Playboy Magazine Features Mobius Mobile Image Recognition Technology in Its January 2011 Issue

CHICAGO, Jan. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobius© image recognition technology for mobile devices is part of an innovative, new ad campaign for Playboy's stylish Fragrance for Men by Coty Beauty in the magazine's January 2011 issue.

Mobile phone users who take a photo of any of the twelve 2010 Playboy Playmates featured in the ad and send it to [email protected] will receive access to exclusive, premium images and videos. In addition, users will be able to make secure mobile purchases of Coty's line of Playboy Fragrance for Men.

Mobius' mobile image recognition technology has several features which make it well suited for the Playboy Fragrance for Men by Coty ad campaign. First, Mobius mobile image recognition technology allows users to capture and retain an actual image of their favorite Playmates, as opposed to capturing a bar code or abstracted graphic as required by other mobile image recognition service providers. Because of this actual-image capability, Mobius does not interfere or restrict creative services for ad design, and the end user captures a meaningful, shareable, branded image instead of an abstraction.

"We are excited to have this opportunity to partner with Playboy and Coty Beauty in introducing the next big thing in unobstructed visual mobile marketing," said Aram Kovach, CEO of Mobius.  "Mobius image recognition technology lets brands retain their focus on the subject matter, in this case Playboy's 2010 Playmates, and the creative is not cluttered with a code that diverts attention from the ad content. Mobius servers also make sure that we return the best quality images that a user's particular phone can handle."

"Playboy Fragrance for Men is all about seduction, glamour, indulgence and fun and thus forms a natural partnership with Mobius.  The inventive, forward thinking promotion is a great opportunity to directly target our core audience of young, trendy men and make a memorable impression on today's tech-savvy consumer.  We look forward to a successful partnership and to furthering the impressive growth of Coty Beauty's iconic lifestyle power brand in the US," remarked Jurgen Scharfenstein, senior vice president of marketing for Coty Beauty Lifestyle fragrances.  

The Playboy Fragrance for Men portfolio, carried at roughly 15,000 doors in the US, features scented evocations of five sophisticated and contemporary lifestyles.  A modern woody fragrance, New York Playboy, captures the energetic essence of the city that never sleeps; an oriental woody fragrance, Hollywood Playboy, captures the essence of a dazzling world of celebrity and red carpet glamour; an aromatic citrus scent, Malibu Playboy, encapsulates the effortlessly cool "life is a beach" lifestyle; an irresistible, fresh, woody fragrance, Miami Playboy, encapsulates the suave, seductive and sexy essence of South Beach; an oriental fougere fragrance, Vegas Playboy, captures the essence of the high rolling daredevil.

The sophisticated Mobius self learning mobile image recognition system determines the capabilities of the mobile device that has sent the image, and returns content that is best suited for that particular device. For example, a "smart phone" user will receive access to high quality, optimized video and still images, whereas a "regular" mobile phone will receive video and images at file sizes and resolutions that are in line with its capabilities.

Mobius also provides a secure e-commerce platform in support of the ad campaign, which allows users to purchase any of Coty's line of Playboy Fragrance for Men using only their cell phones. Users who register with Mobius will also have the ability to make future purchases utilizing Mobius' "quick purchase" feature, which requests a unique image from the user to initiate and confirm a secure online transaction without the need to send credit card information over the air. The Mobius e-commerce platform also uses a reverse lookup feature, which allows users to quickly populate a registration form by simply entering their phone number.

Mobius image recognition service is free to registered members, works internationally and across all mobile devices and service providers globally. Users pay only the charges associated with their mobile phone service contract. For more information, visit www.mobiusworld.me.

About Playboy Enterprises, Inc.

Playboy is one of the most recognized and popular consumer brands in the world. Playboy Enterprises, Inc. is a media and lifestyle company that markets the brand through a wide range of media properties and licensing initiatives. The company publishes Playboy magazine in the United States and abroad and creates content for distribution via television networks, websites, mobile platforms and radio. Through licensing agreements, the Playboy brand appears on a wide range of consumer products in more than 150 countries as well as retail stores and entertainment venues.

About CompEx, Inc.

CompEx, Inc., the parent company of Mobius, provides comprehensive integrated web solutions to solve the complex connectivity problems facing today's organizations. Based in Columbus, Ohio, CompEx, Inc. is a privately-funded company formed in 1992 as a global technology brand of invention and vision to develop solutions for new business ventures.  CompEx specializes in interactive mobile marketing, web and mobile application development, business intelligence, infrastructure/security, and digital data management.  Our innovative thinking, knowledge and systematic work methodology enable us to provide our customers with creative cutting edge timely and highly effective solutions.

For more information about CompEx, Inc. or Mobius, contact our US Headquarters (877) 829-0536 or visit www.mobiworld.me

About Coty Inc.

Coty was created in Paris in 1904 by Francois Coty who is credited with founding the modern fragrance industry.

Today, Coty Inc. is a recognized leader in global beauty with annual net sales of nearly $4 billion. Driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, passion, innovation and creativity, Coty Inc. has developed an unrivaled portfolio of notable brands and delivers its innovative products to consumers in 90 markets worldwide.

The Coty Prestige brand portfolio is distributed in prestige and ultra-prestige stores and includes Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Calvin Klein, Cerruti, Chloe, Chopard, Davidoff, Jennifer Lopez, Jil Sander, JOOP!, Karl Lagerfeld, Kenneth Cole, L.A.M.B. fragrance by Gwen Stefani, La Voce by Renee Fleming, Lancaster, Marc Jacobs, Nikos, Sarah Jessica Parker, Vera Wang, Vivienne Westwood and Wolfgang Joop.

The Coty Beauty brand portfolio is more widely distributed and includes adidas, Astor, Baby Phat, Beyonce Knowles, Celine Dion, Chupa Chups, David and Victoria Beckham, Esprit, Exclamation, Faith Hill, GUESS?, Halle Berry, Jovan, Kate Moss, Kylie Minogue, La Cross, Miss Sixty, Miss Sporty, Nautica, N.Y.C. New York Color, Pierre Cardin, Playboy, Rimmel, Sally Hansen, Shania Twain, Stetson, Tim McGraw, and Tonino Lamborghini.

Coty and Puig Fashion and Beauty S.A. have a strategic partnership for the distribution of the perfume lines of Nina Ricci, Carolina Herrera, Prada, Paco Rabanne, and Antonio Banderas in the United States and Canada.

For additional information about Coty Inc., please visit www.coty.com.

SOURCE Playboy Enterprises, Inc.