Business in Virtual Worlds, Second Life

Linden Lab Seeking New PR Agency – What Do You Want to See?

Linden Lab is conducting a review of its Public Relations Agency. Currently with Lewis Global Public Relations, the account is up for review.

Now, I don’t really know a lot about the PR world. Most of the agency types I meet are incredibly perky and have incredible hair – not unlike avatars in Second Life. And while I’m sure that Lewis has done heroic work dealing with everything from Sky TV sex scandals to managing the explosion and implosion of major brands in Second Life, perhaps a shake-up is in order as Linden Lab continues its ambitious plans to ramp up into becoming a, well, a virtual goods slash social media slash enterprise slash game-changing platform of the future and all that.

Whether the Lab continues to work with Lewis after the review is pure speculation, but I can’t help wondering whether, regardless of the outcome, they can refocus their PR efforts to include a few other elements of the PR/marketing mix:

- Pivot away from the business press into consumer media.
- Do a few focused PR efforts to consumer verticals – why doesn’t Vogue cover fashion in Second Life? Why not do outreach to the architecture magazines and get a spread in Architecture Digest? How about pitching a special spread in a major art magazine?
- Get some new ‘blood’ on the streets. Stop sending Mark and Philip out to do all the press (or if you do send them out, get them to talk about Second Life instead of Linden Lab). Cultivate a speaker’s bureau and in-world content creators who can do press interviews, whether in person or virtually.
- Provide services to the in-world content creators. Give Resident creators kits that provide them with the tools they need to do their OWN press. Set up a “Second Life Press Bureau” and hot line where residents can access resources or, if they have the chance to do PR, can get some quick thoughts or media training from folks at the PR firm (especially if the media is high profile enough).
- Provide a transparent clipping service to Residents. I know there’s a Wiki hidden away somewhere, but it would be good if the PR agency recognized that there’s a whole world of people who create content and rely on coverage of Second Life. They should start treating in-world content creators as part of their clients. Create a special “SL in the news” update e-mail or something, and provide rudimentary metrics on number of views, mentions, and breakdown by territory.
- Execute my brilliant “Bring Your Avatar to Work Day” idea. HAHA.

What would you have Linden Lab’s PR firm focus on? What would you like to see them do?

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