This week, it seems that all the marketing publications I subscribe to are talking about Virtual Marketing. In Europe.
Apparently, there is some crazy growth in SL going on across the pond, and UK advertisers aren’t afraid of spending some serious marketing budgets to get in on the action.
According to MediaPost’s Tameka Kee:
In March, 61% of active residents–which comScore loosely defines as users who downloaded the software and “participated in some Second Life activity”–came from Europe. So while a majority of the in-world brand initiatives have originated from the U.S., the messages are increasingly reaching an audience on the other side of the Atlantic.
Also, take note of her reference to Coke’s Virtual Thirst program. I guess I wasn’t the first one to suggest it (see previous post – Not Just Product Placement).
And complimenting that info, eMarketer’s Paul Verna states:
In-game advertising in the UK is poised for rapid growth, according to the UK Internet Advertising Bureau’s “IAB In-Game Advertising: The UK Market” report.
He also includes data that predicts that in-game marketing spend will be just about $2 billion worldwide by 2011.
