CHICAGO: Playboy Online, the Internet division of Playboy Enterprises, is searching for a PR manager and may possibly be taking on an outside PR agency as well.
CHICAGO: Playboy Online, the Internet division of Playboy
Enterprises, is searching for a PR manager and may possibly be taking on
an outside PR agency as well.
In September, the company announced plans to sell a minority stake in
its online division via an early-2000 IPO. But even before that decision
was made, it was evident that Playboy Online was generating intense
interest from media outlets and needed its own PR manager, according to
Playboy director of corporate communications Rebecca Theim.
Theim said that the company is looking for ’someone who has a passion
for the Web,’ and will charge the successful candidate with
differentiating the Playboy site from similar Internet offerings.
Playboy is conducting the search without the aid of a search firm,
looking for someone who has done PR for online entertainment sites.
While the new PR manager will initially report to Theim, the online
venture is also searching for a president and the PR position could
eventually report to that person. The new PR manager, who will either be
based in Chicago (where Playboy is headquartered) or New York (where
Playboy online has business staff), will probably be hired by the end of
the year.
As the company’s online arm searches for additional staff, Theim has
been handling corporate and online PR, as well as overseeing public
appearances for Playboy chairman Christie Hefner.
Theim refused to comment on her search for a PR agency to work with the
online division, but onlookers said any assignment is likely to be
sizable.
Playboy online includes Playboy.com, a free web site; the Playboy Cyber
Club, a subscription-only site that has roughly 33,000 members paying
dollars 6.95 a month; and the Playboy Marketplace, a site where
consumers can buy Playboy-branded merchandise. Revenues from online
businesses reached dollars 3.1 million in the second quarter, though the
division lost dollars 1.7 million during that period (compared with
dollars 1.5 million during the same period last year).
The site was redesigned in August to add more features targeting 18- to
35-year-old men. In October, Playboy started its first ad campaign for
the site, running print spots in Advertising Age and Brandweek, and
planning ads in young men’s magazines such as Icon, Interview and
Detour.
