Hype Alert: Second Life’s Media Focus Outpaces its Business Success
- Posted by Ephraim Cohen on November 15th, 2006 filed in Advertising, Public Relations, marketing
The Globe to Friendster to MySpace to YouTube to SecondLife…except one only has a fraction of the users of the others. SecondLife.
I’ve tried Second Life and it is a great virtual platform. It’s interesting, entertaining and shows the potential for virtual worlds…when the world is really ready for them. Right now it’s still too slow, too ugly and too clunky for the average consumer as compared to the Web. Doesn’t anyone remember VRML?
A Webcast is still easier for a press conference, an IM is easier for an online chat and a Web site is easier for commerce (sorry Dell).
As a practical platform, it’s slow and not conducive to today’s short-attention-span-must quickly-flip-through-web-pages consumer.
As a social networking platform like MySpace of Facebook it’s too slow. It doesn’t allow the quick in, check messages, read a message and out experience that so many consumers are used to.
As an entertainment platform for virtual economics and other forms of entertainment, it’s, well, entertainment. Meaning it could one day lose its hype value and, along with that, its media and core user focus.
The bottom line is that it is the flavor of the day. It gets attention as virtual worlds so often do - by captures the imagination of the media and forward looking consumer. The problem is that people aren’t writing about imagination. They are imagining business success. It may happen at some point but that point has not arrived.
So take advantage of Second Life while it’s hot. Maybe it will be a long term success. But for the moment, companies that invest for the short term marketing value are placing the safer bet. In the meantime, don’t forget to lookout for the next big thing…
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November 15th, 2006 at 6:21 am
Ephraim: The hype is nauseating to be sure. But I think SL will find a niche as a virtual test lab.
Aloft offers a commercial example of how Starwoods is testing a hotel concept in SL and building a brand based in SL feedback. The CDC are running scenarios in SL they could not create safely in the real world.
By applying creativity to do more than simply mirror the real world, we might find some pragmatic uses for this flavor. Holding press conferences in SL makes as much sense as holding them in the real world.
Consider a btob brand. Plenty of room here to test and have fun with concepts they might not be able to replicate as cheaply or as easily in the real world.
FWIW
November 15th, 2006 at 4:20 pm
Good point and great example. Testing a hotel concept in SL is a consumer version of what engineering companies have been doing for years (I believe Boeing built the 777 virtually first). That is a great long term value of SL. As someone who looks to launch researched based programs, I may make use of this.
I don’t want to get too down on SL. Over a year ago I recommended a client open a business after I felt it was about to take off in publicity popularity. Now I just feel it’s peaking so that anyone trying to leverage it today is taking a publicity risk and tomorrow it will just be considered old news.
Now I’m focused on what will be the next hyped platform marketers can use to create awareness. For example, mobile social networks are gaining ground. Companies like Upoc (they create what are essentially SMS social networks) may be the next hype target of media and marketing/public relations professionals.
November 15th, 2006 at 6:37 pm
Ephraim: If the strategy is right, and not publicity-driven, I hope businesses still pursue Second Life. The ones that do it just for the buzz deserve the ire. They make it tougher for the valid opportunities.
As far as the next big thing, I’ll wait until it hits me over the head the way Second Life did.
November 15th, 2006 at 8:40 pm
Agreed and not just for first life. Good strategy that has publicity value, as opposed to just aiming for publicity, is a good rule to follow.
November 16th, 2006 at 7:03 am
[...] B2B Insight: Hype Alert: Second Life’s Media Focus Outpaces it’s Business Success An interesting post about PR and advertising taking Second Life too seriously. I like SL, I am “in life” and I see the wonderful things that can be done. But, should there be press conferences there? As Andy Lark notes, it seems wrong - but unfortunately there are too many PR firms that jump on bandwagons - let’s open up in SL!! - and don’t think about being part of the community first. [...]
August 4th, 2007 at 5:01 am
[...] Cohen, Ephraim. “Hype Alert: Second Life’s Media Focus Outpaces its Business Success.” 15 November 2006. 15 July 2007. <http://www.b2bcorporate.com/blog/2006/11/15/hype-alert-second-lifes-media-focus-outpaces-its-busines…> [...]