Sex, Pranks and Reality

That's the title of an article on Second Life and the way Forbes now perceives marketing in our little virtual world.

This is the URL, since our forums are broken:

http://members.forbes.com/forbes/2007/0702/048.html?token=NCBKdWwgMjAwNyAxNjo1NDo1MiArMDAwMA%253D%253D

This is my favorite quote from the article:



The questions I'm asking my fellow residents in a sincere attempt to get Resident Answers, dear Mr Monitor:

How will LL react when big business finally decides we, it's beloved children, are too quirky to market to?
What sort of issues, do you suppose, will the lack of corporate funding pose to LL?
Also, if SL isn't going to be good for real-world brand marketing and RLC is so much better for just trying to get laid, are we all really here just because we like to dress up our doll-ies and play with plywood prims?

I think there is a lot of potential for big business to market to in SL. It just may take time for them to see that.

And even if they don't pickup on it anytime soon. Sex sells. The adult entertainment industry is huge. It generates tons of revenue every year. Main stream business may not market in SL for a while, but I think adult businesses would certainly benefit from doing so.

Just look at the forum view counts on topics. Any topic with keywords like, adult, sex, or any kind of inuendo gets a lot of views in a short time. Some such threads even have posters stating that they aren't interested in Adult content. They couldn't not click on the link though. I know I never click on a topic that doesn't interest me when I visit a forum.

Food for thought Darlings.

Brandi...xxx

While its true Adult content is a large part of the SL experience for SOME people, perhaps the “Web-marketing vice president” could have made better use of his time while in world??

Maybe that’s the reason he is only a Vice president?

Regardless, we are thinking about promoting our RL business her in SL, but without HTML on prim, horrible spinning ads, or a “look at me, look at me!! I’m cutting edge” type island, I’m not sure how we will do it, in a tasteful productive manner.

My favourite quote :

Will big business try to sell its goods to a sex-obsessed audience in a place that captures their eyeballs for hours on end?

Pick up a magazine or turn on the TV. Notice the car ads with gorgeous models draped invitingly on a fender, hood or front seat of The Product. Notice the liquor ads with gorgeous models all but engulfing The Product with their cleavage. Notice the beach resort ads with bikini-clad gorgeous models cavorting oh-so-invitingly at The Product. Notice the men's grooming aids ads with gorgeous models all but sexually assaulting the male models while the latter attempt to use The Product. Now, let me ask the question another way:

Do birds sing in the morning?

But what do they mean by "spending time warming up to real-world brands"?

I visited the Ben and Jerry's sim just last night. It's a very nice build, with a great theme. You can tour a cartoon version of an ice cream factory, and there's a game there as well. But apart from the game there's very little interaction, and I don't feel I'd want to "spend time warming up to" Ben and Jerry's in Second Life because of it. I might be tempted to buy some of their ice cream, but to do that I'd have to close down Second Life and walk down the road to the supermarket.

But that sim isn't going to be part of my Second Life. There's no social area there, very little to interact with, no associated group of people, etc. It's a website in 3D. Fair enough, that's what the "platform" idea seems to revolve around, except that I don't really feel a pressing need to visit Ben'n'Jerry's website - and if I did it would be to find out about information such as their product range and where I can buy them, and you can't find out that kind of thing in their SL sim. I don't feel a pressing need to learn that part of their manufacturing process is called a Spiral Cooler and, having learned that, I don't think I will ever need to revise it.

If they'd kept the same cartoon theme they could easily have created a cartoon themed social area that would have had much more potential, and just a few signs would have served the purpose of reminding me that Ben'n'Jerry's exists. But marketers won't want to do that - not least because if an area _does_ develop an associated social group, there's always the risk it will become a clique, and start sending out negative messages to people which then get associated with the brand.

You can't make amusement parks in SL. Several people have tried to make them, and they have gotten some praise for their great builds, but every one that I know of has suffered serious lack of traffic because without the human angle many virtual interactions don't mean very much. "Getting laid" is one example but there are others too, that's probably just the most popular in a lowest-denominator kind of way.

I think every one of us who provides, or enjoys, something that is not "getting laid" ought to drop this David Churbuck an email and tell him that there is more to SL.

Broccoli

Forbes is so lucky they don't accept comments on their online articles. They'd get a real mouthful from me.

Exactly! Most don't even realize how much marketing is done capitalizing on the public's obsession with sex. Many don't even know when their own deep desires are being tickled to get at their pocket books.

Just because some tight ass, Forbes Magazine clown, turned up his nose at the SL community does not mean marketing geniuses won't find a way to profit here.

I am quite sure there were numerous people who downplayed sales on the internet at first, by saying that the only people who were there, were there for the p0rn.

They will follow the numbers and the dollars, in time.

It may mean others beat them there first, is all.

Yumi makes an excellent point. The simple-minded thing may not necessarily be the best thing. I think if I were Ben & Jerry's I think I would set up B&J stores or kiosks at places with a lot of flow-through traffic - like Infohubs - before investing in a point location people would have to seek out. And they would include the kinds of info Yumi is talking about.

Coca-Cola seems to get SL very well with its viral marketing program. Nicely done Coke vending machines and cans of Classic Coke are freely available, and Coke has licensed SL and its Residents to develop branded products (see http:'secondlife.reuters.com). I mean, what does that cost Coke? Somebody with a basic account who knows his way around SL, that's all. Essentially FREE ADVERTISING.

I think if I were GM I would consider sponsoring (or building and operating) a road-racing site open to all SL entrants whose cars meet GM criteria for entry - with big prizes for the winners. The location would be full of appropriate GM propaganda, and places to click through, of course. I think I would do the same if I were Ford, or Chrysler, or Honda, or Porsche, or hell, even Subaru (if you don't own one, look into it. Their WRX is Da Bomb for street performance). Done entertainingly, it would draw a crowd. Maybe a BIG crowd. And for what? In advertising budget terms, peanuts.

In the end, web ads are all about click-throughs or viral marketing. When the ad biz figures out how to generate click-throughs from SL, they will come. In force. And as SL's audience (so far, sustainable growth rate 10%-plus per month!) reaches different advertisers' critical mass, they will come in even greater force.

Of course, that does mean LL will have to maintain a reasonably stable platform....

As some already pointed out, the SL sex business won't keep investors away. It's rather a plus for anyone considering product placement that a) this virtual world is, thanks to the adult entertainment factor, attracting lots of visitors; b) these visitors will subconsciously relate everything they see in SL to their sexual desires, and c) spend a lot of time in SL to follow their hobby #1.

As for the pranks... when you read the headline "virtual) helicopter crashed into (virtual) Nissan building", what do you notice? Right, there's the word "Nissan" in it. And they didn't spend a single dollar for the media attention.

Where the "pranks" go way too far though:



Customers shot inside a shop by grid terrorists? That's more than an RL company might be willing to risk. Especially since this anti-commercialization movement gives them the impression that they and their product isn't welcome in SL. No point in advertising if the target audience obviously hates your brand.

Well, that's certainly not the fault of the SL sex industry... rather the fault of a guy named Philip, who wanted weapons in SL because Hiro had such a cool virtual katana in Snow Crash.

Some of us don't want to warm up to the real world brands. We came to Second Life to escape all that garbage.(At least I did).

Imagine an RP sim with a "futuristic city" theme. Blade Runner / cyberpunk style... ugly, dirty streets with lots of dark corners, a jungle of neon signs above. If those neon signs where real world brands, it would only make the place more realistic. Coca Cola, Fuji, asian brands the American visitor has never heard of and US brand logos the European or Asian visitor never saw (but will surely remember, should they ever expand on the international market). It would perfectly fit in.

Now imagine the sim owner is paid for the ads, just as a website owner can finance a site with enough traffic with a few ad banners today. Imagine they wouldn't have to rent housing space in order to finance their sim, or rent out shopping space for peanuts; instead they could use the whole space to realize their creative vision.

YES! So did I.

But if you read that article, it sounds like these are companies that wouldn't have anything worth having in SL. Guess I'm saying "their product doesnt translate well in SL".

The anything-goes nature of Second Life makes it unique, says Catherine Smith, Linden Lab's marketing director. "If you're worried about relinquishing a little control, then Second Life's probably not for you," she says. Indeed, mayhem like a helicopter crash doesn't scare Nissan. "This is a virtual world--it's the people who control what happens in it," shrugs Stephen Kerho, its North America director for interactive media.


Umm anything goes? Except gambling, ageplay, Gothic Lolita....

Darwinism

Marketing muppets will either adapt to the Net's shift towards 3D interactive (80% of the eyeballs by 2011 according to e.g. a Gartner study) or be replaced by people who understand the potential.

Reality.

In the meantime, expect the muppets to kick and scream.

Seeing corporations in SL doesn't make me "warm up to them." It makes me cool off to them.

Alaistair has a good idea, though, about the bladerunner type cities, selling banners, etc. (Which is what a sponsor SHOULD DO, and these companies are SPONSORS, not residents, though they are skating through for the same price we are.)

Shoot, I'd put up a coke billboard on my land, for sponsorship.

I really think that way is much better than this notion of the corporations competing directly with us, and paying no more than we do for the privilege.

coco

Don't take Fprbes too seriously. There is an inherent conflict of interest between mass media and the internet. Those who are frightened away by their petty rant may be leaving a lot of money on the table. How many businesses use sexual imagery in their mainstream advertising campaigns? Why expect online markets to be different?

Wow. He's stupid.

There is a lot to do in SL than that. I've never bothered to try, cuz it's not even remotely on my interests. I'm jes a kid.

As far as "warming up to RL brands," maybe if they made a place in here worth going to? Most of the corporate sims are as exciting as a banner ad. Make someting dat is a *part* of the world, an you might have someting. Make a place that serves as nothing more than "Big Ad," and it doesn't deserve to be warmed up to.

Mari

Word.

If any of these supposed web-suits had half the know-how they should they'd be shoving an intern (at the very least) with no preconceptions into SL and having them report back after six months.

And if they're going to try to enter without getting AmericanApparelled they'd do well to seek out and suck up to some of the oldbies that have built stuff that's known and respected. Whether said oldbies would sell out their world is up to them, of course.

Dag! I don't usually post in this type of thread and I'm not saying I know the SL culture if there even is one, but I'm frankly fed up with the sheer idiocy that's used to sell varnished paper and it's online versions of same.

EDIT: Just had to add this: As mentioned above, there are times when I just want to do things and not be SOLD TO. Big Brands: I'll find you, don't call me.

Well said, well said. It's all about evolution. 3D interactive worlds are the next step and will become the next WWW.

Let's see... there was print media, telegraph, telephone, television, WWW and now VR. They all went through the same growing pains in their own way.

Ever wonder if the telegraph was used for sending pornographic messages? LOL

Aaany way.

Point is... people (consumers, sales and marketers) either evolve with the times or they don't. If they don't, they stagnate or die out. New job opportunities arise with every new leap.

This ramble brought to you by a hungry kitty... *off to forage for food*

Exactly. And that's why there's so much sex in SL

Sex and cats... it's all about sex and cats.