K Zero have released the latest figures they've gathered on marketing activity in virtual worlds (other than Second Life). CEO Nic Mitham puts this down to companies sitting on the sidelines observing virtual worlds, but which are now ready to engage.
The report divides virtual worlds into those aimed at kids and teens and those aimed at adults. In the kids and teens demographic, there have been a total of 48 campaigns. Whyville, Habbo and Stardoll top the list, with 9, 8 and 7 respectively. In the adult sector, There is leading the field, with 9 campaigns. Both vSide and vMTV came second, with 6 apiece. What strikes me is the lack of a long tail- with kids and teens, half of the campaigns are in the top three, and in the adult sector, the top three had more than double the number of campaigns than the rest- a situation only strengthened if Second Life is taken into account.
This may be because of how immature the space is; perhaps there simply aren't the user numbers in the smaller virtual worlds to justify any ad spend. Alternatively, it could be very bad news for niche virtual worlds, suggesting that advertisers would far rather put money into more mainstream virtual worlds than their special interest rivals. This may change over time, but it is surprising because it is counter to the conventional economics of the broader internet.
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