Web Embodies Total "Playboy" Brand Experience

amp160Bob Meyers Playboy Enterprise Incamp8217s President Media and EVP told Jack Myers Media Business Report in an exclusive interview that when the company relaunches a redesigned Web site planned for the second quarter of next year it will be a more true representation of the entire Playboy brand quotFor me the online experience should be as complementary to the magazine as it is to television or radio or to location based entertainment or anything else that we do It is the one area of the company that unlike any other is truly a reflection of the entire businessquot he said Todayamp8217s site is filled largely with free content from the magazine plus blogs quizzes and promotions as well as video and still images of naked women behind a pay wall Revenues Meyers says are stronger than for any competitor and ad revenues are up 53 percent from last yearBut Playboycom does not intend to follow in the footsteps of other subscription sites and become free Playboy Meyers says does not plan to change the revenue mix of subscription ecommerce and advertising He simply wants the site to become a better offering for anyone who comes whether spurred by search TV a Playboy casino or the magazineReach senior ad execs Advertise on JackMyerscomMeyers strongly defended the strength of the magazine couching the recent voluntary drop in guaranteed rate base the number of readers advertisers are promised from 3 million to 26 million as a retreat to quality quotYou have lots of means of verifying distribution that are not particularly efficientquot such as sponsored sales or continuing to deliver copies to subscribers whoamp8217ve cancelled quotTheyamp8217re verified by the ABC Audit Bureau of Circulationsquot Meyers said but quotall these things cost money and many are nonrevenue or low revenue opportunities to increase the number of copies that you have available for readersquot He also refused to concede the menamp8217s category was beleaguered though FHM and Stuff are shuttered and Maxim has been losing ad pages revenue and staff quotPlayboy is still the largestselling menamp8217s magazine Menamp8217s Health is still doing very well Thereamp8217s pockets of wellproduced magazines with good content that have been around awhile that are marketed well that people want to read and do readquot he said quotThere are others that have come in and made a big splash with a very light veneer of content and after awhile people may tire of thatquot New Industry Data Daily at JackMyerscomCEO Christie Hefner commented at the annual UBS Global Media Conference in New York that Playboy distinguishes itself with a lifestyle brand that has the best photos of the most beautiful women mixed with great journalism Playboy once said to be under threat from the 39laddie39 mags has seen ad pages and revenues rise for the first three quarters of this year over last according to the Publishers Information Bureau As a company revenues are essentially flat yearoveryear at about 828 million through September with domestic magazine and TV revenues both ticking down Online revenues make up just over 30 percent of the Entertainment divisionamp8217s 496 million in sales But however one sees the current financial status Meyers has a brand few others can claim which is why the company can launch everything from the popular Girl Next Door TV show to a recently opened Playboy megastore on Londonamp8217s Oxford Street and a 40000squarefoot Playboy Mansion in Macao planned for 2009 List Your Job Openings at Jobs at JackMyerscom emPowered by mediabistrocomTranslating the brand to a digital world is a different challenge albeit one in which the company has strong experience The magazine Hefner said was the first on the Web in 1994 and now has 5 million monthly visitors a figure Meyers says quotdwarfsquot the competition They do plan more Webonly content he says such as a recent story of a female passenger refused a seat on Southwest Airlines for dressing too provocatively for the airline and who appeared undressed even more provocatively for the site Playboy has strong mobile content deals in Europe and Asia and in the absence of US carrier deals has PlayboyMobilecom a free phone browser of content from the Web site quotIf youamp8217re Esquire or GQ or Maxim then perhaps you look at the world as a print world where you look to get ancillary revenues from the Web Thatamp8217s not the world view I havequot Meyers said Thatamp8217s a different tack than the myriad sites that today are giving content away to create ad inventory while looking for whatever distribution they can find Heamp8217s also on a tough road of trying to maintain a paid niche in highquality content that differentiates itself from pervasively available competition Next Spring weamp8217ll find out more about whether the strategy can workFor more information or to contact Bob Meyers email Martha Lindeman SVP Corporate Communications at Playboy Enterprises marthalplayboycomDorian Benkoil is a regular contributor to Jack Myers Media Business Report

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Web Embodies Total "Playboy" Brand Experience

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