AVATAR-BASED MARKETING: THE AVATAR-BASED PANEL (PART FIVE OF FIVE)

Continued from yesterday.  Today's closing words:  Marketing American Apparel in Second Life, marketing sex appeal in Second Life... and marketing Second Life to everyone else.

Ariel Spoonhammer (from the audience): A barrage of questions to Razor:  How did the Second Life store get approved internally within American Apparel? Why did you opt to sell clothes for what in SL is a significant amount of money instead of giving them away? Do you plan to advertise your store both in RL and SL? Do you think SL is the kind of place where AA's "risque" ad strategy can go even more "risque"?

Razor Rinkitink: I remember when I pitched the idea to the creative team here [at American Apparel]-- the people who handle our print and traditional marketing-- they were totally perplexed and a little scared. But they were kind enough to give me the benefit of the doubt. And now they are very excited about the whole thing.  It's been fun to see the come around. It's especially fun to see everyone creating SL accounts for the first time-- the room erupts in giggles!

Cristiano Midnight: I think, speaking as a consumer, the clothing at the AA store is in line with pricing in SL, especially given the fact that you get the same item in about 20 colors.

RR: The price is really just a token sum. 

AS:  Regarding pricing... L$350 seems pricey compared to in-world income.

CM: I think it was important for you to not just give the clothes away though, for them to have some perceived value.

RR: Yes, indeed.  If they were giveaways they would have no value.

Razor Rinkitink: About the ads [and whether they] can we be more risque? I think we need to be ourselves no matter where we are. It would be odd if we went R-rated in SL and I think it would not make sense.

American Apparel ads in SL

CM: I would say you are already pretty close to that, without crossing the line into full-on soft porn.

RR: Yes (chuckles) many would say that. And some people don't like that. I appreciate that perspective. We're not for everyone.

SNOOPYbrown Zamboni: [Y]ou could totally capitalize on the AILF phenomenon-- the Avatar I'd Like To.... have lunch with.  [Grins] No one's talked about virtual sex appeal here yet, when that's such a big thing in real life.

AS: The question was whether SL boundaries are wider than real life if there's something in SL that you can't do in RL.

Hamlet Au: I would even encourage more raciness, myself, which is, after all, kind of a roleplaying experience in itself. People want fashions that are a step or two (or three, or four hundred) from what they usually wear in real life.

RR: The boundaries are much broader and many things are possible, but I'm talking about maintaining a personality. Keeping the brand at the center regardless of the medium.

CM: Yes, Starbucks is Starbucks-- you don't open up an adult version in SL called Starf***s if you are trying to maintain the brand.

HA: Think American Apparel in Amsterdam, would be my advice.

RR: We are already in Amsterdam... and no brownies or ladies-for-hire.

Ansible Berkman: Last question for today belongs to In Kenzo.  Before our brains melt.

Hempman Richard: Or before Hamlet dances on the table again.

In Kenzo (from the audience): Good timing, too, I have a conference call in 15 minutes with a potential new partner.  They know NOTHING of SL.  My question regards how to explain the possibilities here in just a few words on a phone call....

Csven Concord (from the audience):  One word: data.

HA: "Second Life is MySpace meets YouTube meets Flickr meets World of Warcraft. Get on now or be left in the dust of Internet history."

SZ: "Like an open-ended video game with no game, where you can build anything and connect to the Web."

RR: You'll need to send them some screenshots at the very least, because any description you can dream-up will fall short.

CM: I think the two most compelling things that really show the potential of Second Life quickly are screenshots and video. I know that Linden Lab has often used Snapzilla to show off what SL is, because the pictures are often very evocative.  I don't think you can explain SL to someone really, other than in very broad strokes, or in sort of obtuse ways.  However, showing my mother Snapzilla, she understood what SL is.  At least to a degree that she could wrap her mind around it.  The sheer amount of video being created is also very compelling.  The machinima movement is alive and well in SL.

RR: What a potential customer really wants to see and hear is a group of users around the computer who have never seen it before. The excitement it produces is amazing. As I sit here people have been gathering around with slack-jaws.

Boliver Oddfellow (from the audience): All I say is log in and see.

CM: I would say that the initial user experience is so bad that just saying "try SL" is not a compelling way to get someone to envision it.

CC: I think one of the things people really don't get is the human aspect of it.  When I explain that to someone, I ask them if they've ever seen on the News a story with a 911 call, and if they felt ... touched or affected by the voice.  That's television-- a passive medium-- giving the viewer something less connected to them than what they'll have in here.  It's difficult to comprehend, but seeing how we react to other "virtual" things helps.

IK: I think SL has the potential to bridge out to TV audiences, to convert them into active participants.

HA: Another shorthand I use: "It's like playing Legos(tm) with hundreds of thousands of people all over the world."

CM: Very naughty Legos (tm).