From: Peggy Wilkins <mozart@lib.uchicago.edu>, 21 May 2003
Subject: Honor Thy Playmate
Dan> You are right that PLAYBOY is the number one men's magazine.
Dan> However, we all know that it holds that status because of its
Dan> 2+ million subscribers...
I was just thinking about this subscriber base tonight (which I suppose is about as surprising as hearing that the sun set this evening... ). I thought it interesting how much I have thought of the fickle newsstand buyer as a "problem" when maybe it would be more useful to think of the subscribers as an "asset". The high subscription rate suggests that people want to subscribe to PLAYBOY, or that they prefer to use subscription as the means to obtain it. Perhaps this means that more effort should be spent trying to gain and retain subscribers. I am sure they are already doing this, but can it be more aggressive and creative? I have some ideas and I could say more about this if there is interest.