We've been hearing a lot about virtual worlds for a couple of years now (despite the fact that they've been in existence since the turn of the century). We all remember the late 2006/early 2007 hype about SecondLife in particular, as big brands like American Apparel, Sun Microsystems and Toyota rushed to buy islands and establish their virtual presence, and the virtual user base reached the 1 million mark. And we also all remember the subsequent backlash of criticism as results proved dismal, users were revealed as vastly marketing folk, and many of those brands closed the doors of their metaverse headquarters due to "overhead costs" that exceeded the revenue potential. From there, many would argue that the virtual world spiraled into more of a virtual back alley filled with little more than gambling, prostitution and even crime.
So what of it now?
Well, amidst all the noise about SecondLife (which I would dub the Friendster of virtual worlds), many other virtual reality environments have been more quietly thriving. In particular amongst kids and youth, virtual worlds are regarded as a basic part of everyday life, just as my generation would to come to alternate life in our Barbie dolls, prancing them around the Dream House and out on romantic dates with Ken. It's a very natural progression when it isn't forced. We used to write letters but now we type emails, kids used to play Barbies but now they play Webkinz ... why on Earth wouldn't we go from browsing images of models wearing the hottest new trend to having our proportionately-scaled avatar try it on for us?
As the technology continues to improve the user experience and brands and marketers are figuring out how to facilitate that natural progression rather than force a new marketing medium, the stage is being set for a strong future of 3D web browsing and a true evolution of social interaction - likely in the near term.
Let's take a look at some of the supporting evidence:
So which worlds and brands are paving the way?
Despite staggering numbers and many brand experiments, the space seems to be "open" for the MySpace or Facebook of this category and experts agree that we can expect barrels of new metaverse launches in 2008. The message for marketers is to take note of what is working, for whom and how today. Virtual reality may not be the right tactic for every brand, but neither is email or TV or an event. The point is, it is fast becoming a viable new medium to consider in your mix - even a prerequisite if you want to reach kids and teens.
We all agree that we can now say with certainty that the Internet isn't going away. Having witnessed how word of mouth marketing manifested itself online and remembering that social networking started young and then aged up, I believe we can say with confidence that the World Wide Web will continue to evolve in ways that mimick the real world to a greater and greater extent.