Cover Price: P170-P200
Initial Circulation: 40,000 copies
Target Market: 18-30, Majority will still be C Market Readers

Why P170-200 bucks? Because they’re trying to position themselves as a magazine for the A market (sure, sure). For the curious ones, FHM is at P125 and Maxim is at P140, while Manifesto and Rogue are at P170 (if I’m not mistaken)

Initial circulation would then be at 40k (a million if they get Anne Curtis), for the simple reason that no magazine in the Philippines can make it to 80,000 in a whim.

The business model? Here is my take.

Advertising

Think about it. You’re going to bring out a “high end” magazine with naked women on the cover. I’m not going to list everything here (in case someone from Playboy Philippines reads this), but mark my words, say goodbye to all Unilever and Nivea brands. It also doesn’t help that they’re launching at a month when all advertising budgets have been approved. They would have to settle for leftovers.

Circulation

Unless they’ve already started talking to local distributors, they won’t sell unless they have a very efficient distribution system. What good is a magazine if it sells out in the first few days of release, but takes more than a week to deliver new stocks to its dealers?

An option for them is to follow in C and Manifesto magazines’ footsteps. They started distributing their magazines through Mega Publishing as a knee-jerk reaction to Top Gear’s entry more than three years ago. You can however cross out this option because the publisher’s family is Opus Dei.

National Bookstore? There’s no way in hell they’re carrying this magazine. They will not allow porn in their magazine racks. For the record dear senators, FHM and Maxim are not porn.

The Women

How can I forget about the women? It’s common practice for Playboy US to pay its cover model, but the same practice is not done by local lad magazines. The artists here need the magazine more than the magazine needs them.

My guess? It won’t matter, because the movie stars here will never agree to a semi/full frontal. They earn more than whatever Playboy Philippines will be capable of paying them.

The Big Question

Will the first issue of Playboy Philippines ever see the light of day? I would have to say the 1st issue yes, but everything else after that is a big question mark. Even if it’s not election season, senators looking for a little PR will jump on this like their life depended on it. The only implication this will have on the local magazine industry is that even non-porn lad magazines like FHM, Maxim, and UNO will get some heat.

Contrary to some rumors (please see comment below), Eric Ramos of FHM, Pump, and Maxim fame, will not be handling the magazine. Interestingly enough, Vince Sales, a former editor of T3 magazine, is said to be on board, but I’m not sure what position he is assuming. A simple blog search will lead you to this page where this unnamed guy was supposedly offered a position in the magazine’s creative team. Oh well, it doesn’t matter since he’s a nobody.

Anyway, it’s just a little over two months before April sets in. It’ll be interesting to see how the magazine wars unfold. I just can’t wait!