Written by Joshua Smith

June 6th - Real Media, a privately-held online advertising sales and technology firm, today announced a global advertising representation partnership with Playboy.com, arguably the leading men's online brand in the world. In the U.S., Real Media will supplement Playboy.com's internal sales force within specific markets and advertising categories. In international markets, Real Media will represent Playboy.com exclusively.

This deal is a highlight for Real Media, though the company's selective portfolio has long featured some of the most prominent brands online. Since its formation, Real Media has specialized in offering representation and technology solutions to those media properties that have offline counterparts, such as regional newspapers and cross-over magazines.

Playboy.com was previously utilizing Real Media's ad management platform, Open AdStream™ to serve their ads, while managing their ad sales completely in-house. The media company has expressed that one of the most significant reasons for its decision to choose Real Media's sales department as an outsourced complement to their own relates both to the company's familiarity with its clients, and the importance of maintaining technology and representation with the one firm in order to minimize critical data leaks. The goal with this is to protect the company's premium brand from the dilution threatened by third-party ad servers.

"Real Media understands brand protection in ways that other online ad companies really don't," said Playboy.com VP-Advertising Sales Jeff Kimmel. "We're retaining our own sales staff, but looking for Real Media to leverage their advertiser and agency relationships within areas and categories that are important to the growth of our online brand. We're expecting this to be a major value-add for Playboy.com."

Top advertisers have long depended on Playboy's brand and readership, especially to deliver ads for consumer electronics, technology, liquor/beer, entertainment, grooming, and dozens of other products and services targeted to young, affluent males. The site's traffic figures are consistently at the top in terms of reaching this desirable demographic.

"Playboy.com's confidence in Real Media and our way of doing business makes us extremely proud," said Brian Quinn, Real Media's Vice President of Advertising Sales in the U.S. "When you think of the most prominent media brands in the world that have successfully crossed over into the online space, Playboy has to be among the best case studies."

There is no doubt that this news comes at a critical time for Real Media, who recently announced the departure of their founder and co-Chairman, Dave Morgan, to an online advertising startup whose goals seem to compete with Real Media's own.