Experience Manifesto

Advertising Age - Digital - Second Life Losing Lock on Virtual-Site Marketing

Those of you who know me, know that I've been speaking about advertising in virtual worlds since about 1992 (I made my first presentation on the subject in 1993), but I'm not surprised to read this story. Most people think Second Life is somewhat hard to navigate and understand. But the bigger failure here comes from the brands themselves. Many companies going into SL don't use any imagination! They simply do things you can do in the real world, which sorta' defeats the whole purpose of being in a virtual world.

One interesting side note. I do lots of presentations for college students and most of the students I poll barely know what Second Life is, let alone spend much time playing on it.

But, virtual worlds are with us for good now and they'll only get better and better. But the real fun will be when we can start combining the real and virtual worlds together, so that as you're walking down the streets of NY while interacting with virtual characters!

Link: Advertising Age - Digital - Second Life Losing Lock on Virtual-Site Marketing.

Are Marketers Dying on Second Life?

More stats backing up the fact that if you're a) just using new technologies as a tactic instead of making it part of your strategy and b) using new technologies in the same way you've used all of the old tools, then you're not going to do well with them. If you're going to hop into Second Life, you need to so something that enhances their experience, not just delivers your message.

Thanks in large part to media hype, marketers continue to rush to the virtual world of Second Life despite increasing evidence they don’t really know what to do when they get there. Last week Coldwell Banker hung out a shingle on the site as “the first national real estate company to sell homes within the community.” The real estate firm is in good company. H&R Block, adidas, IBM, Reebok, American Apparel, Toyota, Leo Burnett and Bartle Bogle Hegarty are among the dozens of firms already there.

So far all this collective marketing savvy hasn’t much impressed the actual Second Lifers. More than 70% of the site’s users say they are disappointed with the marketing that goes on in SL, according to a new survey by Komjuniti, a Hamburg, Germany, research firm. This could be because companies are approaching the site like a traditional marketing channel.

Link: Are Marketers Dying on Second Life?.

MIT Advertising Lab: future of advertising and advertising technology

Once again, if you're using the new tools as a tactic, rather then as part of your strategy, you're bound to not create positive guest reviews.

"In a survey of 200 participants conducted by the agency Komjuniti, Second Life users (“avatars”) were questioned about their perceptions, their satisfaction with the products on offer and the brand content in the online community.

The first thing to stand out is that 72% of respondents expressed themselves as being disappointed with the activities of the companies in Second Life. Over a third of them were unaware of the branded presence and 42% said they thought it constituted nothing more than a short-term trend, lacking durable commitment from the companies. Just 7% consider that it has a positive influence on brand image and their future buying behaviour.

The most positively judged were brands from industries such as hotels [Loft?] and retail [American Apparel?].

The aim has to be to build communities around Second Life sites and look to serve them over the long term. One-off promotional initiatives are punished over the long term with a lack of attention by Second Life users and can provoke a negative consumer backlash effect on the brands in real life."

Link: MIT Advertising Lab: future of advertising and advertising technology.

Second Life Liberation Army Targets Brands -- MarketingVOX

Yet another challenge for companies looking to use Second Life as a marketing tool.

As virtual world of Second Life grows in size, drawing brands into it, so has it spawned virtual terrorists - or freedom fighters, depending on one's view. Security researcher and e-commerce consultant Wayne Porter of ReveNews held an exclusive interview with a member of the Second Life Liberation Army (SLLA).

The SLLA, consisting of about a dozen veteran members, is believed to be the first national liberation movement of its kind seeking political rights for virtual characters, known as avatars. The group really pulled into action when Linden Lab, the creator of Second Life, allowed the creation of unverified accounts.

To date the SLLA has conducted one protest against a virtual representation of the clothing store American Apparel. The group termed this a "military operation." According to Second Life residents, this took the form of shooting potential customers at the Second Life American Apparel store, causing the customers to be knocked out of the area, thus preventing purchases. The group also targeted Reebok.

According to the movement's blog, SLLA is now offering a bounty to attack certain areas and players, and its first goal is to give all avatars the right to vote in the virtual world about Second Life-related issues. The group is also considering a virtual kidnap operation. They say they were not responsible for the "grey goo" incident last month.

Link: 'Second Life Liberation Army' Targets Brands -- MarketingVOX.

Second Life's Census Problem: 2MM or 200,000? MarketingVOX

Interesting report about Second Life. We'd ask the same question about myspace and many of the other social sites -- how many people create profiles, use it for a little while and then don't ever go back. I'm sure that this issue is more widespread then peple want to acknowledge.

As the hype surrounding the three-year-old virtual world generates news story after news story and attracts big business, the number of "residents" actually logging on may be much fewer than everyone thinks - and to investors and advertisers, numbers matter, writes CNET.

As of Wednesday, Linden Lab reported that there were 2,325,015 "residents" of Second Life. The company defines each of those as representing "a uniquely named avatar with the right to log in to Second Life, trade currency and visit the community pages."

Yet most of those residents try it once… never to return. And some players have more than one avatar - up to five - each of which counts as a resident.

The real number of active, individual users who log in regularly is more likely 200,000 to 230,000, according to internal metrics used by Linden Lab and calculations by others in the industry.

Link: Second Life's Census Problem: 2MM or 200,000? MarketingVOX.

Experiential Advertising&trade -- Our Early Days

With all of the talk about advertising in virtual worlds, I thought that I would bring back some of our early work in virtual reality. I used to speak all the time on the topic of using virtual reality to create experiences that allowed the consumer to enter and interact with a marketing message at conferences both in the US and abroad.

Back in 1991, the CyberEvent Group (my first company) used virtual reality to create Experiential Advertising&trade programs for clients ranging from Avis to Cutty Sark. Clients included the City of Avignon Festival, People Magazine, USA Network, Westwood One Radio Network, American Express, Merrill Lynch and the Grateful Dead.

CyberEvent Group also produced many of the major national tours that used virtual reality, including the award winning Cutty Sark Virtual Voyage, grand opening tours for Blockbuster stores and won a MARCOM Award for Best Trade Show Exhibit with our Immersive Animation Theatre for Cabletron Systems.

Back then, we used Head-mounted display's and computers the size of a small refrigerator, like the SGI RealityEngine. But the idea behind what we were doing then and what's happening today was the same. To engage people in a more compelling, authentic and relevant manner. We needed to let people step into the advertisement, not just tell show it to them. And what was on the bleeding edge in 1991 can be just as difficult for people to understand today. Funny, I just came across this quote from an article about VR in 1995. Kinda' amazing how little has changed, isn't it!

"Plus, a lot of ad agency people I've spoken to are intimated by the process of creating a VR experience. The trick is understanding the non-linear aspects of VR. And in the advertising world, that's an enormous, cognitive leap."

So take a look at the rest of the pictures of our early VR work by clicking on the link below. And if you've been to our offices and seen those big, grey things and scratched your head wondering what they were, they were the Virtuality systems that we used to truck all over the country!

Boy, we sure had a lot of fun back then!

Link: Experiential Advertising.

Inspiration From IF! : Militants Ambush Brands In Second Life (Preview)

Yep, virtual worlds are still impacted by basic human nature. But it should make advertisers think about how the virtual world might react to their involvement. What's interesting here is that although the SLLA is not protesting American Apparel, they are targeting residents shopping American Apparel, so they've clearly identified the store as a key place that's a high traffic location. So, I guess that proves the store a success!

A group called the Second Life Liberation Army have been harassing Second Life inhabitants in the stores of First World brands. Earlier this month, members of the SLLA stopped shoppers buying in American Apparel. Their mission is to get voting rights in the world plus a share in the Second Life company, Linden Labs.

SL doesn't have a police force as far as we see. What would happen if a literal army of SL residents banded together - maybe within a geographic zone - and attacked other residents, land and even commercial operations? We believe that someone could easily do this with enough time and funds.

Link: Inspiration From IF! : Militants Ambush Brands In Second Life (Preview).

Advertising in Virtual Worlds

UPDATE: The MIT Advertising Lab has an update on brands moving into Second Life at: MIT Advertising Lab: Brands March On Into Second Life.

Lots of interesting coverage in the past few months about companies moving into the virtual worlds to market real world products. Started with the work that Erik Hauser did for Wells Fargo and now more and more companies are getting into the act. The challenge is making sure that you create the right kind of experience for your brand. As we wrote about in Experience Manifesto: RED HERRING | Massive Drives Interactive Ads, simply placing billboards that don't create any real engagement or advancement of the experience will not drive the customer interaction. (Or see Experience Manifesto: Changing Wal-Mart for the problems Wal-Mart is having interacting in the virtual world.)

I'm sure that we're at the very beginning of trend and we'll write more about this in the coming weeks.

Advertisers Can Find Second Life in Metaverses

Mark Kingdon, CEO of Organic, has a great overview piece about virtual marketing at ClickZ that's well worth the read. Just look at the money spent in Second Life. People spent $5.3 million spent buying virtual items. Brnads are just beginning to explore the value of participating in virtual worlds.

According to a recent article, the Second Life audience is mostly comprised of stay-at-home mom's and young professionals, not young teens as you might think.

That explains why there are about $5.3 million in user transactions over the course of a month in Second Life. Players can purchase virtual products such as homes, real estate, clothing, accessories, game services (ie: enhancements to communication system, etc) and pay for them with real dollars via a currency system. Second Life uses "linden dollars," which players buy with real dollars to conduct business with vendors within the game. Once the vendor decides to "cash out," their linden dollars are converted back to U.S. currency (after Linden takes their fee).

But people aren't just buying goods -- they're also building viable virtual businesses that provide them with real income. In fact, according to Forbes, there are people making six and seven-figure incomes within the Second Life economy.

Link: Advertisers Can Find Second Life in Metaverses.

Second Lifers get first look at new hotel chain | CNET News.com

Avatars looking for a stylish place to mingle and get a cocktail will soon be able to check out a trendy new hotel--months before their fleshy counterparts.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, which oversees such well-known hotel brands as Sheraton, St. Regis and Westin, will launch its newest chain, Aloft, in the online society "Second Life" in September.

In the brick-and-mortar realm, the plan is for the first Aloft inn to open sometime in 2008, catering to active, urban 30- to 50-year-olds. But the real-world lodge will be preceded by a 3D cyberversion designed to prompt feedback from virtual guests and help guide the earthbound endeavor.

"We think the SL world is a specific community of early adopters, of tech-savvy people who like to voice their opinions," said Brian McGuinness, vice president of the Aloft Hotels brand.

Aloft will be the first hotel for "Second Life," which has already incorporated businesses from Wells Fargo to Major League Baseball. Marc Schiller, CEO and founder of ElectricArtists 2.0, a marketing services company, approached Starwood two months ago with the idea of a virtual debut for Aloft. Starwood then purchased an island in "Second Life," and construction began on the hotel a month ago.

Link: Second Lifers get first look at new hotel chain | CNET News.com.

Advertising Age - Digital - Virtual Worlds: The Latest Fashion

Before American Apparel launches its first denim line this fall, the offerings are getting a virtual debut and being bought and worn by virtual people. Just as other marketers-from Coca-Cola Co. to Wells Fargo-are creating their own virtual niches, the hip clothing company is letting members of the online game Second Life try the line on for size.

"Since we opened in May, we've sold over 2,000 items to people outfitting their avatars," said Raz Schionning, director of web services for American Apparel, which opened an elaborate retail store last month in Second Life with the help of ad agency Ad Option and web developer Aimee Weber. Virtual shoppers who buy virtual clothes get 15% off the same items in real life.

Link: Advertising Age - Digital - Virtual Worlds: The Latest Fashion.

Additional links:

Link: Wells Fargo launches game inside 'Second Life' | CNET News.com.

Link: Virtual Advertising in a Virtual World.

Link: MIT Advertising Lab: future of advertising and advertising technology: American Apparel Opens Store in Second Life.

Link: Second Life | Community: Events.

Link: Avatar-Based Marketing. (Registration required)

Link: SL Exchange Marketplace Popular Items.

Link: Micro Persuasion: Retailer Opens Outpost in Second Life.

Link: Advertisers Can Find Second Life in Metaverses.

Link: Images: First hotel for 'Second Life' | CNET News.com.

Link: You can have a Second Life on the Net.

Link: Making Real Money In Virtual Worlds - Forbes.com.