February marks the start of the year of the rabbit in the Chinese lunar calendar.
It may be an auspicious sign for Playboy Enterprises, which opened a nightclub in Macau last month as it seeks to expand its licensing of the trademark bunny head logo on lifestyle products in Asia, its fastest growing region.
The company, founded by Hugh Hefner in 1953, also plans to open a Playboy Mansion in 2012 in Macau and has been busy cutting deals to sell Playboy-branded merchandise across Asia.
Its namesake magazine, which is banned in China and defunct in Indonesia, where it faced a violent backlash from Muslim hard-liners, has struggled with competition from the Internet, losing readers and advertisers. Playboy Enterprises hasn’t turned a profit since the third quarter of 2007 and last month reported that losses widened to US$27.4 million in the most recent quarter.
The renewed focus on Asia is something of a do-or-die move for the company as it tries to transform itself from the publisher of a magazine synonymous the world over with centerfolds of bare-breasted women into an entertainment and lifestyle brand.
“It’s our biggest and fastest growing market, and obviously there’s a mass appeal,” chief executive Scott Flanders said. “I think we’re more popular even in Asia than we are in the US. We’re more of a fashion brand. We’re more like Louis Vuitton.”
Playboy had been trying to open a club in Macau for a long time, Flanders said. The company finally managed to reach a deal with Sands China, a unit of casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp, which is led by billionaire Sheldon Adelson.
The 1,115m2 club opened onNov. 20 atop the Sands hotel-casino, staffed by 18 Playboy “bunnies” wearing an updated version of the signature outfit of bunny ears, fluffy cottontail, corset and cuffs.
The bunnies — from the US, Australia, Estonia, Hong Kong and Macau — serve drinks and chat with customers. The club, decorated with black tile and dark velvet curtains, features private gaming rooms and offers sweeping views of the neon-lit Macau skyline.
The club aims to attract the wealthy, high-spending Chinese who flock to Macau, the only place in China where gambling is legal.
“We want people to come in, whether they’re local or from Zhuhai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong or Guangzhou,” the club’s general manager Reggie Martin said.
Macau returned to Chinese rule in 1999, although it has retained its own legal system. It has become the world’s biggest gambling market since a casino monopoly was broken up eight years ago.
Martin said the club is aimed at both men and women, gamblers and non-gamblers.
“It’s by no means even close to being a gentleman’s club,” he said. The menu features a few localized specialties such as bunny dim sum — Playboy bunny-shaped shrimp dumplings — at four pieces for 80 Macau patacas (US$10).
The Playboy Mansion that is set to open in another Sands development will sprawl over 2,700m2.
Playboy owned and operated more than 30 clubs around the world starting in 1960. It started losing money in the 1970s, and the last closed in 1991. This time around, Playboy is merely collecting a fee for licensing the use of its name on the venue, Flanders said.
Clubs have also opened this year in Las Vegas and Cancun, Mexico, and there are plans for others in Miami and London. Flanders said the company would love to open one in Singapore, which opened its first casinos this year.
By next year, Asia will account for 34 percent of licensing revenue, double what it was two years ago, Flanders said. By 2012, Asia will bring in US$20 million in licensing revenue, he said.
The company tried to open a club in Shanghai, but plans fell apart in 2004, ostensibly over a disagreement between investors and local officials.
However, last month it inked a five-year, US$50 million deal with Chinese company Glory Rabbit, which plans to open at least 2,000 Playboy-branded retail stores in China.
A 232m2 Playboy store also opened in Taiwan last month and IMG, Playboy’s licensing agent, is working on deals in Japan, South Korea and India, Flanders said.
“Asia could be a growth area to Playboy since the US is a mature market and Europe is becoming a mature market,” said Steve Marascia, director of research at Capitol Securities.
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