What did I say about marketing again?

In a previous article I talked about the differences between good and bad marketing. I saw a story in the LA Times today that is another good example of how marketing without proper thought and process often doesn't work.

As stated, with good (and therefore effective) marketing there is a communication intent, an understanding of your target consumer and of how you can legitimately fill their needs. Setting up a precense in SecondLife should follow the rules of who, what, why and how in determining whether a 'where' makes sense.

What is the message you are trying to get across? Is it Brand awareness? Is it knowledge of a specific product feature? or is it reinforcement or change of existing Brand or product opinions? The communication goal of the marketing should be specific. It is possible to communicate multiple ideas in a single message, but generally the simpler the message the easier it is to communicate. One marketing advantage that SL offers is the more complex messages it can support. This is due to the possibility of longer times potential custoemers spend in the marketing environment and the ability to look at the environment at a macro and micro level. The entire site/island/build can be tooled to give a general message at a cursory viewing, but reveal more complex and slightly different messages on closer scrutiny of (or interaction with) the environment.

Who are you targeting the message at? and Why do you think your chosen method will reach them. 'Spray and pray' type marketing is rarely effective unless your costs are very low (curse you spam!). If you want a message you spend money on to actually be effective' you need to understand who your potential audience is, and how you can reach them.

And the context of How you deliver this message is just as important. The content and style of the message must both reflect the Brand of your company, and peak the interest of your target audience. This is by no means an easy thing to do, but that's why top marketers get the big bucks. Getting this right depends on skill, creativity, and how good a job has been done with Who, Why and What. These steps may also tell you that SL is not the right tool to deliver your message, in which case it should be abandoned.

In general I would surmise that a lot of the companies now leaving SL are more victims of bad planning than any failing of SL as a marketing platform. While I do not spend much time in SL, I have an account and have seen some of the builds that are now being removed. Picking on Dell, this was a large sprawling Island with a replica factory, some meeting rooms and gimicky giveaway monkeys. There was nothing there to tempt me to interact or return, and I am solidly in the demographic that Dell would like to reach with this medium. To be honest it is only because I used to work for Dell that I even went there once. This build failed due to a lack of intent and planning not because of a problem with the media, the wrong medium is the fault of the marketer that chose it.

There are also some builds that were created purely for the noteriety and press that they could get. Sun and American Apparel are good examples of this. Once the hype generated has disipated, there is no longer a reason to continue.

Wagner Au has commented on the original Forbes article the LA Times article seems to be inspired by. His comments about the myths of SecondLife illustrate the likely 3rd reason companies are leaving. As a new method to interact with consumers, it is hard to completely understand its potential as a medium. Given the relatively low cost, it is worth the investment to enter SL with a half formed idea to test the potential and build some knowledge. I am sure that some of the companies leaving now, will take what they learned and use it to return in a better way. Some will also have learnt that SL is not for them.

In summary, blaming SL for marketing failures is like blaming the nail gun for your hand being nailed to a fence post. The medium is just a tool and its proper use by a skilled operator will yield the desired result. A skilled operator also knows when a screwdriver would be a better choice.

And here is an interesting reference aritcle Six principles of deliberate marketing.