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Keynote presentation given in late October 2007 at Inaugural Virtual Worlds conference in Tokyo Japan
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The Avatar AgeEntertainment and Advertising in the Future
October 11, 2007
What is Millions of Us?
The world’s leading agency helping brands connect with large online communities, virtual worlds and social networks
Millions of Us: Key Clients
• Toyota• General Motors• Mini• Sun Microsystems• Coca Cola • Intel• Microsoft• Comcast• CNN• Warner Brothers• HBO• 20th Century Fox• Diageo• Budweiser
What is an Avatar?
Now, an online persona
In Hindu lore, the earthly form of a God
The Disappointing Internet
What I expected: 1997
What I GotWhere are the people?
Virtual WorldsFrom Habitat to Second Life
1985 2005
10,000 Foot View of Second Life
• 9,688,000 residents have built the entire world *
• Growing 20% monthly
• 55% Male/ 45% Female
• 35% US/ 65% Overseas
• Avg. Age = 32
• Usage Patterns Avg = 14 hours per month
• $US 550 million per year in user-to-user transactions*
• Most popular activities are social (Games, parties, concerts, etc.)
• Last updated 2007-9-25
20+ Million Hours/Month of UseEscape, Entertainment, Education, Work
How Big Can This Get?Second Life Growth
ProjectionsPROJECTIONS THROUGH AUG. 2008
0
10,000,000
20,000,000
30,000,000
40,000,000
50,000,000
8% Monthly
15% Monthly
Who spends $550 Million on Stuff that Doesn’t
Exist? Digital music is “virtual”
Software is “virtual”
When you spend 30 hours a month somewhere, you better look cool
Houston: We Have a Problem
Authenticity and Advertising• Only 24% of U.S. residents trust what companies tell them
A Statistic to Ponder
User- generated, social communities represent the fastest growing market segment totaling 31% of all consumer Internet usage
(Comscore, 2007)
The Programming Grid of the Avatar Age
Virtual Worlds BlogsUser Created Content Communities
Social Networks
Younger
Older
Audience Age
Other Worlds100 Million and Growing. . . .
Habbo Hotel: 32 million users Gaia Online: 8.5 million users
Zwinktopia: 10 million users Stardoll: 8.5 million users
Some Predictions for 2008
• Social networks will become “Avatarized”
• Virtual worlds will become more like social networks
• Television tie-ins will increase for virtual worlds
Where it all BeganPhilo T. Farnsworth: 1928
Fast Forward: 2007Across the Street: 1100
Sansome
And So It Began. . . . .The gentle blue glow
Meanwhile. . . . .
550 million automobiles by 2002
What Happened to Communities?
First StepsBrand Translation
Case Study: Pontiac Motorati
• 96 acres of land of largely user created “car culture”
• From Jay Z to Monster Trucks
• Extremely passionate and active community
• #2 trafficked corporate region in Second Life
Case Study: Microsoft “Coder’s Cove”
•Launched Island and complex social game for Visual Studio on 5/11/2007
•Average participant engagement >23 hours. Winners engaged >72 hours
•Definitive case study for active user engagement and targeted community development
Campaign SummaryWWE SummerSlam in Gaia
September 2007
Forum ReportingWWE SummerSlam in Gaia
Totals for 7 Days (8/20 - 8/26)
Unique Users Posting in WWE Forum: 12,401
WWE Forum Threads: 2,879
WWE Forum Posts: 26,275
WWE Forum Page Views:
847,016
Unique Visitors to WWE Forum:
198,608
Cena Hats Granted: 92,630
Triple H Sledgehammers Granted: 55,824
Orton Chairs Granted: 42,677
Virtual Worlds Meet Television
Gossip Girl by Warner Brothers
Telling Stories in Virtual Worlds
What is Scion City?
Thank You