PressEthic

In these dismal times of lay-offs, and digital journalism bullying mainstream media into making radical changes to stay alive, there is one magazine that remains unaffected—Playboy.

The magazine is expanding into foreign markets, and has recently announced that it is considering India as a potential market.

The smart move is that they are modifying the magazine to suit the Indian society. This particular publication will be a men's magazine, minus the nudes and will not carry the title of Playboy. With its economy exploding, and the rapid modernization of society a launch in India could prove to be a very lucrative venture for Playboy.

"This is quite a departure for us," Hefner told the Reuters Media and Advertising Summit. "We are interested in the possibility of going to India, but it wouldn't be what we call classic Playboy. "It would be an extension of Playboy that would be focused around the lifestyle, pop culture, celebrity, fashion, sports and interview elements of Playboy," added Hefner, daughter of Playboy founder and publishing icon Hugh Hefner. "But it would not have nudity and I don't think it would be called Playboy," she said.

Whereas there is no shortage of high quality lifestyle magazines in India, a publication with the clout of Playboy will have a natural advantage. Globally there has been a growing fascinating with Indian culture--all kinds of international film, music and dance forms have experimented with Indian fusion. But there is still a fine balance to be struck.

India is not ready for the ‘classic Playboy’, but will most likely respond very well to an indigenized version of it.If the magazine can walk that fine line, this could well prove to be a successful exercise.