GFY Awards review - Huge success for Captain Andy and his Crew!
After his return from Las Vegas we had the chance to have an interview with Andy Wullmer, CEO @ SGM in his office in Bremen, Germany last week. SGM is a member of the TrafficPartner companies' group.
Q: Hi Andy, thank you for your time. Let me dive right in. Are these your first awards @ GFY?
AW: You?re welcome. No, we still have our first ones on the shelves in our office from 2011. We won Best Mobile Company of the Year and Affiliate Manager of the Year.
Q: You were Affiliate Manager at that time, I understand?
AW: Yes. I always try to do my very best, which was awarded back then and is done so again in my role as CEO, I guess.
Q: Do you have any explanation for this consistency?
AW: Hmm?you know what they say? ?Work hard, play hard? ? Well, we definitely always took the first part of this saying very seriously. Also, fun at work; I take serious efforts to make sure that my crew likes to go to the office. One of the most important things, though, is understanding our customers. We really strive to understand their needs and align with them.
Q: Is there any one aspect of this award which particularly pleases you?
AW: That is was easy enough to put it into the carry-on luggage? (Laughs) Just kidding. Actually what really makes the GFY awards very special for me is the fact that they are awarded by a forum, not a committee. You know, it?s more grass-roots; less room for, shall we say, influence?
Q: I see. You know the market basically like no one else does. Which particular trends in the Adult Mobile Industry do you regard as essential to be aware of for 2015?
AW: (thinks) In one word? Globalization! Not only is SGM present in more than 200 countries by now, it is a fact from a general point-of-view that digital products are perfect for a global (marketing) approach. This holds true even more so if the product is digital AND mobile!
Q: And with the event, what were the topics which you noticed in particular?
AW: New billing options! It seems like everybody is looking for new and alternative ways of how to bill the customer. We really need something like iTunes or PayPal for the Adult Industry, which is easy and straightforward to integrate and used by most. The end-user, aka the customer, needs to recognize and trust the payment process. That alone already raises the conversion rate.
Q: Okay, what does this imply for the individual market participant?
AW: Independence from the carriers, more freedom in creating a product, and also higher revenue margins. This also may result in some sort of monopoly, but it will be a limited one. But as PayPal recently decided to open up for Adult, who knows, maybe they wish to step in and take on this role.
Q: So what are your next goals then?
AW: One really can?t win any more prestigious awards in the industry, so that?s covered, I guess; (laughs) but naturally we want to continue to grow with SGM and just to maintain the high level we have achieved so far is a challenge I am happy to accept.
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