Professional Marketing in SL

This week’s readings were about professional marketing in Second Life. We read about a variety of groups from individuals like Aimee Weber and larger companies like Metaversatility and The SL Agency as well as the country of Sweden, who used the services of the Electric Sheep Company. They all demonstrate that they understand how to manipulate avatars and buildings in the virtual world, and that they are using the available resources as well as they can.

These are all very productive companies who produce very slick promotions. I’m impressed with their professionalism and the level of skill they demonstrate. What I am not so impressed with is the impact their work has had. I am not aware of any of the work in world or in real life that any of these companies have produced. Relay for life is the only one I was aware of in both worlds. It seemed every group was doing something for Relay for life. It was the most pervasive campaign I have seen in SL. Apparently it was successful. Now, maybe I’m just someone who is out of touch with what is going on around me, or I’m just oblivious to advertising, but I really wonder who these campaigns are reaching. I wonder if the people they have reached are those who were already interested and seeking information on certain products, and productions.

Granted, this is a new medium and we have to experiment with it to see what works or not. As far as I know, other than viral marketing, there is no good way to get general event news out grid-wide in SL. I suppose if you are looking for something to do you can check the events listings. Personally, I haven’t even looked at the listings. I think long-term residents of SL already have things to do and don’t need to check listings.

Probably the most successful marriage of SL and RL was the recent CSI event, which I completely missed, not being a television watcher. This seemed to garner alot of attention in both worlds. This may be a key to how to use SL. It is a good way to cross over with a real “cool” factor.

Rather than just create really slick campaigns in SL or in multiple worlds, I think advertisers need to consider the audience more, and who they are reaching with these attempts. I think it takes alot of RL hype to make a SL project show some ROI.

Weekly Update

This week has seen progress in my marketing approach. I have scrapped the idea of using the classified ads since they were too expensive and didn’t appear to be useful. I also checked with a friend who seems to have had much success with her store, and she had tried the classifieds and came to the same conclusion.

Just to recap: here is the final store layout:

And here is the Gallery:

The new development is that I rented a space in the Promenade mall. I decorated the walls and floor with my own design. What I put in there is the new picture changer with photos of the store and gallery, a couple of sample products because I had enough prims left (and I hope to sell them as well), and the notecard givers:

As for the picture changer, I purchased a photo album picture changer that has a script. It’s basically just a flat prim and you insert your photos into the contents, then set your parameters for auto slide show or manual and the time intervals. I built a frame for it and then a stand with legs to put it at a good viewing height. I then added outriggers for the notecard holders for the store and gallery. Here’s a closer view of the final product in place:

I have made four of these and have this one placed. I rented another space in a different mall last night, but haven’t set that up yet. If this works out, it’s a very affordable way to advertise.

Creating a World out of Worlds

I just discovered VastPark. Their Team Blog lists rules for the virtual web that I found quite thought provoking. While they give a thanks to Virtual Worlds like Second Life, they are positioning themselves as the next direction for VWs. Instead of all the VWs interconnecting, they propose an opposite approach. They think we should all create our own worlds which we can then provide access to for others as we wish. We would hold control over the world and what is allowed to happen in there. This has huge advantages for corporations as well as educational institutions. A company can create a world headquarters in virtual space and, especially if they have a distributed workforce, they can meet and conduct training in their private space. Institutions of Higher Learning can create their own college or university, and conduct classes without fears of what students may be subjected to content-wise, such as inappropriate sexuality for example. The users would also retain control over security and who is allowed in. I think this solves a lot of problems we encounter with places like Second Life.

Virtual Worlds are still a new experience for us. We seem to want to connect with each other, we just don’t know how we want to do that yet. Using the WWW as an example, even though websites can be accessed through a common browser, each site is independent and under creative control by its owner. Even so, we have an interconnected net of sites that can interact through a browser. It seems that this approach is what VastPark is proposing.

Classified Reality Check

Part of my marketing plan for Kram’s Kreations includes a listing in the classified ads. The ads are weighted by how much a business spends for the placement. The categories are terribly broad right now. For me to list presently, I would be under “Shopping”, with hundreds of other businesses. In order to be at the top of the list, I’d have to spend 150,000 lindens per week, and to even get on the first page it would cost 87,000 lindens. Sooo, that’s not going to happen. I had in mind that 1000-1500 lindens would be as far as I wanted to go in cost. Well, I went way, way into the classifieds, and stopped at 2000. At this point, the classifieds don’t appear to be a viable option. I may just try to refine my search keywords to drive more people in that way.

The other main marketing venue was going to be renting commercial space, and installing slideshow viewers with notecard givers. This looks more viable now, given how much I would be spending on a useful classified ad. An average rental may run about 250/wk. So if I get maybe three places, that would be 750L /wk, or 3000L /month; the price of a low-end classified ad per week. I think I will start with at least two, and if the method seems to bring business, I will add more.

Kram’s Kreations Proposal

The project I have chosen to pursue is to build a Second Life store for items I have made previously and to find success in selling those items. I plan to also attach a gallery that will display my real life photos.

My target audience would be SL homeowners and renters who want unique decorative items for their home. I want to have the gallery attached because I think the home decor customers may also be Gallery customers. I hope to continue to build new and desirable items, so I can keep a content customer base. I expect to be selling to a more focused group of customers who like my style, rather than to base sales on a large number of visitors. I see this more as a boutique than a chain.

My plan is to depend on advertising to bring in customers. I chose to attach the store to other property I own in SL. I don’t like living in SL houses so I anticipate hanging out at the store. The area I live in is not a high-traffic or even commercial area. I made the building attractive not to upset the neighbors, and myself and I went with very low key signage. I plan to use the classifieds as my main resource for building a customer base. I also plan to rent space in high-traffic areas to put out a display that has constantly changing photos of the store and select merchandise. I will also include a notecard giver at these locations so if people are interested they can open the card and go to the store.

There is much competition for household furniture and decoration. Some places are very large, and i don’t plan to compete with them. I plan to be more like some of the smaller places that depend on their uniqueness to draw business. I plan to take the advise of Amy Weber, and not to worry about what others are doing. I plan to just move ahead with my own design vision.

In order to create and execute the project I developed a weekly schedule that outlines the basic areas I plan to address for each week:

Project Planning Schedule - Kram’s Kreations

Week of:

10/19-10/25

Complete structures build-out ( building and display stands)

Complete pricing and product placement on displays

Create and place all signage

Place visitor counter

Create and assemble notecard giver

Develop metrics tool

10/26-11/1

Classified Ads (learn how, decide how much to spend, place)

Assemble Picture Changer (photos of store and some products)

Look for rental space (seek high traffic commercial sites)

11/2-11/8

Rent commercial space

Place Picture changer and notecard giver

Assess need for Vendor/learn about vendors

11/9-11/15

If vendors to be used, assemble and place

Create holiday specific products (design, build, display)

11/16-11/22

Configure and place greeter

Sell

11/23-11/29

Sell more

11/30-12/6

Prepare for presentation of project

Presentation of final project (12/6/07)

I have completed the build part of the project and technically the store is open now. I have had a few sales, but these were from friends who came to see. But actually, my friends wouldn’t have just bought something to please me. So I feel pretty encouraged about the quality of my products. Of course, I want to see outside customers buying my things. I don’t really expect to do business with strangers until I begin to advertise. At that time I plan to be around the store and try to engage customers in conversation and ask for feed back on the design and function of the store and gallery. I also plan to put out a notecard box, where a customer can make comments and deposit the card for me to read later. While not too many people may use this, the ones that do will be giving me unsolicited and thoughtful feedback.

I have noticed that one of the best ways to kick off a business in SL is through viral marketing. When friends come in to the store with another friend, who then brings in a friend, as do each of them, before you know it you have a customer base. This is partly why I want all of my friends to go to the store. In addition I will have classified ads for the store and the gallery. But what I’m hoping will prove successful is the Picture changer I plan to install at commercial locations. I think this is an unusual and unique approach. There will be a notecard giver that will dispense landmarks to the store. I also plan to place notecard givers in stores of friends of mine; whoever will allow it.

I am currently keeping track of visitors and sales in order to establish a baseline of visits and sales without advertising. I plan to continue the process afterwards and am expecting to see the numbers of both go up. I have set a simple goal of selling something every day on an average. I have never had that good an average in the past iterations of my retail attempts. Once I reach that goal, I plan to increase the expectations, mainly of sales. I would prefer to learn to target a smaller audience rather than depend on sheer numbers to make my sales goals.

Playing for Skills

The readings this week addressed how IBM is using online gaming to identify potential leaders and develop existing ones. It seems controversial, since IBM employees are getting involved in World of Warcraft and other such MMOGs. After all, isn’t IBM the prime example of a stodgy, conservative old guard kind of company?  Well, apparently not. I am quite pleased to see that they are open to anything that will develop employees and grow business. They are certainly in business to make money, but rather than forcing worker characteristics on them, they are observing the talents and behaviors of individuals in the company. Of course this helps their bottom line in the end, but no harm if it’s also good for the employees.

I am disappointed that our culture has become such that the idea of playing to grow and develop seems like something best left to children. When we were kids, we used to play alot. In the process, we learned how to get along with others, work as a team, follow rules, and yes, sometimes lead. I maintain that this modality of learning has stood the test of time and is a natural way for humans to learn and develop.

I think most workplaces would benefit from entering into these online games and have their employees play. The article also suggests that leadership in these games tends to be transient, and opportunist. I see nothing wrong with that. I remember that happening often during childhood play. The nature of business these days often requires quick re-directs, and ad hoc team building. This creates opportunities for the “players” or employees to experience different roles. I do think the no-risk version of online games is a better way to develop team cohesiveness and for people to explore their potential as leaders. Then when their various skills are required in the real world, they have some experience to draw from.

I suppose one could argue the value of fantasy or virtual experience and whether it would translate into real life. But don’t athletes rehearse plays in their head, and someone who has to give a speech will rehearse it many times? Those are contrived circumstances, yet people seem to benefit from them. I also believe that as you perceive, so you believe. And if you believe, you become. If someone has an experience as a leader in a game, and they enjoy the experience of leader, and believe they are good at it, I don’t doubt they would feel more confident about performing in such a role in real life.

So let them play and grow, it’ll be good for them and for your company.

Store and Gallery are Open

I was busy this weekend working on the store and gallery. I had to finish up pricing items in the store, and I had to place the photos in the gallery. I added some signage to the gallery after realizing you couldn’t see the sign when walking around amongst the photos. I also created a light at the base of the sign to brighten things at night. Here is a look at the store:

And, here is a look at the Gallery:

So the build is complete now. I have some baseline measurements for visitor count and sales total.  I installed a vistor counting device in the store, and another in the gallery. I had two friends visit, and both bought something. I hope I can keep that ratio going.

The next step will be to work on ways to advertise and attract customers to the business. I need to get some classified ads going, one for each, and am working on ways to advertise in shopping areas by renting a space and installing a picture viewing device, with constantly changing photos of my store and gallery. I will also place notecard givers there, which give a notecard with a landmark to the store and gallery. I have those boxes at my location too, so people can easily remember the location if they want to come back.

Next steps:   Classified ads (with photos)

Rent space for picture viewer

Take photos for viewer and install them

Project Update

This week has seen alot of progress in the building structure. Last week, the walls and floor were created. This week has seen the design and build of the display stands.

I decided I wanted display islands instead of rows. I also didn’t want the appearance to compete visually with the products, so I used darker colors. I went for classy but low-key. The colors also draw well from the colors already used in the building and the sign. Here’s a closer look at a display:

The Photo Gallery will use the same display stands to display photos. I kept the sign from a previous version of the gallery that was actually on a beach. It was another original photo and design/build, but I like the name. Here is a look at the Gallery:

What doesn’t show in the photo is that I have actually placed waves on the floor. They are “wash” waves that just gently flow on the floor, with a subtle sound of waves.

Finally, I started placing items in the store. I still have to add some pricing, and I have to place the photos in the gallery, but the store is coming along nicely. I’ll be done with the physical structure in a few days. Then I have to start marketing.  Here’s a look at the store with products:

I wanted customers to have an interesting experience while shopping here, with items coming into view as you walk around, giving that “discovery” appeal to it. The flow is more meandering without a straight line progression. I hope people like that,  if not, I can move things around.

Why an Avatar?

The articles for this weeks assignment all deal with marketing in Second Life. It was suggested that alot of the big companies have gotten in and are using it for branding and special promotions with at least some success in that respect. But all concede that marketing in the 3-D virtual worlds has to be different. For instance, setting up a billboard in SL is more likely to irritate neighbors than get the attention of the non-existent motorists on any of the virtual roads there. Selling representations of real world clothing has limited value too; there are already scores of in-world designers producing attractive clothing in-world. The real life companies end up trying to compete with established entities. Unless they can differentiate their products, they are not likely to have success.

What I find most compelling is the thought that marketing to an avatar comes with its own psychological set. The avatar is a projection of the (usually) idealized self of it’s real-life counterpart. So one ends up selling “dreams” to the avatar, and those in real life business think they can also convince the real world counterpart to buy real life products. I’d like to think this is possible. My experience of being in-world is one that I want to be left alone by real life companies. I like dealing in-world with native businesses and talents. I don’t know how pervasive this sentiment is, but I would think I’m not alone in that.

To market effectively to an avatar in-world, the product or service would have to meet one or all of several criteria related to the avatar’s in-world experiences. The three most important areas one would have to address are: helping with the person’s creative expression in either production or aesthetic appreciation; it would have to provide, or contribute to the experience of fun; it would have to enhance the appearance by making the avatar more attractive, or at least enhance the “cool” factor.

Overall, I think everyone is missing the point here. The world of Second Life is a self-contained, user-created environment, and should probably not be confused by too much co-mingling with real life. People are in there to pursue things they would not in real life, or use it as a platform to try things out. I don’t think there is inherent real world marketing value there, even if it is a real life person behind the avatar. I think there are many utilitarian uses: for instance, I’d love to do “catalog” shopping in world rather than actually handle a conventional print catalog. It would be interactive, you could see it in three dimensions, and maybe even try it out. But if I am considering buying a new Toyota, I’m going to go to my local car dealer.

What I think virtual worlds like Second Life represent is a self contained environment, which it should remain, with one exception: I think this is likely to become the browser of the 3-D internet of the future. It is a platform, and will be an interface for the already highly functional internet we have now. When the net is more 3-D integrated, the uniqueness of places like Second Life will dissolve, and it will be integrated into other things we do in our virtual internet connected world.

More info on Using SL for Education

I was reading a transcript of talk on the Chronicle of Higher Education site about using Second Life for education. It seemed to point to ad hoc usage of SL and/or using Blackboard as a back up for the in-world classes. This seems to back up my own observations in my previous blog about virtual utility. It seems that SL as a sole venue for education may not be the best way to go; at least not at this time. With some growth and improvements in stability of the platform and improved conferencing abilities that could change.