Chris Shigas, VICE PRESIDENT
In a world of rapidly changing communication technology, brands have to keep pace. You may read blogs, listen to podcasts and fast forward through television commercials on your DVR. French/West/Vaughan is exploring new mediums to build strong relationships between brands and consumers.
Second Life (www.secondlife.com) is part of a new generation of trendy online social marketing opportunities where people from around the world communicate, explore, create, run businesses and more. The game itself has a real economy where residents can buy and sell virtual land and goods. With over 3.1 million registered users, Second Life has caught the eyes of corporate marketers looking for new ways to showcase their brands to consumers.
Entering a virtual market requires many of the same considerations you would make when entering an international market in real life. You need to understand the culture, the currency exchange and the delivery channels for communication, products and services in this new market.
Second Life is also a valuable market research tool. Retailers can build three-dimensional stores and see how shoppers flow through their store designs. Businesses can test new messaging and get feedback from consumers in the game, similar to a focus group. Utilizing these virtual technologies is more cost effective than running pilot programs in real stores.
So far, the Internet has been a very isolating and two-dimensional experience. You surf Web pages and are unaware if other people are looking at the same Web page as you. With Second Life, you are in a three-dimensional environment and interacting with other consumers while experiencing a brand or a message. It is the future of the Internet and learning to market in this environment will help keep you a step ahead of your competitors.
