Business Communicators of Second Life®

Cultures of Virtual Worlds

Over the last two days I’ve had the real pleasure of being back in the classroom, straining at times to hear over the noise of the construction of the engineering building next door.  But it was worth it being able to hear 30 ethnographic researchers gathered at UC Irvine to present their studies of just what we avatars are doing inside virtual worlds.  The theme for the gathering was Cultures of Virtual Worlds, organized by the Center for Ethnography in the Department of Anthropology and sponsored by Intel’s People and Practices Research Group.

Ethnographic research is a first person study of the observed behaviors of others.  These were indeed the tales from the road, observations organized and structured into what we already understand about human behavior.  But, mostly the tales raised questions and many mysteries yet to be understood about virtuality.

Dr. Celia Pearce of Georgia Tech, traversed worlds for us as she reported on the forced migration of Uru (Myst Online) players, as they became refugees in the “new” worlds of There.com and Second Life due to the closing of their game.  She showed us how the artifacts from one world ported over to another through recreation of the old world in the new, transforming both the place and the narrative of the new, joined community.  Her experiences highlight how a true community, once created, does not die easily – indeed another world often becomes the beneficiary.

My thoughts:  This phenomenon is as true in the actual world as in the virtual.   I’ve been watching a similar migration in process at this very moment with the closing of Virtual Magic Kingdom as that community is creating a new Virtual Family Kingdom and preparing its [heartbreaking] move from VMK.   Both these instances raise a fascinating question of just what is a community.  Do we use the word too loosely today in social networking since we move and migrate so easily among networks?  When does “affiliation” or “networked communication” become community – or does it?  Do commercial entities have responsibilities to the communities they create?

Graduate student Lilly Irani coined a phrase in the title of her presentation I suspect I will be using in the future, as it captures our modern communication habits so well:  Assemblages of Communication.  She documented her travels inside Second Life focusing on the fluid communications habits of activist avatars who seamlessly weave IRC, blogs, web forums, Facebook, Café Press, SLProfiles, and photo sharing to communicate.  Her conclusion: the immersive nature of communication inside virtual worlds is just one type of communication and that “collectives” keep in touch through assemblages of communications that are unique to them and that serve their individual community.

My thoughts: Lilly’s focused observations of a small group of activists operating inside a virtual world validate my own theories of the fluidity of what we still call “media.”  We tend to think of media as a “thing.” But media in practice is in fact very ephemeral.   We describe it as “distributed,” but it goes way fuzzier than that. Media  “in practice” isn’t a channel, but an activity.

Dr. Rebecca Black plunged us into the virtual literary world at FanFiction.net where she chronicled the shifting online identity of a young Chinese girl as she published her fiction while learning English.  Through her observations Dr. Black concludes that over time our identities shift and evolve – are never static - because we construct them in diverse ways, influenced by the media, pop culture, our ethnicity and our own “actual” identity.  In a focused study of the language used within the space, she also contrasted the support and encouragement given to her subject by this virtual community versus that she might receive within our traditional educational environment.

My thoughts:  Every virtual space has its own reason for being along with its own rules, norms, culture, and communication methods – often its own language.  The richness of the connections in virtual worlds does often trump the interactions we receive in the actual world.  There is a realness to them that transcends the physical.  Reciprocity is central to the growth of a true community.  What troubles me is that we have constructed our “real” institutions, organizations, and expectations in ways that often dehumanizes and that removes reciprocity – possibly encouraging (forcing?) us to escape into the virtual to find the real.

Deborah Fields' projects lead us through a study of race and gender via Whyville, where 68% of the participants are girls. Deborah is studying how children develop connections and identities in social worlds and how it might inform “real life” learning. She shared a fascinating case study of “Zoë” who grapples with her ethnicity through an evolutionary process of trading “face parts.”  (In Whyville you have very limited abilities in avatar creation.)  Zoë in real life is black.  However while she could approximate a “black” face – it was difficult to find black “bodies” (“bodies” are actually part of Whyville clothing).  She began looking to trade for Latina representations and she even went through a period of scamming other Whyville avatars. Through this case study Deborah  illustrated that children (all of us, actually) go through phases of participation, developing multiple identities and that we continually evolve them.

My thoughts:  Wow, many thoughts hit me on this one:  children’s game designers have enormous responsibilities and need to consider children's identity formation in their products- let’s start by making it possible to represent more than “white.” Teachers and parents need to keep tabs on the identity formation/experimentation that their children and students are doing – create safety, freedom and encouragement to do so, while gathering insight as children go about it. The shifting “demographic” implications of the transitory nature of online identity and how we will adapt to two very different “states” of identity – one where we are the “same” person all the time due to the melding of our work, social and personal lives online (you are your Google results); and two, the liquidness with which we morph and evolve our identities.

This is by no means even a close approximation of all the stimulating and insightful presentations – just a few of the many highlights.

Dr. Dean Terry of University of Texas, Dallas provided a fun and thought provoking talk on the work his Virtual Worlds Lab and Mobile Lab is doing.  He wrapped up with a demonstration of an augmented reality via a mobile phone project that his students will be unveiling soon.

Post-graduate students, Paolo Ruffino introduced some fascinating concepts of our collective evolving worldview (virtual and actual) through mapping; Bianca Ahmadi presented machinima as an art and education form; and Lindsay Todres explored “self spectatorship” online and how it relates to/changes our use of media, especially cinema.

All in all, there is much to be understood about we avatars.  But it is clear our ideas of reality, community, intimacy, identity and space must evolve in step with virtuality.  This research is just a beginning, and from all the encouragement and collaboration I saw going on we have some interesting research to look forward to.

Kudos to Tom Boellstorff and Maria Bezaitis of UCI’s Anthropology Department for organizing the event.  Tom’s book, Coming of Age in Second Life is due to be released in a couple of days.

April 27, 2008

New Research Services from Involve, Inc. and Metaversatility

A slew of virtual worlds announcements is likely being unleashed from the floor of the VW2008 conference, which opened its doors this morning. I opted to observe it from afar this year as VW200x tends to focus on virtual world development, technology and corporate forays into virtual space.  As a business strategist and social media consultant, my interest tends toward how people are using – and are transformed by - virtual spaces and virtuality.

To that end, a couple of announcements came my way a couple of weeks ago - eons ago in virtual world and blogger time. But, important enough in my world to do the nearly unthinkable in blog space – write about such “old news.”

Just a few days apart, developers Involve, Inc. and Metaversatility each announced new client service offerings – research. (By way of disclosure, my company introduced a directly competing research service last year). 

This is a very good trend – more accumulated research means we all get a better understanding of the unique characteristics of place and people in virtual spaces.   Operating in the virtual is far too new to have risen to the confidence level of “marketing staple! go blindly forward” and it creates far too deep an impression to just wave away vital insights good research affords.  I dare say the widely hyped corporate virtual marketing “failures” of 2007 might be fueling this trend just a tad, as well.

Developers are responding to very real client needs – to learn more and to show results.  Clients often can’t get emerging media guidance and expertise from their “traditional” agencies and developers are wisely stepping into the role by partnering with organizations that can provide some of the “best practices” agencies bring to the table and clients have come to expect in more traditional settings. 

Involve, Inc. has teamed up with Strategy Analytics to offer “consumer insight” to inform emerging media initiatives and business strategies.  The service is called the “Emerging Media Impact Assessment” and reportedly focuses on defining objectives and metrics.

In an interview with Virtual World News, Involve president Drew Stein says he believes Strategy Analytics “gets” the space, and he tells me that the two companies make a dream team.  I have no reason to doubt that, as SA is a respected research firm and Stein definitely does “get” emerging media principles. 

But I just have to say that I hope Involve will prove a valuable learning partner for SA in lightening them up a bit and helping them embrace the new 2.0 era of communications.  Their white paper, the results of which is touted in the partnership announcement, is locked away behind the SA firewall, requiring registration - which only supports IE6, by the way - and the registration form has checked by default 500 (exaggerating, but not by much…) areas of interest I want to receive information about from SA.  Yes, I am one of those “abandoned” visitors in your web stats, SA.  The executive summary is available on Involve’s site, but it doesn’t provide any real insight into what is in the report, and warning: the summary is dense reading.  (Do I sound annoyed?  I think I sound annoyed...).

That said, I hope Involve's clients will budget more and early for research.  Ideally, implementation should be informed by it and is then a process developed over a longer-haul budget.  I also hope that Involve and SA will share with the community some of the insights gained as they accumulate more knowledge through their research.

Metaversatility teamed up with GSD&M.  GSD&M has been trying to be a player in the virtual worlds data game for a while.  They took a big lead in the Second Life Market Data Project that ultimately wound up being abandoned - in my opinion from watching the progress - due to a lack of expertise toward developing virtual world appropriate research methodologies.  So it makes terrific sense for GSD&M to partner with Metaversatility to help them gain that expertise and the appropriate resources.

Metaversatility is also providing GSD&M's IdeaCity with a branded research “bot” to automatically screen and survey avatars in-world, rather than using “out of world” web-based surveys.

This in-world surveying has value from the standpoint the person behind the avatar is “in” the environment being researched.  So, it will be interesting to see if IdeaCity’s results differ significantly from other researchers’ based on this approach.

However, I think GSD&M’s characterization of their new research service as “ethnographic” is using the term rather loosely.  Ethnographic study deeply involves the researching human who is observing in a native environment – generally over a long period of time.  By its nature, it is not objective research.  Bots don’t fall into that definition, at least not yet.  This is qualitative research, to be sure, but the mere fact that surveys or interviews are done in world doesn’t make it ethnographic research.  Maybe there is more to their ethnographic story, so hopefully someone from Metaversatility or GSD&M will step in here and provide more context.

I’ll forgive (soon) both GSD&M and Metaversatility for the blatant PR spin in their press release generalizing the “gaping void” in “best in class virtual world research.”  There has been enormous amounts of truly impressive research going on for years in virtual environments (academic and commercial); several consultancies and agencies have been quietly affording clients data and research-informed advice and solutions.  A few have distinguished themselves as leaders in 3D virtual spaces.  Metaversatility has itself had various research services as part of their client offerings since they were founded, and members of their team have shared their research at past conferences, including VW2008 this week.

No matter the details,  I wish them each success.  The entire community will gain from more research being done in virtual spaces and these are two partnerships that can only help further everyone’s knowledge about these environments and the people who inhabit them.  Even if the research these companies undertake isn’t widely shared or made available, it will leak out in the form of better initiatives, case studies, new services, and a higher degree of client satisfaction.

Photo credit: Australian National University, Centre for Mental Health Research

April 3, 2008

Avatar Psychographics Report:SL Business Communicators Meeting - March 7, 1:00 pm

Long-awaited research (for me, at least) on the psychographics and media usage of Second Life avatars and their owners is being released by research company, Market Truths on March 7 at 1:00 p.m. SLT.  I'm delighted that Market Truths president, Mary Ellen Gordon has been kind enough to let SLBCers be the among the first in the know - by reviewing the findings of the report titled, Psychographic Segments and Media Consumption, at our March SL Business Communicators meeting.

This is the only report of its kind that I am aware of - although there have been lots of speculation and extrapolation about avatar behaviors.  After months of research with avatars in Second Life, we now have some researched insights into the attitudes, behaviors and motivations of the people and avatars that inhabit Second Life.

This is information every marketer, communicator, virtual world developer, educator, and media agency needs.  I've been told there are some surprising findings.  We are also inviting members of the SL Marketing Club to join us for our meeting(s).

You are invited to come and get an overview of the findings, ask questions and hear the discussion.

The meeting will be held at Market Truths Island at the open-air beach auditorium located at 230, 107,21.

IM me (Znetlady Isbell) or email me with any questions.

See you there!

February 28, 2008

A Marketer’s Blindness: Avatars Don’t Lie

Having myself been quoted out of context and wishing I could die over it, I’m working very hard to give Mark Hughes (author of Buzz Marketing?) the benefit of the doubt. But I’m having a hard time coming up with a scenario in which a smart, savvy marketer would legitimately say this today:

"The people in Second Life, they aren't worth reaching. It's just a weird place. It's never gonna catch on. It's a fad, not a fashion at all."

I’ll give him that Second Life may be fleeting in its fame, and it is kind of a weird place.  But did he just tell me I was a consumer not worth reaching?

The context was a story on the economy of Second Life by Janet Babin that aired today on America Public Media’s radio show, Marketplace.  By public radio’s, and Marketplace’s standards it was a pretty poorly framed story.

You might expect me to be indignant and riff on the legitimacy of the people in SL.  But like anyone who is the least bit involved in SL I’m dismissing Mr. Hughes’ comment as uninformed about the place and the people.  I’ll also bypass the opportunity to wax poetic about the power of word-of-mouth. 

What amazes me on a broader scale is a marketer, any marketer, who dismisses the opportunity to look straight into the heart – the very soul – of its customer and deem that as not worth the effort.

The avatar is art – created from the mind, heart, subconscious, conscious, yearning, aspirations, personality, context, experience of its owner.  All that is on display as a virtual person, a created object or an entire simulation.   The avatar portrays various aspects of our identity, our self-image.  Over time, the avatar takes shape in ways the owner could not predict, sometimes for reasons the owner cannot articulate. 

The avatar is shaping the language we use, and therefore the way we think of our “self.”  We breathe “life” into something that is clearly not alive, and we endow it with characteristics that are in some part the “real” us – it could be nothing but.

We move – in our minds and in our language – effortlessly between the real and the animated self:   “I’m in Second Life.”   “I’m editing my appearance.”  “Be right back, have to take a call.”

Sherry Turkle, director of MIT Initiative on Technology and Self, renowned author and researcher, published an article 9 years ago in Wired title “Who Am We?” in which she discusses this concept at length in relation to MUDs (Multi-User Dimensions).

“A 26-year-old clerical worker says, ‘I'm not one thing, I'm many things. Each part gets to be more fully expressed in MUDs than in the real world. So even though I play more than one self on MUDs, I feel more like 'myself' when I'm MUDding.’ In real life, this woman sees her world as too narrow to allow her to manifest certain aspects of the person she feels herself to be. Creating screen personae is thus an opportunity for self-expression, leading to her feeling more like her true self when decked out in an array of virtual masks.”

Marketers have spent billions researching our psyche for “real” motivations and our deepest longings in order to create products – or shape messages – that promise to enable the “real me.”  Now here we are in SL creating, shaping and discovering the “real us” for any one to see.

A smart, savvy marketer ought to be watching and listening.

Photo Credit:  Andromega and Gita Rau

January 22, 2008

Gartner Sees Virtual Worlds As A Growing Shopping Experience

Yesterday Gartner Finland released their predictions to retailers about emerging shopping habits and venues.  These are actually not so much predictions as a “heads-up display” of what is already happening.

By 2010, says Gartner, 20% of global Tier 1 retailers will have some kind of marketing presence in virtual worlds and online games.  This isn’t surprising considering Gartner’s 2007 Emerging Trends report from their April Symposium predicted 80% of active Internet users and Fortune 500 enterprises will have virtual world presences by 2011.  And, with virtual worlds on track with Moore’s law of doubling every 24 months, it is no big stretch of the imagination that retailers are riding the wave.

Networks are a Channel and a Place

No matter what lens you look through, 2007 saw an enormous embrace by organizations of “virtuality,” from social networks to Second Life.  The various different types of virtuality (2D and 3D) which organizations are trying to get their heads around are simply mashing up into an information and social space.  Soon we won’t be making distinctions among the technologies used to facilitate these spaces. 

And shopping certainly isn’t waiting around.

Brookstone launched their Kinset store for this year's holiday shopping season.

Social shopping networks like Kaboodle, ThisNext and Stylehive were built as ‘visual’ social sites, socially bookmarking through images rather than text.  Stylehive is now offering “Nectar Hives” allowing  retailers to "snap in" social shopping communities around their brands.

H&M set up shop in SimCity (video link), and have launched their initiative at My Virtual Model, also distributing it to Facebook.

Of course, Sears and Circuit City are experimenting with virtual-to-real retail via IBM in Second Life; and in-game advertising and product placement is old news.

Gartner encourages retailers to expand their definition of customer touchpoints to online games and virtual worlds – and cites the mobile shopping web as a big growth opportunity, as well.

The important point in all this is this:   it is not about the virtual “place.”  Like everything else today, the shopping opportunity lies with the avatar. 

See Gartner’s press release here.

See Kinset’s 3D shoppping videos here.

December 8, 2007

World Bank Presents Global Doing Business Report in Second Life

The World Bank presented their fifth annual global Doing Business report in Second Life yesterday.  It was a notable effort to expand knowledge and understanding about the work of the World Bank to end poverty across the globe. Case in point as to the need for that very effort:  Nobody Fugazi and Canuckflack (two very tuned-in people) wonder how the clients of the World Bank "many of them living in remote corners of the internet" were supposed to sign on to hear the presentation. The World Bank customers were not the intended audience - in fact, it was the exact opposite.  It was intended to inform those who know little about the role of the World Bank. The role of the World Bank is to finance states (countries), not individuals or companies - but to my point, it is a widespread misconception that developing countries are "unconnected."  Connectivity is in fact a driving force toward their overall economic development. 

The event was extremely well attended (gratifying to see!) and the presentation summarizing the 2008 report by Dahlia Khalifa, senior communications officer for the Doing Business project of the World Bank, was chocked full of the high-caliber information you would expect to come from such an institution.  Most unfortunately the session was also full of audio technical snafus and avoidable SL event-planning mistakes - but I for one found the session thoroughly engrossing and it upped my global economic market perspective quotient several notches. I am delighted to see the World Bank living up to their goal of innovation.  And Second Life can indeed be a most suitable communication platform - if sometimes tricky.

To learn more about Doing Business 2008, to review market data or to view a variety of videos on regional economies and reforms visit the Doing Business website:  http://www.doingbusiness.org/  For more information on market approaches to development and toward ending world poverty, check out the World Bank blogs:  http://psdblog.worldbank.org/.

On a related note, The World Bank is not only employing social media to distribute information on global ecomonies, but it is watching the space for its implications toward ending poverty, growing businesses, and providing peer-to-peer support structures.  They note in a recent blog post for example, a favorite site I reference in my social media "It's Sociology, Not Technlogy"© presentations, the peer-to-peer lending site Prosper.

Social media - and you thought it was just a new-fangled marketing or PR tactic.  Go figure.

October 27, 2007

Virtual Worlds Dissertation Research - Participate

You’ve undoubtedly noticed many references to various research studies or projects here.  And my guess is you are at least somewhat active or interested in virtual worlds if you are reading this.  So, if your intellectual generosity so moves you, there are a couple of dissertation students currently doing academic research projects who could seriously benefit from your insights and a few minutes of your time.

Post-graduate marketing student, Benjamin Bach, University of Lincoln is currently working on a research project about Second Life as part of his dissertation.  His title is:

Virtual online worlds: Enabling technologies to establish interwoven relationships to network constituents in an emerging virtual marketspace. Are virtual worlds the evolving precursors of socially interactive customer environments providing a scope for marketers?

Benjamin is exploring avatar motivations, participation reasons and the benefits you see in being involved in virtual communities.  He asked me if I would post a link to his 5-minute survey (which I also took, so I can vouch that it took less than 5 minutes).

Will you add your voice to his research?  Follow the link:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=dzH96qGxcRq3IsvtnRQgKA%3d%3d

If that doesn’t interest you, how about Organizational Leadership?  Today at 2:00 until 3:30 SLT Phelan Corrimal, doctoral student at University of Phoenix, will be hosting a 90 minute forum on Organizational Leadership in Second Life.

The purpose of the panel is two-fold: to get an idea of what doctoral level research on organizational leadership is currently going on in Second Life; and secondly, to explore a specific dissertation project that is current and relevant to where we are today in Second Life.

The forum will be in the Emerald Room of Rockcliffe I.
Slurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rockcliffe%20I/193/50/41/

Your time is most appreciated by these students. Be sure to ask them to share the results of their research with you!

September 9, 2007

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 Brand Answers: A Starter Kit for Marketers

Between us, we've talked to dozens of organizations who are looking for answers to "the big six" questions about virtual worlds: who, what, when, where, how and why. 

We've seen that organizations are looking for a way they can get a smart and clear start with a virtual world initiative.  So my company, MarCom:Interactive teamed up with marketing research company, Market Truths.  We put our heads together, took a hard look at our experience in the marketplace and came up with a kind of virtual world “starter kit.” 

We dubbed it Virtual Brand Answers.  It’s a simple services “kit” that provides qualitative research and some expert advice to get to the answers to those "big six" questions pretty quickly.  Here's our take:

Who:  Determines if the target market(s) is in the virtual world to a degree that makes sense for the brand.

Why:  Articulates clear goals that lead to great strategies that work.  Clear goals also set up a way to measure virtual world success down the road.

What:  A “go/no go” recommendation, based on the results of qualitative marketing research with real avatars.  Strategic and tactical recommendations for the brand’s virtual world presence.

How:  Concept generation if there isn’t one -  or qualitative research with real avatars to test a virtual world concept, if there is one.  (Concept generation is not a “build” vision, but the type of presence that makes sense for the brand.)

Where:  Which virtual world(s) make sense for the brand:  Second Life or Habbo Hotel?  Buy an island or a plot on the mainland?  Create a tribe or join an existing one?  Product placement or immersive Brand Land?

When:  Realistic time frame to create the virtual world program and other vital factors we think are vital to know related to timing of the virtual project or promotion.

Our goal with VBA is not to replace the visioning or in-world strategies that virtual world developers provide, but rather to set up that development process for the greatest success.

This is what Virtual Brand Answers currently includes.  I’m sure we’ll be refining it, and we’d appreciate your input on what you’d like to see included:

• Virtual Brand Answers Q&A Session
• Target Market Evaluation
• Goal Shaping
• Qualitative Research based on the target market (virtual world research evaluation of the brand presence concept): Research includes:
  • Four avatar-to-avatar focus groups (selected from Market Truth’s panels); or
  • Ten avatar-to-avatar interviews (selected from Market Truth’s panels)

• Concept Testing (qualitative research) ; or Concept Generation (if the“big idea” isn’t quite there yet)
• Qualitative Research Results
• Virtual Brand Answers Report
  • A Go or No-Go recommendation
  • The virtual world target that is right for the brand
  • Recommended or refined concept for the virtual world presence
  • Strategic suggestions
  • Timing & implementation implications
  • Measuring the virtual presence effectiveness suggestions
  • Other relevant recommendations

• Virtual World Expert Consulting

Based on our experience, this represents the “FAQ” organizations are presenting us with as they are getting started or evaluating internally whether to move forward on a virtual world initiative.

Our hope is Virtual Brand Answers will provide everyone involved in the process of developing a virtual world presence some key components for a successful marketing initiative - and will save organizations some time and money as well.  By the way, it isn't just for virtual worlds, it can be applied to social media of any kind.

If you’d like a PDF of the Virtual Brand Answers description, you can find it here or here.

Your comments on it would be most welcome!

July 4, 2007

Kraft Teams with Supermarket Guru & Food Editor in Second Life

Phil’s Supermarket is slated to open in Second Life with grand ceremonies tomorrow, May 7 at 8:30 a.m. SLT.  Kraft Foods is showcasing more than 70 new food and beverages in the virtual market as well as sponsoring its SL version of the Kraft Food Institute.

Phil Lempert is the “Phil” of Phil’s Supermarket. He also happens to be MSNBC’s Today Show Food editor and contributor, food marketer extraordinaire and every-media personality.

Phil's Supermarket on Food Island is as intriguing a build as it is expansive.  From my solo tour and sneak-preview it looks like a lot of food education, events, and discussions will be going on.   Rick’s Wine Cellar has all the trappings of a vibrant wine education center.   There are “frequent shopper” incentives, and email interface to product information.   There are little community applications sprinkled around like gifting virtual items to other avatars.

The Focus Group and Forum areas suggests Kraft will be doing some serious market research with avatar shoppers.

According to Phil’s website, SL shoppers will be able to pre-shop for real world items – and he is promising over 100,000 items in the virtual store by summer’s end.  Shoppers will be able to personalize product lists, recipes and nutritional profiles and receive real world coupons.  Phil plans to host celebrity chefs and cooking demos, all manner of food seminars and offer expert advice from Betty the Baker and Fred the Fishmonger.  The Supermarket Guru Podcasts will take questions from the Second Life audience.

All signs point to an ambitious and truly integrated RL-SL marketing presence that just might set a standard.

During a mixed reality event from the Food Marketing Institute Supermarket Convention being held this week in Chicago, Kraft will be making a donation of $450,000 to American’s Second Harvest – the Nation’s Food Bank Network to commemorate Phil’s Supermarket virtual grand opening.  You too can make a donation at Phil’s Supermarket at Food 118, 94, 28.

[update 5-7]:  As I suspected based on the scale of this initiative, IBM has a hand in bringing Phil's Supermarket to life and will support the project going forward. Toyshoppe Productions is responsible for all the design and scripting.  It is obvious that "marketing" is only a part of the mix - that new business touchpoints are being developed here and new merchandising concepts prototyped.  This is a build that is clearly going beyond marketing.

At the opening ceremonies, it was announced that America's Second Harvest will have a permanent home in SL at Phil's Supermarket.

You can find lots more photos here.

May 6, 2007

Gartner Predicts 80% Active Internet Users Will Live In Virtual Worlds by 2011

Gartner, of the famous Hype Cycle, released news out of their Gartner Symposium/ITExpo:2007 going on through tomorrow, that they are predicting 80% of active Internet uses will have some kind of a "second life" in a virtual world by 2011. 

Gartner also predicts that meaningful corporate use of virtual worlds will lag behind the influx of individuals into them, but that "the collaborative and social aspects of these environments will dominate in the future."

The Symposium is Gartner's premier annual event, geared to IT professionals, and it focuses on the emerging trends in business, technology and the economy.

According to their press release, Gartner is advising clients that virtual worlds is an emerging trend, and to go slow in investing until platforms are more stable the environments mature. 

Toward this end, Garnter offers five "laws" for participating in virtual worlds:

• Virtual worlds aren't games, but they aren't parallel universes (yet)
• Behind every avatar is a real person
• Be relevant and add value
• Understand and contain the downside
• This is a long haul

Gartner's "laws" and advice are not necessarily more insightful than the conversations going on within the virtual world community, but it does encapsulate them nicely.

It also lends Gartner credibility to virtual worlds for businesses and as an evolution of the web and social networks, for commerce and business operations. 

The gold quote from the release:

"Despite the concerns within companies, don’t ignore this trend. They will have a significant impact on your enterprise during the next five years.”
---Steven Prentice, Gartner vice president and distinguished analyst

April 25, 2007

Coke in Second Life: Inspires Thoughts on How Companies Market In SL

Coke announced and launched their official Second Life presence, Virtual Thirst, with a low-key press event in SL last Monday. Low-key is part of the strategy; as is the hope that Coke’s initiative will spread virally within and outside SL, according to Coke’s agency, crayon.

It inspired me to share some thoughts about marketing success in SL through the filter of some of the recent SL market research.  Some of these general remarks here were also made over the weekend in SL during a presentation I made at the ITE Expo.

There was a question posed at Coke’s press event about how closely the “mean” demographic of SL (32-year old female) dovetails with Coke’s target market.

Michael Donnelly, Director Global Interactive Marketing for Coke admitted teens is Coke’s market “sweet spot,” but that they are also a “ubiquitous” brand so all consumers are important to Coke.  C.C. Chapman of crayon quickly punted the question to the Second Life web site where the demographic information and SL statistics Linden Lab collects are available.  C.C. did not want to offer an “interpretation of demographics,” probably based on the well-publicized debate about the meaning of LL’s numbers.

This puzzles me since there is credible demographic and behavioral data available to marketers that doesn’t require interpretation of LL statistics. There are at least three professional market research companies actively doing research in SL, gathering both detailed resident demographic information and credible in-world market data.  One company, First Opinions Panel offers its growing research panel demographic data available free on their web site.

Besides this better demographic information, researchers are also releasing some insightful studies on resident attitudes towards brands that can help companies make informed decisions about their SL initiatives, strategies and audiences.   

Some early and loud backlash caused many brands to tread so lightly in promoting their SL presence it borders on "sleuth marketing."  Well, the research suggests that following such a strategy may wind up impeding the success of an SL brand presence. 

Almost all the emerging market research shows that brands are welcome in SL - or at least not unwelcome.  It suggests brands are however,  doing a very poor job of employing an SL communications strategy to make their presences known and/or connecting with SL audiences (empty sims is different topic for another post).

A Reperes study about resident experience with brands in SL is particularly striking along these lines - and it supports the earlier Market Truths' research about unaided brand awareness of RL brands versus SL business.  In the Reperes study 44% of respondents said they have visited a RL brand sim, and 42% said they would if they had the opportunity. 

Also, 37% said they have talked about a RL brand in SL to a friend, and an equal number said they would if they had the opportunity. 

Opportunity in SL is just a teleport away, so there is no real barrier to opportunity - except awareness, choice and appeal. 

Word of mouth and RL media are the two most important information paths for SL.  The SL search function is about equal to WOM in effectiveness - each reporting about 30% penetration, and blogs are next, at roughly 20%.  Yet, many brand presences cannot be found via SL search, they are not actively engaging in blogger outreach, and not creating word-of-mouth-generating activities.  There are a number of dedicated SL media outlets that are also highly under-utilized.   As is any integration with RL marketing efforts.

Metrics is the holy grail of measuring a successful marketing initiative.  Very few brands are integrating their SL presence with any RL marketing channels, such as a blog, a web site or a RL call to action.   Because SL metrics are very immature, integration with RL channels is vital.  Until SL metrics mature, that is the only hope for any real measure of success.

Most companies are hoping only, as Coke articulated, "to land well" in SL.  That humble goal dismisses the opportunity to measure successful SL initiatives and diminishes the probability that brands will receive ROI and therefore have sound business reasons to stay on in SL.

April 23, 2007

Virtual World 2007 Conference: Learnings

The theme of the recent Virtual Worlds 2007 Conference in NYC was “The Future of Media and Marketing.” 

I’ve been musing and then musing some more about the conference, wondering what jaw-dropping insights I could share.  I see that others did the same.

I purposely did not blog the conference, hoping to absorb it all and then distill it into some kind of virtual world Wisdom Soup.  Well, that and the fact the wireless connection there couldn’t sustain all the connected people a conference like this tends to draw.  I resorted to Twittering instead which proved to be a fun, humorous and an often more insightful back channel to the conference.

What became apparent though, ten minutes into the affair, was that there were two quite distinct groups there – 1) the virtual world platform owners / developers;  and 2) the content owners (marketers / educators).

Urizenus Sklar at the Second Life Herald calls them 1) "the philosophers;” and 2) "the marketing guys wringing their hands about ROI and looking for quick answers.”   Unfortunately in his estimation one group “gets it” and the other doesn’t. 

Actually, VW2007 was a classic paring of two populations who simply do not speak the same language.  At times, the frustration was quite palatable – and even visuals and sign language didn’t help any. 

That said, here are my personal take-aways and commentary about VW 2007:

VW developers and owners currently dominate the public conversation surrounding virtual worlds. 
I have huge respect and liking for these talented and visionary people.  However, more voices need to be brought into the conversation to broaden the perspective for every stakeholder, current and future.   Translators will emerge and both groups will learn what is needed from the other. VW developers have a vital view, but it isn’t the only vantage point on the landscape.   Audience members, in fact, provided some of the most insightful questions and challenging perspectives.

Marketers are hungry for metrics and demo/psychographics.
A concrete manifestation of that was the nearly 150 requests I received for a copy of the Real Life Brands in Second Life research study and the First Opinions Panel demographic survey I presented in my five-minute (well, maybe 8 minute) panel talk.  Contrary to popular wisdom, it is possible to apply success measurements to a vw initiative.  It doesn’t have to be just about “marketing R&D.”  While it is true that we do not yet have sophisticated metric tools specific to virtual worlds, we do have very sophisticated metrics for our other marketing initiatives.  By integrating VW initiatives with some more mature metric systems marketers can at least partially satisfy this real business need until vw metrics mature.

There is some real marketing, sociological and psychographic research being done in virtual worlds – and it is not well known or publicized.  Market Truths and Reperes are just two companies that can provide marketers with the intelligence and credible research marketers need pre- or post-vw initiative. 

Marketers expectations of their VW developers are too high.
Marketers expect their VW developers to have all the marketing answers.  They don’t.  They can’t.  Marketers need a team approach and a real commitment (not necessarily monetary) for a truly successful vw initiative.  Integration is key. Social media marketing concepts are key.  My suggestion for a success team:

• Marketing and PR staff / agency
• Social Media specialist / consultant
• Virtual World Developer
• Virtual World and Real World market researchers (maybe)
• Platform Owner (perhaps)
• IT Group (if appropriate)
• RW & VW Customer

Intellectual Property Rights Conflict Lost in Translation
This was an area in which the two populations at VW 2007 were particularly linguistically mismatched. I’m the first one to agree that marketers have spent millions and millions so that consumers will make a brand part of their identity, and therefore it is not surprising that when avatars are re-creating themselves in virtual spaces they naturally want to integrate the brands they identify with.  It is an absolute fantasy for any marketer.

The prevailing advice from several panel members was to allow or even encourage customers to “play with” the brand, be the brand, mashup the brand or take some kind of personal virtual ownership of the brand. 

The problem for the marketer is current trademark and copyright laws aren’t in line with this.  If a brand allows unlicensed, unstructured and free use, it will in practice be putting the brand/marks into the public domain and the brand owner may lose its right to claim it as a valuable IP.  A real big, real world issue for business.  Not a simple conundrum.

Trademark and copyright laws will need to be revised to address the collaborative digital mind.  In the meantime, marketers need to employ smart strategies that protect both the identity with the brand - and the brand identity.

Virtual worlds have a future.
Even as they are evolving, the enthusiasm for and potential of virtual worlds are driving factors.  A path has been set for their growth and eventual entry into mainstream use. Some panelists predicted five years; some said ten. How far that is away and how we define “mainstream” is to be seen.  We still have millions unconnected to The Network, much less the Metaverse.

But if they follow the evolution of everything else - and there is no indication they are any different - virtual worlds will not progress linearly.  The momentum behind them is undeniable, however, for the Future of Media and Marketing - and a whole lot of other things.

April 8, 2007

Photo credit:  Dedric Mauriac, Snapzilla

Second Life Brand Perception Research Study Released by Market Truths

Think SL residents are opposed to real life brand presences?  Not true.

According to the research report, Real Life Brands in Second Life, released last week by Market Truths, 49% of SL residents think the presence of real life brands is positive; and about a third have a neutral attitude.

   

This is just one of the sometimes surprising findings of the only statistically rigorous market research study done to date on SL resident attitudes toward brands (that I am aware of – Komjuniti study referenced below).

Market Truths did allow me to share the report with the attendees of the recent Virtual Worlds 2007 conference in New York where I presented several of its key findings, along with other SL data and virtual world marketing issues.

Perhaps one of the most intriguing of those findings is that residents were asked to name and react to up to ten brands they have encountered in SL.  Of the 21 brands ultimately named (unaided), four do not actually have an official SL presence.  They are, however, still getting positive brand impact from their “unofficial” (or perceived) presence.

[Update:  158 brands were ultimatly named in the unaided awarness question.  The 21 named in the report reflects mentiones by 3% or more of the participants, and who had no affliation with the companies named.]

The 35-page report goes on to examine the perception of individual SL initiatives by major brands, and how each has helped or harmed the perception of that brand in real life. One brand, who has no official SL presence, garnered a negative RL brand perception due to its perceived SL presence.

[Update:  Microsoft, who has no public SL presence, had the greatest proportion of negative mentions, however overall, they gained a more positive than negative perception as a result their SL presence.]

Overall, the Reuters' SL presence comes out on top with residents – both in SL and RL.

Real Life Brands in Second Life directly contradicts conventional wisdom that SL residents are against RL brands coming into SL.  In fact, residents see some real benefits to corporate presences, such as credibility for SL and more resources for infrastructure; even while they harbor fears brands will harm small content creators and put upward pressure on land prices.

When asked what activities residents would like to engage in with their favorite brands (whether currently in SL or not) co-creating products and customizing products were among the top three of the eleven preferred activities.

Finally, the report points marketers to some important implications for their SL presences, including several tactics I’ve written about before such as the importance of effective in-world communications strategies, RL and SL integration and quality experiences.

The study is grounded in recognized research methodologies, including statistical sampling, quality control techniques, panel validation and adjustments for biases and panel member time in SL. You will find a thorough discussion of the research methodology included at the end of the report.

Last week German agency Komjuniti released a survey of 200 Second Life participants that reportedly showed 72% of respondents “expressed themselves as being disappointed with the activities of companies” in SL, however Komjuniti also reported more than a third of respondents weren’t even aware of “the branded presence.”  A few statements in the Komjuniti press release didn’t ring true to me, so I went looking for the study.   I was unable to find the study itself to look into this seeming discrepancy - only the press release announcing the study - which does not indicate the methodologies used or the activities studied. Of all the online reports and posts I have found about the Komjuniti survey they each only reference the content of the press release.

The conclusion Komjuniti draws from their study is: “The brand sites on Second Life currently look like they’re being treated in pretty much the same way as advertising campaigns, placed with the hope of getting high visitor frequency and good PR scores”.

It is impossible to tell whether the Komjuniti survey was a statistically representative study, if it considered factors such as participants’ time in SL, business ownership in SL, or if the survey was devised by active SL researchers  – any of which could impact the overall outcome. 

Given the wide disparity in the findings of these two studies,  I’d be intensely interested in seeing the Komjuniti study and its methodology in order compare it to the findings of the Market Truths study.  I suspect the differences come from the focus of each study: Komjuniti seemingly focused on customer service/interaction while Market Truths focused on brand perception impact and not a specific activity.

The Real Life Brands in Second Life research report is available for purchase ($200) at the Market Truths website.

If I find the full Komjuniti study I will update the link here.

April 6, 2007

Market Truths Wins Second Life Business Plan Competition

I'm delighted to report that Market Truths has won the Edelman/Electric Sheep Company business plan competition, orginally announced last November.  Pebble Hannya of Market Truths has been an active and generous member of the Second Life Business Communicators group.  She has held two classes for us on conducting market research - and she was kind enough to take the time to answer some questions I posed to her about her winning business plan and her views on SL market research in general:

Can you talk a little about what your plan is about?

At its most basic level it's about providing information. Currently there is very little hard information about much of anything in SL, yet good information is essential to good decision making for everyone from an individual resident to a small SL-only business to a big corporation deciding whether to come into SL. It's also important for media who want to write about SL and delve deeper than just explaining what it is and sharing a few anecdotes about their experiences there. 

So what we're doing is taking traditional research and analysis techniques and adapting them to Second Life as needed in order to get the information people need to make good decisions or just be well informed. We're doing that in part by forming our own research panel of SL residents; however, we can also conduct research with organizations' own customers or employees, members of SL groups, etc. And we can do observational research in SL.

We're selling both custom research (mostly to RL companies, we expect), and also standardized reports that are more geared toward SL-only businesses, the media, and others who just want some additional information about various aspects of SL.

What do you think differentiated it from the others?

It's hard to say because we didn't see the other plans, so all we know about them is what was said at the ceremony and in news reports. From what we've seen and heard, all of the finalists had good ideas, so perhaps it's just that we're a little further ahead with our plans and that, or our prior experience, just gave the judges a little more confidence that we would implement well.

You've already been successful at completing market research in SL. How will this win help you expand your efforts?

We're hoping that it will raise awareness among SL residents about our research panel and encourage more people to join to help ensure their voices, perspectives, and opinions are heard. We're also hoping it will bring us to the attention of more RL companies who are already in SL or are thinking of entering, and that they will let us help them get the information they need to be successful in the SL environment.

Traditional market research is deeply rooted in demographics?  How do virtual identities impact your SL market research?

We collect both SL and RL demographic information, so we can choose research participants based on either one and we can also incorporate either or both types of demographics into our analysis. One of the things I'm really interested in regarding research in SL is the relationship between the two types of identities. There has been a lot of speculation about the extent and type of correspondence between the two, but that's an example of something that no one has a lot of hard data on, yet many people would like to know.

In what areas do you believe RL businesses are most interested in acquiring research about virtual worlds?

It's clear that many businesses are finding that some channels they have traditionally used are not as effective as they were in the past, and also that customer expectations have changed in the sense that more people want a two-way dialogue with companies, with fewer willing to accept a one-way monologue. Many people seem to be trying to determine the long-term implications of that and so I think companies are interested in exploring the extent to which virtual worlds will emerge as a new channel (for information, promotion, and/or sales) for their particular product or service, and if they do, what form that interaction will take.

You will have access to an SL island for half a year as part of the competition prize.  What are your plans for the island?

We'll definitely be using it as a location for conducting interviews, focus groups, and other in-world research. We're really careful about safeguarding the privacy of research participants, and one of the things we want to investigate further is whether we're better able to do that on an island than we can in our current location.

What is the one biggest opportunity about doing market research in Second Life?

For us it's having access to a lot of sophisticated, forward-looking potential clients. In this environment, capabilities count more than size or location, so that works to our advantage.

What is the one biggest challenge?

The presence of alts and the absence of any real way to verify that people really are who they say they are. We don't provide reports, results, etc. in a format that makes it possible to identify who said what in either real life or Second Life (except in some very particular and relatively unusual situations where that is important for the project and the research participants have agreed to it ahead of time), but in real life there is generally greater certainty (though still not always 100%) about who is providing the information. We have various ways of addressing this issue within SL, but it is a challenge.

And just one extra bit from Pebbles:

Anyone who is interested in joining Market Truths' research panel can do so by visiting their SL office in Sylvina. You can get additional information about the research panel or Market Truths services on their SL Web site, which is http://sl.markettruths.com.

The Market Truths SL offices are located at:  Sylvina 185, 158, 23

Congratulations, Market Truths!! (that's from  me.)

February 20, 2007

Saturday Market Research Class Added

There is a robust interest in the Conducting Market Research in Second Life class we are holding next Thursday.  In fact that class is full, so we are adding one scheduled for Saturday, February 10th at 1:00 p.m.  I'm hoping this also accommodates those who were "time challenged" by the earlier date and time.  Always an issue for our global collaborations.  This is thanks to the kindness of Pebbles Hannya of Market Truths and the SL Business Communicators members appreciate her sharing her expertise so generously (and getting up so early in New Zealand).  /clap

Here are the details on the added/repeated class.  If you are interested in attending the Saturday class, or moving your Thursday reservation to Saturday, IM me in world (Znetlady Isbell) or email me in the real world.

Class Title: Conducting Market Research in Second Life.

Instructor:  Pebbles Hannya of Market Truths will share her experience and expertise on getting the most out of your research efforts in SL while adhering to SL culture and best practices.

When:  Saturday, February 10, 2007 at 1:00 p.m. SLT

Description:  Businesses have an opportunity to use Second Life to understand their customers and potential customers better, but following best practices with regard to ethics, privacy, and confidentiality is just as important when conducting (formal or informal) research in SL as it is in RL. In this session, some of the major principles underlying ethical codes and best practice guidelines will be explained.  We'll discuss how professional guidelines apply specifically to Second Life and the information collected in SL.

Market Truths is a real world marketing research company who established a Second Life presence early on, and has published two Second Life research studies, including the most recent on the fashion industry in Second Life.

February 2, 2007

Virtual Worlds as “Third Places”

As a bit of an expansion on my last post about where to look for business potential for Second Life – and other virtual social worlds, for that matter – organizations shouldn’t overlook the potential of virtual worlds as a “third place.”

Without doubt Starbucks’ Howard Shultz popularized the concept of “third place” in marketing through their store design and branding, but Ray Oldenburg literally wrote the book (or more accurately the books), “The Great Good Place.”   In a nutshell, Oldenburg examines and argues for the importance of places beyond the workplace and the home for people to gather informally to socialize – a “third place.”  Essentially he concludes that third places are vital for social engagement and for community.  His influential work has brought the term into discourses about civic engagement, urban planning, space design, marketing and sociology. 

Oldenburg cites eight characteristics of third spaces:

Neutral Ground:  Individuals come and go with little obligation or entanglements with other participants.

Leveler:  Acceptance and participation are not dependant on an individual’s status in the workplace or society.

Conversation is the Main Activity: and playfulness and humor are valued.

Accessibility & Accommodation:  Easy to access and accommodating to those who frequent.

The Regulars:  A cadre of regulars who attract newcomers and who give the space “mood.”

A Low Profile:  Without pretense, comfortable.

The Mood is Playful:  Playful spaces where word play, wit, frivolity are normally present.

A Home Away from Home:  Home like, easy, warm, a feeling of “rootedness.”

Two assistant professors at the universities of Wisconsin-Madison and Illinois at Urbana-Champaign through in-depth study examined online games and how they fit into the concept of “third place.”

What is particularly interesting is that one professor studied MMOs from a media effects perspective; the other from a socio-cultural perspective.  They come to remarkably similar conclusions – that MMOs are a new (if virtual) “third place.”  They find that MMOs meet Oldenburg’s eight defining characteristics.  And, going one step further they ask if virtual communities are really communities, concluding that they are particularly well suited to one of the two types of “social capital” we build in communities - that of “bridging social capital”.  Bridging social capital is not particularly deep emotionally bonding relationships, but rather broad, inclusive relationships that tend to broaden our worldview, social horizons and that link our social networks together.

The article detailing the study and the results is fascinating, and an important read for businesses examining the opportunities in gaming, virtual worlds and social networks.  These are in fact, a part of the tapestry of our lives, work and society and the potential is as varied as the activities we engage in there.

“Game play is not a single, solitary interaction between an individual and a technology, contrary to worn-out stereotypes; in the case of MMOs game play is more akin to playing five-person poker in a neighborhood tavern that is accessible from your own living room. …Perhaps it is not that contemporary media use has led to a decline in civic and social engagement, but rather that a decline in civic and social engagement has led to retribalization through contemporary media."

Read the entire article in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communications, Where Everybody Knows Your (Screen) Name: Online Games and “Third Places.”&nbs