Playboy has revealed that it's setting its sights on the virtual worlds market, although clearly this is one brand that won't be joining the rush to target kids! However, the company hasn't announced detailed plans, but instead gave some hints in its Q1 earnings conference call that virtuality is high on its list of priorities.
Here’s what chairman and CEO Christie Hefner said during the call:
“The Playboy brand is what creates the unique connection we have with consumers and gives us a vital competitive edge. It is the strength and appeal of the brand that will drive the company’s future success, and we intend to leverage that in both immersive real world and in the virtual environment to increase shareholder value.”
Playboy already has one virtual presence, with its Playboy Island in Second Life. Worlds In Motion points out that Playboy has been running a competition with designers to create new virtual Playboy-branded items to be sold on the island - an innovative and forward-thinking approach that bodes well for any ramping up of the company’s virtual activities.
What will this strategy involve though? A separate Playboy virtual world is one possibility, particularly given the challenges of establishing a presence in many of the existing virtual worlds, which have large underage userbases.
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