GADGETS For GIRLS

The sex product market has always been geared toward heavy-breathing guys. MyPleasure.com is different in that it targets women. It offers vibrators and other sex toys in a congenial setting, more like that of Williams-Sonoma than some of the raunchier sites for men. At the forefront of this effort is Melissa Levy, director of new business for the San Francisco-based firm, who reaches her audience through a variety of channels, including the Web, e-mail and a new catalog. Levy, who holds an MBA and is a veteran of the dot-com revolution, comes from a “very traditional background,” or as she puts it on the company's Web site, “Catholic school. Enough said.” Why is she selling items that she admits are not totally accepted by society? It's simple: She wants women to have the same freedom as men to talk about sex, and to buy whatever products they like.

DIRECT: MyPleasure.com has primarily been an online retailer since it launched in 2001. How is your strategy changing?

LEVY: It is very difficult to be a traditional marketer in this business. You think it would be great to advertise on a large retail Web site. Somebody there believes you can, but someone else at the top thinks that it is too sketchy even though they buy into your story. I cannot count the number of hours I have wasted with advertising people.

DIRECT: What do you mean, “even though they buy into your story”?

LEVY: When people go to many places on the Web to buy [these items] they're inundated with offers for pornography, and pictures of women with next to nothing on. That's not a comfortable shopping environment. There is no porn on our Web site. Sixty-five to 70% of our customers are women. We're taking a product that is not necessarily accepted by society as a whole and making it an acceptable product for women. I think men talk about something like Viagra to anyone that wants to listen, and my goal is to have that happen for women.

DIRECT: Is there a market in your industry for that approach?

LEVY: With the whole “Sex in the City” phenomenon, women are becoming more comfortable with their sexuality.

DIRECT: If HBO hadn't run “Sex in the City,” would you have a company?

LEVY: Absolutely. With the advent of Viagra, sexuality for pleasure is becoming more of a public topic. And why shouldn't women have fun as well? We are creating a brand that is very comfortable. We don't yet have a retail presence, but we have spent the time learning to communicate the right way through direct response. When retail catches up, the first company they think of will be MyPleasure.com.

DIRECT: But until then, you're going to be a direct marketing company. Which channels have worked best?

LEVY: Search engines are by far the most phenomenal channel. People are actively searching for our products. We track every search engine, every word-to-sale. “Vibrator” is our number-one search engine term. Going down to the next level, “Rabbit Vibrators” and “Pocket Rocket” work well, too. Conversion-to-buy rates on those terms can be upward of 20%.

DIRECT: Those are pretty specific search words.

LEVY: If people type in the word sex, who knows what they are looking for? Sex, as a search engine term, is awful, especially if you are paying on a cost-per-thousand basis.

DIRECT: What about e-mail?

LEVY: Our opt-in e-mail database is close to six figures. We market to it on a bi-weekly basis. Our e-mail campaigns have been phenomenally successful for us. In August 2003, between 5% and 10% of our sales came in through e-mail.

DIRECT: You're also launching a catalog this year.

LEVY: We actually beta-tested it in November 2002. It was a collateral mailing — a package insert program. It was a site-traffic builder that directed recipients to www.MyPleasure.com. We did include our toll-free number (866-MYPLEASURE) but it was buried in the very back of the catalog.

DIRECT: Why?

LEVY: While any good marketer would make it as easy as possible [for customers to order through a preferred channel], we made a small business decision. We did not have the staff at the time to handle inbound inquiries the way we would have wanted to.

DIRECT: What was that first catalog effort like?

LEVY: It was 16 pages, 5 1/2 inches by 8 1/2 inches, and four color. We printed up about 25,000 copies. We inserted 20,000 into outbound orders for the holiday season, which for us lasts through Valentine's Day. We needed to save the rest for requests.

DIRECT: How will this year's be different?

LEVY: It'll be 24 pages, plus a cover. We'll have two drops of 125,000 each. The first will go out in time for the December holidays, and will feature stocking stuffers. The second will be geared toward Valentine's Day. We'll be testing our house files, a few prospect lists and the package insert program again.

DIRECT: Will you be making any changes to the merchandise mix?

LEVY: We know what our top sellers are. They'll get bigger spreads over last year. Last year every section got the same amount. The vibrator and couples' toys sections will be larger, and men's toys are smaller. Our toll-free number is going to be more prominent. And we're going to include an order form. Last year, when we were packing them in boxes, we knew the customers were already comfortable going on the Internet and we didn't include an order form. We missed the opportunity for pass-along business.

DIRECT: Are any creative changes planned for the new catalog?

LEVY: We'll reinforce the brand through imagery. Unlike competitors that use romance novel covers or naked women, we use very Williams-Sonoma imagery. Couples hugging or walking on the beach having fun. We have feedback from customers saying, “We love the fact that you don't use any nudity, and that I can relate to the people.”

DIRECT: What are the challenges in doing a prospect mailing for your catalog?

LEVY: Finding lists relevant to us that will allow us to rent them. We plan to mail 10% of our total to prospect lists. Our first effort will be to catalogs that have adult toys in them.

DIRECT: Will you be using discretion envelopes?

LEVY: We haven't printed the envelopes yet, but we will probably be using [parent company] Sawhorse Enterprises on the outside. The packages we send out are mailed in Sawhorse Enterprises boxes.

DIRECT: What about direct response space advertising? Is that part of the mix?

LEVY: We're planning a fivefold increase in our space advertising, to $20,000. We're launching a product line, the Sublime Collection. Our first product is a personal massager. We have not been able break into the media that does not take “adult advertisers,” and a personal massager will allow us to do this because it's not a “vibrator.” Potential markets would include QVC and mainstream women's magazines that wouldn't show pictures of a vibrator.

DIRECT: What are your call center operations like?

LEVY: We have in-house three inbound seats for sales. The center operates from 9-5 Pacific time, and rollovers and late-night calls go to an outbound call center. It was difficult to find one. Most didn't want to deal with the subject matter.

DIRECT: Given the nature of your products, did you have to do any special training for your call center staff in terms of sensitivity?

LEVY: We have a rigorous training process. We train our customer service reps for two weeks to a month. Training includes basic system and order placement, as well as thorough knowledge of the products. We offer recommendations, talking people through their use in a gentle, kind way without being too explicit. We do not give medical advice. There's also training in how to deal with inappropriate calls.