Reimagine an Icon: Playboy

Challenge
The Playboy brand had fully eroded; the magazine had become downscale, overexposed and irrelevant, the business model antiquated and losing money.

Solution
The task not only required the crafting of a new brand vision, but also reimagining an entire business. We contemporized Playboy’s culturally relevant past and merged it with the values of today’s liberated, creative audience by restructuring the business and repositioning the brand from a magazine to a lifestyle curator. Playboy is now focused on creating provocative experiences and aspirational content, which is amplified through select brand partnerships and licensing.

Change
Less smut, more money. With a leaner organization and a tighter focus, Playboy is generating substantially higher profits: from $19.3M in 2009 to $38.9M in 2012. Off-brand licenses and product lines have been eliminated, and partnerships established with high-profile designers.
The magazine and digital properties have re-launched with a new vision and guest editors. Long barred from Apple’s digital storefronts, today Playboy has a nudity-free iPhone app, featuring lifestyle tips, articles and of course, beautiful women.