PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Outfit7 Inc., a subsidiary of Out Fit 7 Ltd and the global mobile entertainment leader behind the blockbuster Talking Friends collection of apps, today announced that Talking Tom Cat has received stylish new threads that bring virtually-branded merchandise to the Talking Friends apps for the first time. Working with Iconicfuture and Digital Artists, Outfit7 enters the digital marketplace with the integration of virtual-branded merchandise from six of the world’s most popular soccer clubs in Spain, Italy, England, France and Portugal.
The company also announced today that Talking Tom Cat, one of the 14 Talking Friends characters, has surpassed 100M downloads since first launching in July 2010. With Talking Tom leading the pack, the Talking Friends cast has established a prominent global presence and achieved over 300M downloads in more than 120 countries, rendering Outfit7 the world’s fastest growing mobile entertainment network.
“Today’s brand integration news is the first step towards expanding the significant global reach of the Talking Friends network further, through valuable partnerships with world-renowned brands,” said Paul Baldwin, CMO of Outfit7 Inc., a subsidiary of Out Fit 7 Ltd. “In the same way app networks are becoming the new studio system where beloved characters are born, in-app branding is the new form of strategic product placement. The possibilities are endless and we couldn’t be more excited.”
The decision to fuse soccer, the world’s most popular sport with over 3.5 billion fans worldwide, with Talking Tom, the world’s most popular cat, was obvious. A pop culture icon, Talking Tom is an instantly-recognized character revered worldwide, much like the soccer clubs whose logos Talking Tom will soon be wearing. As of this month, soccer fans will be able to dress Talking Tom in team-branded gear to show support for some of the world’s premier soccer clubs including Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, AC Milan, Arsenal FC, Olympique de Marseille and SL Benfica. The six teams have won a combined total of 130 National Championships and over 30 European Championships.
"Digital Artists is thrilled to bring Real Madrid, one of the world's most beloved football teams, together with the world’s most popular cat, Talking Tom,” said Scott Rupp, CEO of Digital Artists. “We’re excited to have Real Madrid included in Outfit7’s new venture, alongside the five prestigious soccer clubs that Iconicfuture helped facilitate.”
“Talking Tom has amazing global appeal which enables him, and the rest of the Talking Friends apps, to break through language and demographic barriers with ease,” said Ze’ev Rozov, CEO of Iconicfuture. “The cooperation between Outfit7, one of the leading mobile entertainment networks, and some of the world’s top soccer teams, is just the beginning of the many premium branding opportunities we can expect to see from Outfit7’s Talking Friends apps going forward.”
Less than two years after launching the first Talking Friends app, Outfit7’s Talking Friends characters have reached more than 90 million monthly active users worldwide. The company averages over 25 million downloads per month, with more than 500,000 videos being uploaded to YouTube, Facebook and sent by email and MMS.
For more information on the collection of Talking Friends, please visit: www.Outfit7.com
About Outfit7
With over 90 million Monthly Active Users since its first app launch in July 2010, Outfit7 is one of the world's fastest growing mobile entertainment networks. Its Talking Friends collection has become an entertainment phenomenon with the characters featured on ABC's Modern Family as well as NBC's Today Show. There are fourteen characters in the Talking Friends collection including Talking Tom Cat, Talking Ben and Talking Gina the Giraffe. Each of the Talking Friends apps features a unique and fully animated 3D character that comes to life when poked, tickled, and played with on mobile touch-screen devices for the iOS and Android platforms. The interactive characters repeat everything a user says and customized videos of interactions with the characters can be shared via Facebook, YouTube or email. Outfit7 is headquartered in Limassol, Cyprus with subsidiaries in Palo Alto, USA; London, England; Ljubljana, Slovenia; and Seoul, South Korea.
About Iconicfuture
Iconicfuture is the leading marketplace for digital and virtual merchandising in the online gaming sector. The Hamburg-based company, which was founded in February 2011, simplifies the process of integrating popular brands, such as Shaun the Sheep or AC Milan, into an online game. Thus, Iconicfuture offers a unique service for game developers and rights owners from the fields of sport, entertainment and TV. Game developers open new sources of income by monetising known intellectual property as virtual premium products; IP owners enjoy for the first time the possibility of digital merchandising in the strong growth sector of online gaming. The company was awarded the Innovation Award at the SPONSORS Sports Media Summit 2011. For more information, please visit http://www.iconicfuture.com.
About Digital Artists Entertainment Inc.
Digital Artists Entertainment, Inc. creates socially-powered digital content platforms for premier global sports & entertainment franchises, such as Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo. Using a total-picture view of the digital business opportunity, Digital Artists helps its partners monetize mobile, social, and digital video content; activate, expand & monetize their social media networks; and maximize their audience across screens and geographies.
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