I’ve been collecting some news items about Second Life to use them in a presentation, and I figured I might as well line them up here too because it’s an attempt to capture the situation as it is today. I realize that this post will only be a snapshot of the moment, but I needed a list of ‘things that happened’ in Second Life for myself so I’d no longer have to remember them by heart. It’s also becoming quite impossible to refer to all the known cases of companies that have started something in the virtual world because it’s growing out of its proportions. So, here goes the run-down of the remarkable things that happened:
News in and from Second Life:
Reuters opened the Reuters Atrium, on their website (secondlife.reuters.com) they feature in-game news, as well as the stock exchange rates from the Linden Dollar (the in-game currency). Adam Pasick, a veteran tech and media journalist goes in Second Life by the nickname of Adam Reuters and acts as Reuters’ bureau chief.
It’s not that Reuters was the first to bring news from Second Life into real life. The Second Life Herald was doing that already. But they didn’t have the island with the huge buildings. Still. They were first.
C|Net launched its virtual alter-ego which lookes a lot like the real-life building and includes an amphitheater, office space and attractive outdoor patio. The space will be used for a series of interviews with virtual-world luminaries, and as a forum for C|NET News.com reporters to come and talk about stories they’ve written. Over time, however, C|NET hopes the space can be used for CNET.com reviewers to talk about products they’ve tested, as well as for any number of multimedia projects, including the posting of CNET videos, meet-ups and other events.
Clothing brands and their stores:
Adidas opened a store on a private island in early September. The huge complex includes a dome that projects a branded video clip, a few billboards, and an orange ‘test-your-shoes’ trampoline to demonstrate the ‘bouncy’ positioning. Avatars who wear Adidas shoes can jump to the sky through the script that came with the sneakers.
Reebok’s store is an SL extension of RBK Custom campaign. Visitors can customize their sneakers as well. Reebok island is a bit too much like a real-life mirror. It features a desolate city and an empty parking lot. The streets have names of the Reebokly-branded people like ‘50 Cent Lane’ and ‘Mauresmo Drive’, and the store has a classic Second Life look and feel. Spacy, stylish and designy. The basketball courts on the island are (obviously) branded with logos, but since I’ve been there four times and always was alone, it’s kind of hard to play the game. The store only sells blank sneakers, but does offer them in different sizes. You can take them to the coloring machines and customize them to your own taste.
American Apparel was the first actual clothing brand to take the step to Second Life. The building is based on the fashion label’s Tokyo showroom. The sleek, mostly glass structure is shaped like two stacked boxes, and features lighting that changes at virtual nightfall. The few times I visited this store, more than a dozen people were checking out the clothing. That’s very cool. There’s a lot of life here, which is very good for the brand.
Advertising Agencies in Second Life:
Bartle Bogle Hegarty’s (BBH) office is also located on a separate island. A small chill-out area at the entrance of the block invites restless minds to come at ease, the “offices” are on the right and there’s also a conference room with a media screen that would most likely play either promotional ads or video clips. All the structures are roofless, which makes it very inviting to visit and explore.
Leo Burnett’s Creative Hub. An apple tree with a coming soon note. For a few weeks already. Much ado about nothing so far. A lot of press buzz for a storm in a glass of water. Being first is one thing. Having a ‘coming soon’ sign up for a few weeks is another. The apples are ripe. Time to harvest.
VIA launched their agency in Midnight City on the ground floor of what seems to be a locked-down office building. Only level 0 is accessible and some office furniture has been placed around the one-room office to create the illusion that sometimes people come there to work. In sharp contrast to BBH, this tiny office actually has a more realistic look and feel than the bombastic buildings on private islands, far away from the people. These guys are just ad guys, having a blast across the lingerie store, like normal ad guys do.
Audio, Artists & Other Goodies:
On the C|Net island Regina Spektor, the New York singer and pianist, now has a virtual spot. You can listen to almost all new tracks from her upcoming album (I listened to at least 5). The setting is cozy, jazzy, loungy… there’s some soft red lights that create a relaxing atmosphere. Perfect for prelistening the tunes. You can’t buy any merchandising though. Just a nice experience, but you can’t take it with you.
You know it wouldn’t take that long before someone would introduce voice chatting in Second Life. Vivox did it. You can make free phone calls and talk to friends in the game. All you have to do is sign up for an account, download Vivox Second Phone, install it and run SL again.
Starwood aloft hotel became the first company in history to open a new hotel brand inside of a virtual world. Prior to opening to the public in 2008, aloft hotels will offer a sneak preview inside of Second Life, giving visitors an in-depth insiders view of how a virtual hotel is created.
More info | aloft SL blog | BusinessWeek | Hotel Review
Sun Microsystems opened a pavillion and launched its presence in SL by holding the first ‘in-world’ press conference by a Fortune 500 company on October 10th. Sun Chief Researcher John Gage, appeared in avatar form and discussed the purpose and goals of Sun’s foray into Second Life. He addressed the opportunities for experimentation with new forms of communication, collaboration and economic activity in the virtual world. Chris Melissinos, Sun’s chief gaming officer, also spoke during the event.
Toyota has entered the virtual world as the first automotive advertiser, dropping their Scion all around the grid of Second Life so users could drive it around and interact with it. A full launch is planned for late October, when SL citizens will be able to customize Scion models. Makes sense, considering Scion already lets buyers do a fair amount of customization on real-world cars.
IBM experimented with real-live data updates from Wimbledon. They didn’t rebuild the arena, but simulated the entire event. RSS hubs could be touched and then showed the RSS data from the wimbledon.org website.
Read more about this proof-of-concept
Update: Yesterday night (the 24th), Nissan launched in Second Life. Nissan has brought in one of the characters from the ad campaign, who in SL is known as Toast Alicious. Toast is, yes, a piece of toast. To get a free car, you have to find his avatar, or if that’s too much work, search for “Toast Alicious” and send him an Instant Message. Nissan has put down a massive vending machine on their location, now where did I leave my giant coins?
Future Plans:
Amazon CTO Werner Vogels revealed that a group of Amazon engineers is looking at ways to use Amazon Web services to bridge Amazon with Second Life. According to a comment by Vogels at the virtual-worlds blog 3pointD.com, it’s not an official project. But it’s no secret that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is an investor in Second Life creator Linden Lab.
GM’s Pontiac division is the next mainstream company to join the one million strong Second Life community with the creation of the soon to be launched Motorati Island where residents can engage all kinds of automotive-related projects such as the construction of racetracks and dealerships where the Pontiac Solstice will be on display.
This Thursday (in Second Life), Jaffe Juice will officially launch “crayon – a new marketing company”. Stay tuned for updates about that. [www.crayonville.com]
A sneak preview of the Crayon Island:
Related:
- SecondLife Business Magazine (tips, tricks, investments etc.)
- 3PointD
- MillionsOfUs
- Official Second Life Blog
- Second Life Insider
- Live From eDay: Second Life
Privacy 2.0 » Blog Archiv » Second Life Tour
October 25, 2006 at 11:45 am
[...] Coolz0r – Marketing Thoughts gibt einen interessanten Einblick in Second Life. [...]
Ramas. » links for 2006-10-25
October 25, 2006 at 4:24 pm
[...] » Second Life Tour – Coolz0r – Marketing Thoughts Un Tour de Second Life… nada más chéquense la cantidad de marcas que existen en ese mundo virtual. (tags: secondlife marcas comunidades) [...]
Giff Constable
October 25, 2006 at 5:20 pm
Nice round up! I’m glad you caught Electric Sheep projects Reuters, Starwood, Nissan… you might also check out Sony BMG’s presence on the Media sim. Our MLB.com projects have been a fun one too, although this has been more about events — there’s not much other than the stadium to look at when an event is not going on. On the ad agency front, GSD&M is about to launch as well (launch a real presence, that is, not a press release).
IQ Interactive Media Blog » Blog Archive » Brands in Second Life
October 25, 2006 at 6:09 pm
[...] Wondering what brands are represented in the virtural world of Second Life? Take the tour here. [...]
Rob Fekete
October 25, 2006 at 7:39 pm
Saw this written today
Retro-Marketing
Marketing to People in Their First Life
I can vaguely recall the days when things were very different.
People spent their time in a world filled with oxygen. It seems just
like yesterday OH MY it was yesterday! Lets take a trip down
memory lane shall we? The date is Jan 1st 1997, and people are
starting to spend some time on this thing called the internet.
Within a couple of years there was a hyper-saturated web with niche
sites that had everything from exclusive glues to websites designed
as destination locations for people in their mid 30s that had an
affinity for poodles. Certain people claimed they would never leave
the house again, and vowed to radically change their behavior.
Now we find ourselves in the 21st Century and the year 2006. The
internet has just recently started living up to a portion of its
hype. More people are connected than ever before. The internet is
by far the greatest way to disseminate information to the masses at
lightning speed thats ever been found. I learned this myself by
building an on-line community. Turns out that people from around the
world had similar things that they wanted to talk about surprise!
In my case, I am referring to experiential marketing. In this day
and age, people spend dramatically more time on-line then marketers
ever thought they would back in the early days.
But now, lets direct our attention to a current on-line phenomenon
that has recently been discovered by the media. I am referring to
the on-line role-playing game Second Life produced by Linden Labs.
Its a phenomenal platform that allows endless virtual freedoms in a
world without oxygen. However, Second Life is a world in major
transition. It is instructive and interesting as a marketer to be
able to watch what is going on in that brave new virtual world.
I was acquainted with Second Life even before it launched. It was
astonishing to see the technology they had developed, and I anxiously
awaited how it would be accepted by the public. As with any ahead of
its time technology it was immediately embraced by technological
innovators and early adopters. There was a small group of around
35,000 residents that felt like they had died and gone to heaven.
They found a computing platform that allowed them to do things that
they had dreamed of, but were never able to do before.
These first residents wanted to create a new world far from the
masses in first life. Back when we launched Stagecoach Island for
Wells Fargo we were very careful not to intrude. We built a separate
private branded entrance, and our island was separate from the Second
Life MMORPG. There are many reasons from the brand perspective why
we did this, but there were other reasons that had more to do with
the respect we have for the in-world residents and our own sense of
how to reach people in a meaningful way on behalf of our clients.
The most important was that we believed the Second Life residents
(innovators) wouldnt have wanted us throwing up a corporate bank in
the middle of their Utopia. We respected that and were looking to
build a brand experience that wouldnt intrude into anybodys virtual
reality, but rather allow for a new experience in which young adults
could play and learn, utilizing an exciting interactive platform. We
were able to find a happy medium. Remember, experiential marketing
is about not interrupting folks, but providing the possibility for
people to participate in a positive brand experience if they choose to.
I am amazed everyday at what is taking place in Second Life. The
early residents are, and have been, feverishly working to pass things
like the virtual bill of rights etc. These innovators are still the
ones that make up the majority of the full-time residents. Second
Life went to a free membership model sometime ago. This allowed for
a lot of lookie-loos to dip a toe in the water and rarely, if ever,
come back. The full-time residents are not happy with the influx of
corporations into their world. Is this bad, or is this just the
inevitable, natural evolution of any society?
Second Life has recently positioned itself in mainstream media as a
viable platform for marketers to ply their trade. Because of it,
brands are jumping in feet first without even really asking
themselves if they are wanted there. Many brand marketers dont know
what questions to ask the agencies that are working for them. They
want to provide a compelling and pleasant brand experience, but fail
to realize they have dropped themselves in a world where the majority
of the population is not interested in first life issues, and does
not want them there. Unfortunately, unless they immerse themselves
in the world and understand its residents they cant know how to
integrate themselves in a relevant way for the people involved.
Are brands applying the same strategies in the virtual world as they
are in the oxygenated world? In the oxygenated world brands try to
connect with their audiences for the purpose of creating a
relationship and a call to action: buy. Do their audiences exist in
the virtual worlds, and if so, is it a place they want to see you?
These are the types of questions that must be considered before
entering virtual worlds.
Is the rush of brands into Second Life a bad thing? If you look at
life as a great philosopher once said, There is no good, there is no
bad, there just is, then you must simply look at what is taking
place in Second Life as natural progression a virtual evolution if
you will. Soon, the original residents that dont like whats
happening will move on to find or build their next Utopia. Second
Life may become a hotspot for many new residents. I will be very
interested to see statistical data that shows the average number of
visits from residents and window shoppers in Second Life, and the
average time spent there. Like research in first life what are the
residents doing and where are they doing it? How do we reach them in
a way that positively affects their Second Life and impacts our
brands in their first which is where, we all know for the most
part, they buy our goods and services? These questions and answers
are what will truly inform if, and how, marketers move forward in a
world without oxygen. Im watching, and listening, and holding my
breath.
erik hauser
October 25, 2006 at 8:02 pm
that was written by me:)
Zen of Design»Blog Archive » Second Life Hits Bogus Milestone!
October 26, 2006 at 5:57 am
[...] What’s more intriguing are the number of other corporations that have bought into the idea that Second Life is the place to be: Coolzor has the rundown of companies that have bought in. The list includes Reuters, CNet, Adidas, Reebok, American Apparel, and some advertising agencies. Again, that’s to reach 10K users. People over on Terranova seem interested mostly in talking about Second Life as a creative genesis, but to be honest, Coolzor’s tour of Second Life makes me really happy with the men in tights games – at least in WoW, no one’s going to try to sell me shoes. • • • [...]
Mobil Avenue » Blog Archive » The Times They Are a-Changin’
October 26, 2006 at 2:12 pm
[...] Coolz0r’s tour provides a visualisation of some of the RL organizations already in SL. I had a good chuckle at Gifs comment to the post. Many agencies are scrambling to setup a presence in SL after their clients have entered. The wave of new arrivals hanging out a shingle continues on a daily basis. Both old and new players such as advertising agency Centric announcing their arrival in yesterday and social media agency Crayon launching today to name but two come in search of fame and fortune. [...]
Second Life « The future of advertising is here
October 26, 2006 at 4:57 pm
[...] Op het blog van Coolz0r heeft hij een korte samenvatting gepost van wat voor grote ontwikkelingen er nog gebeurd zijn in Second Life. [...]
Weekly Linkage [10-27-06] at Experience Planner
October 27, 2006 at 10:56 pm
[...] Second Life Tour [Coolz0r] [...]
The Reality of Branding in Second Life « smartbrandblog
October 28, 2006 at 9:56 pm
[...] If you’re interested in more on this topic, swing on over to CoolzOr. You’ll find a very interesting in-depth review of many of the brands that are venturing into the Second Life community – and some discussion on what it may all mean. [...]
Prokofy Neva
October 29, 2006 at 1:33 am
Actually, the Herald offices are in a tall and well-constructed building on the mainland river sim of Louise. A very pretty area. It used to be edge-of-the-world before the Lindens built out — it’s quite respectable. In fact, being on the mainland, in its way it could be more visible and have more spontaneous visits and interactions because people exploring could fly by.
Pro tip: take your flying avatar out of the picture — he looks like a dork flying there and it’s a sort of newbish giveaway. To get your avatar gone, use the alt button on your keyboard — hold it down while you left-click with your mouse on any object you want in your picture — then using that combo of held-down alt and left-click zoom around the camera angle to get past your avatar. Makes for a cleaner photo.
Basic Thinking Blog » Virtuelle Welten: Reality Mashup via Augmented Reality
October 29, 2006 at 2:46 am
[...] practice) bookmarken mit del.icio.usdel.icio.us Digg Furl reddit Shadows Spurl Yahoo MyWeb Yigg Trackback-URL Gelesen: 3 heute:3 [...]
Coolz0r
October 29, 2006 at 2:34 pm
Prokofy, thanks for the tips. I was already aware that I could make me disappear, but I choose to show myself, since I was giving a tour. :) I’ll check out the Herald building and thanks for the tips.
I know I look like a dork. Besides the fact that I am a dork, I didn’t wear my suit and I still have to buy a decen skin. :) I’ll work on that. See you around in SL maybe :)
David Meerman Scott
October 30, 2006 at 5:01 pm
Excellent overview. Thank you. This is the best collection of corporate outposts within Second Life that I’ve seen! CHeers, David
The Meshverse Journal » Nice Tour of Branding In Second Life
November 5, 2006 at 2:59 pm
[...] Coolzor Marketing Thoughts [...]
www.best-practice-business.de/blog » Second Life Tour vom coolzOr-Blogger
November 8, 2006 at 7:08 pm
[...] Nach dem Motto: “Bilder sagen mehr als 1.000 Worte”, ist der coolzOr-Blogger auf Reise innerhalb von SL gegangen und hat viele Eindrücke nicht nur via Text sondern auch via Bild festgehalten. Und das Gute daran: Er teilt die Eindrücke mit Euch kostenlos. [...]
» First Tabloid In Second Life - Coolz0r - Marketing Thoughts
November 9, 2006 at 2:22 pm
[...] Yes, in come the media. Reuters and BigBrother have made their moves, now it’s time for the tabloids to follow. Axel Springer, the publisher of Germany’s top-selling Bild newspaper, is poised to launch a weekly paper designed to sate the virtual population’s appetite for news and gossip. [...]
the new shelton wet/dry
November 21, 2006 at 6:27 pm
[...] + Brands advertising in Second Life [...]
The virtually real economy in Second Life at chilibean
December 2, 2006 at 9:50 am
[...] I mentioned that a number of companies have launched themselves into Second Life. Given the obvious value in being in such an innovative market, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. These companies include Reuters, Adidas and Sun Microsystems. Even General Motors recently opened a virtual dealership in Second Life. For a review of many of the companies and people who have made a home for themselves in Second Life, take a look at this review on Coolz0r. [...]
volkov
March 6, 2007 at 6:18 pm
I think that advertising in Second Life is very interesting, and opens up many possibilites for marketing. I wrote about Second Life in my own blog. http://callfromnextlife.blogspot.com/2007/02/second-life-to-go-open-source.html
Anonymous
March 21, 2007 at 11:24 pm
[...] » Second Life Tour – Coolz0r – Marketing Thoughts une visite des grandes marques dans secondlife, screenshots a l appui (tags: secondlife marketing web2.0 brands rmg bank) [...]
Talking Voices: Word of Mouth for the World » Brands In Second Life
June 19, 2007 at 11:46 pm
[...] This article is an overview of how corporates are embracing the new medium, including Reuters, C|Net, Adidas, Reebok, Toyota, Nissan, Sun Computers and IBM. [...]