Setting up a Virtual Presence in Second Life

What options are available?

What focus should be given?

What purpose should it serve?

What people will be attracted?

“Splash”

Purpose: good PR, attract the media’s attention, make it a “conversational piece”

Target: mostly the media

Examples: Reebok, Adidas, Starwood Hotels

“We are in Second Life”

Product evaluation

Testing a “virtual” audience for a new/existing product

Not always appropriate for all types of products

Target: existing/future customers

Examples: American Apparel, allegedly Victoria’s Secret

Educating the Market

Purpose: explain to the customers how a product/service works

Focus: “simulation”

Target: New and existing customers

Examples: Dell, Nissan/Toyota (and eventually Wired, MAKE)

Brand awareness

Purpose: getting the public to know about a brand

Focus: “cuteness factor” — having cool branded devices that can be used in Second Life

Target: mostly existing SL residents

Examples: Telus, to an extent Toyota/Scion City, even Text 100

Training facilities

Purpose: getting employees and partners to use a shared medium for meetings, trainings, collaborative work

Focus: meeting/training rooms

Target: employees, partners

Examples: IBM, Sunbelt Software (under development)

Educational facilities

“cyberlearning” or “virtual learning”

replaces e-Learning

focus: virtual classroom

Target: customers of training/education

Examples: NMC Campus, LanguageLab (in beta)

Virtual studios

Using cheap costs for creating multimedia environments

Used for producing machinimas, conference rooms, virtual studios

Target: non-SL audience

Examples: BBC, NBC, MS Channel 10, MTV, Reuters, Wired, MAKE

New Business Areas

“cyber-Commerce” replacing e-Commerce

Purpose: SL as a front-end to applications supporting e-Commerce

Target: SL residents and mostly new customers

Examples: Sony BMG, Dell, Amazon