Marketing Communications

THE SOCIAL MEDIA REVOLUTION 533

With 900 million users, and nearly 500 daily active users, Facebook takes the major part of

the online social media advertising budget. Th is is comprehensible seeing the opportunities

that Facebook gives to marketers to advertise:^222

z 900 million potential customers;

z targeting possibilities by location, age and interest;

z simple image, text-based and even video ads;

z ads to mobile devices (425 million users are using Facebook on their mobiles);

z larger ads on the side of the homepage that users see when they fi rst log in;

z ads that run inside the Facebook Newsfeed;

z ads that appear when a user logs out of Facebook.^223

Referring back to the Kaplan and Haenleins classifi cation^224 of social media, there are still two

boxes that need clarifi cation: virtual game worlds a n d virtual social worlds.

Virtual worlds

Virtual worlds are platforms that replicate a 3-D environment in which users can appear in the

form of personalised avatars and interact with each other as they would in real life. In this

sense, virtual worlds are probably the ultimate manifestation of social media, as they provide

the highest level of social presence and media richness. Virtual worlds come in two forms:

gaming and social.

Virtual game worlds

Th ese require their users to behave according to strict rules in the context of a massively

multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). Since standard game consoles like

Microsoft ’s X-Box and Sony’s PlayStation allow simultaneous play among a multitude of users

around the globe, in recent years these virtual game worlds have gained popularity. Th e

world’s most subscribed MMORPG is the cod-medieval ‘World of Warcraft ’, which had

around 10.2 million subscribers in December 2011 but peaked around 12 million back in late

2010.^225 Th e rules of such games are very strict, which limits the degree of self-presentation
and self-disclosure. Similar to the idea of product placement in movies, brands can have
in-game advertising as well as leverage the high popularity of virtual game worlds in more
traditional communications campaigns. Japanese automotive giant Toyota used pictures
and mechanics from the ‘World of Warcraft ’ application in its Tundra commercial to reach
the 2.5 million players in the USA alone.^226

Virtual social worlds

Th is second group of virtual worlds allows inhabitants to choose their behaviour more freely

and essentially live a virtual life similar to their real life. Again, virtual social world users

appear in the form of avatars and interact in a 3-D virtual environment. A good example of

such a virtual world is the Second Life application, founded in 2003. Besides doing everything

that is possible in real life (speaking, walking, sunbathing, etc.) Second Life also allows users

to create content (such as design virtual clothing or furniture items) and to sell this content

to others in exchange for ‘local’ currencies. Since 2010 Second Life saw a drastic decline in

the number of concurrent active users and had to lay off a substantial number of its staff.

Other virtual social worlds like Th e Sims Online (owned by Electronic Arts) still seem to be

quite popular among teens with many opportunities for marketers to include branded items.

In the past H&M had a shop with a virtual 3-D clothes collection and, in May 2012, Diesel

announced the launch of Th e Sims 3 Diesel pack stuff full of Diesel-branded apparel,

accessories and furniture.

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