Thursday, September 20, 2007

panel on protecting brands in SL

I"m at a panel put on by millions of us about protecting brands in sl

Here are my notes from the panel....

one of the speakers (haver cole) is a community director for metaversatility
one is reporter for Virtual news nework
how should brands enter sl - observe the virtual brands first - how are they deploying nad presenting their brands, they have experience already reaching customers, handling transactions, advertising
then see if you can interact with them, engage with existing products (like the coke experience contest)
bring brand in slowly, respect the existing sl community, sl branding not hte same as rl branding, in sl hav eto understand where the commuity is and how to intract with them, so you have to observe, spend time here

SL as a platform with cache - can't just come in anymore and get pressclaim to be the first - that doesn't work anymore, gotta think out side the box in sl to be successful (and most didn't)
good to have real world/sl connection - coldwell banker was innovative with their open house in sl built on a rl house
hotel chain - turkish luxury hotel - ?riksoft? - in sl now
not so good to recreate the real world product, he thinks its better to create sl specific products, things designed for virtual owrlds, will get press, and could develop into new revenue streams -- oen goal is to get sl residents to stop being anti brands and to being pro-brands, people tired of real life recreations, in sl products don't act same as in rl so recreations not the same, look at hte brands and services you provide in rl, your companies expertise and values - and see hwo you can bring those things into sl to meet a need

one speaker said sl residents more brand savvy than in rl?

brand management avenues in sl - profiles, how you present your self, brand as your complete identity

now pricing is artificially low in SL - no higher priced luxury brands
soon - prices are going to change, her ewill be higher priced luxury brands

griefing and brands - bad or do rl people just say oh those wacky sl people? - some brands are sort of afraid of the residents, islands give control, a llot of rl people don't care, sl has built in security tools - just like in rl, use the tools to protect yoruself, - turn off scripts, bounce people, ban people

crisis management in sl - in rl reactive, in sl process and control issues, can be a bit more proactive by making sure brands propoerly positioned, probably be some company coming in (as the first) to do sl crisis pr

best way to maintain good relationships with sl residents - keep watching, keep learning, brands will change a little in sl from rl to better take advantage of sl strengths, to be doing stuff that's most appropriate in sl, meet real demands in sl, kep doing new stuff, be interactive, new events, but also doing new things, new ways to connect with people, new ways for peopel to interact with the brand

how do you get your brand known in sl - you hav eto findyour audience and speak to them directly, use viral marketing, connect iwht bloggers, get pics on flickr so people get yused to seeing it and seeing hte name, show up to social events with your brand identity , doesn't have to be expensive project

look at malls and shops run by sl residents as distribution channels - why build up island and recreate what they do - can you work with them, distribute thru them

mainstream press not into sl - reporters probably not going to come into sl to talk with you about your sl brand, so ya need to have things in sl that are relevant to rl, to attract new users, want to amke sure any mainstream media coverage is about yoru brand, not about how hard it was for the reporter to get there or about griefing, but reporters always looking for weird/different thing to quote

fil out your profile - users look at that, put pics in the profile of you in different places around sl, show you're in the community reaching out

if you send out a press release, be available on talk on the phone about it with reporters

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