(Note: This story appears in the January 2022 issue of ED Magazine)
Looking for club marketing innovation? Strip Codes is an app attempting to bring the gentlemen’s club industry fully into the 21st century, with new avenues of digital marketing for entertainers, clubs and customers.
Let’s face it: We’re all pretty much addicted to our smartphones. Heck, there’s a decent chance you’re reading this article on a smartphone. And while smartphones have ushered in a new era of technological dependence, Anthony Watson and Strip Codes are working to harmonize tech within the gentlemen’s club industry.
“This app is exclusively designed for the entertainment industry,” says Watson. “This app is for entertainers and clubs. With club owners, the app promotes the club, activities at their club, daily events, special engagements. The club can literally promote directly to its target market.
“To customers,” he continues, “it’s a connoisseur’s dream. The people picking up this app are looking for strip clubs.”
Strip Codes is an app that promotes clubs and entertainers to club-loving patrons and answers the question “Who’s dancing tonight?” from the convenience of, essentially, anywhere.
Clubs throughout the country are listed on the app, as are dancer profiles and customers can see who’s dancing that night but Watson stresses customers can never contact any entertainer through the app.
“It’s designed for dancers to send notifications only when she is at the club,” he says. “It doesn’t matter what club she is dancing at, once she creates her dancer program and arrives at the club, anyone following her through the app will get an automatic notification for what club and time she is appearing.”
Anyone that follows a dancer has to be approved by the dancer. There are no invisible followers or bots.
With Strip Codes, it’s safety first
To further bolster security on the app, Watson implemented the need to upload a government-issued ID for patrons to register on the app.
“What made this app foolproof for me was hammering down that safety feature,” he says. “You have a lot of women on there, so how do you protect them from people on the app?”
The need for a government-issued ID also combats users that may not be of age from using the app. Furthermore, dancers can block followers for 24 hours for any reason and a block will prevent a user from seeing where a dancer is appearing that night.
“This app is exclusively designed for the entertainment industry. This app is for entertainers and clubs. With club owners, the app promotes the club, activities at their club, daily events, special engagements. The club can literally promote directly to its target market. To customers, it’s a connoisseur’s dream.” — Anthony Watson
There is also a “hard block” feature hat comes into play if it’s found anyone is abusing the app. If a customer receives a “hard block,” they are permanently banned from Strip Codes.
“If we kick anybody off the app, they can’t get back on because their ID is already flagged,” Watson says.
Watson says he came up with the idea to utilize IDs when he was checking on an Airbnb. The service asked Watson for his ID.
“I thought that was perfect,” he recalls. “I had just finished work on the app and was wondering if I was about ready to go into production and I was literally booking an Airbnb and it clicked. As long as we can identify everyone and there are no bots, that’s what makes it better.”
A “fence” to bring people in
Watson has been tinkering with Strip Codes for 10 years and the concept was born from years of him attending strip clubs. He realized there could be a need for an app that answers “Who is dancing tonight?”
“We want to give customers a chance to see who is appearing at their favorite strip club before they even leave home,” he says.
The appeal to mass consumers is readily apparent — but the app is simultaneously devised to help clubs and dancers gain exposure. Watson notes that a number of featured entertainers are already signed up, including Lolly Topps and Natasha May Quinn.
“We are marketing to a specific target and partnering with us can help increase traffic at strip clubs all across the globe,” declares Watson. “Club owners can also promote their club with profile pictures or videos featuring their club. Though the app wasn’t created to store any data, we will be introducing features that help club owners track how much exposure they are receiving through the app.”
Connection is key for Strip Codes and the app uses geofencing to promote specific areas — banks, grocery stores, etc. — providing people with clubs’ promotional material to drive traffic directly to the club. In simple terms, geofencing works by establishing a “digital fence” around a certain area, for example a three-mile radius.
“We’re taking a geographical circle and advertising to anyone that comes within that circle,” says Watson. “People sit around on their phone all the time, even at work, so while they’re on their phones, we want advertising to pop up to promote a certain club because they’re near it.
“That’s what we’re working with more clubs on, is targeting areas more specifically to get a higher conversion rate,” he adds.
We are marketing to a specific target and partnering with us can help increase traffic at strip clubs all across the globe. — Anthony Watson
As Strip Codes rolls out and becomes further entrenched in the industry — the company made its debut at EXPO 2021 — Watson hopes more and more clubs will control what is on their profiles. As mentioned, clubs are already listed on the app but by paying a membership fee, clubs can personalize their content to best reflect the club. Clubs and dancers are currently being allowed for free to spike interest in the app.
“We would like to let clubs control their profiles themselves,” says Watson.
If a club says it wants to control its page, all a club owner has to do is download the app as a club owner, enter their club name and Strip Codes will receive an email and then the club is assigned to the owner.
“We don’t have to touch it anymore,” Watson says. “We give the club complete control over their page — we can take it back if they don’t want to use it or be involved. But we want to give it to them, it’s their club, they want to promote it the way they want to, they want to put up their own videos, pictures, promote their own dancers. We want to allow them to promote their atmosphere.”
As another sign of how willing Strip Codes is to embrace and work with the industry, the company has plans to work with clubs on promotional events, including coordinating party buses for the “Big Game” in February.
“We want to host Super Bowl parties in cities that are actually hosting the games, so this year we’re looking to partner with a club in Los Angeles for our first party,” says Watson. “We will be offering a party bus to take customers to the club prior to the game as part of our promotional package. We are already having conversations with clubs in Arizona to partner with next year.”
“We really want to be in all the clubs — not just have our banners in there, but really be a part of the establishment,” he concludes. “That is the ultimate goal, to be side-by-side with the clubs as marketing partners and we’re ready to make that happen.”
For more information, visit stripcodes.com.
Cover model: Dazzlyn Flores
Model photography by Michael Morgan
