Free, chocolate and sex. They used to be the three most important words in marketing (who knows, maybe they still are). But there is one that is head and shoulders above the others at the moment.

And that’s sex!

The organisers of Erotica 2011, to be held next week at London’s Olympia Conference Centre, have managed to attract 150 companies to sell their ‘wares’. And they’re also reporting strong ticket sales (I’m not amongst them I hasten to add).

Does this make us a sex mad nation? I think you can over analyse these things and I tend to agree with Erotica’s chief executive: “People are looking for a little escapism at the moment.”

And what better place for them to indulge!?