Grand Slam Media Inc. CEO Luke Hazlewood’s view of the advertising business is one that seems to have solid roots. He says that in an ever-changing marketplace it is a better protocol to lead rather than to follow.
That’s why Grand Slam Media, which offers Adnium, the state-of-the-art fully programmatic RTB ad network, keeps on finding ways to please its clients expecting a high-rate ROI.
It’s amazing to wake up every day knowing that today will be full of opportunity and will most likely ‘not’ go according to plan. I touch all parts of the business, and it’s fair to say that it is impossible to get comfortable in my seat.
Hazlewood, in this XBIZ interview, discusses how Grand Slam Media started, what key ingredients have led to the ad network’s success and what keeps the company at the top of its game.
The CEO also discusses House of Slam, the company’s events series that offers productive networking in a party atmosphere while making some serious noise as it tries to stake claim as a leading ad network.
XBIZ: What are some of the underlying drivers of success for Grand Slam Media/Adnium?
Hazlewood: The underlying drivers for Grand Slam Media and Adnium are perseverance when faced with challenges … coupled with creative problem solving. The landscape of online advertising is always evolving, so the need to adapt and constantly push forward through thick and thin is paramount.
When you surround yourself with great people any barrier can be overcome, and I feel that’s why Grand Slam Media and Adnium have been so successful over the past 10 years.
XBIZ: How did you first have an interest and get involved in the online adult biz?
Hazlewood: I was playing baseball and going to school in Iowa when my girlfriend and I found out we were having a child. My batting average went from .383 in Year 1 down to .235 in Year 2 just from the stress of figuring out how I was going to support this family.
I decided to quit baseball and move back to Toronto to figure out how I would make money and how I would afford to bring my family from Iowa to Canada.
I started off by starting a free adult site called “The Fuck Doctor” with my cousin. I handled sales and he handled tech. What first appeared to be a million-dollar idea quickly became a losing company.
I then took a job at Coca-Cola as an inventory control analyst. I worked midnights every day of the week until I sprained my ankle on a shipping truck. The company asked me to avoid worker’s compensation and to come in and get paid to do nothing.
I immediately took advantage of that time and read book after book about business and the path to building success. I was very focused on Warren Buffet because he teaches that good companies are a long-term plan and wealth isn’t made overnight.
I ended up quitting my job after about two weeks of reading because these books were basically telling me that I can do more.
XBIZ: How did this lead to Grand Slam Media?
Hazlewood: After “The Fuck Doctor” failed and I left Coca-Cola I took a job at Jokeroo.com, which was a mainstream online company. They purchased an adult site called ImageBeaver.com and were looking for ways to monetize it.
I started cold calling companies from adult to sell them flat rate ad space. The site had 150 million monthly page views, so companies that were traditionally more prone to work on PPS immediately got on board and began purchasing.
The site grew from very low revenue to $60,000-$70,000 per month. This gave me the idea to offer the same service to other publishers and free adult sites.
In 2007 the majority of traffic was all performance-based, so the timing was right to approach publishers and convince them to force the buyers to share the risk. I offered this plan initially to the owners of the company, but they turned my idea down.
This is when I left and started Grand Slam Media. I started the company with my brother and my best friend at the time who was just coming home from playing baseball in the minor leagues. We were instantly successful.
XBIZ: What parts of running the business excites you the most?
Hazlewood: It’s amazing to wake up every day knowing that today will be full of opportunity and will most likely “not” go according to plan. I touch all parts of the business, and it’s fair to say that it is impossible to get comfortable in my seat.
When I’m at our downtown office I get pulled in 17 different directions at all times and have to deal with situations ranging from ad campaign-related deals to working with marketing to find a way to continue to penetrate with our brand.
It’s exciting to work on our brand and on the marketing side. We try to focus on being unique and to not follow but rather lead. I think there are several examples of this in our history and the exciting part is to continue to find those methods and moments that shine. It’s also very exciting working with this staff! We have some characters.
XBIZ: Can you tell us about a few of those characters?
Hazlewood: One for sure is Chris K., AKA Junior or June bug. He is a large human who will crush you. He resembles an offensive lineman on a football team. Being the quarterback of this company, it’s essential that guys like Junior are there to protect at all costs.
He once saved my life in the Drake Hotel bar from an angry bouncer who wanted to kill me after I belligerently told him to f**k off. Junior had to calm him down with a full nelson. Junior walked me back to my hotel and tucked me in to make sure that no other threats were possible.
Then there is Richie Cairns. Richie is a very intelligent hard-working exec here at GSM. During the nine-to-five Richie is quiet, focused and on point. After five and a few drinks he converts to Dickie Crayons. Dickie Crayons is the life of the party and loves to approach women. He also immediately falls asleep when tired no matter where he is. Places he has fell asleep are, playoff hockey game, Smashing Pumpkins concert and a sushi restaurant in San Francisco.
XBIZ: What’s the culture like at the office, and what’s a typical work day like?
Hazlewood: In the office we like to maintain a very high-energy culture and encourage interdepartmental collaboration. Think “Wolf of Wall Street” meets Google headquarters.
With our open concept space — literally no walls, no cubicles — it’s very easy for us to pull this off since each team member is right there in front of you.
A typical day usually starts with a short team huddle to get everyone on the same page and running the right plays. Then it’s time to hit Skype and email to set up the touchdowns. Oh, and while this is happening we’ll throw a real pigskin around because nothing beats running down and in around the water cooler. I would also like to mention that just about everyone in our office can hit the red bull on a dart board.
XBIZ: How did the House of Slam come about, and what can we expect next?
Hazlewood: House of Slam started with the desire to throw an epic party and the need to take marketing in a different direction. I remember when I first came into the industry there was a rap party in Las Vegas called The Player’s Ball.
Once our minds started heading in that direction I called up Darren Blatt and hired him as a party consultant. Darren mentored me in the world of throwing epic jams.
Honestly it was so much fun to go through a list of hip hop artists and get to make offers to rappers that I grew up listening to.
So far we have been primarily focused on hip hop from the 1990s and early 2000s because it caters to a large demographic in this industry.
House of Slam 4 will be the next level off the hook, but I don’t want to dilute its value by telling you too much. You’ll have to be there to see what I’m saying.
XBIZ: What will the world of online adult commerce look like in two to three years?
Hazlewood: The shift towards mobile is going to be even more pronounced in the world of online adult commerce in two to three years.
Offers will, without a doubt, need to be responsive and accommodating of the many different devices each individual carries around. Otherwise, you’re just leaving money on the table. I don’t see ad blockers going away anytime soon either. Understanding the behavior of these users and properly marketing to them should be a focus of all online advertisers.
XBIZ: When not thinking about your company, what do you like to do?
Hazlewood: Being an entrepreneur does not afford me the luxury of not thinking about the company, but I have three kids and a beautiful wife so I love spending the majority of my time outside of work with them.
We spend a lot of time at our lake house fishing and laying out on the dock enjoying the few months of summer that Canada offers. I am also a huge sports fan.
We obviously named our company after baseball because a lot of the values we have learned prior to being in business come from playing on teams and fighting to win and drive toward common goals. I love playing golf and hanging out with my friends as well.
I think a good businessman and father needs to have a social life to stay sane and happy.
