When Your Brand Puts Its Clothes On

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By: Cindy Wendland

Playboy just announced that their magazine will no longer feature nude pictures. Their website banned nude photos a year ago, and now the U.S. print version follows suit. Playboy feels there are far more explicit photos available for free online, so in a sign of changing with the times, their models will be clothed.

Readers claimed they read the magazine for the articles, and there were good contributing writers, but the pictures were also a draw. Now, the content will be more acceptable to view online at work or home since the photos will be PG-13–type pictures. Playboy will need to reinvent itself in an already crowded market. Esquire and GQ offer similar non-explicit photos and quality content. Playboy has its reputation established and will try to tone it down. People will truly read the magazine for the articles now.

For Playboy to make the change is significant. They are acknowledging changing market dynamics and need to adjust to stay relevant in a high-tech world. Whether people will continue to pay for the hard copy magazine with the new focus remains to be seen. The market likes online content, but there is something special about photos on shiny paper pages coated with ink. The image resolution is so appealing in a printed magazine that their audience may continue to be enamored with the hard-copy version. It remains to be seen if they can stand out in a crowded marketplace.

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About the Author

Cindy Wendland has a background in marketing and finance. She is the creative director for an online men's health magazine, BrainBrawnBody.com, and she gets to write their leisure/travel blog. She is also a web designer helping her clients with online community engagement, websitesbywendland.com. Prior to her web years, she worked in pharmacy consulting.

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