BRANDING UNBOUND

'Second Life' On Your Cell Phone

Your cell phone's getting Second Life.

Got word from Redwood City, Calif.-based Vollee that the company's new service that brings Linden Lab's popular 3D virtual world platform to  your mobile phone.

For the first time, Second Life residents can explore the entire virtual world from their handsets via a free beta application available at http://www.vollee.com/secondlife.

As Vollee describes it, its technology intelligently adapts the Second Life Grid (an inter-connected platform which extends beyond the mainland of Second Life) for use on 40 mobile handsets at launch. Support is planned soon for additional 3G and Wi-Fi enabled devices, including the iPhone.

“Vollee offers the perfect Second Life mobile service that brings our virtual world to handsets in a way that is ideal for connecting our Residents,” said Christopher Mahoney, Business Deveopment Manager, Linden Lab.  “We look forward to the new and exciting ways people will be able to extend their Second Life experience through this new service.”

The service isn't a moment too soon. In a recent interview, Brian Shuster, CEO of Utherverse, tells me his virtual world's going mobile, too - and plans to "squash" Second Life along the way through other innovations.

In that particular battle, score one for Second Life's new "Vollee" back at Utherverse.

Quick links:

BRANDING UNBOUND The Blog
BRANDING UNBOUND The Book
ADWEEK Magazines Excerpt
Rick Mathieson.com

Reader Reaction: Kids & Mobile Social Networking

Got a comment & question from Matt in reaction to my post the other day, Study: Kids Seriously Into Mobile Social Networking, in which I write, in part, about possible business models for teen-oriented social networks:

"...instead of advertising, what if these networks, like a growing number of online counterparts, were actually branded destinations v. general, ad-supported destinations?  The right brand, the right experience, and the right audience might make for some powerful opportunities.

To which Matt responds, in part:

To clarify: are you suggesting the rise of a mobile version of the infamous branded profile? or advocating that "the right brand" should step in to create the network and own it outright?

Glad he asked, because that bears some elaboration.

I am not talking about the former - branded profiles. I'm talking about the latter - the branded social network.

Something akin to Coca-Cola's "Sprite Yard" mobile social network, which seems like a good match of brand, audience and medium. I think there could be better opportunities for the MTV's of the world, or more niche oriented efforts like Rebok's GoRunEasy mobile net.

I think niche-oriented efforts could be the more powerful model - a true community of interest v. just a cool mobile social network. But what will really take off remains to be seen.

I just think there are more interesting and powerful ways to use social networks to connect with consumers than standard-issue, ad-supported solutions.

Quick links:

BRANDING UNBOUND The Blog
BRANDING UNBOUND The Book
ADWEEK Magazines Excerpt
Rick Mathieson.com

Study: Kids Seriously Into Mobile Social Networking

You may as well call the Millennial generation the mobile generation.

According to a new report from In-Stat, mobile social networks are all the rage with kids.

Blogging, photo and video sharing, location-based socialization services, games, SMS, and IM will eventually evolve to make the entire social networking experience accessible from a handset application, the high-tech market research firm says. The mobile handset will simply become an extension of the user in most aspects of life.

The catch?

"The critical issue most mobile social networking site and application developers struggle with is how to make money with their services," says Jill Meyers, In-Stat analyst, in a statement. "There are three primary methods of revenue generation for mobile social networking applications- advertising, subscription services, and premium upgrades."

Ah, the usual suspects, of course.

I don't really like the idea of advertising - though according to In-Stat  in 2008, revenues from advertising within mobile social networks are predicted to be over $1.5 billion (I find that optimistic).

But instead of advertising, what if these networks, like a growing number of online counterparts, were actually branded destinations v. general, ad-supported destinations?  The right brand, the right experience, and the right audience might make for some powerful opportunities.

In-Stat projects that the cumulative number of US Millennials subscribing to mobile social networking could top 30 million by the year 2012.

The opportunities could be tremendous.

Quick links:

BRANDING UNBOUND The Blog
BRANDING UNBOUND The Book
ADWEEK Magazines Excerpt
Rick Mathieson.com

NBC News, San Jose Merc Looks At Generation Txt

In BRANDING UNBOUND the book, I write that the mobile revolution is really being driven by two kinds of people.

People who are teenagers.

And people who have teenagers.

This NBC News report looks at generation TXT, and how its building connections among teens - and their parents. There are even a few comments from MIT cyber-shrink Sherry Turkle.

The topic seems to be hot just now. Today's San Jose Mercury News high lights some of those popular texting terms referred to in the NBC piece. Among the translations:

B4N: Bye for now

BRB: Be right back

BTDT: Been there, done that

F2F: Face to face

HHOS: Ha-ha, only series

GMTA: Great minds think alike

PAW: Parents are watching

POS: Parent over shoulder

ROFL: Rolling on the floor laughing

SITD: Still in the dark

TTFN: Ta-ta for now

TTYL: Talk to you later

YOYO: You're on your own

YWSYLS: You win some, you lose some

 

Quick Links:

BRANDING UNBOUND The Blog
BRANDING UNBOUND The Book
ADWEEK Magazines Excerpt
Rick Mathieson.com

Video Preview: Mobile 'Second Life' In Beta

This is huge for 'lifers who need their fix wherever they're flung - as well as to the marketers who sell to them.

From Vollee, this service will be free to anyone with a 3G phone and who signs up by visiting the vollee.com site.

Interestingly enough, in the conclusion of my Gen Wow interview with Brian Shuster, CEO of Second Life rival Utherverse, he said his company will be rolling out something similar in the next several months. Here his take on how this is just one part of an arsenal he hopes to use to dominate Second Life by year's end.

In the meantime, enjoy this look at Mobile Second Life - and a peak at early steps in mobile virtual reality.

Quick Links:

GENERATION WOW: The World of Multi-platform Marketing
BRANDING UNBOUND The Book
BRANDING UNBOUND IN ADWEEK Magazines
Rick Mathieson.com

 

Virtually Cool: 'Second Life' Comes To Your Your Cell Phone - But Why Stop There?

Second Life has found a second platform.

Forbes is reporting that a company called Vollee is readying beta trials for a new entry point into Second Life - via 3G mobile phones.

The new "Second Life Grid platform is an interconnected platform that extends beyond the mainland of Second Life itself, and reformats the online world to fit mobile screens while mapping the keys to handsets to commands in-world.

"For Linden Lab, this represents an intuitive way to extend the reach and accessibility of the Second Life Grid platform," Chris Mahoney, Business Development Manager, Linden Lab, tells the pub. "This is a great way for Second Life Residents to stay connected to their friends, business and experiences in-world, wherever they are."

A lot of SL residents will be pleased to hear this, as it's hard enough to peel yourself away from the PC experience as it is. Now they'll be able to access the world wherever they go.

Still, you have to wonder if just extending the experience to the mobile medium is enough. A simpler, and perhaps more interesting application would be to alert residents when friends are in-world in general, or in specific locations in particular.

At the push of a button, beaming the old avatar to that location - or even just initiating a mobile phone call to said friends at that location could be even cooler. And/or even allow in-world residents to call out to friends in the real world.

In other words, instead of (just) using the phone as a connection into the world, it'd also be cool to use mobile as an extension out of virtual world into the real one.

Lastly, how might GPS capabilities enable Second Life to overlay the real world, enabling users to experience the Web's version of social networking, but apply it, in real time, to the real world.

Too often, mobile's viewed as the mobile Web - a handheld PC experience.

It's really much more powerful than (just) that.

I hope Vollee's new entry point to the virtual world is just the beginning of something very cool.

Get all the details on the Vollee initiative, click here.

And check it all out yourself, here.

Quick Links:

GENERATION WOW: The World of Multi-platform Marketing
BRANDING UNBOUND The Book
BRANDING UNBOUND IN ADWEEK Magazines
Rick Mathieson.com

 

Frengo Flirts With Facebook Mobile Dating

Enter: Flirtable Mobile.

According to TMCnet, social networking provider Frengo has announced the launch of the new mobile social networking service, which extends Facebook services to mobile phones. Users can review profile pictures, have private one-on-one conversations, send gifts, initiate new conversations, and receive alerts on social events.

“Now, people can easily browse through millions of profiles online, filtered for their preference, initiate conversations and escalate the relationship if they choose – all for free,” Mahi de Silva, CEO at Frengo, tells the pub. “The mobile aspect brings a whole new level of convenience and fun, making it easy for people to be in touch in ways that were just not possible before.”

Yeah, okay. But in BRANDING UNBOUND the book, I take an in-depth look at a service that I still think beats all of these: Dodgeball, which enables singles to hang out, hook up, or just get their gossip on wherever they go.

The service didn't quite ramp up the way you'd think they would after being acquired by Google. But it still beats every mobile social networking service I've seen so far.

Read more about Flirtable Mobile, here.

Quick Links:

GENERATION WOW: The World of Multi-platform Marketing
BRANDING UNBOUND The Book
BRANDING UNBOUND IN ADWEEK Magazines
Rick Mathieson.com

 

Piczo Mobilizes Teens

Where the teens are is mobile - so naturally, teen oriented sites are following suit.

Small wonder popular teen site Piczo, in conjunction with Intercasting Corp., is going mobile with mobile services including SMS/MMS messaging and a mobile Internet site.

Piczo users will now have the ability to upload images directly from their phone cameras, send and receive messages, post comments onto their Piczo pages and more, all while on the go. The mobile experience will be fully integrated with the Piczo online site.

“This is a big step forward, putting Piczo into the pockets of teens everywhere and enabling the Piczo generation to exercise their creative self expression whenever and wherever they are. We are delighted to be partnering with Intercasting,” says Chris Seth, Managing Director for Europe of Piczo Inc.

“Piczo is creating a service that taps into the habits of the Piczo generation who want to be in control of their content and communication in a safer environment, and at the same time extending self-expression onto the devices that matter most to them in their lives.”

Read more here.
Quick Links:

GENERATION WOW: The World of Multi-platform Marketing
BRANDING UNBOUND The Book
BRANDING UNBOUND IN ADWEEK Magazines
Rick Mathieson.com

 

MySpace Launches Free, Ad-Supported Mobile Version

MySpace is going mobile for free.

The Baltimore Sun is reporting that the social networking site is launching an ad-supported version for mobile phones.

Starting today, consumers can access a scaled-down version of MySpace to update friends, post messages and just tool around the site, anywhere, anytime.

Sure, there was the $3-a-month version a while back. But that's pretty lame, isn't it? With teenagers bailing out of MySpace, it was time to reel 'em back in with a free version.

"Mobile is the most personal device that a consumer owns. Next to your keys and wallet and maybe a pen that you walk around with, [people carry mobile phones]," Millennial Media Chief Executive Paul Palmieri, whose company will provide mobile-ready advertising for all of those sites, tells the pub.
"You're targeting consumers wherever they are."

Already, 3.7 million MySpace users access the site via mobile phone. Now, that number will grow significantly.  But competition may be coming up fast: Facebook already sports 2 million moible users.

"We believe that everybody who's accessing the Internet from a PC will access the Internet from a mobile device… It will become a mainstream activity," John Smelzer, a senior vice president and general manager for Fox Interactive Media, tells the Sun.

But this is just the beginning for MySpace and Fox parent News Corp. To find out more about its mobile plans, click here.

Quick Links:

GENERATION WOW: The World of Multi-platform Marketing
BRANDING UNBOUND The Book
BRANDING UNBOUND IN ADWEEK Magazines
Rick Mathieson.com

 

BT Bets On Second Life; Enables Residents To Text Out to To Real World

People in Second Life can now get in touch with their first life.

According to reports from CNET, British Telecom (BT) is introducing a service that enables real people inhabiting Second Life to send and receive text messages and phone calls to and from the real world.

The service is being tested on a private island in Second Life called Area 21, and is designed to show off BT's 21CN network technology.

Now, when the company figures out a way to build GPS into the virtual devices and show real-world people where their virtual buddies are in Second Life, then things will get interesting. Or really lame.

For more, click here.

Quick Links:

GENERATION WOW: The World of Multi-platform Marketing
BRANDING UNBOUND The Book
BRANDING UNBOUND IN ADWEEK Magazines
Rick Mathieson.com