Virtual Worlds Forum

Last week, I wrote about US media services firm Exponential Interactive's prediction that virtual worlds will be one of the key online advertising trends in 2008. The original post is here. I was intrigued by their prediction that it'll be the more niche virtual worlds that stand to benefit most, rather than Second Life, so I posed a few questions to Alistair Goodman, VP of strategic marketing at Exponential (pictured). 1. The niche world point is really interesting - is it fair to say that despite the hype around Second Life, it's more focused worlds that'll appeal more to advertisers? If so, why? Media planners go through the same process for evaluating a buy on a virtual world that they do with any other medium. They look at the quality of the environment, the demographics and psychographics of the target audience, how users are engaging – a host of attributes to assess whether it is a good fit for their brand. With vertically-oriented social networks, just like with websites, if more focused means better defined content or audience, then that will be more appealing to advertisers. Advertisers need to understand and be comfortable with the environment into which they are going to place their brand. This is a logical extension for niche social networks that have users who have pre-qualified themselves for particular interests or lifestyles. 2. What forms of advertising do you think will be most popular in virtual worlds - are we talking real-world formats like virtual billboards and posters, or more interactive stuff? Virtual worlds are certainly replicating many of the traditional forms of advertising, like posters and billboards. However, as with any form of advertising, the more immersive and engaging the campaign, the “sticker” it will be. Virtual worlds can offer the opportunity to pass along a product, or brand experiences or even an avatar. Done correctly, it is these opportunities that are likely to gain traction with advertisers because they build affinity and loyalty for their brand with influencers and early adopters. 3. How open do you think virtual world users are to advertising and brands? How can advertisers make sure they don't alienate users? Like in the real world, if a brand is cool, users will be gravitating towards it and will want to have the brand experience. Advertisers need to be creative, and use the advantages of the medium to develop a connection with users. In the case of virtual worlds, there is an opportunity to use the medium to create an experience. The keys to ensuring acceptance are a) make it fit the environment, b) giving users a choice, and c) making it engaging. 4. Could you choose a couple of virtual world ad campaigns that have particularly impressed you, and say why? Dominos Pizza in Second Life… while it was not in a niche vertical world, it was targeted at a niche segment (gamers) and enabled them to connect into the real world for the purchase of a product, without leaving the virtual world. The tie back to reality, and the ability to actually monetize (and measure) a campaign is one way to gauge success. I also thought Adidas “The Impossible Team” campaign which ran around the World Cup was an interesting idea, actually creating and sponsoring a multiplayer game. From a branding perspective, Adidas had a great opportunity to creatively place their brand within the passions and interests – in this case, soccer. An in-game environment is a great way of generating long periods of user immersion with a brand – something that is increasingly difficult to attain with more traditional forms of media. 5. Last question - on numbers and focus grounds, the virtual worlds add at kids seem to be a big opportunity, but do they present their own challenges for advertisers? Some of the virtual worlds have proven to be a great tool for educating and entertaining kids (e.g., Club Penguin, Webkinz). The critical element of a campaign in an environment like this, is ensuring that the site has built trust with parents as well as kids, through the quality of the content and by putting in place explicit policies and tools for parental control. By investing in this, a vertical social network can become a “trusted partner” for a parent – and in turn also pre-qualify the environment as “safe” for large brands.