Pinkberry in Second Life?

Recently, I have been talking a lot about Second Life. After all, why not? Mark my words, as well as the many others from people who told me, it will eventually be all over the world, or a new world within itself.

I am also performing extensive research on Pinkberry, a relatively new frozen yogurt craze that has swept addicted customers across the West Coast (California), and a few locations in New York City. In determining a successful marketing plan for this company, I have teamed up with a small group to target 18-24 year old College Women of these areas. The primary markets will be geographically located in California, while the secondary market will consist of relatively the same type of students located in NYC.

As part of our plan, we feel that creating a SL build for Pinkberry will be essential and a creative way to express Pinkberry's brand image. From my numerous hours spent in SL, I have noticed one key characteristic: people love to accessorize and add to their avatar's experience. What would be more perfect then SL people walking around indulging in some tasty Pinkberry frozen yogurt. I myself love to be carrying around a Coke can, casually sipping of the drink from time to time. If there were Pinkberry stands set around different locations, however, I would obviously switch to this cold and delicious treat.

One of the major distinctions between SL and real life is the endless amount of creativity and imagination that SL can provide. With that said, if you want your company to stand out in the game, then by all means do so. People usually don't explore SL to be bored by a crowded and unimaginative Mercedes Dealership, or a boring PR firm. Companies should express their creativity in the game to show how open-minded their brand can be. Take the advertising agency, Leo Burnett, for example:
Leo Burnett Headquarters

What, you didn't expect a large "tree trunk" building with bouncing apple rides and flying pencils for this firm? Well this is exactly the point, companies like this are able to show their creativity and prove to prospective clients that they have the imagination it takes to support their products.

Or how about Kawaii Ku, a fantasy shopping center where some parts are based from "cartoonish" landscapes, and others portray more dirty, bad parts of the city:



As for Pinkberry, they need to create a main Island shaped like a giant dish of their frozen yogurt. The swirl would be very colorful and contain several toppings, offered in real life, and placed as objects for visitors throughout the island. A very important factor would be the presence of Pinkberry representatives (as avatars of course). This way, if people had any questions about Pinkberry products, nutritional value, locations, or anything, they could be easily helped. They should also include the company website as a link so people can simply click on the link and be taken to the site.

Beyond the island, Pinkberry should work out agreements with other major locations in order to open up SL stores and mini-stands. This would further increase the awareness, and hopefully popularity of the yogurt.

The reason Pinkberry should open in Second Life, according to our plan, is due to the increasing statistics of college users across the world. It is projected that this market will soon be a leading segment of Second Life, and that branding a company in world would increase their chances for success.

By using the appeal of creativity and friendly representatives, Pinkberry has the potential of successfully increasing their brand image and awareness through SL involvement.

Can marketers really socialize with social marketing?

Whenever a new form of media is introduced to the public, it is only a matter of time before marketers consume the outlet with floods of advertisements. Just six months ago Google was offering Youtube 1.6 billion dollars for ownership, and of course there would be an advertisement strategy involved in the purchase. But with new ways to advertise on these sites, new viral ways, is it really acceptable to the public.

Let us take the very popular College Humor website, visited daily by prankster college students, or others just looking for a good laugh. The site is filled with hilarious pictures of college peers, witty editorial articles relating with the students, and the much visited daily videos . I have to admit, I am, and have been for a few years now, a huge fan of the social media based site. I visit nearly once (if not more) a day and at least check out all of the videos which provide me with a great laugh.

Recently, however, I have found something rather intrusive, something that serves as quite an annoyance for me. College humor has started to place advertisements around the boarder of several videos I try to watch, encompassing the entire outside of the video space, and usually plastered with logos. I would link the site of this advertising, but they appear randomly when you watch the videos, so I urge you to watch several of them to see for yourself.

Now, I am by no means a advertising critic, and rarely do I complain about the amount/intrusiveness of advertisements in my life. But I too have lines that can be crossed.

To start with, I go to this site not only to watch the videos, but also to read the clever commentary that is paired with the video. Its like they give you something to look for while watching. But with the addition of these "frame-advertisements," The commentary text is completely cut off, and I have to instantly close out of the advertisement to read the content. By then, I have seen the video, miss the joke, and am ticked off.

Secondly, the first time I saw this type of advertisement I was very confused and thrown off. While watching a video of a student streaking across campus all my attention was focused on the giant Kraft label that surrounded the video. Initially, since I had never seen these advertisements, I thought Kraft was sponsoring the video, and in fact performing the stunt (or at least encouraging it). As I continued to watch, confused, I thought to myself,"this is some bad publicity for Kraft."

So all in all, its no surprise to me that advertisers will be "invading" social media networks, nor do I wish them not to. But in order to be successful at doing so, I rec commend several points. First, don't cover up important information on the site that visitors depend on, your ad will be closed immediately, and if it does stay open, consumers will be aggravated not with the site, but your brand (gives them a face to blame). Secondly, be careful who your "unintentional" sponsors/partners are. If your company deals with preventing fires, make sure you don't advertise on a site like College Humor where your logo and company will be surrounding a video of pyro-maniacs.

I have come to accept this frame advertising, and in fact enjoy its efforts of being less intruding on visitors. But there are some minor changes that need to be done in order to generate success from them.

For more information, check out Ad Weeks related article with Google & Youtube.

Second Business...

After recently visiting some interesting company fronts in SL, I have taken away a bit of advice for future companies, or perhaps one of my own some day. Second Life is a different world, with different rules of society, and this should be well noted when thinking about building your business here.

To start with, I checked out the ever so famous Leo Burnett build. It was a lot like what you wouldn't expect. Mainly outdoors, there were large "tree forts" with libraries on top. There were some interesting objects like a bouncing apple, which hung from the trees, and a flying pencil (company trademark) for all visitors. One of the most eye-catching parts for me, however, was the large auditorium with a microphone in the middle. I'm guessing this location is used for larger conferences and meetings with the agency and visitors or even faculty.

The other two places were personal shopping centers not for yourself, but for your second-self, your avatar. Here you could preview all sorts of merchandise ranging from roman clothes, to body piercings, to tattoos, and even range rovers and porches. Each location was laid out in a unique way; one store had a more professional, mall-like feel, while the other shopping center was set in an anime cartoon land. Once walking through different portals of the areas you could teleport to larger cityscapes and window shop there (unless you had some real linden dollars--which cost real U.S dollars). The best part about these locations, the call to action shown right when you teleport. Paper Couture, a Second Life clothing business, has left their link in their build, making it easy to just click it and visit. You can preview all of the clothing collections and view model avatars wearing the clothing. Back in the store you can by the clothes again on Second Life. Interesting enough, its almost the reverse process of how we buy merchandise in real life.


As for creating a successful business front in SL, these companies had some pros and cons. Mainly, I feel the name of the actual location was not branded enough, or barely visible. If I came across Leo Burnett in Second Life, I wouldnt have a clue as to where I was.

This brings me to my advice about opening/building your Second Life business, or business in Second Life. First off, certainly spend lots and lots of time in SL before thinking about building (did I mention a lot of time). This program is relatively new to many people, and to rush into something may not be as fortunate as the original internet outcome. It takes large amounts of money and time to maintain a build in SL, so have someone from your company research the program, the surroundings and everything else involved with your build plans before you begin. Also, be prepared to have a PR firm/individual ready when you do build. You never know what could happen to your image once placed into a world that is bound by minimal law. Be careful when building.

Create a build as you would in real life, but use the creative advantage of Second Life. To explain further on this broad statement, I mean to build a world that represents your company first: use logos and brand color schemes, create a feel that is comfortable and matching with your brand image. For example, if your company were to be Apple, create a futuristic world with use of solid whites and blacks. Make sure to include your logo all over the place (without becoming to obsessive). But at the same time, don't be afraid to explore your endless boundaries in the game. Create teleports that allow you to transport visitors to fantasy worlds and truly make the experience interactive. If your image permits, have games, free objects, and other qualities that will make avatars want to return, or at least bookmark the landmark in their inventories. Remember that your store front in SL has the same idea as it would in RL, it gives people a chance to view a representation of your company and image. So treat your build well, create exciting activites for the avatars, and show your product/service at its best.

With this said, make sure your world is social. Since this is a social media network, make sure you include activities and locations to make an avatars experience social and interactive. Like in many SL businesses, have meeting places or lecture locations. This will allow you to hold meetings and speakers that will entertain the visiting avatars as well as inform them.

Another note, this is not PowerPoint or MS Excel, this is a 3D virtual world. Your presentation skills have become endless. With the lack of physical appearance, one can become truly comfortable with their avatar and truly impress prospective visitors with some interesting information. So when giving your company overview, walk people through a 3D version of your presentation. Make sure they have opportunity to interact with what is being said/shown. Forget the bullet point style informing, create movies, sounds, and activities suitable for the SL world.

For more information about some technical details and even basic starting points, check out Business Week's SL tip sheet. It will tell you how to design your avatar, understand the virtual culture, and other tips to get your started.

And remember, just like a blog, you have to get your SL business noticed before you can expect to see any avatars filling your Island/location.