Trends And Truisms Day Five: We Have Been Living In Virtual Worlds Since The Invention Of The Telephone
I was all set to add post number 5 on the Trends and Truisms list when I saw a comment on post number 4 from my new friend Kirk Skodis over at Real Pie Media. I meet Kirk through Joseph Jaffe’s Month Of Experimentation. Following that Kirk and I decided to make a joint donation to One Laptop Per Child . Now, after looking through Kirk’s work I am a huge fan and have gotten completely sidetracked by his Facebook App for Bucket List. (Kirk, we need to hop on a call soon, I may need you to create me an App 
)
I got so side tracked that I created my own Bucket List:
In reference to post number four Kirk had this to say
“You’ll often hear me asking new clients if they have the in-house resources to carry on the conversation with frequency and transparency post launch. I think advertisers are still stuck in the old, 1.0 agency mindset that post-launch activity is limited to measurement and evaluation of the campaign. The social media or conversational campaign must be nurtured and maintained on a daily basis”
Followed by this;
“Didn’t we learn anything from the ghost-towns in Second Life?”
I could not agree more with Kirk, and I don’t take his comment about Second Life as a negative comment on the platform itself. I take it as a call to marketers to be more thorough with your initiatives and not to go for the quick hit.
Anyhow, this was a major digression from what today’s post was supposed to be and I love it, thanks Kirk!
And Now For The Original Post! #5
2007 was a tremendous year for the Virtual World space. While virtual worlds such as Gaia Online, Habbo Hotel, Wee World, Webkinz and many others saw great successes, many marketers equate virtual worlds with Second Life, and even more of these marketers think Second Life was a failure.
Well, for all you marketers that think Second Life was a failure, and subsequently think virtual worlds were a failure, you have another thing coming. Sure, there were a great number of failed campaigns in Second Life, but I blame the marketers for these campaigns, not the platform.
Expect to hear the words, “virtual worlds” a lot more in 2008 and don’t forget, it is not synonymous with 3D environments. Don’t let the jargon confuse you, we have been living in virtual worlds for a long time!
Tags: virtual worlds, 3d web, second life, habbo hotel, Gaia Online, Wee World, Webkinz, kirk skodis, real pie media, bucket list, facebook apps, jospeh jaffe, jaffe juice, one laptop per child
Jan 08, 2008
Thought-provoking, any specific thoughts on what we can expect from virtual worlds in 2008, will one of the current platforms emerge, a very savvy advertiser cause mass adoption, etc.?
Jan 08, 2008
Jamie
I am glad I got you thinking
I am actually quite bullish about Gaia Online, I have seen some really great stats from them. Perhaps my friends from Gaia (you know who you are) are paying attention (yes, this is a test) and will send over a blog post or a slideshare deck that I can embed (the latter would be preferred)
Jan 08, 2008
“Sure, there were a great number of failed campaigns in Second Life, but I blame the marketers for these campaigns, not the platform.”
I actually blame the platform here when it comes to secondlife. Let me start by saying I am not as versed as I should be with Gaia online and some of the other platforms you mentioned. So this comment is only about secondlife.
About 8 months ago, I signed up for a secondlife to find out what the hype was all about. I did it from my home computer, a 3 year old apple laptop. The experience was a full fledged nightmare. The site ran painfully slow, making it nearly impossible to immerse myself in the site. I didnt even get past the first island, much less make it to any specially created areas. After that experience, I told myself that I wouldnt go back to secondlife until i got a new computer (which hasnt happened yet).
My point – Based on my experience, I wouldnt be able to say that the Coke marketing team threw a bad campaign on secondlife. I would only be able to say that I couldnt even experience the campaign because the the platform’s hardware requirements.
Jan 08, 2008
Jeremy
Thanks for the challenge!
I do agree that the platform is processor intensive. I don’t even think that the CEO of Linden Lab would argue with this. That being said, there are plenty of MMORPG’s that are processor intensive and are still wildly popular. But that is besides the point.
It is ironic that you being up coke, as that is one of the better executions in Second Life. CC Chapman, Joseph Jaffe and team did a great job with that one. When referring to flawed marketing in Second Life, I was referring to marketers who got in for the quick hit PR value and did no follow up. This type of marketing generally does not work on any platform, so I guess the core issue here has less to do with Second Life and more to do with marketing strategy (or the lack there of).
Adam
Jan 08, 2008
Adam & Jeremy,
This is a good case study for marketing in Second Life (or any virtual worlds).
First, for the record, I love SL and by saying “Didn’t we learn anything…” I was referring to all the brands that jumped in merely for PR buzz with no intention of engaging SL residents.
Secondly, Jeremy, please treat yourself to a new machine! SL works great on my year-and-a-half old MacBook Pro.
But this brings up a great point about virtual worlds and what we’re saying to marketers: Don’t just do something in virtual worlds or social networks for the sake of appearing relevant. Consult with users and find out how you can add value to the experience. SL might not be for Jeremy, and like any tech-forward medium, it surely will alienate people like Jeremy. That’s a catch 22 for virtual worlds who have to stay ahead of the curve to survive, which means raising the barrier to entry for new adopters. But there are consumers inside, with very specific wants and needs and the smart brand will tailor their offerings to this very unique consumer.
Finally, my favorite defense of the promise of virtual worlds from last year was: Imagine when you first encountered the Internet in ‘95 or whenever it was, that instead of a browser full of static, 2-D pages, you saw a virtual world. Instead of visiting websites, you visited rooms or offices or stores. Instead of emailing or IM’ing, you walked up to avatars and “spoke” to them. Stop thinking of it as a video game and more of a new way to navigate the web. Virtual worlds could be the future of the way we interact electronically.
Jan 08, 2008
Kirk
I too am a fan of that argument for virtual worlds. My other favorite argument is, just look at kids and the way they interact in social environments such as Club Penguin and WebKinz. In a few years they will be the consumer market and they will be accustomed, potentially demanding of such environments!
Jan 08, 2008
Kirk and Adam,
My point on secondlife, and really any virtual worlds, is that the challenge to marketers seems to be twofold.
The first is that they have to be sure that their target audience is willing to take the time to adopt this new medium. In the case of secondlife, that means creating an account, creating an avator, dressing your avatar, learning the controls, etc. This is a major time commitment on the part of someone that isnt tech savy. Is the reward for the user worth that time commitment? I’m not so sure – after all, time is perhaps our most valuable commodity. If fact, I would argue that part of the appeal of RSS, Twitter and Tumblr are that they save time. The learning curve is quick and the results are almost instantaneous. With this in mind, its hard for me to look at sites like Club Penguin and Webkinz in the same light because they target kids and kids have time. They have time for TV, video games, cartoons, and the web. LIfe is all about distractions (wow do i miss that). When kids grow up they might demand virtual worlds. But how do you address the challenges listed in this paragraph over the next few years, while the kids are still kids.
The second challenge for marketers is interacting with those users that do take the time to embrace virtual worlds. As Kirk said, dont just do it for the PR. But its hard to get to the second challenge before addressing the first.
And Kirk, just waiting for ultra portable mac to come out.
Jeremy Beyda
Jan 08, 2008
Jeremy
I agree, Second Life is not for everyone, and the barriers to entry is time consuming for some. I feel that I have gotten a great deal out of my adventures in Second Life, and am glad that I have spent the amount of time in SL that I have. That being said, I do understand why it has not caught on in the mainstream. I agree that it may be a while before virtual worlds hit the mainstream however, I don’t think it will be that long.
Jan 08, 2008
Jeremy
I think this discussion is assuming your target is one that already embraces SL. Or else, why would we advertise there?
We wouldn’t target people outside of SL with a campaign inside – any more than we’d target the male demographic on Oprah.
Jan 09, 2008
Kirk,
Absolutely true. I just remember reading about some SL campaigns and scratching my head thinking that there is no way their target has embraced SL. Embraced being the key word.
Anyways, fun discussion guys!
Jeremy
Jan 09, 2008
Kirk and Jeremy
I have to agree with Kirk that right now you have to stay above the curve to engage in many virtual worlds, but I think the idea of a 3D virtual world is still pushing the boundaries of the baseline of computer technical capabilities. The idea of a 3D virtual world is ahead of the current technology curve for, say, someone who has purchased a $1000 system or has a two or three year old computer to run Second Life properly. This problem happens across all virtual worlds, including games such as World of Warcraft.
Nexeus Fatale
Jan 09, 2008
Nice blog – my first time here.
Kirk’s point that clients are thinking that the launch is the end rather than the beginning is pretty sad – but I have had similar experiences. It certainly explains some of the deserted sims…
If you were to build a shop on an island, have almost no stock, never change that stock, never change the window displays and have no sales assistants to engage with the customers, would there be queues at the doors? Why would anyone think that Second Life is any different?
I’m sure 2008 will be different though!
Peter
Jan 09, 2008
Welcome Back Nexeus and welcome for the first time Peter!
Nex, it is the same old story, you need the hardware to really get the most out of SL. We are still a ways away from solving that.
Peter
As I am sure you can imagine, I fully agree that an SL build is merely a beginning, and not an end. Thanks so much for that comment!
Jan 10, 2008
@Adam Yes, but I do think the problem is more wide spread than just SL – take a look at Kaneva it doesn’t look great at all, but the requirements of its entry are a whole lot lower than Second Life would be. With virtual worlds you really have this issue of Limitations of Higher Graphics vs. Accessibility with Lower Graphics
@Peter While I agree with you, what I find really odd is that there are plenty of Second Life based businesses that don’t have any customer service representatives, but people keep on coming to them. It clearly is a matter what is happening on the location (i.e. consistent new releases, events) plus what the build is. There’s a build in Second Life that is just beautiful and meant as a hang out space while it has some stores the location itself is visited often because of its beauty. While, I’m sure we would all agree that the SL build is merely a beginning, don’t expect people in virtual worlds to come to your content because it is shiny. There has to be some sort of strategy (the same sort of strategy Adam mentions for mobile apps later on) and there has to be some sort of experience that you’re leaving the SL resident with. The real failure is that, unlike the web, if you build it people won’t just come. If you build it, push the content, promote consistent interactivity with the space then people will not only approach, but engage and become a part of that brand.
Jan 11, 2008
Hi Nexeus,
I absolutely agree that the best way to build usage and even community is to have a cohesive strategy. I might visit a new space in Second Life to have a look around, but for me to return, there has to be something that I find valuable. That might be something to do, it might be people I want to meet. Your use of the word ’shiny’ is spot on – flashy superficiality is just not enough, either in terms of the objectives, the build or – in particular – the content.
Jan 11, 2008
Peter, you hit the nail on the head
ALWAYS ADD VALUE!
Apr 02, 2008
i dont like SL cuz its boring and it does not have this tv thingy in your house and it cant upload channels on tvs even if it has tvs i bet SL so boring go on There or Kaneva for a better virtaul life