Virtual World is a relatively untapped e-resources in the realm of Marketing. This post is a continuation of the previous post that describes the researched characteristics of Virtual World and its Users. Much has been elaborated on the use of marketing strategies and tactics on the internet. Let us now explore the marking techniques in Virtual Medium.
Analysis of the 5 common marketing techniques/tactics in Virtual World (specifically Second Life)
There are 5 common marketing techniques that this research will explore that are currently being practiced in Second Life. They are the tools that are readily available for businesses to build upon for marketing effort, regardless of what type of business they are in. This section will describe the e-communication strategy tagged to each technique. The 5 marketing techniques are as follow:
I 3D product placements
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| 3D product design in a Nokia Shop |
The image above shows a range of different models of Nokia handphone in 3D model for users to assess the full functionalities of the real phone.
This form of advertisement leveraged on the nature of virtual world to model out a life-like 3D model of a product. It also forms the physical ‘cue’ for users to enhance experience and decrease perceived risks. The model enable users to be actively participate ‘physically’ through avatar and experience the products for themselves. 3D product placements have the ability to capture even the minutes of details as they allow for users to try them out and work just like the real product. It gives the immaterial world some form of physicality in the perception of the users, which resembles them looking and trying out products in real life scenarios.
The form of marketing technique can be deemed as a progression of Web 2.0’s online website design. In a website, a picture or a flash edition of handphone pictures (Document Object Model) can be seen and click on for more information. However, the phone are not allowed to be ‘experienced and felt’ by users, unlike what 3D product placements concept.
II Themed Island
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| Themed Island of CISCO |
The image above shows the Themed Island of Cisco, a networking organization with its virtual sitemaps which lead users with different needs to different location catered for them. In the island, the company made use of different marketing techniques like personal selling, interactive advertising, 3D billboard and models to show and educate the users about their product. It is truly a one-stop solution for their target audience in terms of the level of richness in marketing techniques and details of the organization relevant to users.
This form of advertisement leveraged on the nature of virtual world that gives business an opportunity to build a highly developed one-stop themed island that revolves around the company as an organization. It is presented as a form of hub for business to communicate both internally and externally. This is a powerful form of marketing technique as various marketing techniques can be clustered into one common platform. It is a ready-market for users to just pop by at their own will to learn more about the products/services.
The form of marketing technique can be deemed as a progression of Web 2.0’s online website design. In a website, users navigate through the website, and click on URLs to be brought to the other page. However, this ‘themed island’ concept is like a website that comes alive. The richness of the island allows for many e-commerce marketing strategies; such as: Online reputation management, WebPR, online advertising, CRM, as a base for market research etc.
III Brand Community
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| A Polish Community in Second Life |
This image above shows a Polish community present in Second Life. A community in definition is defined as virtual users coming together in a shared space with the concept of common interests and goals. According to the definition alone, it is a social community where people come together with a common purpose. The fundamental basis of the existence of communities allows businesses to tap into community to leverage it as a form of marketing technique. A study in 2004 shows that the fundamental of virtual community is a summary of the attributes of ‘5-Ps of virtual community’ (C.E Porter, 2004):
- Purpose – Users in a specific community come together as they share similar interests, therefore their purpose of coming together is specific.
- Place – Virtual Community have the ability to break the traditional spatial space-time continuum and creates a ‘place’ in the virtual medium to bring everyone from different geographical space and time together as a community in virtual medium.
- Platform- The nature of virtual world allows for a platform that caters for free exchange of information and interactions among variables and does not impose any restrictions.
Population (Pattern of Communication) – This refers to the pattern of interaction among members of the community and their social ties.
- Profit Model – The purpose of them coming together allows for profit generation. (C.E Porter, 2004)
Therefore, businesses can leverage on the benefits that community can provide, such as the following:
‘Increase sales, Positive word-of-mouse, A precise target market, increase traffic of people with common interest, building of brands, Better social presence and support’ (C.E. Porter, 2004). Therefore, a community will have the potential to leverage on social presence to achieve marketing effects. This is aligned with the eMarketing concept like viral marketing and also emails marketing when members receive email from the community administrator for marketing subject.
IV Personal Selling
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| Attended by a Staff or Bot |
The image above shows a user being assisted by another human controlled avatar in a retail outlet in Second Life. This form of interaction is on a personal and direct level between users and business. The nature of virtual medium allows business representatives be manifest into their avatars to engage the users in a direct conversation, resembling the real life scenarios. This feature will allow direct participation on both parties which can better serve the needs of users in a selling situation.
This form of marketing technique allows for immediate feedback from users which in turn can be used as input for marketing research, or part of customization effort for users.
V Interactive advertisements
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| Interactive platform to engage the consumer |
The image depicts a user interacting with the interactive advertisements. There are several functions to consider in this technique. First, the ads can attract user’s attention using multimedia tools. Second, the ads can be clicked on for further information. Third, upon clicking the users can be presented with a note-card of its products and specifications. Fourth, users can be led to the product websites for further evaluation of products.
This form of technique allows for richness in content and information to convey the marketing message across to users more effectively. It can be seen as a dyadic exchange of information from both party and enhances the chances of getting a deal.
The form of marketing technique can be deemed as a progression of Web 2.0’s online website design. In a website, a multimedia format advertisement can be played, and a link will be generated upon click. However, multimedia format advertising in Virtual Medium allows for interaction among the medium and user instead of bringing them to another URL.
From the discussion above, you can see that the marketing techniques tap into a world of theories to make Virtual Medium attractive to users for businesses. Although they are still in an infancy stage, the potential of Virtual World in eMarketing is undeniably huge. Remember this post the next time you see the wonders of Virtual World for marketers :)
