The Industry Standard - Playboy's Second Life sim buzzes, even as real-world brand falters - Comments

Well its no May 2009 - and

Rob H — Sat, 09 May 2009 04:16:10 -0700

Well its no May 2009 - and Playboy's official sim seems to have disappeared much to the annoyance of my wife cum SL partner.

This analysis of Playboy

Christie Hefner — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:23:27 -0700

This analysis of Playboy Enterprises, Inc.’s second-quarter results includes several misstatements.
Our decline in online/mobile revenues in the second quarter compared with 2007 was due largely to our strategic decision to license our e-commerce and catalog operations, ShopTheBunny.com and PlayboyStore.com. That move, which was completed in the first quarter of 2008, has resulted in an expected decrease in revenues, accompanied by an increase in on-line profitability.
Our second-quarter results also reflect our major investment in the redesign and upgrade of Playboy.com, to launch later this year, which will enable us to greatly enhance the internet surfer interaction and community aspects of the site, as well as the advertising environment. As it stands, we reported a significant increase in online ad sales for the quarter.
With on-line and mobile revenues of more than $63 million in 2007 and a profitable multi-stream model, Playboy has clearly succeeded in extending our legendary brand on multiple digital platforms. The Playboy brand has never been more popular and relevant, and we see significant growth opportunities in our digital business, both domestically and internationally.
Christie Hefner
Chairman/CEO
Playboy Enterprises, Inc.

Thank you Cyndy for putting

Marc Girolimetti — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 07:49:15 -0700

Thank you Cyndy for putting this story out there. For us, the operation behind the Playboy initiative within Second Life, it's the best kind since it came out of nowhere with no PR push behind it. We're elated that you recognized our efforts and showcased to other corporations that brands can succeed within this medium. We didn't luck out just on brand name alone either. Others were right to speculate last year that we suffered the same death as many other brands by falling into the pit of nothingness, but we quickly adapted to the environment and began our push to engage the community. It started by asking members of the community to role-play as Playboy Bunnies, location managers, artists, etc, and allow them to call the shots on the day to day operations, but it didn't really take off until we built a loyal Group titled "Playboy VIP" (the largest in all of SL), focused on consistently introducing fresh content and eventually implemented our wildly successful strategy of working with SL's best designers to create exclusive Playboy inspired avatar accessories. Our sales grew 600% (that's on top of the revenue share we have with every artist) as a result of that and our traffic on the sim is the second highest of all branded locations within SL. What we have in store over the next twelve months for Playboy, within the spectrum of all virtual worlds, is going to garner a lot of attention and we're proud to be the wizard behind Playboy's Oz.

Marc Girolimetti
Founder
Green Grotto Studios, Inc

Playboy's Second Life sim buzzes, even as real-world brand falters

Cyndy Aleo-Carreira — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:52:07 -0700

PaidContent reported earlier this week that Playboy is having a difficult time extending its brand online. Citing a Q2 loss, including declines in online and mobile content categories, it's easy to assume that Playboy has failed to effectively position its brand on the Web.

However, the publisher appears to be succeeding in an unlikely place: Second Life. After launching its virtual world presence early in Q2 last year, rumors abounded that Playboy was pulling up its stakes. Clickable Culture was sure that the Playboy sim was all but abandoned by late July of 2007.

When the earnings report came out, we wondered what had happened to the Playboy presence in Second Life, and were surprised by our findings. The sim, staffed by virtual Playboy Bunnies and hosts, was hopping, even midmorning Eastern U.S. time on a Friday. The sim features a schedule of live performances, functionality for virtual hook-ups ranging from "chaste" to more (albeit in a much more dignified setting than other adult-themed in-world locales). What's more, Playboy has actually become an innovator in in-world licensing.

The company has not only found success driving a steady stream of in-world traffic, but also licensing its brand to other, Second-Life only brands. By pairing with successful Second Life designers, and pricing items at an affordable price (L$150 - L$300, which is about US$1), Playboy's experiment seems to be doing well. It's a situation that has eluded many other real-world companies which have set up shop in the virtual world.

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

Prediction: Apple opens a store in Second Life
Prediction: Second Life usage will not break 40 million user hours per month by the end of 2008
News: Linden Lab targets Second Life ad farms with zoning regulations
News: Researchers help define next-generation social networking