I have long held the belief that Second Life was going to become something pretty special in the ad world and the sooner that agencies started waking up to the opportunity which this game presents them with then the better they will be. I am surprised in myself therefore that despite getting the heads up last week that a company called Text100 had set up an ad on the game, that I glossed over it the way that I did. 

I have been getting back on top of a few things and the message about Text100 struck the chord it should’ve done the previous week. Now it should come as absolutely no surprise whatsoever that this has taken place or that a marketing agency have looked to use Second Life as a viable chance to get in touch with their customer base, after all Adidas and others are already onto it. What was surprising however is that not only has the company set up their own island on Second Life, they have also created one of t most spectacular YouTube videos which they are using as an introduction. 

This video has been shot entirely using Second Life, it is 3 minutes long and it is a thing of ingenuity and beauty. 

I just love it when companies take a risk, think outside of the box and absolutely nail it and that is just what Text100 have done with this introduction video, backed up of course by that island on the game itself. 

Promise

This move by the company will not just see hundreds flocking to follow suit, it actually opens up an entire world of promise which everyone should begin to get excited about. Imagine trying to sell a home and using Second Life to give tours so that a visit to the property isn’t required in  the beginning, office tours for businesses, showcasing products for customers, to be fair an entire trade show could be conducted using the alternative reality space. In truth what Text100 have done here is to prove that the promise and the options for this kind of thing are absolutely limitless. 

The Internet 

I have always thought that Second Life was a walking, talking and breathing copy of what the internet is and I had an inkling that at some point we would see it used in this kind of way. I never had any concept of quite how well it could be executed and quite what that would mean for the future of advertising when it did. Text100 have taken huge strides with this move and you can guarantee that it will send ripples throughout the online marketing community. 

IMHO it is something like SecondLife that will be the platform for the either the next version or the extension of myspace, youtube, the blogosphere, and the podosphere.