BarbieGirls.com Developer, Studiocom, on Creating Branded Worlds

Mattel boasts the fastest growing virtual world ever. BarbieGirls.com, a platform combining a virtual world with a Barbie Doll MP3 player, hit four million users after only a few months of a public beta. But Mattel didn't build the world alone. In fact, the idea came from Studiocom, the agency that previously launched the branded Coke Studios world. "We came in with a presentation about a virtual world that had a very strong music presence," said Studiocom Chief Creative Officer Juan Fernando Santos. "We made the presentation, and it was really very serendipitous. The person who was there, the VP of Marketing, said, 'Can you do that again in an hour?' Halfway through the next presentation for the product group, they pulled a white box from under the table, and it was a prototype for the music player. It was 90% the same idea we'd been working on."

"The areas that Mattel is strong in, the toy development, were much better than in our idea," said Santos. "But our virtual world was much better than their comps and original idea. We formed a partnership about 8 months ago and did all the development. It's been collaborative, and they pushed us to our best work, but we did all the designing and coding."

The world, which runs on Studiocom's Galapagos engine, is free-to-play, but offers premium areas for users who buy the MP3 player. There are also accessory packs that can be added on to the MP3 player like cell phone faceplates, giving the doll new clothes or pets that in turn are reflected in the virtual world.

"We've had very good experience with retail integration in the past," said Santos. "The economy of Coke studios is powered by under-the-cap codes. Those codes transform into points, which allow you to buy furniture.  Our planned integration [for BarbieGirls.com] was another code element. And the music element was an opportunity for a music player that could be downloaded. In the end what Mattel created, and this is their product expertise, was the combination of an MP3 player and a doll."

Combining the virtual world and real world seems to have unlocked the door for rapid growth in tween girls. For Santos, it's just a matter of a "good value proposition," he said. "You want to provide a fun, compelling place to be while offering differentiation for the owners of the device. The experience can stop when you buy the doll, but it doesn't have to. The experience is enhanced by the platform."

The Time Is Right for Toys and Virtual Worlds

Beyond adding a compelling new feature set to a classic doll, Santos says that the time is ripe for virtual interaction.

"There's a shift of aspects in the Internet from things that are just technological additions to things that are lifestyle additions," said Santod. "There's an early adoption group that quickly became egalitarian. So it took a little longer to penetrate to kids for a lifestyle choice. But it is now. In the same way that there's early exposure to TV, there's exposure to the Internet. For this generation and group of kids, it really makes a difference."

Toy companies, like MGA Entertainment and Webkinz, are taking notice. Children now are eager and able to engage with technology at early ages and without help. Not only do they adapt to technology, they quickly began experimenting and learning new skills in ways that traditional toys don't always allow.

In addition to having "very good traction" in focus tests, Santos tells a story of girls that were introduced to the world one day before the New York launch.

"We had planned a very long training session the day before, but the time we got to talk to the girls, their knowledge of the site was already at the level we expected them to have to do the presentation," said Santos.  "The amount of interaction they had and the connection with the environment was incredibly positive. We had probably 20 girls in this big conference room. We expected them to ask, 'How do I change something in the character?' Instead they were asking, 'How do I get over x number of items in my inventory?'"

Santos also sees a trend for on-demand entertainment. Children are adapting to technology faster than previous generations, but everyone is moving away from an environment where they watch TV when it happens to broadcast or waits for a song until it comes on the radio.

"We've moved away from this world where the scheduling of entertainment came from a third party," said Santos. "I have a daughter, and for a long time, she didn't understand why I couldn't replay songs on the radio. She didn't understand a media that we didn't have a timeline control over."

Virtual worlds provide control over when you play in the same way traditional video games did, but they add a sense of cooperation.

"I think it's the capacity of social interaction," said Santos. "If you take that on-demand aspect, the one thing missing is interaction with other kids. Buy now they're always there. It has this timeline control built into it. You may have your break from homework at one point in time, and it may be when your friends aren't available either through time or location. This provides an immediate group of people that you can interact with for play. Play is social in nature, and the Internet provides a cache of peers."

Creating Content

The interaction Santos aims for isn't purely verbal. When developing virtual worlds, he says the content users create is just as important. While MMOGs offer a place for users to cooperate and play with peers, they don't offer any way to change the world. There's no persistent communication and there's less change to keep drawing users back.

"We have a mantra that 'any action, if shared, is content,'" said Santos.

Studiocom breaks content down into four categories. There's explicit creation like text or images that provides a very direct, open-ended form of communication, and also life-caching, a constant stream of self-reporting with cameras or audio. But more important for Studiocom's work are the last two: mediated development and relationships.

"In mediated content, you work with existing tools," said Santos. "You make music through your mixer or you decorate your  room. A room is an incredible piece of content. In Coke Studios, we created 17 environments but then users created over 2 million rooms of their own. And the fourth type is content created through relationships. If you think about Facebook, people have profiles, but more important are the connections of who knows who. You filter that by adding friends or groups, but it's a piece of content that the user never has or creates, but the system has it."

While all forms of content are valid, Santos says that mediated content is most effective for retail-based children's environments. While allowing for creativity and interaction, mediated content provides a safety net against both prohibited and protected content.

"There are of course safety issues," said Santos. "There are style issues you want to create or deter. The best way to do that is through content mediation. If you create your room through a mediated fashion, everything you place there can show up in a million different ways. But you can't put a piece of copyrighted art there. Brands have a place here because it allows them to create sort of integration that's consistent with the brand."

Studiocom is continuing to work with Mattel on updates and improvements to BarbieGirls.com, fielding requests and feedback from users. But it will also continue to work on similar platforms for other brands. To check out the test bed of their work, and an interesting world on its own, you can visit MiniEgo.

Santos sees two trends that make it worthwhile to continue developing immersive worlds. He

"The first is the polarization between the hardcore environments and the casual environments," he said. "The first offer very visually intensive environments, like World of Warcraft and to a lesser degree Second Life. They're great, and there are types of interactions consumers have that are unique to them. But there is another group of people who want interaction, but in a more casual way. Think about it like an enhanced instant messaging system. It's about the interaction and community more than the visual metaphor. If you have a great visual metaphor, that's great, but it's not about particle effects. It's about talking to people I like. Brands have more success here."

The second trend is farther off. Studiocom is already looking to what the more ubiquitous presence of high-powered computers will mean for the future.

"There's integration of video and communication that goes beyond just typing," said Santos. "It's empowering other types of communication. A lot of people have voice and can talk in Call of Duty or Second Life, but you can't filter it. It's harder. There are a lot of things that we're used to do with text that you can't do with voice yet. But there are a lot of interesting technologies going forward, recognition and so on, that offer a lot more control. And there are new interfaces, multi-touch tables and inexpensive cameras that track movement. They're very prototype and young, but at the speed of things these move at, these types of interfaces will be here sooner than you think."

Comments

[Cyndrella]

I want to register my name in barbieirls.com how can i register.

[Lauren]

I think there should be new stuf online that the girls can buy on the website and have more new things that they can have because my daughter says that it's boring being on there and theres nothing new.

[Rachel]

Barbiegirls sometimes doesn't work because it is having technical problems, are they doing site maintenance? or are they updating the site? I don't know.

[Sweetheart]

Does anyone know any codes for barbiegirls.com???I really need some.

[Sweetheart]

i went to barbiegirls.com and i have a barbiegirl and it says you have to pay for vip to get into glam gowns and club beauty.now i think i officialy hate that site.

[Jacquie]

I think they should let you buy stuff even if you don't have a VIP because it is not fare otherwise.

[BarbieGal.xx]

Hiiyyah,
i am a vip on barbie.com
so i guess you want some codes
i no i do.! but here are all the
codes i no i guess i should start.!

barbiegirls444
barbiegirls322
barbiegirls232
barbiegirlspresale
mattelbbucks
mattyschoice
mattychoice
thankbbucks
walmartbbucks

There, there all the codes i know sorry.!
but try them cuz they worked for me so they should work for you, they might have exspired by nw so hury up.!

lol :) : )

See Yaaxx
BarbieGalxx

[barbie girl]

does the code worked even if we have no mp3 a vip membership or a barbie girl?? i am dying to try on fashions..i really need it hope someone can give me their username and password of a vip in just one day i promise i will not change the password cross my heart and hope to die

[Collette]

hey anyone want a code?

[Sade]

hi hi hi!
i know all te codes have 3 barbiegirls and also i have 4 be-bratz dools. e-mail me your vipp and i will trde you the be bratz username and password. the vip for barbiegirls. you know it!
e-mail- beautygirls4life@hotmail.com

[sebrina]

i need a code if you are a vip tell and ill give my username and password to give codes plzz im real desprite help meee!!!