Enter MTV UK's MTV House, a sort of Second Life Meets MTV's Real World. MTV House will contain a number of rooms where users, through their avatars, can interact with one another and with MTV characters. But unlike, Second Life, MTV House will have a decidedly marketing feel, offering advertisers the chance to reach MTV's audience through generic advertising, branding opportunities, themed 'rooms' and sponsorships.
This move certainly extends MTV's brand beyond TV, offering new opportunities for viewer interactions (and for other promotions, sponsorships, etc.). This model of branded virtual world for kids and young adults, which also includes Disney's ToonTown and Nickelodeon's Nicktropolis, is on the rise.
"The kid's space is exploding," said Sibley Verbeck, CEO of the Electric Sheep Company, a virtual worlds media and technology agency. "The non-kids space, for teens and adults, is growing quite a bit as well, and we're seeing [longer-term] projects and fewer quick hit marketing projects."
This approach is different from that taken in Second Life, for example, which existed as a game/community first, and a marketing opportunity second. While companies moved to establish a virtual presence in Second Life, not all of them lasted.
"People jumped in without a strategy or a plan; there was no quality content to tie to a brand, so user [went] in and moved on," said Christopher Sherman, executive director of Virtual Worlds Management, a media company. "Now you're going to see content tied to the brand, and high quality content coming out of Disney and Warner Bros and the CSI stuff. Just like any advertising medium you have to tie your brand to quality content."
Time will tell, but it seems that those communities with an established following in the real world (MTV, Disney, etc.) may have the best chance for success in the virtual world.
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