As society ventures into the digital age, another type of society arose as well: the online world. The invention of the Internet allowed for the creation of virtual worlds, with the most notable of these being Second Life or SL for short. Second Life was created by Linden Labs and allows “Residents” to do anything, at any time. Several businesses also capitalized on the opportunity to expand into the virtual world to attract more customers as well as for independent business owners to try their hand in the Second Life market.

There are several companies that exist in Second Life that are exclusive only to the SL world. One example would be Mischief, a store designed by Jennifer Grinnell, who previously worked in the furniture industry. (Craig 1/2).   Also there are many companies that saw the advantage of advertisement in the virtual world, with the prime example being Nike.  The Nike “swoosh” is one of the most recognizable symbols in the world and it is no different in Second Life either. Conversely, Mischief is not as well known as Nike, it must rely on a different means of business: the individual. More specifically making sure that the needs of the individual customer are met so that they can be a repeat customer in the future.

            Upon arriving at the Nike Store, I immediately knew where it was: there was a large red swoosh on the storefront.  The swoosh is a very recognizable symbol since its creation in 1971 By Carolyn Davidson.(Kini), as can be seen in the first photo below. As soon as I entered the store I noticed that there was a variety of colors advertising different types of athletic clothing ranging from shoes to hats and other sorts of athletic apparel. The floors are made from plain wood, with the walls being made from simple bricks showing a clear contrast between the two.  Other observations were that there was no attendant or any type of clerk at the help desk, however there was a floating balloon above one of the cash registers and when it was clicked upon, it merely informed me that for further information I was to IM a certain individual to gain more information. Upon further investigation this was not a a balloon at all, but actually a bot made by the company to attend to customers.  I also noted that all the shoes were in a certain area, all the athletic clothing was in one and that any types of accessories were in a different part of the store.  In fact the whole store was rather Spartan in its layout, with the walls being plain and the floors being made of wood.  Also the amount of commercial traffic coming in and out of the Nike store was minimal compared to that of other stores. So far the only other stores that I have visited are the freebie stores on the intro islands, as well as a car dealership, so at this point in time it is difficult to properly assess the amount of traffic in each store.  It was as if Nike almost expected the customer to know who they were rather than attend to them.  I also noted that Nike was selling basic items for outrageous prices such as 99 Lindens for a pair of shoes and an upwards of 300 Lindens for athletic apparel. I saw some clothing of similar quality in the freebie stories but I realized why the prices were so high: The consumer was paying for name brand recognition, for what the “swoosh” represents than what it actually is: a pair of shoes.

            As soon as I teleported to the Mischief Island, I got a completely different feel for the company. The external buildings were lavish, made of grey stone with shingled roofs, different types of shrubbery and walkways leading into the store. The first key difference that I noted: the name Mischief was proudly and prominently displayed right above the doorway, so there was no doubt about the identity of the store. Immediately upon entering the store, I was greeted by a sales representative asking me if they could be of any service in finding anything such as clothing by style, price or gender. I replied that I would like to shop by gender and I was immediately directed over to the men’s section, which turned out to be an entirely different store by itself. The décor was much different compared to that of Nike. The clothes here in Mischief were all placed in different sections according to style and there was really a sense of organization and that the company had a genuine concern about the customer as a whole, rather than seeing them as just a potential dollar sign. As a customer, I felt that the mood as a whole was different in Mischief. The atmosphere in general was a much brighter and positive one, with large bay windows allowing light to shine into the store and make the customer feel welcome and that the store actually values the presence of the customer rather than merely tolerate them until they buy something. It makes sense now that Mischief would need to interact more with the customers because they actually depend on them for their daily business and they must make the customer feel comfortable so that they will be repeat customers, which is exactly what they did for me.

            Both marketing strategies are effective; one takes an up close and personal approach with drawing the consumer into the store and engaging them so that they will come back later. Nike however relies on prior knowledge of the brand and the company in the real world, and has a more corporate attitude as can be seen by the lack of personal connection between the customer and the bots that run the store, Overall I’d say both methods are effective, but I much prefer the Mischief approach where I as a customer feel taken care of and cared about and this will make me be a repeat customer in the future or whenever I have enough lindens to afford that new suit that I am looking for.

This shows how prominent the Nike Swoosh is as part of their advertising. The car out front also serves a purpose of curiosity to the customer to draw them in.  

This picture shows the layout of the Nike store, the basic flooring and the plain bricks with the only colors being the advertisements for the shoes. 

The external view of Mischief is much different than compared to Nike. Although there is a logo, the store also looks like a more shopper friendly environment compared to that of the warehouse that the Nike store resembled. The name is prominent

“Nike.”  2008.  Nike Inc.  22 September 2008 <http://www.nike.com/nikeos/p/nike /en_US/ 

Buerkle, Tom.  "Going for Gold."  Institutional Investor.  33.3 (April 2008):  26-7. WilsonWeb. University of Richmond Libraries, Richmond, VA.  September 28th 2008 <http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/results/getResults.jhtml?_DARGS=/hww/results/results_common.jhtml. 20#record_5> 

Craig, Kathleen.              “Making a Living in Second Life.”  Wicked 8 February 2006.  24 September 24, 2008 <http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds /news/2006/02/70153> 

Kini, Denish. "Nike Logo- Design and History". Dinesh Kini's Homepage.

September 25, 2008.

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