Internet, Social Networks, Tools, Web 2.0
Jul 16, 2007
Todd Zeigler
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Companies Abandoning Second Life

The LA Times had a story last week about companies abandoning their presences on Second Life due to poor return on investment. From the sound of things, many companies that have stayed may not be long for the world:

But the sites of many of the companies remaining in Second Life are empty. During a recent in-world visit, Best Buy Co.’s Geek Squad Island was devoid of visitors and the virtual staff that was supposed to be online.

The schedule of events on Sun Microsystems Inc.’s site was blank, and the green landscape of Dell Island was deserted. Signs posted on the window of the empty American Apparel store said it had closed up shop.

The story gets to the heart of the matter when it says, “most firms were more interested in the publicity they received from their ties with Second Life than in the digital world itself.”

You see this all the time. Companies launch MySpace pages or Twitter accounts or iPhone versions with no rationale beyond getting a short term media hit. After the buzz dies down it becomes pretty clear that the emperor has no clothes.

I’d advise a more measured approach to these things. Companies that take the time to do some research and understand the culture of the communities they participate in will have a lot more success long term than those that dive in head first in search of a few press clips.

  • http://www.digitalstreetjournal.com Jonathan Trenn

    It seems as if it’s quite an investment to create a large presence on Second Life for a few press clippings.

    Why wouldn’t these companies “take the time to do some research and understand the culture of the communities they participate in”? Any clue? Is it that they didn’t really do that? Or is Second Life completely overrated and its only coming to light now?

  • http://www.digitalstreetjournal.com Jonathan Trenn

    It seems as if it’s quite an investment to create a large presence on Second Life for a few press clippings.

    Why wouldn’t these companies “take the time to do some research and understand the culture of the communities they participate in”? Any clue? Is it that they didn’t really do that? Or is Second Life completely overrated and its only coming to light now?

  • http://www.bivingsreport.com Todd Zeigler

    I think if they had done a little research they would have seen that the idea of stores in Second Life is lame and abandoned the idea. We looked into it for ourselves and decided to pass.

  • http://www.bivingsreport.com Todd Zeigler

    I think if they had done a little research they would have seen that the idea of stores in Second Life is lame and abandoned the idea. We looked into it for ourselves and decided to pass.

  • http://www.dell.com/conversations RichardatDELL

    A colleague of mine here at Dell posted a comment about Second Life over at zdnet. Thought you might it an additional perspective. Essentially, we understood that Second Life might not be all about sales. However, we also recognize as the web evolves and so much is at play Second Life is a great place to test things, learn and listen. Hope you enjoy our perspective:
    http://talkback.zdnet.com/5208.....8;start=-1

  • http://www.dell.com/conversations RichardatDELL

    A colleague of mine here at Dell posted a comment about Second Life over at zdnet. Thought you might it an additional perspective. Essentially, we understood that Second Life might not be all about sales. However, we also recognize as the web evolves and so much is at play Second Life is a great place to test things, learn and listen. Hope you enjoy our perspective:
    http://talkback.zdnet.com/5208.....8;start=-1

  • http://www.kzero.co.uk/blog nic mitham

    My thoughts on the numerous comments about brands leaving Second Life.

    Firstly, remember that in many ways, Second Life (and other virtual worlds) is just another marketing channel, albeit with unique characteristics.

    When companies run marketing campaigns on other channels (such as TV, radio or print) and the campaign fails to deliver the desired level of response, one of two things happen:

    1. The creative concept is critised as not being appropriate or good enough. In other words it did not resonate enough with the target audience or deliver the right messages.

    2. Expectations were too high in the first place. Either because they were not correctly analysed or the channel has a different set of metrics.

    You rarely hear about the media channel being critised as being incorrect. Some brands have run campaigns in Second Life and the platform has been critised with very little commentary on the quality of the actual concept or the metrics being used to assess the success.

    The concept of media planning in Second Life (understanding the attributes of the channel audience – what motivates them – what they want – what the platform can deliver) has been overlooked to a very high degree to date in Second Life. This is the area that successful virtual world campaigns should focus on.

  • http://www.kzero.co.uk/blog nic mitham

    My thoughts on the numerous comments about brands leaving Second Life.

    Firstly, remember that in many ways, Second Life (and other virtual worlds) is just another marketing channel, albeit with unique characteristics.

    When companies run marketing campaigns on other channels (such as TV, radio or print) and the campaign fails to deliver the desired level of response, one of two things happen:

    1. The creative concept is critised as not being appropriate or good enough. In other words it did not resonate enough with the target audience or deliver the right messages.

    2. Expectations were too high in the first place. Either because they were not correctly analysed or the channel has a different set of metrics.

    You rarely hear about the media channel being critised as being incorrect. Some brands have run campaigns in Second Life and the platform has been critised with very little commentary on the quality of the actual concept or the metrics being used to assess the success.

    The concept of media planning in Second Life (understanding the attributes of the channel audience – what motivates them – what they want – what the platform can deliver) has been overlooked to a very high degree to date in Second Life. This is the area that successful virtual world campaigns should focus on.

  • http://www.bivingsreport.com/2007/the-life-cycle-of-social-media-hype/ The Life Cycle of Social Media Hype » The Bivings Report

    [...] been reading with fascination a series of articles that have appeared lately that question the value of maintaining a presence in Second [...]

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