Jenna Jameson is known as the Queen of Porn and perhaps the most well known porn star of all time. Jenna has managed to do something most porn actors cannot do: become a household name. Jenna Jameson has made a name for herself through adult films, magazines, television appearances, various websites, and a best-selling book.
History
Jenna Jameson was born Jenna Massoli in 1974 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her father was a police officer and her mother was a former showgirl. When Jenna was around the age of two her mother passed away from skin cancer. After that her household became very unstable. At the age of 16, Jenna left home to live with her tattoo artist boyfriend. A year later she became a dancer at the Crazy Horse Too. Once conquering the strip club, Jenna transitioned into soft core pornography to get even with her boyfriend. A few years later she walked up to Steve Orenstein, the founder of Wicked, and told him she wanted to be the biggest porn star ever.
In 2000 Jenna Jameson and her then husband Jay Grdina founded ClubJenna. It grew very quickly and in 2006 was purchased by Playboy. Even though Playboy bought ClubJenna Grdina and Jameson are still in charge of the company.
ClubJenna started out as just an internet based company but it grew to include production and acquiring contract girls of their own. The films are distributed by Vivid (ironically the biggest competitor of Wicked). ClubJenna also manages over 150 adult themed websites. Most of their profits come from subscriptions.
Important People to the Company
Chairwoman and Co-Founder Jenna Massoli
President, CEO, and Co-Founder John Grdina
VP Merchandising Kris Grdina
Financial Information
ClubJenna made around $30 million in revenue back in 2005. Information on revenue and profits more recently are not found due to the company being under Playboy. Playboy’s acquisition of ClubJenna boosted Playboy’s stock. It is reasonable to infer the company continues to make good margins since ClubJenna is about 1/3 of Vivid Entertainment's entire revenue and in 2005 ClubJenna films were bringing in net margins of fifty percent.
Diversification
ClubJenna may have started out as just an internet company but it has expanded into many fields. You can purchase cell phone ringers of Jenna moaning, you can buy sex toys in her likeness, and there is also ClubJenna television. Not only does ClubJenna run other actresses’ websites, ClubJenna owns a website targeted towards gay male fans. Jenna Jameson also created a dating website. The most interesting piece of diversification is Virtually Jenna, which is an online computer game where the user gets to create characters and have them have sex. The synergy between ClubJenna and Virtually Jenna is very apparent. The updates to the game reflect new contract girls being added to ClubJenna and the game offers the user to virtually use the sex toys ClubJenna sells. The company is global in that anyone around the world can subscribe but the company itself is solely located in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Major Holdings
ClubJenna is a major holding of Playboy. The contract allows for Jenna Jameson to control her persona and merchandising. The most important intellectual property for ClubJenna is Briana Loves Jenna. It was the most successful porn of 2003 and continues to sell exceptionally well. Jameson’s persona is the most important asset to the company since the brand is Jenna. Through her career she managed to create a loyal fan base and any film with Jenna Jameson sells better than any other porn released.
Vertically Intergrated
ClubJenna is vertically integrated in that is owns production and parts of retail but distribution goes through Vivid or now Playboy. The company does really well with the subscriptions to the website and selling of merchandise from the website.
Competitors
There are no true competitors to ClubJenna. Most subscription based websites are run by ClubJenna. Vivid is the biggest porn distributor and producer and that is their distributor. And their parent company is Playboy. Other porn companies are smaller and much more niche market. It would be hard for another company to build a following as big or as loyal as Jenna Jameson.
What makes ClubJenna a very unique porn company is its reliance on one woman, who has retired from porn. Even though there are contract stars working solely for the ClubJenna brand, the selling point is Jenna herself. The porn industry is famous for being male dominated but Jenna Jameson managed to make an extremely profitable company in the industry which was then purchased by Playboy (which at the time had a female president).
Jenna Jameson as a media commodity
Jenna Jameson is a commodity made for the porn industry. She cultivated her look, persona, and jobs around sex. She realized there is a way for a woman in the adult entertainment industry to take control. She is an asset to the company not the other way around. Jenna's self marketing created a one woman empire. ClubJenna is just one of many products a fan can consume.
From Porn to Slaying and to think Buffy just started out as a high school student
The persona of Jenna Jameson became the face of the porn industry. Through her determination and creativity Jameson got her face and name out there. Jenna Jameson took hosting gigs for the E! network and has been interviewed by Oprah. Her accessibility has brought porn into the mainstream. Discussions about the industry and sexuality in recent years can be attributed to society becoming more accepting of porn.
I think the most interesting consequence of Jenna Jameson becoming a media commodity is the role she plays in young girls' lives. The occupation of a porn star seems more glamorous and profitable. Jenna Jameson is the poster child of a woman who has an amazing life due to porn (not counting relationship problems).
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