Is Second Life too risqué for business?
According to the LA Times, companies in Second Life are working too hard and paying too much to reach too few visitors, compared to other traditional and more cost effective advertising mediums. End result, many companies are closing their doors in Second Life. The question is, will they return another day when the main business moves away from Second Life’s more risqué mainstream crowd?
A few weeks ago the LA Times published “Virtual marketers have second thoughts about Second Life” and Ian Schafer, chief executive of online marketing firm Deep Focus stated this about the Second Life population, “Their interests seem to tend toward the risque. Ian advises clients about entering virtual worlds, he recently toured Second Life. He started at the Aloft hotel and found it empty. He moved on to casinos, brothels and strip clubs, and they were packed. Schafer said he found in his research that “one of the most frequently purchased items in Second Life is….” Read the article for the risque ending
I truly believe Second Life is a step in the right direction, although it has not yet reached the maturation point necessary for solid everyday business, let alone recruiting. Companies should explore all possible avenues for advertising, branding, and recruiting by crunching case studies and hard data. Maybe someday soon the number of Second Life’s visitors will increase to the point of providing greater ROI and less “risqué” or should I say “risky” business adventures.
Stay Tuned……
More here:
How Madison Avenue Is Wasting Millions on a Deserted Second Life -
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/magazine/15-08/ff_sheep#
Enjoy!
The Church tries saving Second Life -
click here
Hat tip
Good posting Chad. Lots of good links. According to you then, MARKET TIMING is the issue. Am I right?
Timing is always key.. Especially in this instance..
Why is it that everyone thinks Second Life is just for the existing members or residents? In order to have success with anything you have to market it. All these companies that thought if they build a building in Second Life people will come all have the wrong strategy. Marketing is key, and every recruiting event so far in Second Life has been successful due to marketing the event. You can’t wait for people to come, you have to go out and get them.
TheDee.. Marketing is business 101, no question and is understood by anyone using any advertising avenue. I still believe SL is still extremely early in it’s maturation process to be ready for mainstream anything. If you have some stats and case studies (proof) that SL is working for recruiting I would love to see it. I’m not down on SL, I’m up on the prospects of making it a dynamic and robust avenue of approach. BUT, it has to bear “cost effective” fruit and everything I have seen, with regard to recruiting, is not “cost effective”.