Second Take on Second Life

Life isn't what it is hyped to be in Second Life. In Wired magazine Frank Rose wrote an interesting article:
How Madison Avenue Is Wasting Millions on a Deserted Second Life
Frank Rose 24.07.07
Wired

Some excerpts:

"Then there's the question of what people do when they get there. Once you put in several hours flailing around learning how to function in Second Life, there isn't much to do. That may explain why more than 85 percent of the avatars created have been abandoned. Linden's in-world traffic tally, which factors in both the number of visitors and time spent, shows that the big draws for those who do return are free money and kinky sex. On a random day in June, the most popular location was Money Island (where Linden dollars, the official currency, are given away gratis), with a score of 136,000. Sexy Beach, one of several regions that offer virtual sex shops, dancing, and no-strings hookups, came in at 133,000. The Sears store on IBM's Innovation Island had a traffic score of 281; Coke's Virtual Thirst pavilion, a mere 27."

"You need to know how to buy up keywords to maximize search returns, how to make the most of recommendation engines, how to use the viral potential of Web video, how to monitor what's being said in blogs and message boards, how not to blow it by trying to be deceptive. Building a corporate pavilion in Second Life doesn't require any of these things. It's simple and it's obvious."

1. What is the attraction of Second Life?
2. What are the marketers trying to do in Second Life?
3. How are they getting it wrong?
4. What marketing strategies could be better suited to Second Life?

Viral Advertising

Here are some examples of attempts at viral advertising by large enterprises:

reversa - side effects
http://www.seemoresideeffects.ca/

McDonald's NameIt Burger
http://www.nameitburger.com.au

1. In what way are they 'viral'?
2. Who is the target audience?
3. How effective is this?
4. What are the global issues for each?
5. What other promotional strategies do they use?

MySpace Politicians

MySpace makes Impact with pollies
http://impact.myspace.com/
Check out this video: Prime Minister

Prime Minister's climate change announcement

Add to My Profile | More Videos
The Age Asher Moses
July 12, 2007 - 1:47PM
Page 2 of 2
MySpace hopes its new Impact channel will spark political debate and engage younger voters. MySpace today launched its Impact channel for politicians and non-profit organisations, but don't expect to add the Prime Minister, John Howard, to your friends list.

Labor politicians outnumber Liberals two-to-one on the new channel, which MySpace general manager Rebekah Horne describes as an interactive tool that they can use to engage directly with voters, particularly younger ones who may feel alienated from the political process.

"The great thing about social networking is that it's an opportunity for them not just to be a prime minister, opposition leader or a treasurer ... but actually a real person," she said.

MySpace has over 3.6 million Australian users, which Horne said would be called on to answer political opinion polls. She said the number of MySpace "friends" a politician had would give an instant snapshot of their popularity. It is understood Mr Howard refused an offer to create his own MySpace profile because he did not want to lend his identity to a commercial organisation. Instead, a "Howard Government" link with Mr Howard's photo directs surfers to a general Liberal Party page.

In total 20 individual federal politicians now have MySpace pages, which contain biographies, family photos, campaign snaps, video clips and blog posts outlining policies. Some list their favourite music, books and movies; visitors to Workplace Relations Minister Joe Hockey's page are greeted with the Baha Men track, Who Let The Dogs Out.

They include 11 Labor, five Liberal, two Greens, one Family First and one Democrat. Horne said this was only a starting point and she hoped more politicians would sign up as the federal election looms closer.

But Horne stressed Impact was "not only about politics" - indigenous voice Deadly Impact, World Vision and Planet Ark also have a presence.

Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd, who on his MySpace profile lists Simon and Garfunkel, Vivaldi and John Williamson among his favourite musical acts, said MySpace and the internet was an "enormously transformational technology" and "a good shot in the arm for Australian democracy". He described MySpace as the "public meeting space of the 21st century", and said the Impact channel provided "an extraordinary new public space for people to participate in the democratic process".

Greens leader Bob Brown also attended this morning's launch event and compared Impact to the "old town hall meeting", as it provided the "opportunity to get a heck of a lot of feedback". But Brown said it "remains to be seen just how much it will help people overcome their shyness" when it came to voicing their concerns. "It's a good feeling to be connected through cyberspace with people," he said.

Brad Walsh of Deadly Impact said the new MySpace channel would help "facilitate generational change in our leadership", as it would allow the group to "influence other young Aborigines that are coming up". He said many in remote indigenous communities had access to MySpace.

1. What is happening here?
2. Why MySpace?
3. Who is being connected with?