Be Wary of Avatar-Based Marketing

Submitted by Darren on Wed, 2006-07-26 18:44.

Over the past six months, there's been a lot of excitement in marketing circles and the mainstream media about corporations coming to virtual worlds. The biggest splash was probably American Apparel opening a store in Second Life.

Second Life, for the uniniated, is a virtual world in which everything--everything--is created by users. There are many exciting things going on in Second Life, and I expect that it is a sign of future times.

Here's an important fact: Second Life has about 350,000 residents. As I write this, all of 3260 are online. Now, it's the middle of the work day here in North America, so I'm sure that number will shoot up in the evening.

Still, consider this chart from an online game stats site. Second Life barely rates  compared to the millions of, say, World of Warcraft users.

I think marketers are jumping on the Second Life bandwagon because:

  • It seems like the hip thing to do.
  • They can easily conceive of how it works.
  • There are no orcs or night elves wandering around.

My point is this: before launching your Second Life store, consider how many people you're going to reach inside the game. I'm sure American Apparel has enjoyed decent ROI because they made a big media splash. Are the second or third or seventeenth companies going to do the same?

I would be remiss in also not at least mentioning the particular cultural issues that you'll come up against marketing in any virtual world. They're like other countries, and need to be approached with the same level of research and careful exploration. 

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A View From The Inside...
Submitted by Moopf Murray (Second Life name) (not verified) on Sat, 2006-08-05 19:03.

Darren,

I've just come across this blog post and it's good to see a cautionary appraisal of the opportunities that are currently available in Second Life, largely due to the population size as you point out. I'm a developer within Second Life and have been for around 2 1/2 years. Back in January 2004 there were only around 15,000 users of the platform. At the turn of this year there were 100,000 and now it's pushing up towards 400,000 which indicates that the growth required to turn it into a serious proposition is starting to arrive. This has been helped a great deal by recent sign-up changes which mean that no credit card or personal details are required in order to use Second Life. At peak there are around 8000-9000 users online concurrently for your information.

Projects such as American Apparel's store are *very* first generation in terms of what's possible with the system and, judging by the comments of Raz Schionning (the director of web services at American Apparel), they aren't using their presence for a significant ROI currently. What I find interesting about the American Apparel project is that it currently isn't particularly engaging - it doesn't bring the consumer into the idea in any obvious way apart from the use of strong branding. It really just exists, looking good admittedly, but missing what people generally want in Second Life and what's more than possible - engaging, dynamic and interactive content. They are really just taking their bricks and mortar appearance and making Second Life fit around that, rather than taking Second Life and adjusting their presence so it makes more sense in that environment. I'm sure it will evolve, however.

There are many other interesting projects being created for companies on the platform that highlight the diversity of possible use. Projects for testing architecture and branding (Aloft), encouraging participation in real world events (BBC), or showcasing particular product (Regina Spektor). The sheer scope of how you can approach Second Life means that those who simply try to produce a virtual version of their real world presence, almost verbatim, aren't going to be the ones that are most effective at marketing to those within Second Life. After all these companies are possibly also having to compete with other users of the system. Taking American Apparel again, their in-world offerings have to compete with some diverse and extremely professional Second Life boutiques. Companies may not be aware that they will be compared to the 'locals' and need to bear this in mind when planning how they wish to present themselves.

The main difference between Second Life and the MMORPGs on the population chart you link to is exactly what's exciting many marketers and companies - in Second Life you can create and shape the environment to an amazing extent, in other MMORPGs you're just a visitor to a pre-created environment, which offers little or no scope to use the platforms for marketing. I think that's why many are talking about it without worrying too greatly at this moment in time about the sheer number of people there. In addition it seems like the platform's tipping point is getting closer, so some are taking the opinion that now is probably a good time to get involved.

I think the second, third or seventeenth company could indeed find much worth in using the platform. The key is to engage the end user and make them part of an experience in ways that are often more akin to game or entertainment development than traditional marketing. The interactivity offered by the Second Life tools provide you with very diverse ways in which to hook them in and leave an impression and marketers can have a field day with their ideas and imagination.

Sorry for the long comment but I hope some of the above helps give a perspective from the inside. Oh and there are orcs and night elves running around - and any other type of being you could think of!

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