Making and Marketing Adult Products in LA

text GENIE DAVIS

graphics FARIDA AMAR

Remember when the only time you could see an advertisement on TV for anything that remotely referred to the taboo word “sex” was in the middle of the night? You might get an infomercial on male enhancement or some sly reference to a dark place where you might find a vibrator. Those days are long gone: now you can sell anything on multiple platforms, so sex sells even more. How you sell it is key when it comes to adult products. 

Whether a company sells personal lubricants or hand lotion, whips, chains, or anything in between, marketing is marketing. Anyone who imagines that strategy meetings in a marketing firm might be slightly discomforting couldn’t be more off-base. There is nothing salacious in the business decisions concerning the promotion of adult products. Get it in front of the consumer, let them know what it can do, and make it cost-effective is the goal. The billion-dollar market is in head-to-head competition with any other consumer product, and the approach differs only slightly. Here’s a round-up of places, opinions, and sales pitches on sex toys. 

Carrie Smith, director of product development at Wicked Sensual Care in Los Angeles, says that not only are sensual body care products great sellers, but that she sees them as a way to get consumers interested in the idea of healthy sexual toys, too. “They are personal care products of an intimate kind,” she says. “A gateway product into the adult world, if you will; it’s really essential for improving one’s sex life. We say lubricant is the most easily accessible, inexpensive way to do that, and it provides an immediate positive response. Even if you don’t think you need it, it just makes everything else feel better.” 

Healthy water-based lubes, such as anal gels, are one of the company’s most popular products. Wicked is known for their variety of flavored gels, which use stevia for sweetening. The appeal is especially strong for younger consumers, who favor flavors like salted caramel and candy apple. 

Smith’s own background is in skincare, and she knows a thing or two about packaging. Making her product packaging easy to understand and discreet is important to her, and is especially important to consumers who have children in the house. They’re looking, she says, for items that blend in with other personal care products, rather than packaging that’s rated X. 

Another way to best sell Wicked’s products, Smith says, is through the proper training of retail staff. Wicked Sensual Care provides many in-store training sessions. “We make sure our staff knows how to explain to consumers that using lube doesn’t mean you’re old or decrepit. It just makes everything better, and it’s a must for anal play since you don’t self-lubricate.” She adds that “it’s great to change things up with a flavor or a sensation. And if you’re introducing a toy, lube helps facilitate that. It’s becoming more acceptable to couples as people are recognizing their own sexuality.” 

Molly Murphy, company rep at Pipedream, Jimmyjane and Sir Richard’s, located in Chatsworth, says one of the best ways to boost sales is by having what she terms “an amazing sales team” that travels nationwide and internationally to meet with customers, attend shows, and ensure their brands have a recognized presence. “From a sales perspective, we need to understand the unique needs of each customer,” she attests. 

Murphy’s brands also gain sales and presence through the internet. “Technology has provided broader access to information, as well as tools for connecting with customers here and around the world.” 

Love and relationship sexpert Domina Doll also sells sex toys through her site popmycherryreview.com—reaching out to customers via the internet is an intrinsic part of her marketing and promotions. Keeping selections current is also extremely important to sales. Doll believes there will always be a new product to add, particularly with an influx of independent sex toy designers using crowdfunding to bring their ideas to life. “I think women in the sex tech industry will continue to grow, with new, pioneering, body-centric, woman-focused products.” 

At Holiday Products, senior account manager and product specialist Molly Romero says “I feel like beauty is on-trend, most notably the JOPEN Pave collection, ZALO, and the upcoming Satisfyer releases. Simplicity of use is also very big right now.” She also feels that good body health is a strong selling point for adult personal care products, with CBD-based products gaining in popularity. “When you feel good and are pain-free, you are more willing to enjoy life, and that includes sex.” The company’s premium, seasonally-curated gift box, The Lovebox, is extremely popular, she relates, and contains an assortment of bath and body items along with pleasure products, presented in a keepsake magnetic closure box. For the winter season, the box includes products such as the Eskimo Kisses soy massage candle with hemp seeds, Guavalava Earthly Body hemp lip balm, and Peppermint Cocoa Wicked Aqua flavored lubricant, among other items. 

Headquartered locally in Torrance, California, Tenga sells pleasure products nationally and internationally. According to global marketing manager Eddie Marklew, Spinner (a new male masturbator), and the just-launched soft-touch silicone vibrator for women, the iroha RIN (illustrated left), are new products poised to succeed. The high-quality design and manufacturing of both items are strong selling points, Marklew says. R&D lead designer Kai Tsuyama relates, “I hope our users feel how we designed the Spinner with the same high standards of function and design as respected manufacturers from other industries.” 

Based in Van Nuys, California, Lynda Mort is vice president of sales and marketing for East Coast News. Mort says that she sees the most growth with pleasure products that break the “sex toy” stigma. “Sexual wellness and education are a burgeoning sector of the industry. Products that are more mainstream-looking, not overly phallic, and great for couples are all poised for major growth. There will always be a huge market for the dildos, fetish/BDSM products and the like, but we see items geared towards sexual wellness as making a huge jump.” 

It isn’t only a company itself that’s responsible for mainstreaming, Mort attests, it’s product placement in mainstream media. “TV shows such as Ray Donovan and Little Women LA, movies like Fifty Shades and Girls Trip, and publications such as Elle, Cosmo, and Forbes are highlighting the industry. Slowly but surely, the industry is garnering mainstream attention.” 

Mainstream attention not only increases awareness, it boosts the consumer base, making more and more members of the public comfortable with purchasing sex toys and sensual body care products. LA-based adult manufacturers and distributors are just like any other customer-driven company: They’re looking for a larger share of the purchasing pie by expanding their market, and selling the idea of great sex through the use of their products. It’s not much different than the ways in which alcohol, clothing, makeup, and hair products are sold—except that when it comes to adult products, the buyers of sex toys may just find there’s plenty of truth in the advertising.