Playboy: Not Too Big To Fail

Chris Jones — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:59:10 +0000

I’ve said here many times that the most important factor for keeping your business relevant and successful is the ability to change with the times. You cannot allow yourself to become entrenched in a certain way of doing business as others around you begin doing things another way.

You must have a business model that allows you to quickly shift gears when necessary and begin moving in a different direction.

For instance, companies that foolishly dismiss social media as nothing more than a fad are likely to find themselves out of business in five years.

Even well established brands known the world over are not immune from the winds of change. There is no greater modern day example of this than Playboy.

Playboy was an iconic brand. Hugh Hefner built a media empire that at one time included a magazine, TV show, nightclubs, movies, jazz festivals, and of course his world famous mansion parties.

Then the Internet happened — and it was all downhill from there. The once mighty empire is about to be sold off for a gruesomely low $300 million to Iconix.

Renay San Miguel has an excellent piece about the downfall of Playboy over at TechNewsWorld.

Everyone should carefully study what happened to Playboy and the mistakes that were made. If it can happen to Playboy it can sure as hell happen to you (unless you’re GM, Chrysler, or Ford).

(hat tip Adult FYI)

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Playboy: Not Too Big To Fail