Virtual worlds are great platforms for business innovation and development. However commerce in virtual worlds is still at the experimental stages. There are many problems. Although problems persist, the potential for business in these immersive frontiers cannot be ignored.
Strength
Virtual worlds have real economies. Firstly, many companies import real branding and advertising to the virtual world. That creates an environment for people who can’t buy the valuables in the real world an opportunity to do purchases for their avatars to satisfy their desire that they can’t achieve in reality. Secondly in the virtual world many companies hold marketing and sponsorship of events, avatars’ participation helps build reputation of the companies. Lastly, companies often take advantage of virtual world to do new product research. By checking the statistics of the avatars’ activity, companies have a better view of their product developments.
Weakness
Every coin has two sides. Avatar marketing has weaknesses as well. First of all, there are many inactive users who have no concept that the avatars are their representation. They don’t put themselves in the immersive environment, to the opposite, they separate reality and virtual world. Additionally, the infrastructure of the virtual world is not fully developed. Many problems occur: lag times and crashes, downtimes, clunky interface etc.
Opportunities
Virtual worlds are popular places on the Internet and are more and more popular. According to Gartner Research predicted that by the end of 2011, 80% of active Internet users will have some sort of presence in a virtual world. That means more and more people tend to link virtual world with reality, avatars and themselves. It’s a good signal for companies that it is time to market avatars to further market their real customers.
Threats
Immersive environments are more complicated than they appear. That is approved by the fact that virtual world duplications of real world products and marketing techniques do not appear to work. Besides, it is difficult to judge how users respond to marketing efforts online based on their avatars’ performance. Lastly there is a lack of proven metrics to measure business performances in immersive environments issues.
Based on the analysis above, I come up with some strategies.
According to new Concordia University research that shows in most cases, avatars reflect the personality of their creators. (Science Daily, 2010) Overall, the impressions made by the physical traits of the avatar match certain dimensions of the true personality of the creator. This correlation between avatar and creator helps identify the consumers behind the avatars and will lead to improved avatar-marketing strategy.
To do avatar marketing, companies can host some social media campaign to call on all the web people to be engaged in the virtual world. Besides companies can take full use of official online spots such as facebook, MySpace, YouTube channel, and Twitter which have many existing fans to help spread influencing scope to attract more people be involved in the virtual world.
Damer B, 1997, Applications of Virtual Worlds, viewed on 14 September 2010.
http://www.digitalspace.com/avatars/book/chus/chus1.htm
Science Daily, 2010, What Does Your Avatar Say About You, viewed 15 September, 2010
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100726094905.htm
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