7 Days Magic Bakery

I've not written much recently, mainly due to the difficulty of finding anything new and interesting to write about. There seem to be no new corporate sites in Second Life, and many that have been here a while are closing up shop. It therefore comes as a pleasant surprise to visit not only a new corporate sim, but one that rewards the traveller handsomely in terms of build quality and entertainment value. The sim in question is 7Days Magic Bakery.

Sound quaint, huh? A sim for your local neighbourhood bakery? Ummm... not quite.

7 Days is a brand within the the Baking and Confectionery division of Greek food conglomerate, Vivartia, formed as a result of a merger in 2006 with Chipita. In total Vivartia employs around 13,500 people, and markets its bakery goods throughout Eastern Europe. On a darker note, in December 2007, Vivartia was found guilty of colluding with other milk producers to fix milk prices in Greece, and its earnings for the year were reduced by nearly 22million Euros as a result. Nevertheless, the company had a turnover of around 1.5billion Euros, with the Bakery Division bringing in some 412million Euro. So as you can see, 7 Days is far from being a little local bakery! If you want to see something of their product range then try here.

OK... so what about this sim? It opened just over a week ago and if I had been slightly quicker off the mark I could have posted a rib-tickling pun about taking 7 Days to write this post - but I wasn't, so I can't.

I have to say that I think the build quality and approach knock just about every other corporate build into a cocked hat. In large part this is due to the decision by involve3d, the builders, to execute most of the build work outside of Second Life, using Maya. The resulting structures and textures were then uploaded for final placement in the sim. The result is a spectacularly successful marriage of forms and detailed textures - which is my pretentious way of saying: it looks great!



Yeah.. yeah... but what does it look like?

You arrive at a landing that is faintly reminiscent of the Crystal Palace - lots of baroque ironwork - and your first action is to proceed thru the door in front of you into a windowless vestibule, where you will trigger the first of many audio commentaries (for the deaf, there are notecards too). A slightly peeved and aggrieved robot will tell you something about the sim - his amusing ramblings giving time for the sim itself to rez behind the scenes. When all is set, you can open a door and proceed into the sim proper. They've aimed for a "Dreamworks/Pixar-like" cartoony look and feel, and they've achieved it. Not only visually amazing, the music and audio fit the theme too.

Your main objective is the Bakery itself, but you should take the time to meander up the hill on which this Wonka-some construction sits, and take in some of the sights and sounds. In the bakery, you can control a machine to make your own personalised baked item - sweet or savoury. As their press release notes, you can concoct such oddities as the Chocolate Symphony Cosmic Satisfaction Croissant or Oregano Grated Cheese Electric Burst Pita Bakes. Whatever you end up with - and there are many, many variations - you really must eat it to get the full benefit. (A slightly cumbersome arrangement - you have to "Buy" for zero L$, then "Wear" the item)

During your wanderings you will encounter, and should pick up, the Vendomaton. I think I was a little too full of sugar-rush to fully absorb how this beastie functions. But in essence, everything you've made can be added to your vendomaton, and that means you can rez it at home and share your baking bounty with your pals; and vice versa.

But why? Why build the sim? I think the answer, in part, lies in the quality. I don't see this place setting new records for concurrent visitors, or establishing itself as the Place To Be Seen in SL. It might - but that would be a side benefit. Is it there just to promote the company? Well, yes, of course... but it is more subtle than that. Simply promoting within Second Life is largely a waste of effort, as many companies have discovered. But using Second Life as a stage in which to create ads - both movies and stills - that can be pumped into the real world. Now that is something different - hence the need for high quality, essentially non-SL constructions. I look forward to seeing how this story unfolds - and to the opening of their orientation sim, which also promises something new.

There's a lot more I could say about this place - but really the only thing I would say is: add it to your 'Must See' list. No.. don't do that. Just go there. But a word of warning... I found the triggered audio really impacted performance on my machine - and SL crawled along abysmally at times. This probably improves with cacheing... I went back with a friend, and found performance was much better. But don't let that stop you!

As regular readers will attest, you can judge how impressed I am with a sim by the number of pictures I take of it. I think I might have set a new record for myself:

Pioneer Pioneering in Second Life

Japanese home electronics company, Pioneer, was the destination for today's promenade. I recall that VeeJay covered this site a while back, but I didn't get around to visiting it at the time, forgot about it, and only (re-)discovered it by accident, while browsing the map for somewhere interesting to go. Actually, I am not sure that this sim gets into the "interesting" category - as we shall see...

The Pioneer Corporation has been producing home entertainment products since 1938, and is perhaps best known for its speakers and hi-fi systems. In recent times it has embraced digital technologies, such as Blu Ray DVD and HD TVs. The island in Second Life is primarily aimed at promoting lines that are unique to the Japanese marketplace, such as the 'Kuro' home cinema system - or 'systems', as there are 4 such systems in the range. You will also find a stand for their Pure Malt speakers(!) - whose cabinets are made from 50-year old whiskey barrels. These have been sold in Japan for years, but have been available internationally for about a year now.

The principal feature is a roadway that twists and turns around the island, and that is intended to pull the site together and provide it with some sort of coherence. You can rez a car if you want to drive round the island (and/or race your mates) - but I don't feel the roadway helped much.

You arrive at a reception building, where you can take a short tour of the Pioneer museum - in effect, a less-than-thrilling tour through the history of the company. After this, you can make your way outside to avail yourself of the charms of the 'Pioneer Resort Island'. The largest building is the 2-floor, cylindrical tower promoting their audio-visual treats, in the form of the Kuro range and Pure Malt speakers, mentioned earlier. You can rez a tour balloon, but this is neither comprehensive in locations visited, nor informative in any language. If you choose to walk, there are some show-houses, where you can see the Kuro home cinema in situ. Apart from that. there's a couple of camping areas - one in the Blu Ray dance arena, and one on the beach itself. Freebies are available in the form of T-shirts and Kuro home cinema packs.

Here's a selection of pictures for you to peruse:

Is this site any good? To be diplomatic, I think it is rather 'disappointing'. It has limited content, the interactivity is dull and lifeless, and the whole place feels rather disjointed. It is very much like most company promotional sims - and like most such sims, is unlikely to show any return on the investment. Incidentally, I gather from the comments on the Mindblizzard post, that the site was not even promoted in Japan.

So to conclude: despite the title of this post, this is far from being a pioneering build.

Vichy Healthy Skin

Depending on your age, and doubtless a few other factors, the word 'Vichy' is likely to conjure up a mixed bag of mental images. For some, it may be Marshal Petain and the shame of WWII collaboration; for others, it is more likely to be the natural spring waters, bottled and sold at great expense to gullible (or is that, 'discerning'?) punters. Let's go with the latter image, the healthy, rejevenating effects of the Vichy waters - and take a short trip to Vichy Healthy Skin.

This, despite the name, is actually an Italian sim, though the products being promoted here are available worldwide. The products in question are the Vichy Aqualia Thermal range of lotions and potions, which I assume take the health-giving properties of the Vichy spa water and incorporate them into a variety of skin products. Yeah... well.

The sim has been constructed by Italian builders Hikari Design, in collaboration with Web Science. It has been here for many months - but this is the first time it had impinged on my awareness. As a sim, it has the many of the features one would expect, such as a bar area, a dancefloor and plenty of informal seating. Water and (I assume) volcanic rock are the dominant features of the sim. In terms of freebies, there's a t-shirt (durrr) but of arguably more interest there are free skins (or at least faces), available in a range of hues. Before you chaps start getting too excited, I'm afraid it's "Ladies Only" - unless you are looking for 'something for the weekend' for yourself. There is also a group you can join. I didn't --- but I'm guessing it will keep you informed of exciting new happenings in the world of Vichy-themed spa products.

I have a few snaps:





I am not qualified to comment on the effectiveness of the island from a marketing perspective - but I'd be very surprised to find that it had contributed greatly to either increased sales or increased product awareness. This has little to do with the build itself, which is quite enjoyable in its own way, and everything to do with the fact that static sites - with freebies or nay - simply don't cut it.

Now back into hibernation... zzzzzzzzzzzzz.....

IBM, your point is?

Don't you just love those IBM ads? There's been some pretty good ones over the years, always with that nice "big blue" branding and a clear case to make.

So what are we to make of this one? I know it's been knocking around for a while, riling the virtual world community each time someone mentions it, but anyway....

Tateru Nino, at Massively, suggests that the ad may have intended to say: "you need IBM's expertise to take advantage of virtual worlds." After all, that tends to be the general thrust of most IBM's ads: "You need IBM's expertise to take advantage of [insert topic here]." However, Tateru's unscientific and informal poll suggests that most viewers interpreted the meaning as: "Virtual worlds are for losers and failures." That is my reaction, too.

However, I don't think they are saying either of these thing here. As a virtual worlder, it is easy to be over-sensitive. To me, the ad is just one way of saying "because something is fun and cool, that alone does not make it a good business proposition." In that regard, it is using virtual worlds (let's face it, folks, an easy target) as a visually humorous vehicle for conveying the message.

It is worthwhile looking at other ads in the IBM "Stop Talking, Start Doing" campaign. It gives the virtual world ad some context, plus they are quite amusing. Some others in the series include:





In fact, the campaign is putting out a very traditional message about a potentially exciting bundle of products and services. It is "don't listen to people who just bang on about innovation, get with the people who can deliver it."

If I have a quibble it is with the line: "the point of innovation is to make actual money." I would disagree - the point of innovation is to create the intellectual knowledge and understanding, the tools, frameworks and techniques, which others can then take forward to make actual money.

Dell Crystal Monitor

The annual International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was held this week in Las Vegas, with well over 2,500 electronics companies showing their latest offerings and generally getting the Good, the Bad and the Geeky in a state of premature... umm... 'adulation' for the electronic wonders that will come in 2008.

Now supposing you were a marketing bod for such a company. It is just possible that the following conversation might take place somewhere deep in the dark, labyrinthine recesses of your marketing department:

You: "By Jove, Jenkins... wouldn't it be a frightfully good wheeze to use that Second Life thingummy to promote our fine wares?"
Jenkins: "Why, indeed, Sir. A most splendid notion."

I have taken the liberty of assuming you are, of course, living in a steampunk universe here - but no matter, the point is made. I have not exactly gone out my way to search Second Life for traces of such wares being promoted at CES and in SL, but I am aware of one - Dell's Crystal Monitor. This is 22 inches of widescreen bliss, and a damnably elegant beast it looks to be.

Dell have had a multi-sim presence in Second Life for ages, and have taken the opportunity to use this presence as a place to launch the Crystal Monitor, cunningly co-ordinated with CES. The launch event, which was held on 7th January, occured at a time I had no real chance of attending - curse those time zones. However, according to the press releases it was to include streaming from their webcam at CES into Second Life, as well as inworld music and other hoopla.

The build consists of the Crystal Pavillion, a rather over-the-top blue glass pyramid - a bit like the entrance to The Louvre, but on steroids. Inside there's a dance floor and some tables and chairs - along with several examples of the aforementioned Crystal Monitor. You can also obtain a freebie, which you rez for yourself. A nice touch with this is you can set the texture for the screen. Anyway, here's some piccies for you:

This is the only item I know of that had coverage in both CES and Second Life - but I'm sure there must be more. So where are they? I would like to explore some more!

Colgate - The Results

If you've been following the Colgate Saga on this blog, you will recall that Joni West, president of This Second Marketing, was going to get back to me with the results of the Colgate Smile promotion at the end of the holidays. And sure enough, right on cue, here is her update:

In spite of the first few blogs ripping into Colgate for entering Second Life with the Colgate Smile Center and not mentioning the focus of the ACTUAL promotion, we have gotten AMAZING results!!! Since you said you would be so kind as to re-address this once the real promotion was done, I hoping you will blog on this…it is pretty impressive!

We more than DOUBLED out previous one-on-one brand outreach record*! We hand delivered the Colgate Smile package which includes the virtual Colgate Smile, a list of 10 places in SL that will make you smile, and other freebies, to more than 30,000 UNIQUE Second Life residents! Now THAT is good virtual marketing! We also helped countless newbies to learn how to “wear” things (like the Colgate Smile) and how to teleport to places (on the smile list). I believe Colgate has added value by promoting in-world in this way. It is NOT about the “build,” it is about the interaction and the free useful items! People who didn’t get the Colgate Smile package can go the Colgate Smile Center and get it from a vending machine…that is what the Smile Center is there for... Below [...] I have pasted an edited snippet that was captured by one of our buzz agents. The responses from residents when offered the Colgate Smile package was OVERWHELMINGLY positive! People really got a kick out of having a nice Colgate Smile for their avatars since most of them only had the default facial expression.

[9:38] Hi, Jess, have a Colgate smile and welcome to Second Life....
[9:38] accepted your inventory offer.
[9:49] accepted your inventory offer.
[9:50] You: Hi Everybody! If you would like a Colgate smile just IM me. Also, there is a list of 10 Second Life sites to make you smile....Enjoy!
[9:50] accepted your inventory offer.
[9:50] You: Enjoy, Phobe
[9:51] : ty
[9:51] accepted your inventory offer.
[9:51] Paccepted your inventory offer.
[9:53] You: Here Ringo, enjoy a Colgate smile
[9:53] l: lol
[9:54] accepted your inventory offer.
[9:54] accepted your inventory offer.
[9:55] You: Baby, the folder i gave you has some clothes, along with the Colgate smile....
[9:57] : hey Post. New to this... what is the colgate smile inworld?
[9:58] : OK. So do I 'wear' the smile?
[9:59] : How do I use it?
[9:59] You: do you see the folder?
[9:59] You: in your inentory?
[9:59] You: "Colgate Smile"
[10:00] : so do I use the colgate smile?
[10:00] just clik 'wear' and it should fit nicely
[10:01] : ok, done...I think.
[10:01] accepted your inventory offer.
...
[10:06] accepted your inventory offer.
[10:06] accepted your inventory offer.
[10:07] accepted your inventory offer.
...
[10:08] accepted your inventory offer.
[10:08] accepted your inventory offer.
[10:09] accepted your inventory offer

*Previous one-on-one brand-related outreach was done by This Second Marketing LLC for IMAX to promote Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix this past summer.

I removed the various avatar names above, and clipped some of the text purely for the sake of brevity. Joni also sent through the following photos:


By my reckoning, 500 inworld hours reaching 30,000 avatars makes for an average of 60 "conversations" an hour or one a minute. As I can see from the above chronology, it is certainly possible to exceed this, if you hit the right places. I couldn't do it, mind you.

Colgate Smile Center - A Toothsome Reply

After posting about Colgate Smile Power earlier I received a mail from Joni West, President of This Second Marketing. I thought it only fair to publish this mail as a post, with Joni's agreement, as it sets out the company's reply/riposte:

I would like to address your review of the Colgate Smile Center. Colgate is doing a promotion, starting today, that is about sharing the Colgate Smile and is giving away the Colgate avatar smile through Buzz Agents who will be in-world for over 500 hours over the next 2 weeks. The Smile Center was only meant to serve as a place where people could pick up the freebies if they read about the Colgate Smile promotion but did not encounter a Colgate Buzz Agent on their own. This is not meant to be a place to hand out in. As you saw in the Coffee-mate café next door, we understand that there needs to be activity to attract and maintain visitors. While we do have several camping jobs, I can assure you that the VAST majority of our visitors are not campers. We track visitors to each venue on our sim and report that to our clients because we are confident in our numbers. We are not tracking the Colgate Smile Center because we are not trying to drive traffic there and we are giving away all the freebies out on the Grid. One of the things in the freebie folder is a list of 10 places in SL that will make you smile. We have run several successful Buzz Agent campaigns and realized that people were hungry for info on places to go that were fun. People thank us routinely for giving them fun freebies and being helpful in any way we can. Our Buzz Agents help people learn to teleport to a venue, for example.

The story for Colgate is about the Buzz Agents giving a virtual Colgate Smile to tens of thousands of avatars…not that they have a vending machine area where people can pick up the freebies. I hope this clears things up for you as to why Colgate did, and is doing this. It is not about the Smile Center, it is about The Colgate Smile and soon, a whole lot of avatars will be looking a whole lot friendlier.

As part of our subsequent email exchange (I wanted to get an OK on posting the above) Joni added:

No matter how much we say it is about a live promotion, people tend to focus on the build because to date, that has been what marketing efforts in SL have consisted of. When I saw all those beautiful yet empty sims, I knew I could do better and so far, This Second Marketing LLC has made ALL of our clients happy! When we want to drive traffic, we get it there. The Coffee-mate SwirL Café and AQUA Beach Party are #2 and #4 (by Linden Lab traffic stats) brand-related venues in SL. Colgate is doing a really awesome thing by handing out tens of thousands of Colgate Smiles to avatars who, let’s face it, don’t usually smile....

How about I get back to you at the end of the holidays and let you know how many Colgate Smiles were distributed during the campaign? We only consider a Buzz Agent conversation an “interaction” if the resident accepts the inventory offer. Sound like a plan?

Yep... that sounds like a plan to me! And thanks, Joni, for the replies.

Brush off for Colgate Smile Power

I have now done an extensive and thorough inspection of the Colgate Smile Power site in Second Life - it took about 30 seconds. It is difficult to know how to put this, but I shall start slowly and see how I get on. The first word that springs to mind is "underwhelmed" - but more of this anon. First, let me try and put this site in context.

I say "site" but it is closer in size to a garage or shed than to a parcel, let alone a full sim. It sits on the This Second sim, which belongs to This Second Marketing, "a marketing agency that specializes in helping brand marketers enter the vibrant, fast-growing world of Second Life. We are made up of marketing and digital media professionals who have been living 'Second Lives' since before the buzz-boom over Second Life in late 2006. We approach brand marketing in Second Life from a different, and dare we say smarter, perspective than most other companies in this specialized field." I may not be a marketing person, but I really don't see the "smarter" here... ummm... or the "different" for that matter.

The Colgate build, which appears to occupy just part of the ground floor of a larger, 3-storey building, is at best perfunctory. Aside from a couple of logos and photos the main features are a set of rotating cubes and 4 product dispensers. The purpose of the cubes? Simply to tell you to use the dispensers. Why? I can only assume that someone realised how lifeless (motionless) the build was and decided to whack in some movement. The result: 9 rotating cubes. Others have commented that these are not phantom (ie you cannot walk through them) but I at least did not have an issue with bumping into them. Perhaps they've been moved. The dispenser gives you a HUD that enables you to smile (or not), along with a decent list of nice places to visit in SL, and the obligatory free T-shirt. The HUD splatters itself across the centre of your screen (cute!) and offers you both a "smile" and a "dance" animation. On my ugly features, the smile looked more like a grimace.

I took a few snaps, which I have decided to load directly, rather than link to my Flickr page.


There are other commercial enterprises on the sim, perhaps the largest being SwirL. We are invited to "Come Join SwirL, the new hot spot cafe, sponsored by Coffee-mate. It's a fantastic place for residents to meet, socialize and relax with a good cup of coffee. Visit the swirl annex to see Top SL entertainment." Hmmmm....

One final point: the sim was quite busy when I arrived, but I quickly realised that everyone else on the sim (as far as I could tell) was a camper, paid to make it look busy. It was a very strange feeling, like being in a David Lynch movie.

So there you have it. I just have to ask: "Colgate! Why did you do it?" The cost may have looked overwhelmingly attractive on paper - but you've damaged your brand through a miserly and ill-considered first foray in virtual worlds. I would strongly suggest that you rethink why you want to be in Second Life, what it is you want to achieve and then how you propose to do it.

A Bubbly Time at Vranken Diamant

Exclusive brands are not new in Second Life, with luxury lines of clothing, watches and shoes already represented. To be completely accurate, I suppose, I should say that to me these brands class as luxury. However, I do recognise that the truly luxurious and exclusive would have no truck with such low brow, downmarket affairs as Second Life and the hoi polloi who inhabit it. Anyway, I digress... last night I found another brand to add to the list: Vranken Pommery Monopole. Never heard of them? Neither had I, but it turns out the company produces Champagne. Indeed, they are apparently the world's second largest producer of bubbly.

In March 2006, the company announced a new "premium tier", named Diamant, that comprises four cuvées, including two vintage Champagnes and a prestige cuvee. According to a spokeswoman quoted at the time, these tipples are “ideally suited to the demands of the prestige and fine dining sectors of the market”. It is this premium bubbly that is being promoted through the Vranken Diamant island in Second Life.

I found the place completely by accident, and had no idea what to expect. You arrive in front of a long, yellow walkway that leads towards a large, crystalline pyramid in the distance. As you touch down you are offered a bracelet. I am not sure - but I think it may be necessary to wear this. Certainly on my first run through the island, without the bracelet on, I seemed to have problems getting about. So be safe, and put it on.


The walkway disappears into the side of the pyramid - but just keep walking, as this is a phantom surface. Once inside, you will find a diamond. Try clicking on it to see what happens... and choose a door. Depending on your selection you will find yourself whisked off to one of (I think) 8 different and exotic locations. A combination of SL objects and RL phototextures gives each location a great sense of depth, as you can see here:





The picture at the bottom-left really is the right way up, it's my avatar that is upside down. At the bottom right you can see the rather elegant and slightly enigmatic teleports that enable you to get around the site.

I really like this build. It is witty, cleverly done and packs a lot in. I particularly like the near-seamless blending of 3D SL objects with the 2D backdrops. I am not so sure of its use, however. Certainly there are small social areas, and one or two larger ones, but they are not easy to reach unless you already know your way around. It strikes me that the principal aim of the site is to be seen to be witty, shiny... and, well, bubbly. The build appears to be the work of the seemingly perpetually busy Gene Replacement.

If you want to see more, there's a decent machinima movie here, though oddly I did not find any other references to the site. My Google search might have been a bit lightweight, but I found no press announcements or blog posts, yet the machinima was posted several months ago. I know it can be good to be discrete, but this is a strange way to go about promoting your presence!

I would certainly recommend having a look around - but I cannot see that it would keep you coming back (unless you are accompanying a friend who has not been around it yet).

Evian

Get free skins and a bottle of Evian from one of a variety of drinks dispensers, located at the following SLURLS:

EVIAN PUBLIC VENDORS LOCATIONS Oct. 4
Romantica Beach Club: Romantica (198, 116, 23)
Freebie Planet (3 vendors - one right at the tp area): GamersBrand (74, 203, 25)
Freebie Beach: Freebies (236, 25, 22)
Japan Resort: Japan Resort (116, 85, 21)
France 3D – Courchevel: FRANCE3D Courchevel (39, 175, 22)



Nice idea giving away free skins, made by RealSKIN, but despite some upbeat marketing reviews I was not impressed. At the end of the day, I sought out this dispenser to get freebies - it does not give me any lasting link with Evian, and the subtlety of pure water being good for my skin (or whatever the subtext is supposed to be) was lost on me. Still... it's garnered them a few column inches for very little outlay, so it's probably earned its keep.

Septeni Rainbow Factory

If you are an active Second Life resident who has not heard of the Greenies (from Rezzable), then I can only conclude that you must have been living under a stone for the last month - and I would strongly suggest you check out the set of postings from my good chum (and rampant blogger), VeeJay Burns, at the eminently Denglish Mindblizzard blog.

Thus far I've not posted anything about Greenies, mainly because so many others have already done so, and I do not believe my idle ramblings on the subject would make much of a contribution to the existing lore. So why mention it? Well... the thinking behind the jaw-dropping Greenies sim is that it acts as a shopfront to advertise the skill and virtuosity of the builders. And Septeni Rainbow Factory I believe exists for the same purpose - albeit on a vastly smaller scale!

During my most recent peregrinations around the islands of Second Life I happened upon Bizisland. As it satisfied my most basic criterion - ie: I could actually gain entry - I popped in to look around. Regular readers may start to yawn when I say that this is another Japanese sim - targeted at business clients. Aside from noting that Nomura financial services group has an information building here, I do not intend to dwell on the details of the island.

Rather, I would like to share with you one of the island's businesses, the aforementioned Septeni Rainbow Factory. But first, some pictures, snapped at different times of day:



Inside, there are 3 floors. The ground floor has the "workings" of the rainbow factory, while the top floor has a meeting room. But it is the second floor that is the most interesting to me. As well as a bar area there is a small showroom, some of which is shown below:

A number of plinths support scale models of SL buildings that I assume are available for purchase off-the-shelf or by commission. Clicking the adjacent signs brings up the website of e-research.biz. Perhaps a Japanese reader would correct me, but the company seems to specialise in web marketing and web2.0, and would appear to be yet another such company to see Second Life as a fruitful channel for their business.

The rich "baked" textures used on this build, and the careful detailing of such features as the elevator (below right) convince me that the rainbow factory is intended as a showpiece. It may lack the breathtaking ambition of Greenies, but I think it nevertheless serves its purpose well. It certainly stands out on the bizisland sim!

Just for completeness I have included the map of the build (below left):

Spazitalia

Naming your company can be a tricky business these days. Once upon a time, unless you were a multi-national, you didn't have to worry too much about language issues. But with the arrival of the internet, and more latterly, 3D environments like Second Life, your choice of company name becomes more important, as you now need to consider whether it is "safe" in other languages. And so it with Spazitalia, an Italian company whose mission is to "promote Italian products abroad and foreign products in Italy. In this case we create an Italian site, independent from the original, which takes into account the specific needs of the Italian market in terms of graphics, the use of internet and new technologies, methods of payment etc." Personally, I'd recommend they think again about that name.

Anyway, Spazitalia have taken the logical next step - and extended their building and marketing capabilities into Second Life.

Most of the island is given over to small stalls - the Spazitalia Fair. The intention would appear to be to encourage Italian small-to-medium sized businesses to come and set up a virtual marketplace. However, I am not convinced that the size of the stall is really adequate for a 3D environment. The aim may be simply to provide links to websites - in which case the stall size is OK, but this would be a wasted opportunity in using the 3D space.

Although nearly complete there is clearly construction work still in progress, with a disco area, a forum and a couple of other buildings still in need of a little more attention.

The Giant Head - or Making Reperes

If you follow 3pointD.com, you may have spotted a brief mention of the Reperes HQ build in my recent article about the Jardin Des Halles competition. The Reperes HQ build is the result of another competition, won by Virtuool, under crazy French wolf-man, Joshua Culdesac. In their blog, Virtuool describe their entry as "an incredible 3000 prim assembly, [that] will permanently stand on Reperes island as a strongly attracting object with a highly positive influence on local traffic." 3000 prim?!! Yes, dear reader... an impressive total methinks.

Anyway, with these facts rattling around in my head I sent my virtual self off in search of Reperes Island, to verify the facts for myself. (Well... to be honest... just to have a nosey around.)

Reperes claim to be the first market research company in SL. I have no way of confirming or denying this, though I would point out that Square 1 have also been in Second Life for quite some time (before their recent move to their own island sim). In any event, on arrival you will find you can sign up to take part in surveys, and receive a modicum of payment in return.

Most of the island is currently taken up with a variety of thematically disconnected buildings, with little obvious structure to them. There is a "main reception" below, and a number of odd office and presentation blocks dotted about. I would assume, from this apparent randomness, that Reperes are still working on the overall look of the island.

However, I wasn't there to check out the island - I was there to check out the 3,000 prim Giant Head, in all its glory. And so... without further ado... here it is:


It contains office, meeting and presentation spaces, and is based on scans (what technology Joshua? You need to remind me!) of an actual human head. I like the semiotics of this building, the idea of "working inside the head" kind of works for me... and it is a highly imaginative response to the Reperes brief. An interesting addition to the architecture of Second Life, and one to get your head around.

Second Life Safaris - Booking Now!

Generally I don't mix that much with marketing types - at least not in Real Life. However, for reasons I have yet to fathom - at least, without the aid of a therapist - I seem to be rubbing virtual shoulders with marketeers and other creatives in SL and related blogs with astonishing regularity. This is doing my geek credenda no end of harm, but it does mean I pick up some interesting bits & pieces that occasionally I feel worth sharing with you, dear reader.

Are you a marketeer who has no idea what SL is all about? Or maybe you've been frightened off the SL experience by an unfortunate encounter with a giant (and I mean "giant") furry penis? Well, fear not, those awfully nice folk at K-Zero have got a solution for you - Marketing Safaris in Second Life. The safari season does not actually start until March, but you can book now to avoid disappointment and tantrums later. The safari will seemingly consist of a guided tour of some interesting and relevant sites, where you can pick up handy hints and tips on marketing in SL. The safaris (apparently there's more than 1, to suit different levels of experience) are aimed at UK-based marketeers. However, if you can manage an accent more convincing than Dick Van Dyke's in "Mary Poppins" ("bloy-me, Me-air-ee Poor-pins") then maybe they will let you in.

Any road, toddle along here to register, chuck.

Oh... and if it's not your lucky day, you might find me helping out.

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I've had a number of conversations with SLers in recent weeks about what works and what doesn't in SL. There has been general agreement that AOL Pointe is a great example of "what works", while most people who expressed a preference reckoned that Cisco had missed by a country mile. I've already discussed AOL in an earlier entry, and I would certainly agree that they've put together a compelling blend of branding and interactivity, and have crafted a good "sticky" site as a result (or rather Electric Sheep have on their behalf).

I finally got round to visiting the Cisco islands for the first time the other evening, and I have to confess I didn't think it was bad - certainly no worse than most RL company sites, and better than many. It has freebies (if you are really desperate for a corporate T-shirt) and a newbie orientation zone, together with a new tropical bar area for a bit of chilling. There's also plenty of links to their website if you are so inclined to discover more about Cisco's products and other paraphenalia. However, it does seem to be another Ghost Sim, so there is clearly something missing. My guess is (a) lack of someone to meet & greet, (b) lack of events and (c) little to prolong one's stay after an initial look-see. They've got 2 more islands, so let's hope they take the opportunity to make these a bit more engaging.

NEWSFLASH: The grid will be down for its fortnightly maintenance slot on 21st Feb from 7:00-9:00 AM SLT. Should be a doddle :-)