Socially|Mundane

The Kipp Report, citing a Gartner report gets it right. Hopefully all commercial and corporate hopefuls venturing into Second Life, MyCosm, There.com, and all the rest will stop and think about what they're doing instead of running around like a deer in the headlights, blinded by the 'wow' factor of the technology or because competitors are already there.

Kipp Report regarding Gartner:
"Nine out of ten business forays into the virtual world fail within 18 months, says new research by Gartner. It says the majority fail because they focused on the technology rather than user needs, or the projects were greenlighted because they were 'cool' - or because competitors were doing it - not business vital. A lack of clear objectives and a limited understanding of the demographics, attitudes and expectations of virtual-world communities didn't help."

This article is a nicely rounded report of multpile virtual worlds and takes a quick peek at several in-turn, including Second Life, Barbie Girls, and Club Penguin among others.

Of course, there are so many that might view this report as another negative slam on virtual worlds and how they are a complete failure with regard to commercial ventures within them.

Bunk.

And the Kipp Report feels the same way I do.

Kipp Report, regarding Gartner:
"Pessimist will view the report as damning virtual world trading. That is not the case. What it suggest is that companies need to apply the same degree of rigor to online as offline. Rather than putting off new business from going online, it encourages them to step up."

I know first-hand that commercial ventures within Second Life, and likely other virtual worlds are having at least some success. I don't remember the names off the top of my head, (and it's not really fair to plug only a few anyway,) but I've used a few of the services from within SL for Real Life purposes.

I have purchase RL flowers, to be delivered, from within SL. I saw the arrangement facsimiles and made my choice. I paid in Linden Dollars. A few days later, I received a 'thank you' phone call for the flowers.

So, what's the difference between this company and, say for example, American Apparel? For starters, they didn't just build it and expect 'them' to come. It wasn't a static experience (for me, at least.) It was a pleasurable experience. It was easy to shop, easy to make my selection, easy to make my payment and, most of all, easy to actually pay. They took L$, which was great since my SL wallet had some discretionary funds.

Convenience and ease all the way through. And, on top of that, I didn't have to dip into my RL bank account, neither did I have to sell L$ for U.S. $ and then cash-out (which takes a few day, and less a transaction fee.)

The point is this: they came into SL. Looked around a bit. Did some research. And either through outsourcing or within the company itself, they learned the culture of Second Life and what the residents want.

They got it right. Hopefully, this company will be the one out of ten who doesn't fail within 18-months. I don't buy flowers all that often. But when I do, I will very likely just revisit this place again, for the convenience, alone.

Source:
Corporate failure stalks Second Life | kippreport.com