Price: PHP 199.00 Page count: 128 pages including Front, Back, Inside Front and Inside Back Cover Split: 24 pages of advertising Notes: The page count is actually more than 128 as some ads are not part of the pagination while some are; note a special execution of a 3 page fold out (6 pages back to back)
Playboy Philippines aims to target a slightly older demographic. The advertisers for the first issue include: Bench Body, Oris, Sofitel, Marlboro, Johnnie Walker, Motor Image (SUbaru), Lacoste Footwear, ALEXIS (watches), Rudy Project, Tabaqueria, Hamilton, and Linden Suites just to name a few. Read more »
We have the 20 questions … With this edition I can say, we will have Chiz Escudero. He’s the guy people are interested in. We have three pictorials in every issue.
But we have fiction, which the other men’s magazines don’t have. I have Sarge Lacuesta … There are just two columnists and Krip Yuson is one of them … Sarah Lara I think her name is, also a Palanca awardee. There are feature articles … The hard feature is about a tribe in southern Mindanao
The Philippine Star also sent out a release today on more details about Playboy Philippines. It will still target 30 year old and above males. There will be no nudity. The articles are in good taste. There are at least five Palanca award winners contributing to Playboy Philippines (although the EIC recants and says only four during the interview). The magazine will launch this April 2 2008 at an event in Sofitel.
So where does Playboy Philippines stand? At this theoretical point, Playboy is in competition with three titles in my opinion. These are MMPI’s MANUAL, MANIFESTO and ROGUE (former staff of MANIFESTO) magazines.
Let me give an analogy of how Google PageRank works in the light of print industry. In the beginning, a lot of media buyers would rely on ONE thing when it came to advertising on print. That THING would be the claimed circulation figures that a publishing sales team would present forward. Anybody could claim a readership of 10,000 copies nationwide but in reality the print run receipt would only amount to 1,500 copies. How bad! How evil! But why is this done? There would be such arbitrary things to consider such as pass on readership figures which were all transcribed from an in house formulae which nobody had any idea how it was calculated.
Magazine stand visibility was another thing. So many of the same mag issue adorned the wooden displays at bookstores. Did it mean that the magazine sold well? No. Not really. It could simply mean that the particular issue was overstocked. There was so much market visibility BECAUSE there was very little conversion to sales. And magazine stands wouldn’t care less anyway as they stock on consignment.
What’s my point? There are so many things going on when it comes to determining what really brings influence forward. A magazine may only have 1,000 readers but what if their ads are all targeted towards the market? Advertisers still don’t realize this because the truth is, they don’t want to, and don’t have the time to dwell on such things. That’s the broker’s job.
The Google PageRank issue is proof that the online publishing / advertising industry is still in its infancy. PageRank, Technorati links, actual traffic … these are but figures which are arbitrarily defined by the industry as measures for influence and reach. But there has to be a system somewhere - a system that’s easy to understand and Google has made that system a no brainer for advertisers to grasp, using a scale of 1 to 10. And hey, who can contradict the number 1 company in the world? That’s advertising made simple.
EDIT: Read today in the Philippine Start that Playboy Philippines will be launched on April 2 2008 at the Sofitel. The editor in chief is Beting Laygo Dolor. There will be no nudity as being daring is not a mark of success. Playboy Philippines will contain articles in good taste written by at least 5 Palanca award winners and will be very tasteful.
Though I am not updated with the rumor mill on this development, it seems that Playboy Philippines will allegedly make its way to local shores as the buzz in the industry states late this year.
Rumor or not, the scenario puts forward a lot of questions that demands a lot of answers. First, will the overused argument of “free speech” rule over the CBCP? Second, what will happen to leading men’s titles such as FHM, Maxim and UNO? Will that “raise the bar” for explicit nudity in these magazines too? Third, what exactly will Playboy Philippines have to offer? If it is going to be a “toned down” version of what Playboy is everywhere else in the world, then what’s the point of bringing in the franchise?
Was Mark Verzo correct after all when he said that Filipino males are indeed sex addicts?
I wrote a piece for the September issue of Rogue Magazine on “the new food critics,” revealing food and travel bloggers as authorities in the art and science of degustation.
In the 1950’s, the dawning of the food critic gave rise to a certain fear in the food and beverage industry. The New York Times, one of the pioneers in the food writing industry, released a weekly column that reviewed restaurants and hotspots. By the decade, the food critic wielded a powerful pen as reviews could literally make or break a restaurant. [buy the latest September 2007 issue with Cristina Garcia for the rest of the article]
Rogue sells for P180.00 and boasts an impressive lineup of contributors including Andy Maluche, Lourd de Veyra, Yvette Tan, Eggy Tioseco, Arnold Arre, and Quark Henares.
Every so often it would be good to reflect on your roots as a blogger and what got you started with writing in the first place. Doing this can help put some perspective in your overall goal of blogging whether it be for fun, for profit or for sharing things with others.
In the communications industry, advertising in magazines is one effective means of getting your message across. Placing a one page advertisment on the right newspaper or magazine can most probably get the message to your target demographic. However, there is always a back door to getting published without having to pay a cent. Welcome to the strategy known as the press release - a means to get your message through without having to pay P100,000.00 for an ad space.
I was part of a panel last week at the “PR Rocks” PRSP Summit together with Ms. Pennie Azarcon-dela Cruz of Sunday Inquirer Magazine and Jones Campos of Globe Corporate PR. We discussed the Malu Fernandez controversy from an editorial perspective, corporate transparency to consumers, and tips on how to pitch to the media. Ms. Pennie, an award winning editor, gave some tips on how to make the editor’s job easier in choosing which press release to place.
Are you a PR or marketing practitioner? Here are some effective ways to get your press released published. You have to bear in mind that dozens of press releases make it to the inbox of newspaper and magazine editors every day. How does the editor pick the really good ones to publish? How do you make your piece of paper stand out from the rest of the stack? Here is a compiled list from Ms. Penny with some of my notes:
Kate Alvarez was with me last week and we talked about how she was hanging upon the lips of Doreen Fernandez (may she rest in peace) back when she used to teach creative writing at the Ateneo. According to Kate, the most famous and well loved food writer in the Philippines helped her find her voice as a writer.
It is the duty of the editor to make sure that the five C’s in the publication are met: to make the article clear, correct, concise, comprehensible, and consistent. It is also the job of the editor to ensure that the in-house style sheet elements are present in the final copy. Apart from these, the editor should be able to maintain the 5 C’s without removing the voice of the writer.
Now I hope you agree with my statement that the editor is ALSO the personification of the publication he or she works for. This means that is is part of the job description to make sure that the articles published are in keeping with the vision, niche and segment
Here’s my question: What happens then when an editor encounters an article that was submitted by a writer that clearly goes against the mission statement of the magazine? The recent hubbub of Malu Fernandez in a People Asia Magazine travel article is an example of this. I’m sure there are other Malu Fernandez wannabees out there but their frivolous comments have been prudently silenced edited out by their editors.
Malu Fernandez does have her .. unique quirks. But I feel more obliged to ask the staff of People Asia (or the Manila Standard) why they let an article like this pass through a magazine that has a clear vision of celebrating the beauty of Asia.
In this case, it is not about editing out a writer’s voice. This is about going off tangent with your magazine’s vision. The editorial staff is sure giving their sales team a hard time with this one.
P.S.Why did the editor allow a travel article on Greece when the magazine is clearly titled People ASIA? I don’t see the added value, really.
The family names of Malu Fernandez, Doreen Fernandez and …. err … Jayvee Fernandez all appear by coincidence. We are not related.
I was flipping through a popular technology magazine with local content recently and I couldn’t believe my eyes as I almost skipped through one of the gadget review pages. I had to double check the product review written by “writer x” because from what I know about this person’s professional background, he (or she) is currently affiliated with the same company that produces that particular device. The person in question also happens to be a writer as I’ve seen the name frequent technology publications.
But a line has to be drawn somewhere - and this is what you get when the editorial staff of the said publication is not very critical about who writes the review. The review was fair - but I do have to admit, would you, as an editor allow a product manager (or someone in a similar status) write a product review of devices manufactured by the company he or she works for?
The answer is obviously … Nope. This is a sad day in the local tech media.
I’m not sure if the editorial staff knows about this current affiliation. I obviously withheld names out of prudence to this particular magazine, the writer and staff because I don’t want this to become a huge controversy. It’s just … sad.
I don’t have a problem with the writer contributing for a technology magazine. I take issue on the position this person is in to write such a review. There are just certain rights you have to give up. Be careful next time
There’s a new men’s magazine in town. From the guys who created Manifesto (Jose Mari Ugarte, Miguel Mari, and pals) under the C! group, Rogue is their new brainchild under a different publishing group. Here’s the Press Release and photo from Jim Ayson’s Philmusic:
ROGUE’s long-term mission is to accurately tell the story of our times, our people, and our culture one month at a time; and to capture the people, places, and ideas that define our modern culture. if anything, ROGUE will make a strong statement about who we are, what we do, and why we do it.
I wasn’t able to go to the grand launch at the Fort a few weeks back because I was sick. I’m sure it was a blast.
I used to love reading Manifesto as it was the closest we could get to a local version of GQ. Other magazines also came close, such as MANUAL when it was being handled by Adel Gabot a couple of years back - thus showing how an editor in chief is the true lifeblood of a magazine. MANUAL’s current EIC is RJ Ledesma, who bring a lot of his Men’s Room antics into the magazine. If Rogue is anything like Manifesto - and it should be - this is one good men’s title I’m looking forward to.
I have a piece in the upcoming issue of Rogue. Check the current issue in magazine stalls now.
Disclosure: I also contribute on occasion for MANUAL Magazine of MMPI.
