Playboy was in Second Life? Who would notice?

Oh, I reckon a few people noticed.

That all looks like reporters reporting on reporters to me! ;)

The problem with this analysis is that it falls in the same trap that a lot of mainstream media has recently when covering corporations' attempts to enter Second Life.

Blaming SL for sucking as a place-it-and-leave-it marketing platform is like blaming TV for being a crappy place to run radio ads.

Companies pour some money into a consulting company, set up a nice build, and then figure it'll take care of itself.

It never does, of course.

If Playboy was doing something so simple as selling jpgs of centerfolds that were updated every week for L$50 they'd get people showing up every week collecting them. Sell short videos people can run in their apartment complexes. Hell, sell landowners streaming PlayboyTV. Throw parties where you give away a near-costless RL subscriptions, limited edition Playboy jewelry, and a once-monthly trip to a party at the RL mansion. This is off the top of my head; if they just *tried* a tiny bit they'd have a great chance with this brand. It's closer to a can't miss in SL than any other.

But they didn't, try, at least so far, and that's the problem. Nobody is. I actually think that's because it's so *cheap* to set up an island and leave it, not because producing content is all that expensive. It's just the path of least resistance.

My advice? Treat it like a corporate blog, since that's basically what it is. Update regularly. Provide new content and networking opportunities for your visitors. Sell some of it -- people in Second Life love buying content. This is so old I hate writing it.

Email me, Playboy. I'm not even remotely qualified to do this stuff and yet I'm sure I could get hundreds of people dancing on your bunny every week for less than you spend in a day keeping the pools the right temperature at the mansion.

Benjamin, I appreciate the commentary, but I'm not clear on whose analysis includes dissing SL as a hit-and-run marketing platform. Incidentally, I agree that selling Playboy pics inworld would have been a great idea.

I think both Ruberg and Reynolds were complaining about a lack of traffic (tangentially links to a lack of engaging content) within the build rather than complaining about SL itself.

My own angle on this is that the worst corporate presences in SL are more about announcing, rather than maintaining a presence. Not so much commentary about SL's suitability for fire-and-forget projects. I do think it's possible to launch a build without staffing it or refreshing the content, it just depends on expectations set by the brand, the campaign, and the purpose of the build.

Sorry, Tony. It's been a long day and I might have pulled the trigger on that too quickly.

The recent commentary I've seen dumping on the platform when, in fact, there's at least some blame to be apportioned to the marketers for not realizing what they're getting into comes from the LA Times and Forbes.

You've likely seen these already (and probably commented on them) but here are the links for context.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-secondlife14jul14,1,3135510.story
http://members.forbes.com/forbes/2007/0702/048.html

The thrust of both of these articles is: "people there just don't do the big brand thing, they're too busy having sex and blowing stuff up."

I think this perspective is partly right, in the sense that if you just set up a museum to your product, people *will* decide that having sex and blowing stuff up more fun.

They're not wrong that there's a lot of sex and blowing stuff up in Second Life.

The RL Playboy Mansion is fun (well, actually, it isn't, according to my wife, who has been there, but *theoretically* the RL Playboy mansion is fun) because there's stuff to do, and a big, ongoing party. There's not at the one in Second Life.

I think we actually agree here, but I think your metaphor is wrong.

Playboy didn't "discover who it was sleeping with, and sneak out the door before dawn," it got loaded and passed out on the couch before it could even slip off its silk robe.

I'm also a bit jaded on companies coming into SL and dishing press releases as if they'd just discovered the platform and then papering an island like it was a virtual bus stop and then complaining that no one comes to their bus stop.

I did visit the island before posting again, there were a few intrepid international explorers (two)and found a bit of a mall, a phallic elevator, and the music of Barry Manilow streaming over the island.

So many corps come in and just plop stuff down and don't know a thing about SL. Like Nissan and their vehicles, when physics for vehicles in SL just stinks.

An interesting build, people will flock to and word of mouth will build. Folks love interesting content. But a press release followed by a quick withdrawal, no one notices.

Another company that didn't take the time to learn about SL. *blink*

Benjamin, I like your analogy better than mine :)

Lillie, thanks for the comments. I have also thought it strange to bring car-makers into a virtual world with lousy vehicle-physics. There.com is a better platform for that, which is why Virtual Pimp My Ride was a good idea.

Hey Tony,

You think Playboy will pull a Starwood, and blast SL as a crappy platform to Wired Magazine, rather than own up to the fact that they don't appear to have any sort of post-launch plan for their sim?

The irony is that a heck of a lot of people are enjoying the virtual fantasy high-life in SL that the Playboy brand apparently is meant to be about.

There are *thousands and thousands* of people playing house with virtual beach condos and mansions, filled with reproductions of expensive furniture, giant TVs, Really Big Beds ;), model super-cars on a drive outside that backs on a road going nowhere. They hang out on their model yachts, in their virtually toned bodies, their reproductions of latest style pants, etc.

SL is *full* of "Playboy" fantasies, everywhere except Playboy Island, apparently.

Hiro, I doubt Playboy would admit to a lack of post-launch plan, but I'm not sure it'd blame SL (unless it already has).

Ace, excellent point!