Men definitely won’t be reading Playboy’s newest publication, Gear Up, for the articles. Rather, they’ll be looking through it for masculine gadgets and gizmos. Launched in May, Gear Up book is the Chicago-based publisher’s second catalog; it also produces the Playboy Store catalog, which sells Playboy branded items such as collectibles, home videos, and back issues of the magazine. “We were looking for a way to grow the e-commerce business aside from what we normally do, and it became a natural extension,” says Phil Jacus, director of marketing and e-commerce for Gear Up and Playboystore.com.
The 32-page Gear Up catalog mailed to 500,000 names. Between 95% and 99% were prospects rented from collectibles, gadget, gaming, sporting, technical, automotive, tobacco and alcohol, home, and lingerie catalogs.
Jacus won’t release sales information, but he does say he is “comfortable where [Gear Up] landed.” The catalog’s average order size was $86, with 2.5 items per order.
Playboy launched the catalog in late spring to create a following prior to the upcoming holiday season. “We knew from a prospecting point of view that there’s a lot of competitive catalogs out there,” Jacus says, such as Sharper Image and Brookstone. Many of the competing mailers exchange files, “but they won’t do it unless you’ve got something to exchange. If we launch in spring, then we can build up our house file and exchange it in the fall and get files that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to get.”
Jacus admits that he feared the catalog tag line, “shop like a man,” might put off female buyers. But because Gear Up launched just weeks before Father’s Day, many women ended up buying gifts from it. Products range from a $8.95 Playboy 2-Deck Card Set to a $1,195.95 RoboMower automatic lawn mower. To help gift-givers Gear Up offers a “Gift Guide” section on the closing spread and a “5 Things Guys Can’t Live Without” section running throughout the catalog.
Gearup.com also launched in May, but Jacus says it accounts for an insignificant portion of sales, as the company wanted to see how the catalog performed before fully rolling out and promoting its online channel.
Jacus has not determined how many times a year Gear Up will mail nor when the next drop will take place. Merchandising changes are under way, though. The catalog will move away from high-ticket items such as $749.95 Weber grills to focus more on gadgets and licensed goods from brands such as Harley-Davidson and Orange County Choppers.