Eager to network with people from all over the world? Well maybe Second Life is for you. This virtual world has proved to be a phenomenon with over 4 million users. Big businesses and organizations have bought islands in Second Life, and created a world of their own. Mercedes, Ithaca College, H&M and many more have buildings in SL.
When I first learned about Second Life, I was shocked. The idea that people could create another life for themselves and have their avatars go to different events seemed unbelievable. After exploring SL, I understand what a great marketing tool SL can be. While I've walked around going to different islands, I have encountered a lot of product placement and advertisements. Just today, something popped up saying if my avatar wore a huge sign for a certain company, I would make $2 (Linden) every 10 minutes. The Linden dollars can be used to buy clothing, products, islands, etc in SL.
So why should a company look into possibly marketing in SL? The virtual world provides another way to interact with consumers and potential customers. They can create an island or building for their product, or just put up posters in SL about their product. SL isn't right for every company though. The majority of users in SL have proved to be made up of middle-aged people with a fair amount of money to spend. SL is constantly expanding though, and is appealing to many different demographics.
In my class, my group is making a marketing plan for Bloomsberry & Co. chocolate bars. I think Bloomsberry would be able to get a lot of exposure by advertising in SL, but I think they should wait for SL to expand and have a larger college-aged user population. Bloomsberry & Co. primarily targets females in college. The packaging of the Bloomsberry chocolate bars is very attention-grabbing and creative, but I don't think older people would appreciate their package designs.
I'll continue to explore Second Life and see if I can find some of Bloomsberry & Co.'s other competitors.
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I agree! I was shocked the first time I went into Second Life. There were so many places to visit, so many items to obtain, and so many ways that I could design my avatar - the possibilities were endless! I have also realized that there are many opportunities to market a product and use prodcut placement, too. I posted about Bloomsberry, too, and I think SL would be a good place for it. Freebie chocolate bars could be an interesting scenario. Read my post at http://playproduct.blogspot.com/.
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