How can a company earn real money in a virtual world ?

 

The growth of Second Life has been particularly impressive. Many companies have seen an opportunity for marketing, promotion, sales and recruiting. Accenture, Adidas, BMW, American Apparel, Coca Cola and IBM are some examples of brands which operate a presence in “Second Life”. In order to earn money in a virtual world, companies can open a shop, use this virtual world to communicate (and so increase its sales in the real world), or recruit their employees.

 

OPEN A SHOP

 

Some brands have opened virtual shops, and sell their computer-generated products on Second Life. Avatars controlled by humans can buy those virtual products, giving some “Linden Dollars” to the brand. And then, the company will convert those Linden Dollars into its own money (euros, dollars).

 I’ll give three examples of companies who have sold virtual products on Second Life : American Apparel, Toyota and Nissan.

 American Apparel opened a shop in Second Life. There was a huge opening party with a few cases of – virtual – beer ! This shop had thousands of visitors from all over the world and sold some virtual t-shirts. This is a video in which an avatar visits American Apparel’s shop :

 

But the shop is now closed, although the brand doesn’t exclude to come back in Second Life.

 

Another example is Scion, Toyota’s youth-oriented brand. It opened a dealership in Second Life, and sold three virtual Toyota’s models. Those computer-generated cars were entirely customizable. It was a very successful operation, and many avatars bought a car and customized it. This is an example in which the customizer added two giant slices of toast :

 

 

Nissan also opened its dealership in Second Life, providing copies of its Sentra to residents. The cars were delivered by a giant vending machine (the size of an office building !) that you can see below. And you could also test your driving skills on Nissan’s Island, that offered a test track with a vertical loop !

 

 

 

 

ORGANIZE VIRTUAL EVENTS

 

Sometimes, being present in Second Life gives a company much more opportunities than opening a corporate website. Indeed, you can develop a customer relationship by chat, by video, by organizing meetings, etc. It can also be a good way to create buzz and promote the products. Many brands organized virtual events for the launching of their products.

 I’ll give two examples of virtual events : the “IBM’s Innovation Jam” and Coca Cola’s “Virtual Thirst”.

 The IBM’s Innovation Jam was an electronic brainstorming session opened to the company’s employees, and which took place on over three days. It aimed at developing a list of ideas for moving the company forward. IBM’s chairman was present in the meeting through his avatar.

If you want to have more details about this intern event, this is an interesting article about it, written in the blog “The greater IBM connection”, the IBMers’ business network.

 Another original event is the one launched by Coca Cola, called “Virtual Thirst”. It consisted in a competition to design a new generation of Coke vending machines. This contest was launched by a virtual press conference during which Coca Cola’s executives explained the subject of the competition : “imagining a device that would dispense experiences, not metal cans or plastic bottles”. On the picture below, you can see an example of a can dispenser designed by a Second Life’s member. He imagined himself dancing in a Coke bottle.

 

 

The goal of this event was proving that Coca Cola was an innovative brand, and promoting its brand image : with Coca Cola, you can let your imagination run free. This is the website that was especially created for the event.

 

 

RECRUIT EMPLOYEES

 

Some employers are experimenting recruiting for real jobs in virtual worlds like Second Life. At the beginning, recruiting in a virtual world was limited to virtual jobs. But recently, it has become possible to apply for a real job.

 

 

 

It’s an innovative and entertaining way to connect with potential candidates.

It provides some advantages. First, recruiters and job seekers are not forced to be in the same place or in the same country to meet each other. For example the recruiter can be at a meeting in a foreign country and he can connect from wherever he wants to interview a job seeker.

Secondly, it proves that the company innovates, is savvy, dynamic, and that they’re able to adapt to new technologies. It can generate buzz for companies, because media are currently very interested in those kind of original initiatives. Thirdly, it entitles a company to reach a new generation of employees, the younger ones.

 But there are also disadvantages. This is a very complete article about it. For the author, Second Life is a very popular virtual world, but not efficient enough to be a recruiting tool.