Pontiac is giving away real estate…virtual real estate that is.
As part of a promotion that breaks next month, Pontiac is giving away virtual land on Second Life, an online, 3-D environment in which the virtual world’s “citizens” may now own property…including Pontiacs.
Second Life users replicate real life surroundings by creating virtual 3-D representations and use Avatars (cartoon-like representations of themselves) to interact with one another. Second Lifers will be able to submit ideas for the virtual community called Motorati Island on Motoratilife.com. Pontiac will review proposed projects from users and divvy up parcels of virtual land accordingly based on which users go forth and develop their own ideas, as they relate to the Motorati community.
As part of the car community developed by users, Pontiac will create a presence on Motorati Island with a futuristic Pontiac dealership. The dealership will sell customizable versions of the newly introduced Pontiac Solstice GXP. Second Lifers will be able to purchase the virtual vehicle, take it for a spin on a high-performance test track, fully modify them and showcase them in a public gallery.
“Everyone would assume that if a user is excited enough to purchase a virtual version [of the Pontiac] that might be something that rubs off in real world,” said Pontiac spokesperson Jim Hopson. “They might be intrigued enough to go into a dealership and buy one for real.”
Meanwhile, a Pontiac Garage music stage in New York City’s Times Square will also be replicated in the space and act as a venue for live music performances by real artists in the form of their Second Life Avatars.
The automaker’s intention, however, is not to flood Motorati Island with billboards pushing the Pontiac brand, Hopson said. “We wanted to augment the community which is how we came up with the idea of letting it be a destination for car lovers.”
The initiative will solely be promoted within Second Life where it is already being chatted up by users, Hopson said. As the Motorati community takes shape over the coming months, consumers can get involved in the experience by visiting Motoratilife.com which will lead them to the Motorati Island site on Second Life.
The growing popularity of Second Life, created by Linden Lab, presents a unique marketing opportunity for companies like Pontiac, a GM brand. Second Life has more than one million users that inhabit it, and has a real economy and social dynamics. The site is growing at a rate of 20% month-over-month, Pontiac said.
Second Life users own virtual land and participate in an online economy paying for items through the use of Linden dollars, the currency of Second Life. The currency can be obtained in various ways, including the use of actual credit cards which generate approximately $6 million a month at Second Life.
“In the minds of many people, Second Life is the next evolution of the Internet community, similar to what we’ve seen with the explosive growth of MySpace,” Hopson said. “We felt it was important for us to be a player in that space.”
Aiding Pontiac’s venture into the space is the automaker’s advertising agency Leo Burnett Detroit. Campfire (New York City and Orlando, FL), Second Life developers Millions of Us, Inc., Sausalito, CA and Web developers Domani Studios, New York City, collaborated on the campaign. The Second Life initiative follows on the heels of Pontiac’s all digital G5 launch earlier this month, also coordinated by Leo Burnett Detroit.
Meanwhile, another brand using Second Life’s virtual community to its advantage is Starwood Hotels which will create hotels based on consumers’ responses to a tour of a virtual hotel (PROMO Xtra October 12, 2006).
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