World's Most Popular Cat, Talking Tom, Surpasses 100M Downloads and Kicks-off Global Brand Integration

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07 Feb, 2012, 12:00 GMT

PALO ALTO, California, February 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Outfit7's Talking Friends Apps surpass 300M Downloads

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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 football 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 football, 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-recognised character revered worldwide, much like the football clubs whose logos Talking Tom will soon be wearing. As of this month, football fans will be able to dress Talking Tom in team-branded gear to show support for some of the world's premier football 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 football 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 football 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.