• by Staff Writers , September 6, 2007

Advertisers turn to immersive games.

CAMPFIRE / LEO BURNETT DETROIT
Motorati Island By Pontiac In Second Life

Leo Burnett: Matthew Buese, Account Supervisor; Richard Roden, Account Supervisor; Tor Myhren, Exec Creative Director; Mikel Monello, Executive Creative Director; Brian Cain, Creative Director; Jenn Mann, Producer; Steve Wax, Narratologist

How does one build a 112-acre island theme park dedicated to cars? In Campfire's case, they asked the community to do it in Second Life. After getting things started with a Pontiac dealership in the center of the island, they invited community members to develop the land however they chose, as long as it had something to do with cars. The island now has race tracks, clothing stores, nightclubs, and a drive-in theatre. Since the launch, there have been over 50,000 visitors to the island, and the community continues to have ongoing events such as zombie races.

THE COCA-COLA COMPANY
The Coca-Cola Company / Virtual Thirst

Coca-Cola: Mark Greatrex, Michael Donnelly, David Vanderpoel, Joe Jaffe, CC Chapman
Affiliated agencies: Crayon, Millions of Us, A Simple Theory

For coca-cola's foray into second life, the company asked residents to design the ultimate Coca-Cola experience machine. Submitted designs were then voted on by an Advisory Board comprised of "veteran" Second Life residents, and the winning design was then made into a reality by a team of developers. By working with the community every step along the way, Coca-Cola was able to integrate into Second Life without being artificial or forced.

* WINNER *
CONVERSEON
Plant It 2020 / "Second Chance Trees"

Converseon: Rob Key, CEO; Constantin Basturea, Director, Social Media Strategy; Paull Young, Senior Account Executive

Translating virtual activism into real world results is a difficult task, but that's exactly what Converseon decided to do with their Second Chance Trees campaign. Leveraging the social media landscape of Second Life, they created an in-game forest where players could buy virtual trees to plant for about $1.50. The catch? Each tree planted in the virtual world reflected a tree that would then be planted somewhere within an endangered rainforest area in the real world. Thousands of avatars have visited the island, and hundreds of trees have been planted, making a digital difference in an analog world.