In its purest form, Second Life is a 3D virtual environment that is built and maintained by its virtual residents. Users engage as avatars to interact, play, do business and communicate with each other. Residents can trade or sell virtual goods and services to other Second Lifers, host live concerts, participate in public debate and engage in many activities similar to those done in real life. The possibilities are seemingly endless.
Since its launch in 2003, Second Life has gone from zero users to 8.4 million, is growing at 30% per month, and has begun to host virtual headquarters for companies such as American Apparel, IBM, Starwood Hotels and Adidas.
Second Life presents a great opportunity for a company to interact with a more youthful target audience. Because Second Life’s population is almost evenly split between men and women and the average age is 32, auto manufacturers have already begun to use it as a media platform. However, although their efforts have been seemingly successful, many Second Lifers are upset about the intrusion into their virtual world. Many of them create virtual goods to sell, such as cars. When Nissan and Toyota gave away cars for free, many of the virtual car manufacturers were not only alienated, but suffered a loss of personal income. 
SECOND LIFE STRATEGY:When making an entrance into Second Life, you should be mindful and considerate of its users. The residents are not ready to see ads plastered all over the world they created, and they are quick to retaliate by using computer viruses, code hacking and virtual bombs to disable marketers. Any marketing initiatives should invite the Second Lifers to explore a dealership, like GM’s Motorati Island, but not force itself on the residents.
You also have to figure out how to find the residents, as many articles being published right now point out that many corporate attempts to have a presence in Second Life are ghost towns.
If you decide to use Second Life as a new way of engaging with prospective consumers, remember that “real world rules apply,” even if it is a virtual environment. Take what you know about guerilla and experiential marketing tactics and apply them when executing a campaign in Second Life
If you decide to use Second Life as a new way of engaging with prospective consumers, remember that “real world rules apply,” even if it is a virtual environment. Take what you know about guerilla and experiential marketing tactics and apply them when executing a campaign in Second Life
Wow! Really? Microsoft truly does move at the speed of old school businesses…slow!
Alright here’s my pitch. Someone out there needs to create Bluetooth “buttons” that a person can place on objects that an individual typically carries on oneself (such as a wallet or iPod). These Bluetooth buttons would be linked to a person’s phone, and would notify the person when one of the buttons was no longer transmitting waves back to the phone. The phone would then ring or do something to tell the person that one of the tagged items was missing.
