Second Life Advertising: Beyond Bikinis and Vampires

Jo Yardley published a blog post a couple of days ago questioning Second Life advertising strategy and their current crop of banners. She asked,

"Seriously Linden Lab?
Is this how you want to lure people to Second Life?
Is this what SL is?'

I noticed the same ad yesterday and tweeted the image along with the question, “What does this current banner ad say about the audience Linden Lab is targeting for Second Life?”

Although banner ads are primarily intended to generate clicks and registrations, they also have a cumulative impact on brand perception. One reason Second Life is known more for illicit affairs and flying penises is that there's little countervailing marketing and public relations by Linden Lab offering a different story.

I'd like to see Linden Lab do a series of videos with RL users talking about why they love Second Life. The visual focus would be on the users themselves, with only brief clips of the the virtual world. Instead of trying to compete with IMVU (which actually is primarily a 3D chat platform) they could feature people doing the kind of cool things covered in the Drax File series. Speaking of IMVU, here's a great video showcasing their company.

Tinkerbell in Hell

I've been playing around a bit in IMVU while researching alternatives to Second Life's land-based business model. Along the way, I came up with the concept of "Tinkerbell in Hell" for this week's Single Frame Stories challenge. The prompt was "flight." I shot this video and a still photo in IMVU.

The IMVU Banner Ad That is Kicking Second Life's Ass

Okay. Maybe not this one specifically, but this type of advertising.

The Lazy Avatar's Guide to iPhone-Powered Machinima

Machinima ( /məˈʃiːnɪmə/ or /məˈʃɪnɪmə/) is the use of real-time 3D computer graphics rendering engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, games are used to generate the computer animation. Wikipedia

Over the past three years I've experimented with many methods, styles and platforms in the course of creating about 90 machinima. I love making videos and the medium has been a very important aspect of my creative life.

One of my reasons for living a fairly public life through an avatar identity is to encourage and support the use of virtual worlds as a platform for creative expression. Although virtual photography is a pretty universal medium of artistic expression, only a relatively small percentage of the avatar community makes machinima. I suspect the main reason is that the technical aspects of video creation are relatively more complex and intimidating. So I thought it would be helpful to share a quick and easy method I've been using to create simple music-video style machinima using an iPhone, iPad or iTouch. If you're like me and are too lazy for the 48 Hour Film Project, here's my 4.8 Hour Machinima Project methodology:

1. Teleport into a cool setting
2. Activate a dance animation
3. Capture a variety of shots using your mobile device's camera
4. Start a new iMovie project
5. Add a music track from iTunes Library
6. String together some of your shots
7. Export video
8. (optional) Use a program like Silent Film Director or Cinema FXV to spice up the look 
9. Upload to Vimeo, YouTube or Flickr

I was playing around in IMVU this weekend so I decided to shoot a couple example videos there. I used the same avatar look and dance animation in both videos. I changed the set, the effects and the music to create two very different feels. They were each created from start to finish in just a few hours.

See How IMVU Adult Content Looks to Non-Verified Members

I've been playing around a bit recently with IMVU. Outside of the fun of exploration, experiencing other platforms is a great way to gain new perspective. So far, I've been noticing quite a few interesting contrasts to Second Life/OpenSim.

One difference is the way adult content is restricted. IMVU sells an Access Pass for $19.95 US, that include age verification and access to special groups, forums and chat rooms.  Non-verified members are not only prevented from purchasing adult-rated items and entering adult-rated rooms, but can't even see restricted content if another person is wearing it. The top image is age-verified Botgirl's view. The bottom capture is from Fourworlds' non-verified chat room window. Pretty wild, huh?

I'll post more on IMVU later this week, including some video.

Why IMVU Prospers As Blue Mars Dies

You may think you know what customers want, but until you build it and you get it out to them you'll never know. Cary Rosenzweig, IMVU CEO

Blue Mars announced that it is suspending work on their PC client and shifting their efforts to to the iOS platform (iPhone/iPad/etc.) Although the announcement puts a positive spin on the new direction, the bottom line is that their multi-million dollar investment in a high-end virtual world never caught on. They're taking their remaining money and hoping to survive by creating a new application that can be developed quickly and cheaply for the huge mobile market. I wish them luck.

Tateru Nino did a fine job analyzing what went wrong on the technology side. But I think the underlying problem was that they directed their efforts based on what the management team thought was compelling rather than on what users really cared about. The stream of beta versions they released was used just to debug, rather than to enlist the users help in shaping the emerging platform.

Contrast this with IMVU, a company that has grown to fifty million registered users and a profitable $40 million annual revenue run rate. They've shaped their product through an Agile development methodology focused on continuous releases directed by user feedback. I love the spirit expressed in their engineering blog and the video below:

Majic Questi Checks Out IMVU: Is it Fast, Fun and Easy?

I want to welcome my alt/sister Majic as a full-fledged author on the blog. She first appeared here in The Strange Loop That is I in  March 2008. Since then, she played a human in the "Night vs. Human" comic, a monk in the "Waking Dream" video, and did performance art at Botgirl's Identity Circus in the "Cuddle With a Bot" exhibit. She's recently had an awakening experience and is ready to step out from under my digital shadow and forge a virtual life of her own.  Botgirl Questi

Ever since I found my voice, I have been feeling very bored and restless. I need to find out who I am, outside of just being Botgirl's alt. So I decided that it was time for me to start being creative myself and not just a model for Botgirl. This video is my first attempt. I hope you like it.

Love,

Majic

Second Life AdSense Marketing Leverages Recent Twilight Movie Opening

Here's one more set of images related to today's earlier post on virtual world marketing and branding. These are screen captures of two current ads running through Google AdSense.

Second Life Marketing and Brand Challenge: Picture is Worth 1000 Words

These are screen captures from the home pages of Second Life and three competitors. So what is Second Life's unique brand identity?