Second Life Advertising

Second Life is growing at an incredible speed. People are intrigued by this virtual world where they can interact with people from all over the world. Companies around the world have caught on the the phenomenon and have entered the virtual world themselves. Second Life has become a great way for companies to reach consumers. With traditional marketing becoming less effective, Second Life is a great place for some companies to reach people. Also, many people who are in Second Life are more technologically savvy and the type of people more resistant to traditional marketing.

One island I visited while touring Second Life was LeoBurnett. This was a funky island with huge trees and some sort of bridges connecting the trees. Avatars (characters in Second Life) could walk into the trees, climb up them, and explore. One interactive component on this island was the ability to pick up a giant pencil. This pencil was larger than the character. There was also a giant apple that avatars could pick up and hop on as a means of travel. If this was some sort of marketing it was not successful because I don't know what it was for other than being fun.

One marketing trend that seems to be huge in Second Life is billboards. They have billboards posted everywhere including one that I saw for a recent movie called 300. They are using Second Life as a tool to promote their movie and stir up interest. One area in Second Life that I visited was called the Freebie Warehouse. This area had a lot of billboards that it used, but many of them were not for companies. One was for a casino that was located elsewhere in Second Life. Another that comes to mind is one that was offering money for avatars to dance. Avatars have the ability to dance in Second Life and this particular billboard gave away Second Life currency for signing up to dance somewhere in Second Life. I stumbled across, and remembered, these two billboards that I had no interest in. This should show companies that if they find the right islands to market on they could get massive amounts of exposure. If they find islands that their target audience visits they could be very successful.

I think interaction is key in Second Life. I visited a Nissan dealership where they allowed avatars to test drive their vehicles. I hopped in a car and started to drive all around the island. This was fun and I remembered it. This is the goal of marketing in Second Life.

If my company, New Tree chocolate, were to advertise in Second Life they would be wise to use interaction as much as possible. Set up a huge billboard with a New Tree representative avatar sitting under the billboard so people could ask him or her questions. I would pitch the"giant pencil" idea. However, New Tree should give out giant New Tree chocolate bars for people to surf through the sky with. When the avatars fly they could be floating on a New Tree bar. This would be fun and remembered by people who try it. This would get their name out there and get people interested in the new company.