Article tools

• Print
• 

Destination

Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever asked MindShare Interaction to prove that the Second Life ‘metaverse’ doesn’t have to be a wasteland for advertisers, but can be an effective platform for building relationships with customers.

Platform

In partnership with the Electric Sheep Company, we created an island in Second Life to reflect Ben & Jerry’s dedication to supporting climate change initiatives. A second, ‘orientation’, island trained new users (avatars) of Second Life, who emerged in Ben & Jerry’s branded outfits to begin their virtual wanderings. Orientation Island proved so effective that it became one of the few officially chosen communities that any new visitor to Second Life could join on registration.

Design and delivery

The main island is built around a sustainable eco-factory, where avatars can learn about the history of Ben & Jerry’s, find out how ice-cream is made, watch climate change videos, or make a donation in Linden Dollars to the WWF. Outside the factory, the zany ‘Methaniac’ game attracts visitors who compete for a daily prize of L$1000. To make Ben & Jerry’s immediately recognisable in a sometimes samey virtual world, the look and feel of the island is blocky, fun, primary-coloured and wholly on-brand.

Evaluation

To date approximately 41000+ visitors have registered on Second Life via the Ben & Jerry's orientation portal.

Neither Ben & Jerry’s nor MindShare Interaction actively promoted the island but, in true internet fashion, the feedback started almost immediately. The bloggers have bitten! 

Over the first 12 weeks, the number of users registered for Second Life through Ben & Jerry's is comparable to many other large corporate brands (including NBA, Pontiac and Showtime Networks "The L Word"). Ben & Jerry's, as the only consumer packaged goods company in the world listed on Second Life's Community Gateway Program, is getting invaluable exposure to the emerging virtual world medium.

Kevin Abt, The Electric Sheep Company

Related links:

• Second Life Blog HUD - Part 1

  A blogging system for residents of Second Life

• Second Life Blog HUD - Part 2

  Orientation island

• Flickr Page

  Personal Snapshots of Ben & Jerry's Island

• Verbal Stew

  Blog musings about the island