Sony to launch Second Life competitor

"Playstation Home", a 3D world will be free to all PS3 owners. Everyone will get a free flat (Habbo style), free clothes, a TV and stereo where you can stream programs. Plenty of opportunities for multi-players gaming too. I can't wait to see that and I can't wait to see Linden Labs' reaction too.

Via IT Wire.

Tags: Sony, Second Life

Future of television: Free Tube

"Welcome to FreeTube - a site that lets you watch TV online for free without the need for any special software, hardware or subscription service. We are a completely free alternative to cable television that lets you watch tv channels and tv shows online using just your browser".

Works well.

Tags: IPTV

A Second look @ Second Life

Second Life article. More articles on Ampersand.

A Second look @ Second Life

The Second Life tidal wave has finally crossed the Atlantic and is leaping on European shores. By in large, communication professionals are perplexed about whether they should surf the hype or not. But to their credit, they recognise a “PR opportunity” when they see one: over the last 6 months media coverage related to Second Life (SL) increased by nearly 150%[1] while SL blog mentions increased by 260%[2].

This begs the question: How long will the Second-Life media frenzy lasts? And if not for PR, what is the value of investing time and money with avatars when marketing budgets are under renewed pressure to deliver real dollar returns from real consumers?

While a reality check is overdue, I would argue that there is more than meets the eye in SL and there is genuine value to be extracted for brands that are willing to learn the dynamics of the ‘metaverse’ and play by its rules.

Second Life is a land of plenty, not of many
There are over 2.9 million registered users in SL[3] however most reports talk of about 300,000 active users and it is estimated that concurrent users are only around 20,000[4] (there are about twenty thousands users on average at the same time in SL). Marketers are interested in knowing their audience. Reliable estimates on SL demographics are hard to come by but it is thought that 25% to 45% of users come from outside the U.S, mostly from Canada, UK, Australia and Western Europe[5]. SL is developing fast outside North-America and local European enclaves such as a virtual Dublin or Parioli, a replica of a Roman street (the city, not the era…) are flourishing. The average SL user has a median age of 32 years old, with equal gender split[6].

Residents are marketing savvy and patriotic
Second Life residents have been busy shaping their “little” world since 2003 and it is only since last year than big corporations have discovered this vast untouched land, and decided to plant their flags on it. Some think that Second Life could turn into another ad funded Myspace. I won’t bet on that. The flood of announcements about companies being the first “fill in the blanks” in SL has triggered a growing backlash from residents against brands who are perceived to be invading their turf.[7] In addition, it is fair to say that the PR value of setting up a presence in SL follows the law of diminishing returns.

When corporations occupy virtual land, they often go unnoticed. The most popular places in SL are grassroots and resident -run (mostly in the casinos/nightclubs/ adult entertainment arena…). None of the corporate outposts is achieving decent traffic in comparison. According to New World Notes, the only corporate venue that gets decent traffic is Thomson who offers educational content, i.e. something of value[8]. A lesson to all?

The right rewards beckon companies with the right expectations
Despite the hype, SL is growing fast. And it is not alone: World of Warcraft passed 8 millions players in January[9] while the BBC is launching its own virtual world for children[10]. Consumers are moving away from watching TV commercials, magazines and online banners to places where they can be their own director and actor. If consumers are spending more time into virtual worlds it makes sense for their favourite brands to follow them in their virtual life. Toyota, Pontiac, American Apparel, Starwood Hotels are among those already established. Philips, ABN Amro and AOL have made announcement for 2007. Even the French socialist party has set-up an outpost in SL. Anecdotally; it is the only place where I saw avatars smoking…

To set expectations right, buying an island in SL or commissioning an avatar of your CEO will not terraform your brand into an epitome of coolness. The value is not in being present but in being active. Most companies in SL think about their presence from an advertising standpoint. That is a place for people to “experience the brand”. A visitor to such experiential venues (think agencies’ virtual offices or trendy company showrooms…) will quickly notice more often than less that these places are devoid of any life forms. SL is a platform for interaction and if there is no one to interact with, the fun of wandering up and down designer glass stairways quickly wane. Why stay or come back? Think about sustaining your investment: spend less in building a fancy shop and more in manning the shop floor!

Think co-creative marketing and immersive learning not clickable billboards
There are countless creative opportunities to promote your brand in SL, besides virtual billboards and showrooms. The only constraints are of the platform itself. Talking of which, it is worth mentioning that when more than 40 people/avatars are confined in one place, SL slows down considerably. When organising events it is therefore advised to prioritise quality over quantity as the inability to achieve the latter is seriously detrimental to the former. Technology blog Tech Crunch has another useful insight: holding SL only media announcements irritates time poor and technology challenged journalists[11] (who often writes about Second Life from their experience watching the corporate video on the website…)

SL residents like to create. Unless they are provided with tools to contribute to the “brand experience” there will treat your efforts the way you treat an ad poster: pretty to look at once, nothing more. Spending time with the SL natives and enrolling them to develop your SL footprint will increase the chance of successfully “blending in”. For example, you could launch a competition for SL residents to design your building or hire brand supporters to engage with visitors. If you stuck for ideas, just ask the natives. Could you sponsor local fashion designers or inviting a SL virtual car designer to your real design studio? How about limited digital versions of your products offered or sold underground to trendsetters to create some buzz? Or publishing a guide to the coolest venues?

The whole of SL is user generated, the very same trend driven by hard to reach Gen Y and Gen X consumers. What better place to gather first hand consumer insights or indulge in a bit of consumer ethnography? Your SL venue could be a perfect way to train your marketing staff across the world on social media, consumer trends and conduct workshops ; providing you with an opportunity to practice what you teach and to reduce your company’s carbon emissions.

By engaging with the virtual community and offering something of value, you will turn every interaction into a genuine understanding of what makes consumers want to create and converse. This is happening now, in virtual worlds, in Myspace or in Youtube. Stepping in Second Life is not about PR or showering avatars with ads. It provides an opportunity to understand the mindset of today’s connected consumers. This will turn your investment in Second Life into a real competitive advantage in First Life and deliver real dollar returns on your marketing investment.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Factiva. Percentage increase comparisons between months of August 2006 and January 2007.
[2] Blogpulse. Keyword mentions “Second Life” over last 6 months as of 25th of January 2007.
[3] http://secondlife.com/ as of 25th of January 2007.
[4] http://gigagamez.com/2006/12/18/second-life-hype-vs-anti-hype-vs-anti-anti-hype/
http://many.corante.com/archives/2007/01/04/
real_second_life_numbers_thanks_to_david_kirkpatrick.php
[5] http://www.secretlair.com/index.php?/clickableculture/entry/
second_life_stats_expanded_early_2006/
http://www.secondlifeherald.com/slh/2006/05/in_the_me tavers.html
[6] http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/conten t/oct2006/id20061030_869611.htm
[7] http://www.secondlifeherald.com/slh/2006/11/pr_flacks _banne.html
http://mutually- inclusive.typepad.com/weblog/2006/10/backlash_agains.html
[8] http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2006/10/why_mixed_reali.html
[9] http://www.blizzard.com/press/070111.shtml
[10] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6290585.stm
[11] http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/13/dell-to-make-announcement-in-second-life/

Tags: Second Life, marketing

A Second Look @ Second Life

I wrote an article on what marketers should realistically expect to achieve in Second Life for Ampersand, Hill & Knowlton's global newsletter. Would love to hear your views.

Tags: Second Life, Ampersand, hill & knowlton

Google challenging ITV to be UK’s top advertiser

ITV' estimated 2006 advertising revenues=£1.47 billion. Google’s UK advertising revenue =£825 million. Channel 4= £800 million.

Via The Times

Second Life finds a voice

Spatial audio through VOIP to be tested by Vivox next week with full roll-out end of March. I reckon that this will boost virtual commerce by making information exchange more natural (thanks to haggling).

Tags: second life

French elections fought in Second Life

The French socialist party has established an outpost in Second Life a few months ago where you can smoke "gitanes" and dream of a more equal virtual world where terraforming work is restricted to 35 hours a week only. Loic Le Meur, who has been campaigning on and offline for Nicolas Sarkozy has announced that he is opening an island for UMP supporters. Article in French - with pictures - on TF1 and Loic's blog.

Apparently, 12.73% of the SL population is French. Don't ask me how this figure was calculated...

Tags: second life, france, web 2.0

Milestone in 3D imagery: photo-realistic humans

See the picture of a virtual Korean actress on Gizmodo and the making of on the artist's site.

We teach the machines, Web 2.0 explained.

Love the video and the narrative. I will use it for a forthcoming workshop to explain web 2.0. to my PR colleagues.

Via Kevin Davis.
Tags: web 2.0

World statistics updated in real time

Worldometers: World Statistics updated in real time.

The Luke Johnson Phone Experiment

The coolest idea are usually the simplest. Luke Johnson invites you to call him on his mobile (he calls it a "cell phone" but he really means "mobile phone") to see how many people would call a stranger whose number they found on an Internet video. +1 602 435 3694

Tags: luke johnson

Fake blogging to be made illegal in UK, Europe

According to PR Week, print edition 9th of February 2007, "flogging" or fake blogging is likely to be made illegal when the EU's unfair commercial practices directive passes into UK law in december 2007. The directive prohibits "unfair commercial practices" such as "representing oneself as a consumer". This will of course applies to astroturfing in blogs but also in discussion groups or consumer rating websites.

Tags: astroturfing, flogs

The long tail of search

According to Read/Write Web, four search engines account for 99.99% of searches: Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and Ask.com. Charles S. Knight compiled the top 100 alternative search engines that makes up for the remaining 0.1%.

Yahoo! Pipes

Yahoo! Pipes lets you remix feeds and create new data mashups in a visual programming environment. Good idea. Would be nice to have more options to layout or export your output.

Tags: yahoo pipes

Wikileaks: Anonymous wiki for government and corporate whistleblowers

Wikileaks is "an uncensorable version of Wikipedia for untraceable mass document leaking and analysis. It combines the protection and anonymity of cutting-edge cryptographic technologies with the transparency and simplicity of a wiki interface." It i snot affiliated with Wikipedia, has already received 1.2 millin documents and will launch in February or March this year. More work for PR agencies...

Tags: wikileaks, PR

Wikipedia to launch Google search engine competitor?

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales talks about his vision for a user driven, open source search engine. The first beta will launch within a few months. EETimes.

Tags: wikipedia, google

What is better? A Mitchell or a Webb?

Anyone who uses the web for more than 6 months has become naturally trained to avoid online ads. My field of vision stops just below the banner line and ignores tedious leftish skyscrapers. Then came Apple’s latest campaign featuring Robert Webb and David Mitchell. I noticed the ads instantly and it worked a treat for me. It reminded me of what I didn’t like about other TV series and why Peep Show is definitely a superior entertainment product. I am now keener to buy the series’ DVDs.

Charlie Brooker of the Guardian reignited the PC v. Mac feud on his blog (look at the comments). You can see the ads there too.

Tags: apple, peep show

French join exodus for la vie en rosbif

Sunday Times article that perfectly summarises my feelings and the countless conversations I have with young French "refugees".

• Stifling bureaucracy,
• Stagnant labour market,
  
• Unwillingness of employers to give chances to young job applicants (...) because of attitudes often criticised as rigid,
• “In France if you read classics and history at university you can become a teacher, but not, say, a banker. Things are more flexible here (in London)",
• “People here can laugh at themselves, it’s part of good manners, but people take themselves a lot more seriously in France.”

Google to loose "Gmail" in Europe?

German entrepreneur Daniel Giersch trademarked "G-Mail" in 2001 for his company doing emails... After a court case and failed talk of a settlement, Giersch was awarded the right to use "G-mail". He plans to bring the matter to the European court to validate his claim across Europe. In the meantime, Google will have to use "Google mail". Article in French.

Wikipedia issues warning to PR agencies

About writing about clients they represent on Wikipedia (or paying others to do so). "If it persists they will be banned". Front page of PR week UK.

Tags: wikipedia, PR