MACAU - With February marking the start of the Chinese year of the rabbit, it could be an auspicious sign for Playboy Enterprises, which opened a nightclub in Macau last month as it seeks to expand its business by licensing the trademark bunny head logo on lifestyle products in Asia.
The company, founded by Hugh Hefner in 1953, also plans to open a 30,000-sq-ft Playboy Mansion in 2012 in Macau, and has been busy cutting deals to sell Playboy-branded merchandise across Asia.
Its namesake magazine 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 ($35.6 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 centrefolds of bare-breasted women, into an entertainment and lifestyle brand.
"It's our biggest and fastest growing market," said chief executive Scott Flanders, who noted that by 2011, Asia would account for 34 per cent of licensing revenue, double that two years ago. "I think we're more popular even in Asia than we are in the US. We're more of a fashion brand."
In Macau, Playboy reached a deal with Sands China, a unit of Las Vegas Sands Corp, to open a 1,115-sqm club on Nov 20 atop the Sands hotel-casino. Staffed by 18 Playboy "bunnies", it aims to attract the wealthy Chinese who flock to Macau.
Mr Flanders added that the company would love to open a club in Singapore, which opened its first casinos this year.
Playboy owned and operated more than 30 clubs around the world starting in 1960. They 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, Mr Flanders said. AP
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