XXX

by Richie Grantham, Group Strategy Director

“Hey. I saw your profile and that you were in the area and knew I had to connect with you,” said Heather (A.K.A. random Skype woman) invading my work computer screen - and provoking a new train of thought: s-e-x. This unexpected outreach by some anonymous female with a scantily clad Skype avatar triggered some thinking…

As an idea on the rise in culture, sexuality is changing.

The streetwalker has left her corner and she’s working the world wide web.
And the target audience for this kind of business has opened up to mindsets that welcome discretion, immediacy and convenience.

Technology is at the nexus of the expansion of the sexual frontier.

Take this bit from Wired magazine:

“No self-respecting cosmopolitan man looking for an evening of companionship is going to lean out his car window and call out to a woman at a traffic light. The Internet and the rise of mobile phones have enabled some sex workers to professionalize their trade. Today they can control their image, set their prices, and sidestep some of the pimps, madams, and other intermediaries who once took a share of the revenue. As the trade has grown less risky and more lucrative, it has attracted some middle-class women seeking quick tax-free income.”

Technological change is unlocking a demand for pleasure.
In many ways, this “John” didn’t exist before.
His sex drive needed to be unlocked.

The day after Father’s Day new registrations among men spiked 87% on the website www.ashleymadison.com. According to the founder of Ashley Madison: “monogamy, in my opinion, is a failed experiment.”

Is it? I don’t know.
But what I do see in practice among consumers is demand creation.
And I find it fascinating how technology has the potential to shift cultural mores and dismantle long-held personal values.