Pontiac Is Getting into Real Estate – Virtually

On October 20^th Pontiac announced that it was planning to become the first auto brand with presence in Second Life. For those of you unfamiliar with the gaming world, Second Life is a partly subscription-based, privately-owned 3-D game developed by Linden Lab, which allows players to live a virtual, “second” life free of the constraints of the reality. Today this virtual world has more than one million “inhabitants” and the number of players is increasing by 20 percent month over month. To enhance the feeling of reality, players in Second Life have developed a virtual economy, buying and selling staff, including real estate property, using Linden dollars, the official currency of the game, which can be obtained not only by participating in the game but also by using actual credit cards.

It seems Pontiac’s advertising agency, Leo Burnett Detroit, discovered the great potential for product placement this virtual world offers and made sure that Pontiac is the first auto brand to make use of them. In a partnership with the award-winning branded entertainment agency Campfire (New York City and Orlando), it developed a six-region land mass called Motorati Island, which will give car-lovers the opportunity to create their own community. To allow them to do that, Pontiac will offer free land for players.

If you are a Pontiac fan and you have an avatar in Second Life, all you should do to get your own piece of Motorati Island is go to MotoratiLife.com, the island’s micro site, and submit a proposal for your project devoted to car culture. Pontiac will review all proposals and appropriate land accordingly to Second Lifers. In November, players who had their projects approved can actually start implementing them. A grand opening event, leveraging several of Pontiac’s current media assets and partnerships, will accompany the brand’s launch into the game. The ultimate goal of the project is to “create a vibrant car culture within the community.”

According to Mark-Hans Richer, marketing director at Pontiac, their mission is “to create a place for car lovers that doesn't exist today.” However, the car manufacturer does not want its participation in Second Life to be limited to pure marketing. Rather they want to enhance the experience from the game by empowering players to create their own unique and meaningful experience. As Richer states “We're just providing the inspiration."

What is more, Pontiac will not limit its presence in Second Life to the community based projects. The car manufacturer will create its own presence by opening and operating a virtual Pontiac dealership where Second Lifers will have the opportunity to purchase customizable versions of the newly introduced Pontiac Solstice GXP. After they have designed your own Solstice players can then go ahead and test drive it on a high-performance test track. Proud Pontiac owners can even showcase their cars in a public gallery. To go with the dealership, on Motorati Island there would also be a replica of the Pontiac Garage music stage in New York City's Times Square where real artists, in the form of their Second Life avatars, will have the opportunity to perform live.

This campaign, developed by Leo Burnett Detroit, is an excellent example of an integrated marketing communications (IMC) program which aims to reach customers with a relevant message the way they want it, where and when they want it.