20 Tips for Marketers Entering Second Life

Prokofy Neva of the Second Thoughts blog brings us 20 do’s and don’ts for big business entering Second Life.

It’s a great list that also shows the contrast between constructive criticism and destructive rants.

I’m working on a larger post based on the spare moments I’ve spent on the grid. This includes properly congratulating the team at crayon.

Until then, here are my favorites from Prokofy Neva’s list.

* Give avatars a take-home that isn't just lame brand swag.

* Do not put pictures of RL people into the build. It really kills the immersion. They contrast unfavourably with the avatars, who are going to be anything from robots to furries to sexy blondes with hoochie hair that can run circles around these AA coyote-ugly gals. Look at what people actually dress up like in the world.

* Talk to people who spend time living and working as avatars in the virtual world to see what they think and what they want. Don't just believe metaversal marketing companies -- do focus groups.

* If an idea doesn't work, don't be afraid of quickly deleting it and rebuilding from scratch -- this is a highly changeable, malleable, fixable world where the costs of rebuilding are still low.

Via MIT Advertising Lab

tags | public relations | PR | avatars | advertising | marketing | crayon | Prokofy Neva | Urizenus Sklar | Second Life

Comments

[Taran Rampersad (aka Nobody Fugazi)]

Prok didn't mention the overuse of textures, overuse of scripts, etc. And the bling stuff, while particles don't cause lag - the listening devices do (and if you type 'bling on' to turn on your bling, it's a listening device). All of these little things add up. Designing a presence in SL is a lot like the web. Just because you have a T1 plugged into the back of your machine doesn't mean that everyone has one. Use your head. Test on slower connections if possible. Ask people who visit. Seriously.

Doing marketing focus groups is fine, I suppose, but the reality is that if you don't sell the item in SL - the one you're marketing - you have to 'bait the hook' to attract the right demographic yourself. Why? Very few people connect who they are in RL with who they are in SL, and very few items crossover well. Nissans coming from a dispenser are a nice gimmick, but I doubt Nissan expects their cars flying out of the dealerships because of that. Setting realistic expectations is always necessary.

[DofAM]

Fascinating blog. I think the focus groups are a good idea, but think the media form won't be condusive towards old school focus groups. Perhaps an online chat with avatars, online anonymous bulletin board, or a an anonymous research mechanism would work better.

[Taran Rampersad (aka Nobody Fugazi)]

I put something together over here which extends on this.

[Kevin Dugan]

Taran and DofAm - Thanks for jumping in. I think there are a lof of good questions that need asking. One of the reasons I like this list is that a lot of it is pretty pragmatic stuff and none of it would be lost on someone that actually jumped in and spent some time in Second Life.

I've not spent a ton of time in SL and this list made sense to me based just on the brief experiences I've had.

Thanks again.

[Myles]

I would love to see how SL would stand up to Home, from PS3.

[Myles]

I would love to see how SL would stand up to Home, from PS3.