In a brilliant use of the medium and the brand, Playboy has launched its first mobile model search. Now don't get excited -- it's not what you think.

Playboy Mobile is inviting women over 18 to register and build an online profile, so that mobile users can view them and vote via their handset for Miss Playboy Mobile 2008. The women cannot be nude.

"The campaign was meant to be an additional lifestyle initiative," said Ed Lang, senior vice president and general manager of mobile and international online at Playboy Enterprises Inc.

"We want to point out the lifestyle side of what the brand represents and in trying to find avenues to perpetuate images of the brand we extended into mobile," he said. "We felt it would be fun and interesting to do this and let women participate."

The winner will be crowned Miss Playboy Mobile 2008 and will receive a $5,000 cash prize and a professional photo-shoot at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles.

Playboy Mobile is a division of Playboy Enterprises. The Playboy empire encompasses Playboy magazine, Playboy TV, Playboy Radio and Playboy Online.

The first round of voting for Miss Playboy Mobile 2008 ends on March 15. After 10 finalists are selected, they will be flown to Las Vegas. The winner will be decided March 31.

The winner will be crowned Miss Playboy Mobile 2008 at an invitation-only celebration at the Hugh Hefner Sky Villa at the Palms Casino Resort on April 2 during the CTIA show in Las Vegas.

This mobile campaign differs from the typical searches that Playboy does -- there's no Playmate and no nudity. Also, Playboy is leveraging digital a lot more.

"We are hoping that the women reach into their own social network to expand the messaging and get people to vote for them," Mr. Lang said.

Playboy is targeting a younger, more interactive socioeconomic group.

Fans can view contestants at http://www.mspbm.com or Playboy Mobile's WAP site at wap.playboy.com. They can text their favorite entrant's number to the short code 67000.

"This campaign demonstrates that the Playboy brand is capable of expanding beyond traditional mediums," Mr. Lang said.

Such an all-out embrace of mobile is indicative of Playboy's ambitious brand-expansion efforts. The company recently opened a casino in Las Vegas, launched a Playboy store in London and launched a television show, "The Girls Next Door," starring Hugh Hefner and his three girlfriends, Holly, Bridgette and Kendra.

Mr. Lang said this Playboy initiative seeks to create various touch points for consumers.

The success of the Miss Playboy Mobile 2008 campaign will be measured through the number of women that participate, how many end up making it into the competition and how much traffic and visitor interaction goes on throughout the promotion.

Quattro Wireless maintains the playboy.com WAP site. Quattro also created the microsite for the promotion and is helping Playboy to sell banner ads on the main WAP site and the microsite.

"This is an integration of online and mobile," Mr. Lang said. "It isn't just about the magazine anymore. We plan to have integration with radio and the magazine and are currently evaluating whether it makes sense to do broadcast."