submit to reddit

SL_PRfirm.jpgOy Vey. Text 100 will become the first PR firm on August 21st in the virtual world of Second Life, according to Second Life Insider.
It’s a great stunt, but with PR firms increasingly proving themselves superfluous in the real world, it’s hard to imagine that their welcome will be warm in virtual reality. After all, that’s where one goes to create an ideal life, and I suspect I’m not the only one who thinks that wouldn’t include press releases.
The alternative marketing opportunity on Second Life is vast, and sure to heat up even further as intrepid firms experiment. But, Second Life residents can be very persnickety about aliens in their world, and have been known to picket or boycott them.
Second Life Insider says:

It is a mistake to be in Second Life and yet not *of* Second Life. Residents can spot an alien at fifty paces.
“Anyone who comes in with a prime purpose of making money or selling things to the residents is, I believe, doomed to failure, or maybe doomed to a hollow shell of the success they could achieve. The trick in SL is to turn any project into a win-win for a company and the residents; not to ask what you can sell to us, but what you can provide that adds to the environment. Quality of content, not hype.”

Here come the clueless virtual ad agencies.
The average age of SL residents is early 30s; 40% are female and more than $5 million a month is charged to real-world credit cards for Linden dollars to buy virtual goods. CNET, noting that in-game ads will hit $400 million by 2009, says:

“As with the Web, advertising is not keeping up with the changing, emerging market in video games. For every $50 a month spent on TV advertising per gaming household, only 10 cents is spent on advertisement-supported gaming content.”

The digital continent of Second Life covered an area equivalent to 64 acres three years ago but now is more than 20,000 acres in size and growing rapidly, reports the BBC.
via Steve Rubel