XBIZ Founder and President Alec Helmy and Utherverse CEO Brian Shuster, who explored the impact of virtual reality and its adult entertainment applications.
Although Timlake appeared on his panel via Skype from Dallas Airport due to a flight delay en route to Austin, he was well received by fans attending the event.
“It was very gratifying to have so many people attend the panel and provide such positive feedback,” Timlake said. “Being on Skype was a great alternative for me. I wouldn’t have missed this panel for the world.”
The panel, which included Chris Czmyrid, creative director of Momentum Worldwide, and Allen Stein of Natural Zesty Enterprise, addressed questions such as why major brands still shy away from porn, and how some advertisers are becoming more open to porn, among others.
The panel’s popularity was in keeping with the fact it was among the top voted panels by attendees during the selection process.
“The adult industry has always been on the leading edge of marketing and ecommerce, becoming a central point of attention to other industries seeking to emulate this success,” Timlake said. “This panel was just one way to share our marketing know-how and experience so it was very exciting and thrilling to be a part of it.”
“The way people interact with each other through the use of technology and the mainstreaming of adult entertainment are changing the way we approach sex and intimacy and is going to be a fundamental shift in how we as marketers will reach them,” Czmyrid added. “It’s all about learning from each other and putting it into action.”
According to Timlake, the panelists spoke about how porn embraces new mediums, storytelling technology, and other forms of user experience by adopting them early on. Adult industry marketers have persevered by taking risks and developing successful marketing and branding strategies to grow their businesses over the years, the panelists concluded.
For more than 30 years, Homegrown Video has been the go-to place for unique all-amateur adult videos recorded by real couples. The company has grown its brand with a variety of amateur adult content and special interest videos, and is recognized for its long-running series “Homegrown Video,” which is now in its 852nd edition, featuring actual couples having sex.
All Homegrown Video releases are available through Girlfriends Films Distribution. Retailers and distributors interested in ordering Homegrown Video titles may contact David Diamond of Girlfriends Films at ddiamond@girlfriendsfilms.com.
For more information, visit HomegrownVideo.com.