How Playboy is using its creator platform to launch digital magazine

Playboy is relaunching its flagship publication in digital form with the help of its creator platform. The digital incarnation of the magazine, whose print version shuttered in March 2020, will sit on Playboy’s OnlyFans-esque creator platform, reflecting the brand’s continued emphasis on content creators in its new business model. See all of Ad Age's 2023 Agency A-List winners here The content of the relaunched Playboy magazine, set to release its first issue later this year, will heavily feature creators who produce content through “Centerfold,” the brand’s creator platform, according to a press release. Playboy will offer special opportunities to the platform’s “most successful and up-and-coming creators” to appear in editorial content and photo shoots in the updated magazine—starting with mega-influencer, model and actress Amanda Cerny, who Playboy said has earned over $1 million via its creator platform. “Our Playboy creator platform is the Playboy magazine for the 21st century,” stated Rachel Webber, Playboy’s chief brand officer, in a statement. “We’re putting the power of content creation in the hands of the creative community and giving them the tools to interact with and monetize their fanbases directly.” Playboy originally launched the Centerfold platform in December 2021 as a challenger to other subscription-based content platforms such as OnlyFans and Patreon. Similar to those platforms, Centerfold allows creators to essentially put a paywall on their content and require their fans to either subscribe to the creator or pay per post to view exclusive content from the creator or otherwise interact with them. Most of the creators currently on the platform are part of a “TikTok-native, older Gen Z” demographic, who have turned to Centerfold in pursuit of a paywalled content platform “free from advertiser-driven content constraints,” Webber said. The platform's first wave of creators included nearly 20 creators “hailing from the worlds of music, fashion, fitness and adult entertainment”—including Cerny and rapper Cardi B, who was named the platform’s first creative director in residence in December 2021. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cardi B (@iamcardib) Since rebooting Centerfold in September of last year, Playboy “has already paid out millions of dollars in earrings to creators” through the platform, the company stated in the press release. “Playboy’s premium creator platform is revolutionizing the creator economy the same way Playboy magazine shook up the publishing industry nearly 70 years ago,” said Ben Kohn, Playboy CEO. “The mobile-first experience is designed to optimize creator and fan engagement and to enable creators to express themselves openly and to build intimate, authentic and safe connections.” Centerfold creators will also have the chance to collaborate with the brand on its fashion business by either assisting with clothing designs or representing Playboy as a fashion ambassador, according to the press release. Over the past year, paywalled content has emerged as a growing trend in the creator economy and broken free of existing subscription-based platforms such as Patreon. Several social media channels, including Instagram, TikTok and Discord, have all recently unveiled features allowing creators to lock content behind a paywall or a subscription. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs

How Playboy is using its creator platform to launch digital magazine

Featured Stories