Playboy Starts New Ad Campaign

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Playboy, the 50-year-old famed men\'s magazine seeking its way out of a mid-life crisis, wants to tell guys where to get it.
 
A new print advertising campaign -- the magazine\'s first since the late 1990s -- is set to kick off Friday in USA Today, the largest U.S. newspaper by circulation, with the slogan "Guys Who Get It, Get It Here."

The magazine, owned by Playboy Enterprises Inc., hopes to boost newsstand sales by grabbing the eye of new readers.

Playboy\'s newsstand sales fell nearly 19 percent in the last half of 2002 in the face of stiff competition from titles such as Maxim, Stuff and FHM.

These offer younger readers a bawdy take on babes and entertainment that feature up-and-coming actresses appearing nearly nude on cover pages but -- unlike Playboy -- never naked inside.

Newsstand sales now make up only 11 percent of Playboy\'s monthly average sales of 3.2 million copies. Most copies are mailed to an aging demographic of subscribers.

Determined to lure a younger crowd, Playboy hired James Kaminsky away from Maxim last year to be its new editor. He replaced Arthur Kretchmer, Playboy\'s editorial boss for nearly four decades.

"There\'s a lot going on behind the scenes at Playboy. We want our readers, our potential readers and the advertising community to know about it," publisher Diane Silberstein told Reuters in a phone interview ahead of the renewed ad push.

Playboy\'s advertising revenue grew to $30 million so far this year, up 2.5 percent compared with the January-to-May period of 2002. Maxim\'s ad revenue is up 17 percent this year to $71 million -- or more than double Playboy\'s ad income -- according to a report from Publishers Information Bureau.

Playboy\'s half-page color ads will show the cover of its August issue featuring "Survivor" contestants Jenna Morasca and Heidi Strobel.

"Our readers are spending money and are single. They are in their mid-to-late 20s," Lisa Natale, Playboy\'s senior vice president and marketing director, said of the ad\'s targets.

The Playboy print ad campaign was developed by Fusion Idea Lab, a Chicago-based advertising agency whose other clients include brewer Anheuser-Busch, online travel Web sites Expedia and Orbitz and retailer Target.

However, some still think Playboy will face a tough time in recovering lost ground to its younger-looking rivals.

"Maxim shows less skin than Playboy and is sexier because it gets sexier people. Then you add on top of that a much more contemporary execution," said Steven Addis, chief executive of Berkeley-based Addis brand strategy and design firm.

Come on guys,I\'m sure you could come up with some suggestions to improve it lol

Haha!!

New Slogan:

"Guys Who Get It, Get It Here."

Should be: Guys Who Aren\'t Getting It, Get it *Fap*Fap* Here.

LOL!

I see Fifafan goes to Reuters everyday like me.

[videoholic]

I\'ve never bought a playboy.

Ever notice that there are always a bunch of porno mags at airports?

Could you imagine buying a porno and then popping it open on the plane next to Milly and Jethro, the two strangers sitting next to you?

[Kurt Angle]

Playboy would sell better if they laminated the pages so they didn\'t get stuck together with man goo.

Or perhaps they\'d sell more if they actually showed some flesh. Lol, I remember once I bought a Playboy mag because I thought it would be full of naked women (I was young)... but no, most of it was articles.

[Living-In-Clip]

I don\'t know about a lot of guy\'s, for I personally prefer a lot of females in skimpy outfits, instead of being fully naked. There is something more erotic and exciting about it, instead of her just laying out and me see\'ing her boobs.

Not to mention, like Sam said, Playboy is mostly articles. When I was younger I got ahold of two of them and there was nothing I couldn\'t see on HBO and the rest was damn articles. I was hopin\' for full crotch shots and no readin\'...*shrugs*

I\'ll stick with Maxim & FHM for those reasons. Not to mention, I can carry those into work and read \'em while workin and no one says anything...

I don\'t see how playboy can compete with mags like maxim.  They\'re much closer to the pulse of young guys.  After all, if I want naked... um.. well, I can see that in better places than playboy, but reading a mag... I want that irrispectful view that maxim gives me