The Second Life attracts many companies, most of the commercial attempts aren't successful as I wrote a couple of weeks ago. The huge interest in SL attracts also research companies that provides us with interesting insights on SL users and they way they perceive real life (RL) brands in SL universe. I have run across a bunch of them lately and they give us the pretty interesting picture of the SL and virtual world in general.
GMI Poll surveyed 9.529 US consumers aged 18 and above in March - April 2007. The research showed that 56% believe SL is a good promotional tool and what's more interesting:
- 24% claims to visit SL to escape their real life, which they aren't happy with
- 64% admits to present themselves differently:
- 45% give themselves a more attractive body
- 37% make themselves younger
- 23% give themselves a different nationality
- 55% watch less television since becoming active in Second Life
- 22 % have more Second Life friends than real-life friends
- 29% feel Second Life interferes with their real-world social life
SL is the identity fitness, the place where we can train and experience how it would be to be someone else. I guess it reflects the everyday struggle with being yourself. We are infected with beauty images from media and we want to run away from our bodies that aren't matching the standards we see in media. This is real second life where you can be whoever you want to be. SL is the example of the liquid reality, reality where all known patterns and rules aren't defined by society any longer, aren't taken for granted. They depend on the individuals, they shape the life and the world around them as they wish.. This is the world where it is easier to form than to keep the form alive, like water - it doesn't keep its shape for too long. The liquid reality of virtual worlds will leak into our lives and take them gradually over. According to Gartner 80% of active Internet users will have a "Second Life" in the virtual world by the end of 2011. Does it mean 80% Internet users will be unsatisfied with their lives or will they find value in participating in virtual life? Or are virtual worlds another stop in our quest for freedom?
Virtual reality will have increasing influence on our lives and turn our life in the huge store filled with goods, where we wander without the aim and are helpless. We don't know what to try or choose overwhelmed by the endless choice opportunities. This is the "land of plenty". Together with the development of virtual worlds, we face the philosophical questions about our identity and freedom.
Alongside the discussion about human condition and influence of virtual reality on our life, the commercial aspects of SL are blooming. Companies see SL as another advertising space, where they can expose their products to consumers. There are lots of opportunities, however not every brand is equally good at understanding the rules of the game and using the possibilities virtual world opens in front of them. Many still thinks in traditional silo ways and that can be seen in the latest SL research conducted by CB News / Repères conducted among 1.085 Second Life residents who were asked about their perception of Real Life (RL) brands in SL universe.
The research showed the brand experience is very limited in SL - people would like to try it, but unfortunately not many brands thought about using SL for creating the interaction with their brand - for God's sake how anyone could mistaken SL with TV???!
Moreover no RL brands managed to build strong spontaneous awareness. I would risk to say that the most of prompted awareness scores don't come directly from SL but is influenced by the hype created by media around the brands opening their hubs in SL.
It is such a shame the brands doesn't research more the SL universe to use the potential that lays there: 66% believe that the presence of RL brands has a positive impact on SL and 45% of respondents even want more brands because they enhance and give more credibility to Second Life.
I have also found a very interesting initiative by the IAN company that has setup the FutureAd-Park together with the German targeting specialist nugg.ad to demonstrate behavioral targeting capabilities within 
Second Life. How does it work? You enter the FutureAd-Park where you can see 6 different towers. Every tower represents a different topic like: lifestyle, traveling, technology , etc. The special software tracks your movement around different areas and register your interests. The longer you stay within specific area, the value of the interests increases in your profile. The data are stored and used when you approach the billboards, where the relevant messages that fit to your interest can be presented for you. You can read more about the project here. This is very exciting project but it raises question about freedom and privacy.
There is lots of things going on around SL and the general concept of virtual reality. It is the new and exciting idea. We need more time with SL. more experience and more research that will lead us to understanding the new forms of human's interaction, not only on human - to - human level but also human - to - brand level. SL can be a playground - we can observe consuemrs playing with our brands. Understanding is the key here as the whole concept of virtual reality changes the way we act, changes who we are. People aren't always themselves in SL and don't live after real life rules... Try SL yourself! I am sure many of us would be tempted to have a tiny bit muscles and tiny bit longer and blonder hair ;o)
And the bonus for the curious who still don't dare to enter the Second Life. In January 2007, a man named Molotov Alva, disappeared from his home in California. Recently a series of video by a person of the same name have appeared in Second Life. Filmmaker Douglas Gayeton came across these videos and put them together into documentary, Watch it here. It will give you a pretty good idea what SL is or maybe even what it could be...
Tags: Second Life, Advertising
