I agree completely. There has to be consolidation and customer data is key to making the right decision as in most business and marketing applications. The idea that you just "have to be there" to be legitimate is not true at this point for virtual worlds. They are a unique and potentially valuable resource for the right brands and the right reasons. Starwood's Aloft project gets a lot of flack for closing down, but I say it did not close down, the project was simply done. It was a research and ideation project where they got what they wanted and then did not have any further need for it nor did anyone in Second Life have a reason to visit (no events, no staff, no interaction = no traffic). Being a research company and customer centric branding agency we see huge potential in engaging customers in virtual worlds for research, ideation and product development. Here you are able to reach teach leaders that you normally don't get and really push the envelope. This is not to say that you would use virtual worlds for market sizing or any ad testing – the totally wrong platform for that – these are not "the" market. They are lead adopters and as such are great for ideation and forward looking work, but not more projectable findings that one would use to reprice a products. So, look before you leap, know before you go, of whatever else means ask a few questions before you spend a few thousand.

I agree completely. There has to be consolidation and customer data is key to making the right decision as in most business and marketing applications. The idea that you just "have to be there" to be legitimate is not true at this point for virtual worlds. They are a unique and potentially valuable resource for the right brands and the right reasons. Starwood's Aloft project gets a lot of flack for closing down, but I say it did not close down, the project was simply done. It was a research and ideation project where they got what they wanted and then did not have any further need for it nor did anyone in Second Life have a reason to visit (no events, no staff, no interaction = no traffic). Being a research company and customer centric branding agency we see huge potential in engaging customers in virtual worlds for research, ideation and product development. Here you are able to reach teach leaders that you normally don't get and really push the envelope. This is not to say that you would use virtual worlds for market sizing or any ad testing – the totally wrong platform for that – these are not "the" market. They are lead adopters and as such are great for ideation and forward looking work, but not more projectable findings that one would use to reprice a products. So, look before you leap, know before you go, of whatever else means ask a few questions before you spend a few thousand.

Thanks for your comments. I enjoyed your article on Austin AdFed and agree that companies must focus on the fundamentals. They must also participate in the environments that are most likely to attract their target demographic. It is much like testing various paid search keywords to see which ones bring the right type of customer in and converts them quickly. One of the big problems with Second Life, for U.S. companies, is that it is mostly a European community. Understanding who is in the community is paramount before spending hundreds of thousands to build a presence there.

I agree with you that Second Life will be one of many 3D-Web platforms. Who knows – maybe Microsoft will emerge as the long-term winner here. The 3D-Web will be intimately tied to the operating system, just like Internet Explorer is dominate today for the 2D-Web. We'll have to find out.

Best,
Brett

Thanks for your comments. I enjoyed your article on Austin AdFed and agree that companies must focus on the fundamentals. They must also participate in the environments that are most likely to attract their target demographic. It is much like testing various paid search keywords to see which ones bring the right type of customer in and converts them quickly. One of the big problems with Second Life, for U.S. companies, is that it is mostly a European community. Understanding who is in the community is paramount before spending hundreds of thousands to build a presence there.

I agree with you that Second Life will be one of many 3D-Web platforms. Who knows – maybe Microsoft will emerge as the long-term winner here. The 3D-Web will be intimately tied to the operating system, just like Internet Explorer is dominate today for the 2D-Web. We'll have to find out.

Best,
Brett

First of all thanks for pointing out how the Internet first took off as well – all the hype around Second Life and sex is the same as the Internet years ago…and that revenue (right or wrong) provided the funding (and in some cases still does today) for the data hosting and other services smaller content providers use on the web today. The "killer app" for virtual worlds will be a standard platform that allows someone to use their avatar in Second Life, Kaneva and any of the other 30+ virtual worlds out there today. Just like there could not be 40 versions of the web and associated browsers there can't be that for virtual world and the coming 3D web either.

For a recent interivew I did with Austin AdFed about the mistakes companies are making in virtual worlds and the near term opportunities read here: http://www.austinadfed.com/newsletter_06-3.shtml.

For an extensive list of websites, news coverage, YouTube overviews and opinions on virtual worlds and Second Life, check out our blog at http://www.awarenessiseverything.com and let keeps this chat going.

First of all thanks for pointing out how the Internet first took off as well – all the hype around Second Life and sex is the same as the Internet years ago…and that revenue (right or wrong) provided the funding (and in some cases still does today) for the data hosting and other services smaller content providers use on the web today. The "killer app" for virtual worlds will be a standard platform that allows someone to use their avatar in Second Life, Kaneva and any of the other 30+ virtual worlds out there today. Just like there could not be 40 versions of the web and associated browsers there can't be that for virtual world and the coming 3D web either.

For a recent interivew I did with Austin AdFed about the mistakes companies are making in virtual worlds and the near term opportunities read here: http://www.austinadfed.com/newsletter_06-3.shtml.

For an extensive list of websites, news coverage, YouTube overviews and opinions on virtual worlds and Second Life, check out our blog at http://www.awarenessiseverything.com and let keeps this chat going.