Business Communicators of Second Life®

Kiva’s New SL Office, Microlending and Reputation

Kiva is celebrating the opening of new offices in Second Life on Saturday, Jan. 5th.  Join in at 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. SLT, get a Kiva  wristband – and don’t forget to pick up a Kiva certificate or two.  You can turn “Lindens into Loans” with them.

Kiva is perhaps the most widely known micro lending site, and happily it is getting more and more mainstream attention (when its Oprah’d its “real”).  Kiva is just one disruptive force within the current financial world.

If you are not familiar with Kiva, the organization acts as a “middleman” allowing you and me to make interest-free micro-loans  - as little as $25 - to individual entrepreneurs in a developing economy.  Loans are aggregated among several lenders to supply a borrower with the funds amount the entrepreneur is requesting for financing their business.  When your loan is repaid to you, you may re-loan or withdraw your money.  World wide micro lending has a 98% repayment rate.

Kiva has been operating in SL for quite a while, but the announcement of its new offices brings me back to a subject I’ve discussed here before – identity versus reputation.

Christmas night, (in my part of the world) the BBC’s Peter Day interviewed representatives from several micro finance institutions.  I'm pretty sure it was the gentleman from Fair Finance (it may have been Grameen Bank - the radio broadcast is no longer available for me to verify and I was oh-so-drowsy), who said something profound by virtuality (and conventional finance) standards...

micro lending allows people who have essentially no identity to gain the benefits of loans through reputation.

Micro lenders typically make loans to individuals with no collateral – only by way of reputation.  In some cases a close group surrounding the individual will jointly be accountable.  Grameen Bank looks at the individual’s potential – by way of the “social collateral” of reputation.  Kiva’s repayment philosophy rests on the indivdual’s desire to maintain his/her reputation, believing Kiva mirrors the village and that an individual will work very hard not to sour one’s reputation in either the village or online.

We’re already seeing companies using Google searches, MySpace, Bebo, LinkIn, Facebook and other “virtual reputation” devices to assess (or find) an employee candidate.  If you’ve been in Second Life or other virtual worlds for even just a short time, the first thing you do is look at a person’s virtual profile – and maybe their groups – to get a sense of “who” you are talking to or standing next to (one wish for 2008 – LL strengths reputation systems in SL).

We’re sharing more and more of ourselves in virtual spaces like these – far more than we may share on our loan application, that’s for sure.  Is it really such a stretch that reputation becomes at least as important as a credit score – or that eventually credit scorers find a way to “quantify” our social graph?    Is it such a stretch as we “live” more in "virtual" places that who we are actually hangs on reputation and a bit less on “identity?”

Now, I don’t see conventional lenders dumping their business models any time soon, but disruption is the place to peak into the future.  Go take a look - in Kiva’s new offices. 

Hat tip to Fleep.

January 1, 2008

Second Life Entertainment Study Released: SL Accounts for More Time Than All Other Forms of Entertainment Combined

According to the newly released Market Truths research study, Second Life Entertainment Market, 80% of avatar time in Second Life is spent on entertainment activities, totaling just over 16 hours per week – more than all other forms of their real life entertainment combined.  According to the study, the median time spent on other forms of computer-related entertainment is just 4 hours per week, and 10 hours per week for non computer-related entertainment.

Among other things, the study examines the linkages between RL entertainment behaviors and preferences and those same behaviors and preferences in SL.  It includes notes on both SL and RL age and gender differences, as well as commentary on RL geographic preferences for entertainment activities in SL and RL.

The study concludes by pin-pointing some underserved entertainment categories in SL. 

Market Truths has priced their 41-page research report to appeal to in-world businesses, and at $50 (US) or L$5000, it is an enormously valuable service to the business community there.  However, for real life businesses looking at SL for marketing, this is the type of market research you would pay RL thousands for.  Grab it and read it carefully for the behavioral insights it contains.

The timing and findings in the study are particularly salient given the recent “disillusionment” reports (registration required) in the mainstream media.  This research directly contradicts last weekend’s LA Times article that stated avatars don’t shop.

In fact, shopping is the number one reported SL entertainment activity, going head to head with traveling.  Dancing, and conversation with known and new people round out the top five.  Team sports garner the least amount of SL entertainment time.

The top preferred SL entertainment activities do differ from RL, but shopping is at the top of the RL list as well, with discussion and conversation showing up in the RL top five.  Surprising to me was that driving for entertainment was the #2 RL entertainment activity (by frequency in the last year).

The study reports on preferences between RL and SL participation, and extensively discusses reasons why certain activities are more preferred in SL than in RL.  Some reasons are expected (cost), but several others offer some important insights for marketers.

Market Truths has also segmented the sample research population into Abstainers, Solitary RL, Discoverers, Entertainers, Creators, and RL Actions, examining the types of entertainment activities each particpate in.

Here is the Market Truth’s study breakdown of Second Life Entertainment (frequency in the last year).  There are several other graphs and charts in the full report.

The full report along with the research methodologies used is available for purchase here.

Note:  Although my company has partnered with Market Truths to offer the research service, Virtual Brand Answers, I have no connection or involvement with this or any other existing Market Truths research or reports.

July 16, 2007

Virtual World Marketing Measurement is 3D

Does Engagement destroy Frequency?

Joel Greenberg asks over at his Sheep blog, Tuple vs Kipple, and in that context also nicely lays out the "Frequency" training - oops, I mean measurement - method of the traditional TV advertising model: Reach x Frequency (how many people mulitpled by how often). 

Television is a flat medium, so a flat, two-dimensional measurement system (reach and freqency) seems like a perfect fit.  Good enough.

Joel rightfully suggests this measurement system can't work in today''s virtual and social media spaces.  He believes that "Engagement" is the lifeblood of some marketing and may be the main path to measurement in virtual worlds.

Engagement - especially in a place like Second Life is key. I absolutely agree with Joel on that.

But engagement is a means, not an end.  Engagement is only the "permission" part of the [measurement] equation - the "okay, I'm willing to give you my attention for now" part. 

Virtual worlds measurement must be as three-dimensional as the spaces we market within there. 

Depth is the third dimension - in virtual worlds and in all good marketing.

Photo credit: Akoi Jubilee

 

June 2, 2007