Flip the Focus: Cindy Gallop and Hotwire’s Jen Dobbie on ‘communication through demonstration’ and the future of adtech
The future of adtech is female – but not specifically women’s voice and women’s stories – according to industry stalwart, Cindy Gallop, who is the latest guest on Hotwire’s Flip The Focus podcast.
Hosted by Hotwire Australia’s creative director, Jen Dobbie, the podcast aims to change the way we look at tech, starting with female funders, founders, and fearless leaders.
Launched earlier this year, the show discusses key topics shaping the industry with leading figures. Previous episodes have included venture partner at Black Nova VC and NSW Government adviser, Noga Edelstein; founder of AI-powered web app Gether, Claire Waring; and Hotwire’s global CEO Heather Kernahan.
In the latest episode, Dobbie was joined by Gallop, who shared profound advice to women in business at all levels.
Dobbie said Gallop’s messages “resonate so clearly” and help point women in the right direction, and she was thrilled to have her on the podcast.
Speaking on where the industry needs to go with adtech to make sure it is driving equity and profit, Gallop stressed that the future is adtech is so much more than just sharing women’s voices and women’s stories.
“For years, I’ve exhorted the women of our industry to start adtech ventures, because adtech is as ‘white-bro’ dominated as advertising and tech,” she told Dobbie.
“We, as women, are the primary target of all advertising, because we are the primary purchasers of everything and the primary influence of purchase, but we are being targeted and sold to the white male lens. And to add insult to injury, the white bros are the ones making all the money out of it. So for years I’ve said women of the ad industry [should] start and take ventures, because we know how to sell to ourselves.”
For that reason, she explained, the future of adtech is female.
“Not because of voices, not because of stories, but because when we bring the female lens to how we sell to women, we think completely differently about it.”
One of Gallop’s key missions is ‘communication through demonstration’ – described as ‘doing it’, not just saying it. In the context of capital raising, she said it’s time for women to “prove that you can absolutely make an absolute goddamn fucking shit-ton of money”.
Drawing on examples relating to MakeLoveNotPorn – a platform described as the ‘sexiest, safest place on the internet’ – Gallop said she often faces extra barriers compared to the usual female founder because of adult content clauses in business – from funding, to banking, and more.
So, to prove her point, anytime she faces a barrier, she’ll find a way to fix it.
“For example, one of my very key business growth inhibitors is payments. Because PayPal won’t work with adult content, mainstream credit card processors won’t, so at MakeLoveNotPorn, in order to take payments from our members subscriptions, we have to work with the murky subculture of adult-friendly payment processors, who… charge extortionate fees,” she told Mumbrella.
“…[But] every business obstacle I encounter is a huge disruptive business opportunity in itself, and for years I have proclaimed that one day I want to build… the first payment processor that welcomes legal, ethical, transparent ventures like mine.”
So, she’s doing exactly that.
Called Blockfree, the payment processor will be proof tested on the MakeLoveNotPorn platform before being turned into a standalone product that everybody else can use.
“That’s communication through demonstration.”
Listen to the full episode here.
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the creative and PR beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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