Virtual Worlds News

"Nicholas Flamel" Spinning Gold With Gaia Community

Michael Scott, author of youth fantasy series "The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel," keeps coming back to Gaia Online to promote his series. It's not just the official tours--this week marks his third virtual appearance, one for each book so far--but his overall interest in the virtual world as a new form of reader community.  The outreach doesn't hurt either.

"I connected immediately and astoundingly with the audience," Scott said of his first visit in 2007. "In the days following the first appearance, I had so many hits to my personal website it literally crashed the server on three occasions.  I'm still seeing a lot of hits from Gaia."

Animax And Planet Color Targeting Parents Through The Kids

Earlier this month we reported that Animax Entertainment was working with Suppertime Entertainment to create a new virtual world based around Planet Color by children's author and illustrator Todd Parr. It's aiming at kids too young to be involved in most virtual worlds--but it's also targeting their parents.

"We really felt we needed a media platform. Todd Parr's audience is kids 4-8. They're readers, but parents make the purchases," explained Gerry Renert of Suppertime and the co-creator of Planet Color. "We wanted to get that message out there in a broader sense and also in a more involving, direct sense. What makes more sense than the online presence?"

WildTangent And Mochi Media Partner For Ads

WildTangent and Mochi Media announced that they had partnered today to combine audiences across their collective advertising networks. Mochi's platform has been integrated by over 10,000 Flash game developers, it says, and is generating several hundred million monthly video impressions. Those will be joined with premium advertising opportunities in the WildTangent Games Network, which is primarily filled with casual games, but also features casual MMOs and virtual worlds like RuneScape, Free Realms, and Magi-Nation.

"WildTangent's advertising business is growing at a rate of more than 50 percent annually because it creates scalable engagement opportunities in and around games for leading brands," said Dave Madden, executive vice president of WildTangent. "Mochi Media has cultivated a huge audience of gamers reachable with a premium advertising experience. By adding them to our network, we are now able to offer advertisers reach against more than 30 percent of the U.S. online gaming population with a unique mix of media opportunities."

WeeWorld Joins Alloy From Betawave

WeeWorld is leaving its spot in the Betawave ad network (formerly GoFish) to join Alloy Media + Marketing, Lauren Bigelow, General Manager at WeeWorld, told me last week.  Alloy and GoFish were both part of a back-to-school campaign for Sears last year, which took the brand across the teen and tween metaverse, including WeeWorld. 

Bigelow says the transition was prompted by Alloy's expertise, as "a veteran in the teen space."

Quick Stat: Habbo France Draws 20,000 Fans For Nouvelle Star

The big music news in Habbo around here has been its partnership with FremantleMedia to bring American Idol into the virtual  world. The two had previously partnered for a short-term promotion for the French version, Nouvelle Star. That partnership is apparently back on.  In Habbo France, users can congregate in a Nouvelle Star room, take a weekly quiz, and meet eliminated singers who visit each week after the show. The world will also host a chat with the winner after the show ends in June. 

That's both a bit more and less than the American Idol partnership, which sounds like a larger environment, but brings in less participation from the current cast. Here the users get the complete branded experience, but in France they get the personalities.  Habbo FR has formed a fan base of 20,000 users in Nouvelle Star's group. With the end of the show approaching in six weeks, that's sure to increase. [via Sulake]

How Gaia Online Made Users Love Ads With Branded Virtual Goods

Gaia Online's branded virtual goods strategy has in many ways become archetypal for virtual worlds that monetize more through sales of virtual items and microtransactions than by subscriptions and fees. Gaia Online  offers advertisers the chance to create branded experiences in the world, which can involve anything from watching ads to participating in games and contests. The reward for taking part in these interactions is usually a virtual good that somehow evokes the brand in its design or function. User interest in goods like this in Gaia is high because they tend to be limited edition offerings with high resale values on Gaia's secondary market.

Gaia Online's branded virtual goods strategy has in many ways become archetypal for virtual worlds that monetize more through sales of virtual items and microtransactions than by subscriptions and fees. Gaia Online  offers advertisers the chance to create branded experiences in the world, which can involve anything from watching ads to participating in games and contests. The reward for taking part in these interactions is usually a virtual good that somehow evokes the brand in its design or function. User interest in goods like this in Gaia is high because they tend to be limited edition offerings with high resale values on Gaia's secondary market.

Universal Extends Successful Partnership With Vivaty

When Vivaty launched its Web-embeddable scenes last fall, two sponsors were immediately on-hand to take advantage of 3D spaces that could appear anywhere on the Web. Universal Music was hyping the new Queen+Paul Rogers album, "The Cosmos Rocks," with a listening and video-watching party. Based on the success of that campaign, Universal has re-signed with Vivaty to sponsor a new scene for country group Rascal Flatts and its new record, "Unstoppable." 

Intergi To Rep Ads For Nexon America

Nexon America today announced a partnership with Intergi to rep and supply advertising for Nexon's games, including the casual MMO MapleStory, shooter Combat Arms, and MMORPG Mabinogi. Nexon's main focus for revenue has traditionally been virtual goods sales, but it's also done a healthy and consistent business in sponsorships and advertising, both here and in Korea.

Home ARG Crossing Boundaries Of Real And Virtual Worlds

I've thought for a long time that most promotions in virtual worlds should be thought of as alternate reality games: you're generally not roleplaying (or if you are, it's  often as a fairly stable, existing identity) and there are game-based elements and mysteries. It's an excellent way to tell a story, especially if it overlaps with real-world elements. A new promotion in Home for the PlayStation 3 seems to be doing just that. I don't know much about it, but the ARG, XI, seems to be organized by Sony itself as a promotion or community builder and is popping up in virtual and real billboards.  Oddly enough, that's the second campaign this week to treat billboards the same across real and virtual worlds.

IGA Bringing Posterscope's Billboards To Football Superstars

Posterscope describes itself as the world's leader in out-of-home communications (or billboards). Through a partnership with IGA Worldwide, though, Posterscope is bringing many of its clients' billboards into the living room. Posterscopes clients will now have billboards appearing simultaneously in the real world and in games throughout IGA's network, including the soccer-themed virtual world Football Superstars. The two partners will split the revenue from clients looking to branch out from billboards and reach the core gamer demographic. 

"It is a logical step to include this package when planning broadcast out-of-home campaigns as the similarities in creative approach, media consumption and Postar-style audience measurement are huge," said James Davies, director of Posterscope’s innovations division, Hyperspace. [via GamesIndustry and MediaWeek]