The Post-Hype State of Virtual
World Marketing: What Works, What
Doesn't, and Why
-- Wagner James Au
A look at the
state of virtual
marketing since
the hype wave
began, roughly
May 1, 2006,
with the cover of
this magazine...
... and began
cresting
with this
Wired
Magazine
article from
last July.
Meanwhile,
the medium
continues
growing...
In terms of numbers...
... and virtual world marketing ROI:
Gaia Online
Six million monthly active
- Scion campaign:
Gaians acquired a millionplus virtual Scions last year
- More views of the Nancy
Drew movie trailer in Gaia
than the Yahoo homepage
- 200K+ Gaians responded to a
Nordstrom clothing style survey
Problem:
No universally
accepted metrics
on virtual world ROI
We better
figure it out,
because this
is where a
large part of
the Net
audience is
going in the
next 8 years
The biggest success stories in marketing
seem to come from virtual worlds with heavy
user-created content component...
“At its core, Habbo is about social interaction, having fun
building a world for self-expression and creative experiences.
Products... that exemplify these traits or can add to the existing
sandbox of UGC game play are a great start.” - Jeremy Monroe,
director of Marketing and Business Development, Sulake North
America
Gaia Online community driven not by passive
entertainment, but active user-generated
activity and group interaction
Bulk of Gaia user activity happens outside virtual world:
30% participating in Forums
10% sharing artwork online
10-15% playing multiplayer games
(10% in Gaia's virtual world)
Advertising/virtual item sales dominate medium
Medium is dominated by children/young
teens... and therein lies a concern.
Potentially addictive medium + Advertising to
children/young teens = Regulatory backlash
(No matter who wins in November)
Backlash and demographic limitations may
drive advertisers in search of older users
But where will they go?
... As yet no transition world for those
who grew up in them. (But one.)
WW
Which
brings us
back here:
what
happened,
and how
can it be
avoided in
the future?
Inflated user
numbers
miscommunicated
by Linden Lab and
misunderstood by
most media:
Second Life homepage, December
2006
Misunderstanding of usercreated culture-- SL as an
Impression Society
"If they like virtual
commerce so much,
they'll love our [banal real
world] commerce too!"
Mistaking virtual
simulated locations for
geographic reality-- not a
good idea in a place with
instant teleportation and
flying avatars.
In Second Life, realistic simulations
are metaphorical and communitybased. "I'm in a New York state of
mind" is a literal concept.
Consequences:
Let's FAIL like it's 1999!
Behind the empty marketing sites...
An vast Web 2.0 ecology of unnoticed activity
(i.e., the long tail of virtual world culture)
Web 2.0: Bridge Between 1st & 2nd Life Identity
(Or what Gartner's Adam Sarner dubbed
"Generation V") Image: botgirl.blogspot.com
In a non-genre,
non-narrative
virtual world, blogs,
video sharing, and
other Web 2.0
systems become
the world's
folklore.
I.E., e.g., famed
cartoonist Scott
Adams gets kicked
in the nuts by
Dilbert. (Total
views: 62K+.)
So what kind of
marketing works in
Second Life, and
by implication,
other virtual worlds
with strong usergenerated
component?
Leverage worlds' unique strengths and
characteristics...
L'Oreal Paris Campaign in Greenies,
34,000 branded items taken by users
Serve existing virtual community needs
Harry Potter IMAX campaign via "buzz agents", IMAX
credits SL marketing for boosting opening weekend sales
Co-branding with the virtual world
Playboy Island, among SL's most popular
real world company destinations
Relinquish
user control
over branding
experience in
exchange for
genuine user
passion and
creativity:
Campaign for Iron Man movie, Marvel Films
SL specific advice: Hold off on mass market
campaigns until broader adoption
CSI in Second Life, neglibly successful,
especially in relation to expectation
Think bigger than consumer marketing-- think
enterprise-level marketing
http://www.working-worlds.com
Questions?
[email protected]
"Hamlet Au" in Second Life
"Wagner James Au" on
Facebook
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