RL Telco Says Hello to SL
Sparkle Dale models the TELUS Motorola i833 ‘Baby Phat’ Edition
During a recent flight around the Second Life mainland I had spied a strong candidate for an upcoming Virtual Suburbia review, an exquisite modern structure articulated in a delicate monochrome palette, embellished with soft lighting and shadows, and punctuated with purple and green colored glass that looked pleasantly fresh and yet oddly familiar to me. I soon found out why.
Although the land was off-limits to visitors, some alt-zooming found signage identifying the build with TELUS, Canada’s second largest telecommunications company and the name that happens to be printed on my monthly phone bill. There was obviously a larger story here than just a captivating work of virtual architecture. At first glance it seemed to represent the first major Canadian corporation and the first major Telco to appear in Second Life.
My suspicions were soon confirmed by the owner of the land in Shinda, SL resident Sparkle Dale, who describes herself as a longtime MMO player and Advertising Manager for TELUS. Seeing a playful opportunity to extend and enhance the brand experience for the corporation’s mobile products, she commissioned a team of SL residents for the build (by Scope Cleaver) as well as a series of handsets (by Ninja Petion, Zoey Pinkdot, and Miko Omegamu) to be sold within. Finishing touches are currently being placed on both in anticipation of an August 21 opening (Update: Opening Day festivities are now scheduled for August 24).
Not only has design of the store been informed by flagship locations in Toronto and Montreal, the handsets themselves are modeled and named after real mobile phones (i.e. TELUS Motorola RAZR) by virtue of existing licensing agreements.
In addition to the obvious potential as fashion accessories the handsets are intended to serve a useful function. Through either a menu or chat commands the phones can be activated as a status indicator, with hover text to inform those around the user that he or she is busy on a RL phone call or in a private IM conversation. Dale acknowledges that cellular phones in Second Life are nothing new; however they have attempted to find their own place in the market with products that are attractive, functional, and easy to use.
It would appear a recipe for success, yet it remains to be seen whether some of the controversies posed by cell-phone use in particular and by the behaviors of Telcos in general will also migrate from the physical to the virtual. In particular, the etiquette of branded hover text in public chats (while relatively innocuous compared to some of the exhibitionism one encounters in such situations) may just be enough to touch a nerve of the odd avatar or two, especially when the status message is boldly indicating that attention is being focused away from the action at hand. In addition, as the possibility of voice chat increases, one also cannot help but speculate on how Telcos such as TELUS might wish to wade deeper into the MMO marketplace with VOIP offerings. Finally, it will be interesting to track the success of the ‘TELUS LG Migo’, a handset designed for RL tweens that will now also be targeted at the child avatar.
Irrespective of how it may unfold, Dale and her team intend to remain in Second Life well beyond the initial splash of publicity, and to release updated products based on new handset designs and feedback from the community. And at this point one has little reason to doubt their commitment. In the steps leading up to the opening it would appear that TELUS has duly considered what it takes to be a good corporate citizen in a virtual world.
Feeds
Well, this is a good example of a company doing the web thing that the Lindens all want them to do and you tend to want them to do, but also at least trying to take a stab at doing the world thing, too. I mean, at least it’s a build that will stay there and not be the Hollywood stage and the backdrop to View-Master, but remains and remains *on the mainland* — hooray!
Furthermore, it takes the inworld cellphone concept introduced by Nexcom (not sure they’re still in business) and makes it more useful — people may find those AFK notices annoying but at least they tell you not to keep trying to chat in vain to an avatar who is off in RL. They’re also cute little objects that people might collect, not sure.
If they take on the question also of having hands-free avatar communication so to speak (not really hands free) and have the ability to call up other avatars not on IM, blocking the screen at least a little, but in open chat, that stays down on the bottom and also makes a history, then they will have GOM’d the Nexcom achievement, see, since Nexcom has that feature and people buy it for that reason.
If the little phones can actually dial out to RL and also dial other avatars with things like speed dialing and message taking then they’ll really have a winner. These would be exoticisms, of course, but a company might spend time and money on them just to “be there” when this stuff takes off.
So…I hope with this excellent real story here you can see my points come into focus better:
o web v. world doesn’t have to be you step on the world
o but you might step on the world even in offering it something
o then you’ll be in a position to do far better than indigenous companies
[…] Through a bit of surreptitious snooping, Chip Poutine of the fabulous 3pointD blog discovered recently that TELUS, the second largest Canadian telecommunications company, will be making its debut in the virtual world of Second Life on August 24. […]
[…] Après avoir questionné la frilosité des entreprises québécoises à joindre le marketing des univers virtuels hier, voilà que j’apprends que la télécom TELUS y est déjà. En plus d’améliorer sensiblement son image de marque et le branding de ses téléphones cellulaires tel que le Motorola i833 édition spéciale BabyPhat, TELUS se positionne comme un fournisseur d’accessoires technologiques de mode. Ils sont aussi à créer un magasin virtuel qui au dire de 3pointD.com, sera […]
TELUS Expands Into Second Life…
Imagine my surprise to see TELUS in Second Life. One of Canada’s leading communications companies has created a presence in Second Life. It even looks like the retail spaces they maintain in Real Life. I had heard about the initiative……
[…] J’ai aussi eu des doutes sur le billet de 3pointD (ma source). Comme je n’avais pas moi-même vu de mes yeux la présence de TELUS dans SL, peut-être s’agissait-il d’une fausse nouvelle? Rassurez-vous et visitez vous-même le magasin en cliquant ici (si vous avez au préalable téléchargé le jeux et via Mitch) ou simplement, regardez les captures d’écrans qui sont illustrées plus bas. […]
[…] According to 3pointD, the telco’s foray into Second Life was initiated by a Telus advertising manager. Sparkle Dale, as she’s known in Second Life, has a personal passion for gaming and metaverses and saw an opportunity to extend her employer’s brand into a new realm. […]
[…] According to 3pointD, the telco’s foray into Second Life was initiated by a Telus advertising manager. Sparkle Dale, as she’s known in Second Life, has a personal passion for gaming and metaverses and saw an opportunity to extend her employer’s brand into a new realm. […]
[…] Courtesy of a Canadian telco who has set up shop there. del.icio.us this! […]