RL Ads Coming to SL

B _ _ _ M _ Fill in *those* blanks! hehe

home maka cookie baka i need a woman that can shake and baka
quarta key down to a oz down to a 22 a motha fukin stoned g
home maka cookie baka i need a woman that can shake and baka
l-b down to a k-p down to a oz down to swish a swish

Mob violence, maybe.

But as for competing - I doubt it. All I can see is that some of the current creators would get bought off/hired by the Nikes.

I always considered my time, fun, here limited for this reason. But, I have gotten a ways in the time I've been here, and had fun doing it. I'll keep on doing it till it gets to be not an environment of, as others sometimes put it, "creators/consumers," but of "real world corporations/consumers."

That will work, too. Because there will be plenty of people willing to run around in the game and socialize, while buying their clothes from Gap. That can be fun, too.

Just not fun for me.

coco

That line about "no global advertising" is complete BS. We've got the forums, the Find function, the map, and people's profiles all advertising things globally. I guess what it really means is:

1. None of our features are really good at making things globally known.

2. None of our features allow advertisers to force their ads on everyone.

I see your point, but I don't see much of the branding of which you speak.

I think I can clarify what I view as the distinction. I'm not real fond of billboards in SL, but their land, their "rights", so I'm cool with that. However, most SL-businesses are run by advertising amateurs who also are residents. I think that this has held down the brain drilling effectiveness of in-game advertising.

If LL intends to give entry to non-resident, professional, corporate advertisers, I expect they will show their typical prediliction to plaster every available surface with attention grabbing advertisements (e.g. gasoline pump handles didn't always have marketing messages on them). Moreover, the game's best merchants may be capable of producing professional grade advertisements but likely don't do so with as much alacrity as they could because it would bring bad karma and reduced in-game sales. Contrariwise, firms like Coca-Cola® have found that simply getting their logotype in people's eyes is sufficient to fuel demand and as non-residents have no compunction about in-game repurcussions since you cannot buy an actual coke in game.

In constrast, I have no issue at all with stagecoach island as it is nicely sequested, I could even see myself choosing to go there out of curiosity (if I could). But the difference is my choosing to do so. Admittedly, we don't yet know how this will actually play out, but giving professional marketers predilictions, I think I know what they will want to do. For example, here is from-the-hip photograph I recently took; the traffic light gives some idea of size and altitude. What was this advirtisement attached to? A safety barrier built around a builiding under construction. Does that make my stance a little more clear?

But isn't that actually what cyberspace is? what the metaverse really represents? And if true, then is it really a surprise if LL wants to move in that direction?

And btw, it's a no-brainer for lots of people. If you're unfamiliar with Chris Anderson's "Long Tail ", I'd recommend you (and others) becoming familiar with it. A recent talk he gave (available online and referenced on his site) shows a curve that is beginning to look a bit more dynamic (finally); so the market as we know it today is not necessarily what the market will be in 10 or 20 years. It's the kind of thing I discussed with Hamlet and mention in my blog (specifically here). These platforms don't only benefit the big corporations. And there is reason to believe it benefits them less in the long-term. I've also made mention of this "virtual leveling of the playing field" in a rather long and admittedly reader-unfriendly entry over on the SL Future Salon blog. PM me for a link if you care to endure it.

So how all this pans out is still up for grabs imo. And we should all be open to other, more hopeful, possibilities.

Satchmo steals Cristiano's Oreo cookie... got milk?

I understand your concern. And I'd be happy if there was a gradual move instead of the kind of possible stampede that seems to me to be the concern for some people here. I'm just not sure these concerns our justified.

If this were a developer-created world, that kind of adshock treatment would probably be more likely; i.e. company needs money > company rushes out and sells advertising to all takers > company rushes back in and plasters the entire space with ads > players/residents leave > company officers survive long enough to make off with the ad revenue. And btw, give credit to Anarchy Online for afaik seemingly being able to perform this balancing act without running off.

The path to this kind of thing within SL isn't quite as clearcut. Residents have the option to stick with private sims and never visit the main grid. We might see a map with islands max'ed out and the grid vacant as people try to avoid the adglut. Or we might see companies savvy enough to hire people to set up islands and develop custom content. Pulling people in instead of pushing their message out. Or, perhaps even more likely, a mix of everything will emerge. We just don't know. But rather than getting worked up, perhaps we should take a look around at what we already tolerate and ask ourselves if the issue is pragmatic, or philosophical.

I can't believe you said blow me. You are crude lady!

PS - here is a cookie for you:

Finally some common sense.


People are stealing all of these brands anyway. If the proper trademark holders wish to regain the rights and make this content in world, how can anyone object without being a hypocrite?

I can object without being a hypocrite because I have not pirated another entity's trademarks. I would wager that this holds true for the vast majority of SL residents.

What I object to is not facsimiles of the products being sold in world by the proper trademark holder. What I object to is the visual and aural spam that corporate advertising will bring to the world.

-Ghoti

I doubt it will be worse than all the crap advertising we are exposed to currently.

OMG!! I was thinking something else you meanie!!

Thank you for the cookie though. Milano's are actually my favorite!

Somehow I suspect the thought of advertising to max 30 concurrent users in a sim probably doesn't excite Coca Cola too much.

That being said, I bet SL would be a great place to advertise other MMOs.

Well, conversion wise. Actually getting a mass amount of subscribers might be tough.

Is it only a matter of time, then, before we see the first greefing of a virtual McDonald's?

Imagine if other MMO creators were able to make mini mmo's in SL. If they had the money to pay LL for the equipment, I can imagine it happening! That would be pretty wild!! Of course, we are probably a few years off from that, but I like the thought.

I really hope that Stagecoach Island becomes the model for the in-world advertising and promotion of real-world products. Stagecoach Island represents a powerfully effective use of the SL technology because it leverages custom content to both entertain and educate.

But I feel that keeping this stuff separate from our everday meta-experience is really important.

We should be able to choose to visit these places - not have them thrust upon us. We should be able to play with content created by corporations, but bring none of that back with us into the main grid.

For example, ads on the main grid should be for products created by fellow players and be available for sale in-world. Ads on sponsored corporate islands should be for products produced and sold in the real world, not within Second Life. If Delta wants to let us fly their planes in a private sim, I think that would be wonderful. But I do not want those planes flying their way onto the main grid to destroy the hard work of so many here.

I am really excited about the organic growth of in-world products and brands. I would hate to see them crushed by real-world advertising agencies that decide it would be a fun experiment (and make for really neat press releases) to place Gap ads, and free Lexus vehicles at every telehub.

And for the record: I am NOT against corporate advertising (I have a professional background in brand management). But here, within Second Life, I care most about Second Life.

You can do this Philip - and you should do this - but please do it in a way that does not destroy all that you have worked so hard to create.

I'm confused - how do you know this? Have you visited Stagecoach Island?

Hey Merwan, there was a promo code that let some folks get in to Stagecoach.

It looked much like any other place in SL to my eyes.

I looked around and got in trouble and found some stores but I never same the part that was supposed to be educational.

The Fargo supervisor employee didn't think to suggest where the educational part was.

The promo code and backdoor was available for a day or so. But my real point isn't so much what is available there, or how effective it is for Wells Fargo. I congratulate Linden Labs on choosing to do this on a private island (and on a separate grid I believe). I think this is the right way to begin using SL for real-world promotions.

Well, it's not concurrency, but number of impressions over a period of time. However, your point is very valid. Having worked in this field, all I can suggest is that any company choosing to "advertise" in this space at this time would only be choosing to do it for the cool factor and the opportunity to write a couple of sexy press releases.

The Stagecoach Island implementation is another story altogether. I could see wonderful applications of this model for the insurance industry, for travel, for the promotion of movie releases, music labels ... the list goes on and on. I think that Linden Labs should pursue this kind of model aggressively.

Just keep it off the main grid (please)

Well, there's at least two, then.

I already hate the amount of eyesore advertising we already have. We don't need more.

How do you see stagecoach working?

What young adult in their right mind wants to log onto a banking tutorial MMO?

According to the article linked above, somewhere in there it talks about Stagecoach Island, and mentions it is geared to the 18 to 24 range.

I had thought teens before too, but I guess not. *shrug*