MEETING MSM WHERE THEY LIVEPublic/Private Partnerships in the App Age
Carl SandlerCEO, MISTER APP
• MISTER is a geolocation based social community • Launched in 2011• 1 Million downloads• 500,000 unique users/month • Diverse audience. 50% of users are > 30.• MISTER men are looking for relationships (60%) as well
as sex (40%)
MISTER is a values based community that celebrates differences of age, race, status or gender. Our members are awesome.
MISTER members sign a code of ethics when they join. The result: FEWER BITCHES. BETTER COMMUNITY.
MISTER is a thought leader when it comes to health issues. Our mission is to protect and empower our 1 million members.
Ask MISTER CARL Advice Column:
Can I Go to Jail for Not Disclosing My HIV Status?
Worried about HPV? ‘Add Getting to Know your Butthole to Your To-Do List.’
My Boyfriend Can’t Top Me. Is Our Relationship Doomed?
MISTER partners with HULA (gethula.com) to drive users to testing centers.
Apps are a cost efficient way to reach millions of MSM
20 Million VERY HORNY MSM/TSM
Designing, testing and implementing app interventions
• The leading 10 apps • 10‐20 million MSM monthly• Up to 50‐100,000 new downloads daily
• Great Targeting capabilities:•Age•HIV Status•Sexual Position•Safer sex practices•Tribes/ Communities
• Multiple avenues for reaching members:• Broadcast messaging• Email • Push notifications• Advertising• Social Media
Apps and MSM Culture
• Easy to forget – Mobile apps are young and closeted MSM’s first (and sometimes only) exposure to gay culture
• Apps are where many MSM learn about gay sex and health practices
• Are we meeting them where they are? – If so, what are we teaching them? – What messages are they absorbing?– How are they learning to live and love responsibly?
APP Developers / Owners are Like Cher: Clueless
• No experience– Designing or testing interventions– Incorporating education – Creating risk‐reduction programs – Responding to crises
• Rarely contacted by organizations for anything other than an a cpm ad buy
• Owners have little incentive to risk trying things out on their own
• And no where to turn for support if they did
• In‐App Features/ Support– Support to design in‐app features, messaging
across multiple products to support public health goals/priorities
– In app changes can have the biggest impact– But can be costly to design and execute
• If possible, interventions should be designed, tested and measured locally
– Then scaled globally/nationally
Public Health Can (and should) Lead
Apps are like dildos: There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’
– Each app is a different color/shape/ size– What works for one app will not necessarily work for another
– Individual partnerships require custom solutions• Think of each app as having it’s own language
– Focus on ‘moving the needle’ not knitting a new sweater
• Incremental changes can translate into large impact due to enormous scale / reach
Apps Require Shift in Thinking/ Funding: From Local to Globalocal
– Apps are global. They are built to scale. • Health organizations are geographically divided• Apps can reach across thousands of cities and countries • One intervention, thousands of customizations, millions of lives affected
– Globalocal funding model• Incentivize apps with concrete goals• Standardize success metrics across apps• More efficient cost allocation
• Scalability is the new black– Apps can combine local customization and global scale
• Apps offer new opportunities to drastically change MSM culture
• Target populations are using apps, growing and thriving in app communities– Will you meet them where they live?
• 20 million MSM need you your input, expertise, knowledge and care
• We need you
Mobile Apps (and Partnerships) are a Powerful New Resource to Reach MSM
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