Cosmetics giant L?Oréal Paris is sponsoring Condé Nast?s recently launched Vanity Fair Hollywood application for Apple?s iPhone and iPod touch.

Vanity Fair Hollywood, which is available for free in the App Store via http://www.VF.com/iphone, is designed help users organize their Oscar night voting pools, letting them make their Academy Awards picks and get real-time results using their iPhone or iPod touch. L?Oréal Paris branding is integrated throughout the application.

?The core demographic of the Vanity Fair Hollywood app that L?Oréal is targeting is iPhone users, Facebook users and VanityFair.com visitors who enjoy movies and take an interest in the big awards race,? said Michael Hogan, executive online editor of Vanity Fair at Condé Nast, New York.

?The app?s chief strength is that is takes something people already do?participate in awards pools?and lets them do it more easily via iPhone, Facebook and VF.com,? he said.

?Since Vanity Fair is already known for its party on Oscar night, and since we already run the bustling Oscar blog ?Little Gold Men,? we thought it was a natural progression to focus our first app on the awards race and the pool activity surrounding it.?

The L'Oréal Group is the world's largest cosmetics and beauty company, headquartered in the Paris suburb of Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France, specializing in hair color, skin care, sun protection, make-up, perfumes and hair care.

Vanity Fair is an American magazine of pop culture, fashion, and politics published by Condé Nast Publications, which is a division of Advance Magazine Publishers Inc.

Condé Nast partnered with Sanborn Media Factory Inc., based in New York, for the creation of the Vanity Fair Hollywood application.

In-app sponsorship
The L'Oréal Paris division of L'Oréal USA Inc. is the sole sponsor of the Vanity Fair Hollywood application. There are in-application banner ads that remind users that the application is sponsored by L?Oréal.

A 15-second preroll video ad from L?Oréal Paris launches before all videos within the application.

One of the preroll ads features Penelope Cruz and promotes L?Oréal's new Telescopic Explosion Mascara. The video spot has the tagline "Because you're worth it."

In addition, the cosmetics brand is providing special offers and incentives via the gift-bag feature of the application.

The Gift Bag section includes offers and product details for L?Oréal's True Match Roller Perfecting Roll On Makeup foundation, Double Extend Lash Boosting Mascara, Telescopic Explosion Mascara and Studio Secrets Professional Crystal Shadow.

Oscar night app
Application users can invite their friends in the weeks and days leading up to Hollywood?s big night, vote for the people they think have the best chance of winning and compare their selections to those of friends and Vanity Fair editors.

They can also brag about their powers of prediction using the Facebook-connected chat feature.

On awards night, application users will be able to see who is winning in their group as the envelopes are opened.

Consumers without an iPhone or iPod touch users can access the voting and sharing features from VF.com.

The application also offers exclusive access to VF.com content, including background information on nominees, trailers of nominated films and slideshows.

Application users can click on the news page for exclusive VF.com Hollywood stories, videos, slideshows and photos from Vanity Fair?s Oscar night party.

Condé Nast has been getting the word out about the iPhone application via print, TV, online and
out-of-home ads, and claims that Twitter traffic has been considerable.

Ads were placed in Vanity Fair, Glamour, Vogue, GQ, Wired and on Condé Nast Web sites.

The application is also featured on Taxi TV, and there was a full page ad in Women?s Wear Daily the day of the launch.

?The hope is that the app will confirm the sense our readers have that we are authorities on this subject, and introduce new readers who may enjoy the Oscars as much as we do without being aware of how comprehensively we cover them,? Mr. Hogan said.