GET A NEW LIFE: ARE YOUR CUSTOMERS LIVING A 'VIRTUAL' LIFE YOU NEVER KNEW ABOUT?
'Virtual reality' - words once only used by hyper-geeks and cyber-nerds - have found their way into the vocabulary of the world’s most powerful corporations and have a profound affect on public relations.
The increasing popularity of virtual reality has spawned a new generation of media savvy consumers who aren’t being effectively reached by the traditional forms of marketing. So major corporations are getting creative and adopting sophisticated product placement and viral marketing techniques in order to reach the media-savvy generation.
Examples of this can be seen in online phenomena Second Life, a virtual world that allows users to create computer generated representations of themselves and partake in activities such as leasing land, building houses, launching businesses, holding parties - in fact the possibilities are near endless. Motor vehicle giant Nissan leased an island in Second Life and hired a team of computer programmers to build a virtual driving course and design digital versions of the company’s new Sentra model. The new car was offered to residents of Second Life to drive around Nissan Island and get a “feel” for the car ahead of its release in the 'real' world.
Nike, Reebok, Amazon and American Apparel have all set up retail stores in Second Life, where virtual and real world products are available for residents to buy. Sony BMG has built a complex on Media Island, where musicians have the opportunity to play virtual shoes to promote new music. Recently, Ben Folds played there to promote his new album. Furthermore, Reuters, C Net, Wired and BBC have assigned journalists to report full time from within Second Life.
The increasing popularity of such online phenomena has bought with it many new opportunities not only for marketing but also public relations. W Hotels has built a prototype of its new Aloft hotel brand inside Second Life. The W President Ross Klien featured in Times saying that while the company originally just wanted to test out concepts, the PR value from all stories written about Aloft in Second Life has given the company a “hundred-fold” return on its investment, just in positive PR.
As the use of virtual reality and the internet increases many new opportunities for Public Relations will continue to present themselves and change many aspects of existing PR practices, bringing many new and interesting facets into the industry.
