Design a Virtual Vending Machine for Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola set up in Second Life
Coca-Cola is taking its first steps in the virtual world of Second Life with a contest in which SL members will be invited to “imagine a virtual vending machine with limitless possibilities.” In concert with new-media marketing firm crayon and virtual-world services outfit Millions of Us, Coke is running “an open contest for Second Life residents and the general population to design a virtual experience machine through its Virtual Thirst competition. . . . This contest is not a search for the virtual version of a real-life vending machine that distributes bottles and cans, but the mission to create a portable device for Second Life’s ‘in-world’ digital society that unleashes a refreshing and attention-grabbing experience, on demand.” The contest is to be announced today in an in-world press conference with Coca-Cola execs.
According to a press release, the winner will be selected by an advisory council of SL residents and then will travel to San Francisco, courtesy of Coca-Cola, to collaborate with Millions of Us in turning the concept into virtual reality. The virtual Coke machine will be unveiled at an in-world party and made available for free to SL residents.
One interesting aspect of the competition is that fact that entries can be submitted »within SL«, via YouTube, or at the Virtual Thirst page on MySpace. The entry deadline is 25 May 2007.
A number of companies have been coming into Second Life lately with similar initiatives, hoping to find the killer entertainment app that residents will either keep coming back to or will carry around with them and use. It’s a nice twist to ask residents themselves to design the device. And definitely a great contract for the crayonistas to have. Looks like we’ll see how refreshing the results are sometime this summer. Should be interesting.
Feeds
I only drink coke from the fountain ;0
Neat… a Second Life launch without an actual Second Life presence. Sounds novel. And all I have to do is come up with something that encapsulates:
“refreshment,joy,unity,experience”? I wonder what other abstract nouns might fit the bill?
[…] Via CC Chapman, Coca-Cola have launched a new competition to design a virtual vending machine that will be built in Second Life. I love the idea that instead of just going in to SL and designing something, like many other companies, they are asking the community in SL to help design and choose what they are going to do. This way they should end up with something a little more useful than many of the offerings. Entries can be offered through SL, YouTube or MySpace, hitting all the right places for a Web2.0 offering. There’s more news and information over at 3pointD.com Add to: Subscribe to RSS headline updates from: Powered by FeedBurner This entry was posted on Monday, April 16th, 2007 and is filed under engagement, UGC, virtual. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. […]
Thanks for taking the time to cover our event….we are excited and look forward to seeing some of the imaginative entries…Thanks Again!
Crayon and Millions of Us Launch “Virtual Thirst” for Coca Cola…
It makes me so happy to see this project come to fruition. Today, in partnership with Crayon (who rock) and the Coca-Cola Company, we launched the “Virtual Thirst” campaign in Second Life. The basic idea that Coke is asking people to help…
M-Dawg, you didn’t even mention that your co-author is one of the judges! On the other hand, that’s how we roll. Always chill, and never hyping ourselves or each other. In the social web it’s all about teh modesty. ;-)
exactly! Of course, the fact that I was posting from Brazil and was headed right out the door to put the finishing touches on my sunburn might have had something to do with it as well…
[…] Check this one out, social networks everywhere! And this one, from CocaCola, is great!! Seems utter madness, trying to sell virtual coke, for virtual people, with a virtual thirst, BUT it is not about the actual good purchase, but about the EXPERIENCE of being there! Clearly enough, nobody is hitting the coke island to buy anything but the experience of being part of something grand, that is happening just now, somewhere.. It is about TRYING things, is about the rise of a new breed of “peopsumers”, half people and half consumer, able to shift hat accordingly.. […]
[…] 3PointD: Design a Virtual Vending Machine for Coca-Cola - “Coca-Cola is taking its first steps in the virtual world of Second Life with a contest in which SL members will be invited to “imagine a virtual vending machine with limitless possibilities.”” More from CC Chapman, and in the press release. […]
[…] 3pointD.com » Blog Archive » Design a Virtual Vending Machine for Coca-Cola (tags: inworld brand) […]
[…] and from Mark. […]
Interesting…