Interview: TAATU CEO Philippe Moitroux on Going English

We previously reported that Belgian-based TAATU had released an English language beta. That's part of TAATU's approach to expansion, working with  cultural instead of geographical boundaries. "We recognize that language is the last social barrier especially between 10- and 19-year-olds, so we are very keen on offering other ways to communicate,"  CEO Philippe Moitroux told VirtualWorldsNews.com. "From day one, TAATU has been a multi-lingual environment. We deploy our communities not based on geography, but on language. We have a French and Belgian community and now an English community. We expect soon to open  Spanish and German communities. Now our demographic is mainly based in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands."

Moitroux describes TAATU as a fit between Habbo Hotel and Second Life.  70% of its users are between 10 and 19 years old with another 20% falling between 20 and 35, according to Moitroux.   Almost no one is over 35. With approximately half a million registered users  and a 24/7 monitored community,  TAATU works with advertising integration to bring content to young users.

"Of course we're targeting the customers who have an interest in the audience we have," said Moitroux. "So the typical advertisers are coming in from the gaming enviornment or cosmetics or drinks and food, but also mobile telephones and banks—all those people who want to address a market of 10-19 reaching them in a very new way."

Skewing Older with Higher Resolutions

With its cartoony graphics, TAATU has a distinctly Habbo-esque feel, and Habbo works in similar marketing veins, but Moitroux says the details set it apart for an older audience.

"We share with Habbo that we are 3D isometric," explained Moitroux. "That's about it though. We are [at a resolution of] 1024x768. Habbo is 800x600, which means we can go into much more detail. Our avatars have much more special types and level of detail. The type of objects we sell is also different from a company perspective. We have a good mix of companies selling b2c items. We have a significant b2c market much stronger than in Habbo Hotel."

Likewise, TAATU emphasizes multimedia content, with streaming audio and video for its conferences and meet-the-celebrity style events. While many youth-oriented worlds offer similar activities in avatar form, TAATU streams the conference in as well. That, Moitroux says, helps pull the demographic upwards.

"When you work with an older audience, they're more savvy as far as graphics are concerned and content as well," he explained. "They're immersed in multimedia content. They want to play with it and be open to it. We're working very cloesly with music labels to  organize chat sessions and so on with artists. We build and sell virtual merchandise. That's something we can do because our platform is entirely multimedia. Habbo just discovered sound, but that's approriate for them because of the age."

International Advertising

As the user base expands internationally, TAATU will bring its existing partners along where applicable as the company favors partners that can move from region to region. Moitroux highlights the music labels that work inside of TAATU, but he says the company is also looking into the movie industry. 

So far, he says, there's been a fair amount of interest from the UK and US.  TAATU is a Flash-based environment that doesn't require a download. While that's traditionalyl been a positive factor for youth-oriented worlds, the US has seen a boom in client-download youth worlds like vSide. Likewise, last week saw the transition of Coca Cola from working in an online-only environment originally built by Habbo Hotel to working in the client-based program There.com. But Moitroux isn't worried about the transition.

"We've been talking to advertisers who appreciate our look and feel and the content that we can give them as far as security is concerned," he said. "Instead of waiting to push by any means this 3D environment, our advertisers are more sensible to the amount of people who can view or play with the product. Our lighter graphics enable us to accommodate more people into our rooms. That's definitely one thing our members appreciate. I believe there will be a market for those worlds. But it depends what you're looking for. We definitely want to continue to be a product for the masses."

Comments

[Pierre]

Chapatiz, a fairly discreet European player initially in France only has recently gone international with an English beta version of its virtual world for kids:

http://www.chapatiz.com (French)
http://uk.chapatiz.com (English)

According to Alexa et al., it seems to be significantly bigger than Taatu in terms of audience and appeal to a slightly younger audience with its manga style.

Another interesting service to follow.