Which companies are using Second Life and for what purposes?
The size and growth rate of Second Life has sparked a lot of attention and participation from the mainstream business world as a new marketing opportunity and perhaps as a place to make a few bucks. Businesses are using the online world to advertise, test products and market ideas. They also might make some sales, mostly by linking Second Life visitors to their real-world e-commerce Web sites. [1]
Seek indirect, and maybe direct, sales opportunities for the real word
IBM, for example, has used one of its islands to set up a virtual store for its electronics retailer Circuit City (CC). Avatars in the virtual Circuit City can move furniture around in a digital living room to find the best placements and sizes for TV sets and surround sound, or just hang out. But IBM and Circuit City hope the virtual visitors will then go to a real Circuit City store and make a purchase, or two, or three.
Run business in the virtual world (v-commerce)
Clothing designer American Apparel and automaker Toyota sell virtual pairs of jeans and virtual cars for $1 or $2 each.
Advertise
Big Blue is having the kind of fun in Second Life that belies its white shirt/pocket protector image. Its islands, when viewed from above (avatars can fly when they are tired of walking) forms its logo. And if you land on an IBM island, feel free to grab a free company hat, shirt or jacket for your avatar.
Hold meetings
Christian Reynaud, head of Cisco's technology center research unit, holds team meetings in Second Life. While Cisco and perhaps most big companies have real-world facilities they call executive briefing centers, where they hold sales meetings, customer conferences and the like, Cisco also has a Second Life version of an EBC.
Test products
Starwood Hotel opened aloft in Second Life in order to test-market the hotel's design and rapidly prototype the evolving concept. For instance, staffers will observe how people move through the space, what areas and types of furniture they gravitate towards, and what they ignore. [2]
Besides companies, some universities and educational institutions are using Second Life since it provides an environment where students and educators can work together from anywhere in the world as part of a globally networked virtual classroom environment. They also use Second Life as a supplement to traditional classroom environments also provides new opportunities for enriching an existing curriculum. For example, the Harvard Law School, specifically the Harvard Extension School presents a class called 'CyberOne: Law in the Court of Public Opinion', portions of which are being taught in Second Life. [3]
[1] http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=17&issue=20070221
[3] http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/11/13/second.life.university/index.html