Christie Hefner, Chairman and CEO of Playboy Enterprises, had the lead keynote this morning at the Forrester Consumer Marketing Forum.  Now, here is CEO that actually gets it.  She clearly understands that Playboy is a brand that eludes a lifestyle and the challenge and opportunity for her and her team is to extend that brand and the experience via multiple platforms and channels.  Here is a company that had one channel initially (the magazine) and has extend that to TV, Online, Social Media, Retail.  The tremendous growth has occurred by staying true to brand values of Playboy, listening to its customers, embracing new forms of communication and technology to exploit new markets.  By doing this they realized that content is king and can be used across multiple channels and that customers are embracing new technologies because they trust each other.  In closing statements she talked about how listening to customers has provided a real-time laboratory of ideas and revenue generating opportunities for the firm.  Clearly, she understands what Playboy stands for, the direction of media, the importance of customer feedback, and embracing new technologies and platforms to exploit the opportunities for the Playboy brand.

Blake

Visible Technologies