Advertising Branding & Marketing in Social Virtual Worlds What Is

Annual report 2006 Advertising, Branding & Marketing in Social Virtual Worlds Advertising, Branding & Marketing in Social Virtual Worlds “Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.” Arthur Schopenhauer When Newton21 opened its first virtual office in SecondLife it was one of the first agencies to do so. In order to understand the rationales behind this, it is important to understand what virtual worlds are and the type of potential they represent for marketers and advertisers. This article tries to give some background information and to create a vision of what might come up in the future. What Is a Virtual World? The term “virtual world” is used for a wide variety of interactive online environments. Virtual worlds are created in many different formats and designed in a variety of styles, ranging from a cartoon style (Fig. 1) to more realistic 3D creations (Fig. 2). Some emphasize gaming activities while others are accurately described as next generation chat rooms. > 39 Fig. 1: Habbo Hotel is a social virtual world with an isometric design style. (http://www.habbohotel.com) Fig. 2: Second Life’s 3D design allows visitors to fly through a virtual landscape. (http://www.secondlife.com) Visitors to virtual worlds interact with each other by typing text into a chat window or, in some cases, speaking to each other through a live voice chat application. They are represented visually by an image called an “avatar” which can take the form of almost anything, from human to animal to a can of spam. Advertising and Avatars in Virtual Worlds Several companies that own and operate virtual worlds have realized that while some visitors may not necessarily pay much, if anything, to access the world itself, they will pay for the ability to customize their avatars with special physical features, clothing and accessories. This, of course, is where advertising and NEWTON21 Fig. 4: Shopping for virtual clothes in SecondLife (http://www.secondlife.com) Fig. 5: Shopping for virtual hair in in SecondLife (http://www.secondlife.com) branding enter the picture. Like in the real world, shop owners need to do additional efforts to attract shoppers and use all forms of advertising, including billboards, leaflets, ads in virtual magazines or just rely on word-of-mouth propaganda. Real Brands in Virtual Worlds Brands and ads created by virtual world’s owners and members are currently the most common examples of 40< advertising and branding in these spaces. Recently, real offline brands have also begun to appear in virtual worlds. As of January 2006, a handful of companies, including Levi’s, Nike, Adidas, Coca-Cola, BMW, Vodafone, AOL, IBM ABN AMRO, just to name a few, have either sponsored contextual product placements within virtual worlds or created their own presence in virtual worlds Fig. 6: The Nike shopping pavilion in There (http://www.there.com) Fig. 7: The Adidas shopping pavilion in SecondLife (http://www.secondlife.com) These clothing products are completely virtual (meant for avatars only) but the next logical step in this process would be to complete the circle of offline/online brand association by allowing customers to purchase real versions of the outfits worn by their avatars (Figs. 6 and 7) or, like in the Adidas case, with the purchase of a virtual product a voucher is issued granting a discount in the real world. It is interesting that industrial automobile companies like Nissan, Toyota, BMW and Mazda are the front runners and have created their own presence in SecondLife (Figs. 8 and 9). WWW.NEWTON21.COM Annual report 2006 Advertising, Branding & Marketing in Social Virtual Worlds Fig. 8: The Toyota pavilion in SecondLife (http://www.secondlife.com) Fig. 9: The BMW compound in SecondLife (http://www.secondlife.com) However, the even more interesting aspect of such presence is the different approaches the companies towards attracting attention. Toyota, for example, has created a kind of a virtual brand and it invites visitors to modify and experiment with the provided models. The created/modified models can then be put in an adjacent showroom and visitors can vote on the creations. Nissan on the other hand invites visitors to hunt for a secret code in order to get a model out of an oversized vending machine which can then be used for a ride in an onsite test drive circuit. > 41 BMW follows a different route and focuses on future hydrogen engines, inviting people to attend presentations or to visit a dedicated website. Mazda is providing a virtual copy of one of its models and invites people to have fun on a test ride. ABN AMRO has just recently opened its presence in SecondLife and it states the expectations and the relevance of the virtual worlds to their customers (Fig. 10). But it also understands at the same time that to get people interested, they should provide some area for leisure (Fig. 11). Fig. 10: ABM AMRO in SecondLife (http://www.secondlife.com) Fig. 11: ABM AMRO leisure ara in SecondLife (http://www.secondlife.com) NEWTON21 Conclusion The presence and pervasiveness of corporate branding and advertising within virtual worlds will vary widely among the different types of worlds and the members who inhabit them. Advertising and branding campaigns are certainly not a part of all virtual worlds and ad-free virtual experiences will likely continue to remain an option. The positive reaction of younger age groups to advertising and branding in virtual worlds indicates that kids, teens and twens are more open to in-world advertising than their parents. The virtual spaces and metaverses originally conceived by cyberpunk writers like Neal Stephenson were always part of an intensely branded corporate futuristic environment. Perhaps the trend of advertising and branding in virtual worlds is just another way, how virtual life is imitating the art that originally conceived it. Possible strategies for companies/brands in virtual worlds 42< • • • • • • • Communication platform for and with customers Test-marketing of new products Product-Placements Brand involvement Crowd-Sourcing development platform Financing of new media types Linking of virtual content with e-commerce offerings Newton21 and SecondLife Newton21 has started very early to be present in virtual worlds not only to understand the relevance for future branding strategies and promotions but also to gain know-how and offer services to our clients and prospects. Newton21 is listed as one of the SecondLife development partners. Fig. 12: The Newton21 in SecondLife (http://www.secondlife.com) By Thomas Woywod, Newton 21 in Germany WWW.NEWTON21.COM