The History of The Playboy Brand

Brand Management. Playboy

1. the history of the playboy brand “It was the magazine that carried the brand, now the brand carries the magazine.” Hugh Hefner, 2010 Made by Ecaterina Barbus.

2. How has everything been started The idea to use naked girls in Playboy came from serving in the war - that was the time when pin-ups enjoyed major celebrity because soldiers pinned up the pictures on the barracks.  The concept behind the Playboy playmate was the pin-up. To launch Playboy , Hefner managed to gather $ 8,000 from friends, relatives and bank loan. In December of 1953 , the first issue hit newsstands and it was definitely more demure than its modern incarnations. First Playboy magazine had a pictures of Marilyn Monroe. Nationwide sales of the first issue reached 50,000 copies.

3. The creation of the playboy bunny logo Designed by Art Paul , the magazine’s first art director, the rabbit head has appeared on the cover of every issue of a magazine since the second. The rabbit was chosen to be the Playboy icon because Hefner believed it represented a playfulness that suited the magazine. An artist drew the iconic logo that is famous around the globe. A bow-tie was added to the bunny image in order to give the logo a classier feel.

4. Playboy succeeded initially for three primary reasons: 1) Playboy fulfilled an existing need among consumers. The need of breaking the rules and speak out against the political, religious and social norms. 2) Playboy was different from any other product on the market. What differentiates Playboy from the other brands is that it represents good and enjoyable life, while at the same time it contains sexy, glamorous and unique style. 3) Playboy targeted a specific niche audience. When Playboy launched it was billed as a liberating, sophisticated and intellectual response to conservative sexual norms. This was a magazine for young men that celebrated a sexually liberated lifestyle focused on self-gratification. The main target were modern and classy man from 18 to 49 years old. Sixty years later, the magazine’s advertisers are chasing a readership of middle-aged man who are undereducated and underpaid.

5. Playboy’s golden age during the ‘60 1960 The first Playboy Club opens in Chicago. The private Playboy would provide a new way for consumers to experience the brand and live the lifestyle the brand promised. In simplest terms, it brought the Playboy brand to life. 1964 Playboy Theater opens in Chicago 1966 New Playboy headquarters opens in Chicago. London Playboy Club and Casino opens. 1968 Playboy resort opens in Geneva and in Wisconsin 1969 Hugh Hefner purchases the Playboy jet and names it Big Bunny. The London Sunday Times selects Hugh Hefner as one of the most influential people of the century. Playboy company annual sales reach $96 million.

6. A notable changes from 60’s to 70’s Cold War Inflation Throughout the turmoil of 70s , people searched for ways to escape the problems of the day. Alcohol, drugs and sex were the prevailing forms of escapism. The biggest obstacle facing Playboy in the 1970s was the growing Femminist Movement that directly targeted Playboy and Hugh Hefner as symbols of everything that was keeping women from attaining equality. In mid 70s Palyboy Chicago employee were arrested on drug charges, hence Playboy brand was tarnished more. Competition with a Penthouse and Hustler magazines

7. The main differences between playboy and penthouse Playboy is more sophisticated, soft core Playboy ’s target is classy type of men or even women Playboy is more of a nude model magazine. Playboy has more articles The magazine's pictorials offered more sexually explicit content than was commonly seen in most openly sold man’s maganizes of the era. A mix of “sex, politics and protest”. Images of women, left little to the imagination. Models engaged in sexual activity. Hard core and aggressive

8. Competition with Hustler It was first published in 1974. Hustler is a porno magazine which contains fun articles, parodies. It showed explicit views of female genitalia, becoming one of the first major US-based magazines to do so, in contrast with relatively modest publications like Playboy. Considered more explicit and more self-consciously lowbrow than Playboy and Penthouse . It depicts hardcore themes

9. ‘80s the Playboy decline In the 1980, the Playboy brand was already past maturity and in decline Rapid overexpansion of the brand in the three prior decades left the brand without the resources Growing competition from other magazines and television left Playboy without a strong message of differentiation. Instead a series of conflicting positions, brand messages, and disjoined brand extensions futher confused consumers . The balance would be nearly impossible to find, and throughout the 1990s, consumers would wonder what exactly the Playboy brand message actually was. Macro environment dominated much of the Playboy brand decline as well

10. 80-90’s Christie Hefner trying to reposition the brand in decline As Hefner’s daughter started to run the company, she tryed to repositon the Playboy brand to appeal to the broader, mainsteam audience with a new brand message of “ Quality fun for grown-ups ”, thus the brand that could have disappeared in the 80’s emerged at the end of the decade with a good chance for a survival. The next decade would find the brand and the Playboy Enterprises’ stock price on a relatively stable growth attack. She made a major commitment to refocus the brand and contract it back down to its core competencies. In the 80’s Playboy launched a lot of commercials in order to stand out from the competition growth, also reducing the magazine’s price. The brand survived in ‘80 also because it was the pioneer brand with extraordinary value.

11. Playboy Connections with Pamela anderson and anna nicole smith breathed new life into playboy in the 1990s and gave it enough momentum to keep going at a time when a brand was struggling to find its message, position and promise.

12. Competition of the 90’s New competition emerged in the 90’s from the magazines such as FHM and Maxim . These magazines are erotic , timely content appeled directly to the younger male audience . Hugh Hefner responded to falling citculation numbers in the 90’s by revamping Playboy magazine again. He hired new editor away from Maxim and tried to create a new version of Playboy that stood for a specific type of lifestyle as it had in earlier decades before the conservative 1980s. The goal was to create the next level of men’s magazine for younger adult readers who were ready to trade up from Maxim . At the end of the decade, 3.2 million copies of Playboy magazine were sold each month in the United States.

13. Playboy Marketing Direct marketing tactics Traditional tactic- direct mail. Utilize Playboy ’s verified subscriber database. Playboy Enterprises, has strong customer privacy policies governing its direct marketing businesses that incorporate safeguards and practices used by the country's largest and best-known catalogers and direct marketers. Guerrilla marketing Stage character actors dressed as Hugh Hefner and Playmates running down the street being chased by Hugh Hefner. Target same major metropolitan areas as outdoor advertising, interact with fotos and establish a relationship with audience/consumers.

14. Lifestyle Marketing Playboy sponsorship and promotional events at clubs and bars. Every club, hotel, resort, etc created by Hefner is a touch point where consumers could experience and personalize the brand. Playboy’s TV show is another aspect of the Playboy style for people who can stay at home in front of tv and experience the brand.

15. Playboy utilizes mobile marketing PlayboyU.com , a  social networking site owned and operated by  Playboy Enterprises , Inc., is using mobile marketing to reach college students . The site, encourages students to generate their own content, such as videos and bar reviews, along with articles from professional writers. Playboy uses social networking and mobile marketing to promote the site to its target demographic. Some examples of this include a “Miss Playboy Mobile ” contest It has been explored how brands increasingly utilize mobile to market to this 18-26 demographic, and Playboy seems to understand the benefits of this.

16. Social media and World wide Web- playboy As the competition was growing and the era of internet has begin, Playboy increased their use of the social media and web without damaging its value proposition. Throughout the 20th century, " Playboy" established the niche magazine , one in which the focus is narrowed to a specific readership. In the 1990 new competition comes from the Internet. Ultimately, much of this competition are available for free and offer a more interactive experience than the one dimensional Playboy magazine provide. Now, as the Internet becomes the primary source of information for upcoming generations, magazine is working well in order to establish their online presence. Lets see what are the Playboy social media and web tools: Use of celebrities for advertising Playboy provide at no charge a suite of merchandise to “popular” TV program characters in order to obtain product placement advertising

17. Social media and World wide Web- playboy Playboy today has 714 217 followers on Twitter . Playboy has a lot of applications for Iphone and Ipad Playboy managed to stand the social media competition thank to Manwin(leading international provider of high- quality adult entertainment). Manwin is a strong and experienced partner, and it managed to maximize the value of Playboy's TV and online businesses.

18. Facebook Marketing This is how the situation of Playboy’s Facebook Marketing evolved in 5 years, from 2008 till today. In 2008 when the social networks became more than important tool for advertising, Playboy was missing a huge marketing opportunity on Facebook. Of course, Playboy also has a page, and at that time they had over 1700 fans.  Pretty cool.  Except, there is almost nothing on the page.  Playboy is a huge media company - meaning that their job is to publish content - has almost no content on Facebook.  They are very rapidly letting down their 1700 fans. These are a bunch of things that have been realized on Facebook from 2008 till nowadays: All the Playboy Bunnies finaly have profiles.   Playboy help its models maintain Facebook profiles, and they should be fans of Playboy.

19. Facebook Marketing Add events. Playboy makes a lot of money allowing other brands to use the Playboy brand (Dewar's Scotch has thrown " Playboy Parties " in a number of cities before). They use Facebook to promote live events. This is a powerful way to quickly, cheaply and easily promote events. More photos.   I mean, what really is Playboy without photos?  Of course they don't want to give away stuff they charge for, but all they have posted in 2008 was one album with 6 photos.  This is like posting 6 words from an entire set of encyclopedias.  Nowadays, they post new photos every day. Develop a Facebook App.   By developing an application, Playboy can further engage the Facebook community. There are lots of Facebook App for Playboy.

20. Brand extension: Galaxy model The Galaxy model is made up of different universes the coherence of which is ensured by the creator himself. Playboy brand extension is represented by a so called galaxy model , in fact Playboy sells everything: clothes, accessories, perfumes, not to mention the resorts and hotels under its name, modeling agency, movie production. Every Playboy product is a legitimate entry into the brand universe.

21. From identity brand to an iconic brand Playboy brand is representing something more than a product or service. It is instantly recognazable (everyone knows Bunny Logo); thus it has intrinsic advantage over others Over time the brand came to embody the myth It has a strong association with a particular time or country Iconic brand should be able to adapt to a the local culture, for ex. Asian market where such brand as Playboy are used to flaunt wealth and status In a complex world Iconic brand offer a shortcut to decision making

22. Bunny business sold or not? The last news of the Playboy Enterprises selling were found on September 13, 2009. A potential buyer is Richard Branson . According to the Telegraph magazine, he is willing to pay for the company Playboy Enterprises $ 317 million. Playboy experienced its heyday in the 60’s, when the glossy magazine with the half-naked girls and bunny logo on the cover read every fourth student at the university. But the development of the internet and its free access to the erotic have had an impact on the sales of the magazine. The reason was a crisis as well. Hefner didn’t sold Bunny business and currently he owns 70% of the Playboy group .

23. Playboy brand today It’s easy to understand Hefner’s motivation to sell his business. The internet had taken a wrecking ball to his business model . Magazine and newspaper sales are in terminal decline . Playboy is not as relevant as it was in the past decades. Their major profits do not consist in magazine’s publishing anymore. Television is currently the company's biggest earner , accounting for around 40% of revenues. The company opened a club in Macau , hoping to take advantage of what it says is its “luxury brand” status in Asia. In fact, Playboy is about to open the new and very first club in India, in Goa. According to the Wall Street Journal, revenues are down from $240 million in 2009 to just $135 million in 2012. But profits have nearly doubled , from $19.3 million to $38.9 million.

24. now more than ever, the company is selling a feeling rather than a product The Playboy’s success is the result of founder Hugh Hefner’s adherence to the rules of Branding 101 . The Playboy bunny is one of the most recognizable brand logos in the world, and the robe-wearing, pipe-smoking Hefner is a strong brand himself .  Mr Flanders(CEO) talked about his desire to develop Playboy Enterprises as a “brand management” company, licensing the Playboy name as well as the use of its legendary logo. There may still be money in the bunny.

25. Thank u 