The Second Life isn't some religious cult. It's nothing to do with reincarnation. And it isn't a brand of life insurance. It is a virtual world online. It taps into those pseudo-scientific theories touted in science fiction TV series that create a parallel universe. You may be a divorced, unemployed, broke, not so hot looking guy in this world, but in another parallel world you're married to an Angelina Jolie look-a-like, wearing Armani while resembling Jolie's real life squeeze Brad. Right? (or whoever it is that floats your boat). The notion that you can create an alter-ego and live in another world where you can be the person you want to be, where you can re-invent yourself may sound science fiction, but the Second Life shows how the internet is blurring the line between reality and fiction. And with it, online marketing has to re-invent itself too.
Internet Marketing – Even Better than the Real Thing
If you're launching something in the real world you better make sure you're launching it online too. The BBC recently reported that if your business doesn't have a web presence, you won't be reaching as many potential customers and you'll be losing money. Like any kind of advertising or promotion, internet marketing is more then just being on the World Wide Web – you need to know how to manipulate it too. Where does your client base hang out, what are their aspirations, how do you communicate with them effectively and how do you reel ‘em in? The Second Life has around 9 million users and is growing. Like Facebook it's a phenomenon you can't afford to miss. And big business has already jumped in with both virtual feet. In the Second Life, you create an alter ego called an avatar (a three-dimensional representation of yourself). From there, you can listen to a band, buy a t-shirt for your virtual self, and buy a whole host of products and brands. In the virtual world there.com somebody bought a virtual Levi jacket for $83 for their avatar despite the jacket costing $78 in the real world. But it doesn't end there. A recent report in the Guardian highlighted the fact that a teenager has been arrested for stealing pixels – the rise of the 3-D virtual world is transforming how we work, shop, communicate, play and even how we commit crimes.
Virtual Money, Hard Cash
The teenager in question was arrested on suspicion of stealing £2,800 worth of furniture from a hotel – but it wasn't a real hotel but a virtual hotel in the 3-D world of Habbo Hotel – an online children's game. Currency in virtual worlds is often exchangeable for cash in the real world. This has massive implications on how companies sell products and advertise, as the Guardian states: "Virtual worlds are becoming the next big thing as the internet evolves into three dimensions. Some pundits predict they will be as important as the industrial revolution. Entropia Universe, the Swedish virtual world, which had a turnover of $365m last year - and will soon become the first virtual world to be floated on the stock market - already enables users around the world to draw down money earned inside the game at ordinary cash dispensers. It is still a puzzle to many people how virtual goods that have no existence outside the computer code that generates them can be worth real money. But anything has value if people are prepared to pay for it."
Internet Marketing Evolves
On the Culture Show recently, an interview was held in the Second Life between two avatars warping the whole idea of representation and identity. Here, you can be a blonde bombshell even if in real life you're far from bombshell status. Executives now meet in virtual worlds to do business exchanges and money laundering, virtual gangs and protection money have all occurred online. It's estimated by Gartner Research that in just a few years 80% of all broadband users will have avatars – impacting hugely on how businesses will need to target their clients, customers and audience. China have already logged on to internet marketing and internet virtual worlds, investing $30bn in a 100 square kilometre site to build the Beijing Cyber Recreation Project – this will be capable of supporting 150m avatars – their motivation is purely economic.
Bigger than the Industrial Revolution
Companies are now hard at work finding potential new ways of making money in virtual worlds As the Guardian concluded: "There is a real possibility of a whole new world opening up of people who not only work in virtual international offices from their own homes but manufacture goods that are made and consumed in a virtual environment. The virtual flowers being traded in Facebook may be the beginning of something we are only just beginning to comprehend."
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