Interactive Marketing in Second Life
Second Life® (also called SL) is a 3-D virtual world entirely created by its Residents. Some have described it as a cross between a video game and a chat room, others as a development platform. The users, often called residents, can create objects such as homes, furniture, clothing, and more, to fill this virtual reality. Since its creation in 2003, it has grown to over one million residents and has caught the attention of major media outlets in the process.
Shortly after its popularity started booming, businesses began to see the potential of SL to reach their customers on a whole new level. Marketing took on a new life as companies created immersive experiences for users to get information about their brands, include residents in activities sponsored by major names and allowed consumers to experience the products and services before buying.
Vital to this new marketing approach was the advent of “Second Life Developers”. These groups and individuals provided services such as graphic and architectural design, programming, public relations, market research, branding and much more. Thus, a new industry was born.
My own experience in Second Life began as I was one of the founders of Infinite Vision Media. My role as Chief Operations Officer was to oversee client proposals, coordinate the design team, making sure that projects were finished on time and within budget, event planning and publicity.
Later, as an independent developer, my role expanded to include everything from project planning, design and execution, publicity and follow-up. From inception to completion, clients relied on my knowledge of Second Life and its community to leverage it for their marketing purposes.
Below are examples of my work, both with Infinite Vision Media and as an independent Second Life developer.
