Channel: Playboy.co.uk
Owner: Playboy Enterprises
What's happened: Website has relaunched
Thankfully, the homepage comes equipped with what I need to know about the site "... to indulge your dream of 'living like a Playboy'".
This is presumably to enable the user to utter the cliche: "I read it for the articles" - which is actually what I did, mainly because unless you part with £5, you don't get to see much else.
As an unpaid voyeur, what you actually get is a rather nicely laid out online coffee table magazine, a mix of Wallpaper and GQ.
The navigation at the top clearly sets out the overall content areas and, hence, potential places for brands to congregate - The Girls, Entertainment, Life & Style and Video Player.
It's worth noting that there isn't a great deal of advertising on the site at present. Sony is pushing some PS3 games, Motorola is there, but it's all quite understated.
The main question, of course, is whether brands would want to place themselves close to the Playboy image.
The site seems adult in the mature sense of the word and when one considers the quality of the interviews, the cleanliness of the page design and the content areas, it seems to be a compelling offer for advertisers.
It's only when you finally succumb to paying for "The Girls" that the site slips back into being a product that Playboy and the web is often used for. You know, I'm not sure how I'm going to get this one through on company expenses.
What's good?
Clean layout makes the experience feel leisurely.
What could be better?
Page-loading was slow.
Would I book my clients into this?
Yes, but you'd need to show them the site first so they understand the gap between brand perception and reality.
Matt Champion, digital director, PHD UK