Every platform that draws in a crowd of people gets scrutinized. Scrutinized by the very people that use it and those that don’t get it. This is what social media networking has done to the lot of us. Its created a love/hate relationship within us and amongst our friends and family.

Everyone that is on any one of these social networking platforms has that one friend that refuses to be pulled, into what they feel is a mindless trap. Cliques are now divided between those that get it and those that don’t.

Platforms like MySpace and YouTube pulled in whopping amounts of money within their first few years of starting up (from big spenders that bought them). Enter the second generation – Facebook and video sharing sites like UStream that are amassing large amounts of new members daily.

While all the buzz was centered around these 2D social platforms a different platform was emerging, the 3D Virtual World.

Second Life, a 3D virtual world created by Linden Lab gained an exponential amount of publicity and media stir in 2005. All of a sudden big name companies were rushing to get in on some of the media attention. Claiming their rights as companies that embraced leading edge technology the buzz died down quickly and just like the San Francisco Gold Rush, they came and they went.

It certainly was a phenomenon and it left many Second Life would be businesses baffled. Businesses that were all starting up inside Second Life, hoping to cash in on some of the action.

In hindsight, the phenomenon wasn’t so much the oodles of money that the early Second Life residents made from creating corporate presence for these big name companies, it was more of “why did the companies leave and why aren’t more companies entering?”

The answer is simple.

The big name companies didn’t necessarily enter Second Life to increase their profits directly. It was more of a publicity stunt than anything else, my opinion. Could you blame them? Certainly not.

When things quietened down everyone in Second Life and in Real Life were left with a certain taste in their mouths. A taste for how to make money by luring in the companies back into the virtual world.

You see, it wasn’t enough that companies like Google or Starwood Hotels, just to name a few, had a 3D corporate presence. Their sim(ulator)’s were empty. After each one had their publicity event their spaces in Second Life were dead. I should know. I teleported to their sims everyday on different occasions hoping to find someone to talk to. Once I saw an avatar in one of the cubicle spaces inside the Google building. When I approached, the avatar started walking off in the other direction outside the door. I “sexy-walked” trying to follow up but as soon as my avatar got to the other side, he was gone.

If these big name companies hoped to gain more profit by having a presence in Second Life, we now know they were doing it all wrong.

3D spaces are obviously different from a 2D website. People can and do interact with one another and this engagement is more meaningful than showcasing a Real Life product that was replicated in Second Life. People love to communicate. They love to express themselves and they want to have fun.

I wonder what Second Life would be like today if every one of those big name companies had “digital concierges” (people that are inworld 24/7), interacting and engaging with visitors to their spaces who might have been existing or potential customers?

Many people complained that the Second Life platform had a steep learning curve. Not everyone had computers that could handle the processing power needed to be able to move around in Second Life without crashing and not everyone had updated graphics cards that translated the pixels on their screen into a more pleasing 3D environment. For many, Second Life was a frustrating experience and those that stayed, stay because of the challenge and opportunity to create and script 3D objects that people can interact with.

More importantly, people stay in Second Life because of the connections and friendships they’ve made with other avatars. Connecting, interacting and engaging is key.

If virtual worlds give people the opportunity to connect, interact and engage with one another in ways they normally would not do in Real Life what could this mean for the customer/business relationship?

I’ve picked out 3 points:

1. Businesses now have the opportunity to connect with their customers in more meaningful ways.

2. 3D virtual world platforms provide an interesting opportunity for businesses to build up brand loyalty, by engaging their customers with a full interactive/entertainment experience (3D style)

3. Businesses can be available to a larger international crowd, 24/7

The points mentioned above will obviously force companies to re-think their strategies when entering a virtual world platform. The question is, should companies even bother with virtual worlds?

The answer? Definitely.

…. I strongly believe that the greatest opportunity for businesses and organizations to ensure and secure a strong foothold in their perspective markets for the future is through 3D virtual worlds.

3D virtual worlds are the the 2D internet. They may not be so popular with the mainstream now but if you remember how it was when the (public) internet came out in the mid 90’s, it started off just as slow (with the exception of the porn industry) and started to pick up like a California wild fire. Albeit, 3D virtual worlds have the challenge of getting people to wrap the concept around their brains – it’s a matter of time. Soon, the light bulb will be turned on and it’s anyone’s game.

Remember The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, written by by Al Ries , Jack Trout? (Here’s a well put summary).

I love this book. I took to it like the Catholics took to their Bible. (No offense to Catholics, I was baptized as one). I still try to apply the laws in most things that I see and I am almost sure that these laws would apply well in a virtual world. I’ll have to go over them again and analyze each one of the laws’ credibility with the backdrop of a 3D platform.

I have my own love/hate relationship with virtual worlds, Second Life in particular but that’s on a personal level. When it comes to marketing a brand or service in a virtual 3D platform I strongly believe that the greatest opportunity for businesses and organizations to ensure and secure a strong foothold in their perspective markets for the future is through 3D virtual worlds.

Second Life is NOT the only platform that companies should focus on. There are many other 3D platforms that have come up and I will be going over each one of them carefully.

Some 3D virtual world platforms may be more beneficial for your business than others. You may find that it would be advisable to have a presence on one, two, three or all of them.

Contact us to learn and discuss which 3D virtual world platform is the right one for your business.

3D virtual worlds are definitely a gold mine for businesses. A gold mine of resources, for networking, building real brand loyalty and so much more.