The stuff you have in Second Life matters as much as it does in real life. But, despite marketers best efforts to be cutting edge, its the more mundane stuff that really drives Second Life’s economy; stuff like clothes, gadgetry, night life and real estate.
Big corporations like Toyota have set up islands in Second Life for marketing. Calvin Klein came up with a virtual perfume. Kraft set up a grocery store featuring
its new products. But those destinations are not popular.
“These
brands that have this real-world cachet are meaningless in Second Life,
so most are ignored,” said Wagner James Au, who blogs and writes books
about Second Life. “Just showing up and announcing ‘We’re Calvin Klein’
isn’t going to get you anywhere.” American Apparel closed its virtual
clothing shop, and Wells Fargo abandoned the island it had set up to teach about personal finance.
~A
Even in a Virtual World, ‘Stuff’ Matters – New York Times
IT’S payday for Janine Hawkins. Not in the real world, where she is a student at Nipissing University in Ontario, but in the online world of Second Life, where she is managing editor of the fashion magazine Second Style.
Ms. Hawkins, who in Second Life takes on the persona of Iris Ophelia, a
beauty with flowing hair and flawless skin, keeps a list of things she
wants to buy: the latest outfits from the virtual fashion mecca Last
Call, a new hairstyle from a Japanese designer, slouchy boots. When she
receives her monthly salary in Linden dollars, the currency of Second
Life, she spends up to four hours shopping, clicking and buying. After
a year and a half, she owns 31,540 items.
Filed under: advertising, Second Life, shopping, Virtual Worlds, websites
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