Alexzandra Kekesi has been appointed as Aylo's Head of Community and Brand, a role she assumed in August 2023. This appointment follows her tenure as Pornhub’s Director of Brand Marketing, a position she held since 2021.

Kekesi's career at Aylo, formerly MindGeek, began in 2013 as an entry-level marketing associate specializing in social media engagement. Her academic background includes a bachelor’s degree in women’s studies from the Simone de Beauvoir Institute at Concordia University, where feminist thinkers influenced her passion for sex work advocacy. She describes her current role as her dream job, allowing her to bridge her academic interests with her professional career.

Career Progression and Company Evolution

Kekesi has worked across Aylo’s portfolio of brands. Her appointment as Head of Community and Brand was announced two days before MindGeek’s renaming to Aylo on August 17, 2023. Ethical Capital Partners, the investment group that acquired MindGeek in March 2023, stated that the name change reflected a commitment to a fresh start and a new public mission. Sara Bain, VP of Public Engagement for Ethical Capital Partners, noted that the company aims to position Aylo as a leader in innovation, diverse and inclusive adult content, and trust and safety. Kekesi affirmed her colleagues' pride in working at Aylo and their eagerness to build the brand as a tech leader, with the Pornhub team committed to providing a safe space for verified content creators.

The parent company, founded in 2004 as Manwin, rebranded to MindGeek in 2013 before becoming Aylo. Over the past decade, the company has implemented stronger moderation and uploading requirements. Kekesi noted that the adult industry currently faces challenges from politicians advocating for the eradication of porn, and new privacy-invading age verification laws are making online adult content harder to access. Pornhub has responded by going dark in states where these laws are enacted.

Strategic Initiatives and Performer Focus

In her role, Kekesi emphasizes a collaborative approach to team management, fostering a shared mission to achieve goals. She highlights the importance of supporting teams in creating platforms, tools, and opportunities for models to connect with audiences and monetize their content. Kekesi states that her team members are deeply invested in the industry, helping models succeed and communicating Pornhub's values to the public. These values, published on Pornhub.com, include consent, freedom of sexual expression, authenticity, originality, and diversity. Performer feedback is considered a valuable indicator for measuring the successful realization of these values, with insights into competitors also being highly regarded.

Kekesi works with various departments within Aylo to achieve company-wide goals for Pornhub. Recent collaborations include working with the trust and safety team to help the public understand platform safety efforts, and with the product team to better serve and communicate with the model community. She has spearheaded several campaigns, including a collaboration with Hajime Sorayama, which involved reimagining the Pornhub logo, licensing iconic works for a capsule collection on Pornhub Apparel, and featuring Kazumi in the campaign. Another recent collaboration was with Shayne Oliver on a new clothes and accessories capsule.

Kekesi observes that the industry has become more creator-focused, with a recognition that the company relies on the content provided by thousands of talented individuals. This focus drives the innovation of new products and features. Pornhub issues annual reports, such as the "2023 Year in Review," which track content trends and generate public interest, particularly the "most searched for" reports. Kekesi's marketing approach includes strategic partnerships, with a focus on value alignment. She cited an instance where a potential partnership with a fashion brand was called off due to their negative reaction to featuring performers in the campaign, emphasizing that performers are central to Pornhub's brand identity.

Pornhub offers B2B benefits to creators and brands, including significant traffic and a support network for models. Kekesi states that, unlike other platforms increasingly reliant on AI for moderation and support, Pornhub is dedicated to human-to-human communication with content creators. A dedicated team assists models in optimizing their presence on Pornhub by auditing content, offering recommendations, and helping creators find audiences. Pornhub serves as a marketing tool for direct content monetization and for linking to performers' other sites to drive subscribers.

Kekesi's business philosophy centers on listening to performers, aiming to bridge the gap between the corporate side of pornography and sex workers by communicating and amplifying their realities alongside company initiatives. She also hosts workshops and attends industry events with Sana Gaziani, Director of Content Creator Relationships, to engage with community members and gather feedback.

Personal Interests and Public Engagement

Outside of her professional responsibilities, Kekesi enjoys making ceramics and spending time with her dog, Deani. She also developed an interest in podcasting in 2023 and recommends the "Terms of Service Podcast." In August 2023, Kekesi was identified as VP of Brand and Community at Pornhub, and in March 2024, she was referred to as Pornhub’s VP of Brand and Community and Head of Community and Brand at Pornhub. She joined the 404 Media Podcast from Montreal, where Pornhub is headquartered, to discuss topics such as the stigma facing the adult industry, Luigi Mangione porn, the "trad wife to feet pics pipeline," and algorithms. She also discussed Pornhub's response to age verification laws by pulling out of states in more than a third of the U.S. Kekesi noted that Pornhub's "Year in Review" and search activity reflect societal trends, with approximately 130 million daily visitors.

Key Facts

  • Alexzandra Kekesi was appointed Aylo's Head of Community and Brand in August 2023.
  • She joined MindGeek, now Aylo, in 2013 as an entry-level marketing associate.
  • Kekesi previously served as Pornhub’s Director of Brand Marketing starting in 2021.
  • Aylo, formerly MindGeek and Manwin, was renamed on August 17, 2023.
  • Pornhub's core values include consent, freedom of sexual expression, authenticity, originality, and diversity.
  • Kekesi has spearheaded campaigns, including collaborations with Hajime Sorayama and Shayne Oliver.