JUNE 11, 2007
INSIDE INNOVATION -- IN VIRTUAL
Beyond Second Life |
Companies thinking twice about the popular virtual world are finding more security and flexibility in alternatives
|
Is there life beyond Second Life? Companies ranging from Walt Disney (DIS
) to Wells Fargo (WFC)
are seeking alternative virtual worlds with both greater security
against hackers and control over such things as brand messaging and
participants. After all, the Web-based parallel universe is a messy
marketplace where you're as likely to see a bare-chested, rabbit-headed
avatar trolling for adult-themed entertainment or vandalizing a digital
store as a corporate suit leading a training session. And some
companies want to target age groups younger or older than the average
30-year-old denizen of Second Life.
Even the earliest adopters of Second Life are turning elsewhere. In September, 2005, Wells Fargo (WFC
) was ahead of the corporate stampede into Second Life when it launched
a 3D virtual environment, "Stagecoach Island," in Second Life to
attract youthful, tech-savvy customers and teach them about banking.
Now nearly 50 corporations use Second Life, with Royal Philips
Electronics (PHG
), Coca-Cola, (KO
) and News Corp. (NWS
) among the latest. But Wells Fargo is gone. It pulled its Stagecoach
Island out and opted to create its own world, a larger, stand-alone
online universe that it can monitor more closely and customize.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts (HOT
) is getting ready to bail now, too. Last summer, Starwood made a
splashy, widely publicized entrance into Second Life, hoping to draw on
the wisdom of avatars to get customer feedback on possible real-world
design features for its stylish new brand of hotels geared toward hip
twenty- and thirtysomething business travelers on a budget. Although
Starwood first heralded Second Life as an ongoing project, it will soon
leave, too. Starwood discovered avatars don't need to sleep, and so a
virtual hotel didn't make much sense in the long run. Unlike Adidas or
General Motors (GM
), which sell digital versions of Reeboks and Pontiacs in the online
world, Starwood didn't have goods to sell—and found itself unable to
sustain avatars' interest.
Even newcomer Coke isn't banking solely on that particular patch of
cyberspace as its main online platform. In May the company closed its
"Virtual Thirst" contest, which asked the public to design a vending
machine for Second Life. The winner gets 500,000 "Linden Dollars," the
virtual world's currency. But Coke is also reaching out to potential
vending-machine designers via a MySpace.com (NWS
) social-networking page, del.icio.us keyword tagging, a Flickr (YHOO
) photo page, and a YouTube (GOOG
) video clip. Coke's multichannel Web 2.0 onslaught shows the beverage
giant is going anywhere on the Internet where the young can be found.
MTV Networks (VIA
) started in Second Life but decided to use Makena Technologies to create stand-alone online environments to accompany its Laguna Beach TV series, and more recently, The Hills and Pimp My Ride. The cybersites weave the shows' story lines into interactive digital environments without any competing brands.
Disney (DIS
) hired Finnish developer Sulake to create its own Virtual Magic
Kingdom, a cartoony, interactive world that replicates Disney's
amusement parks online. Sulake is also the creator of Habbo Hotel, a
seven-year-old Web-based world aimed at teenagers with 76 million
individual avatars worldwide. Companies without any presence in Second
Life, including Target (TGT
) and Wal-Mart Stores (WMT
), sponsor digital "lounges" and events at Habbo Hotel. More than 150
avatars can hang out simultaneously in these branded environments,
nearly double the maximum at a Second Life shindig.
Linden Lab, the creator of Second Life, doesn't think that building a
series of separate virtual worlds is a good strategy, director of
marketing Catherine Smith says. The company, however, is working on
allowing corporate players to increase security by hosting their own
servers that could keep their back-end data separate from Linden Lab's
main server. Last fall hackers obtained the credit-card details of many
Second Lifers.
This growing crop of Second Life alternatives is diverse and highly
specialized but shares a common focus on security, customization, and
control—three qualities that are business-friendly. Although Second
Life clearly isn't fading away any time soon, corporate interest is
broadening. Analysts such as Joe Laszlo of JupiterResearch predict
virtual worlds are poised to become the next hot Web acquisitions for
big media companies.
By Aili McConnon and Reena Jana
