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Playboy attracts new generation of readers with revamped, design-driven iPhone app

Playboy is indulging tech-savvy users with a new iPhone application that aims to engage them with modern culture and bite-sized content.

According to the company, the app serves as a digital purveyor of the bespoke Playboy lifestyle for the ultimate urbane guy. Moreover, the app features content and insight into travel, clothes, food, cars and girls.

?Playboy for iPhone showcases the best of the design-driven lifestyle that the Playboy brand represents, with bite-sized content that will attract a new generation of fans interested in enjoying the indulgences of the artisanal good life,? said Josh Schollmeyer, director of digital content at Playboy, Los Angeles.

Heating up
The Playboy iPhone app features original mobile-only content, as well as material selectively chosen from the current issue of the magazine.

Users can subscribe to the app, either bi-annually or annually, to unlock exclusive content.

The three subscription options offered to consumers include a recurring monthly subscription for $1.99, a recurring six-month subscription for $10.99 and a recurring yearly subscription for $19.99.

The Playboy mobile app includes many new features.

The opening video of the app will feature Kylie Johnson, Miss February 2011.

Furthermore, within the Good Life's Food section, readers can browse an article with Chef Eddie Huang, owner of BaoHaus restaurant in New York's East.

Users can also checkout a recent piece featuring Lena Dunham, creator and star of the HBO comedy "Girls."

The app also includes a Girls section, which showcases pictorials top Playmates.

There is also the Vault section that lets users bookmark their favorite content, such as photos or articles for future viewing.

Word of mouth
Playboy is kicking off a transmedia marketing campaign to promote the app.

The company has created a NYC taxi cab spot, which is currently running through April 7.

Additionally, the company is also using social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, YouTube, Pinterest and Viddy to highlight video, visuals and other behind-the-scenes assets.

Playboy for iPhone will also be promoted in Playboy magazine and other online and mobile channels.

?Playboy for iPhone is among the suite of new initiatives being developed by the company?s media group, including the curated release of 50 of Playboy?s best interviews in ?50 Years of the Playboy Interview? for Amazon's Kindle Store and the introduction of a fashion collaboration with designers Cushnie et Ochs for a limited edition collection available on PlayboyStore.com,? Mr. Schollmeyer said.

Final Take
Rimma Kats is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York