According to a recent article by AdAge, consumers are seeking elsewhere to build their “second life” – ironically in places other than SecondLife.com .
Second Life (a video game virtual world that allows users to create real-life versions of themselves) has no doubt hit a wave of attention over the past year as it hit mainstream news media. And along with this added attention, companies have and continue to enter into the virtual world of Second Life hoping users will interact and connect with their brands.
Surprisingly however, emerging sites such as Zwinky, Stardoll, and Doppelganger are noticing higher volumes. For example, while SecondLife.com accumulated just under 4 million unique visits in an entire year, Zwinky gained nearly 3.6 million in May alone.
What is causing this shift? I think that it is the developments these emerging sites are making; many of which are offering safer, more controlled environments, while leveraging to a younger audience.
Take Zwinky.com for instance, who just accomplished the first avatar-only concert, featuring Columbia Records artists Kelly Rowland and Teddy Geiger. And Stardoll.com, (a site that lets visitors dress up virtual-paper-doll likenesses) is now leveraging partnerships with Avril Lavigne and Hilary Duff in order to attract and interact with the 8-14 demographic and to promote the artists’ album releases, clothing, and tour dates.
These sites are smart – simply because they understand how to segment and expand to a different audience. In order to effectively use these sites however, advertisers must be slightly ahead of these trends and aware of emerging sites.
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