Little Return in Virtual Reality

Not every marketer should jump into virtual worlds right away. It’s definitely something to learn about and track. For now, it’s okay to let the big brands spend big bucks and work out the kinks.

The downside, of course, is that big brands are likely to make the most obvious mistake - taking a conventional approach to a new platform. And it’s what they are doing.

According to the blog posted by Tateru Nino and Wagner James Au on the website, New World Notes, the return on investment just isn’t there yet (at least for Second Life, which is their focus). But with so many companies getting involved, you have to ask why?

New World Notes compares grassroots virtual world companies and traditional brands, and it isn’t surprising to see that the grassroots brands designed to attract virtual world players are doing much better. Take a look at the comparison on the post, Tateru’s Mixed Reality Headcount.

Reebok, Calvin Klein, Coca Cola, the NBA, IBM and Microsoft are barely getting notice. The big brands haven’t tackled virtual worlds with a completely new perspective and it shows. Part of the problem is that big brands are trying to extend their brand. And what they have to do is recreate their brand as a virtual world entity. That’s a harder nut to crack.

Even the best Second Life companies are only bringing in 30,000 weekly visitors which pales by comparison to millions of daily visitors to YouTube or MySpace, let alone other social sites that might have bigger brand impact.