As I’ve blogged about before, I believe that the real opportunity in Second Life (SL) is the ability to develop an immersive branding experience for the candidate. So I’ve decided to write a series on my explorations within SL of good and bad branding experiences. Many of these will not be specific to employer branding, but it should give you a good feeling of what is possible.
First up… The Weather Channel, which has unveiled their own island in SL. I think this is a really cool implementation. They have done a really great job of building something that is fun and engaging and that truly fits their brand. Visitors to Weather Island can experience several different weather conditions and play in the extreme sports park, which currently allows skiing and mountain biking, but will soon allow surfing as well.
I, of course, couldn’t help but try out the skiing. As it turns out, I’m a better skier in real life than in SL. I had a bit of a mishap, and managed to ski off the side of the mountain. Not so smooth… check out a picture of my avatar, head first on the beach. The whole experience was pretty cool, though. They give you skis, poles, and boots and they have ski outfits you can buy. They have a chair lift that takes you up to the top. They also have a nice lodge with a fire roaring.
Overall from a branding experience, Weather Island very nicely ties in what The Weather Channel is all about. They bring their content in through links to the web site and multimedia presentations. They’ve also got the makings of great advertising opportunities within the island. Do you offer a great work/life balance that allows employees to ski, bike, surf in their free time? Maybe Weather Island is a good place to reinforce that message. They haven’t released how they will be incorporating advertisers into the space, but it looks promising.
Keep an eye out for some more of my misadventures in Second Life.
May 29, 2007 at 2:41 pm
[...] (Mis)Adventures in Second Life - Weather Island As I’ve blogged about before, I believe that the real opportunity in Second Life (SL) is the ability to develop an immersive branding experience for the candidate. So I’ve decided to write a series on my explorations within SL of good and bad branding experiences. Many of these will not be specific to employer branding, […] [...]
June 15, 2007 at 7:34 am
Great observation. Weather Channel seems to understand that the best way to brand in SL is to be part of SL, not just an outsider that drops a few signs or web links. If you can engage the residents and give something of value that can be shared, you become part of the social network. Shared objects and landmarks are viral opportunities for building brand recognition.
June 15, 2007 at 1:53 pm
Exactly, Frank. SL is like all communities. You get out of it, what you put into it. It can be fun to visit a community, but a visitor will never be a part of it. You have to live there and be a part of it if you want to really get value out of it.