(* Source: Niels Bellaar *)

Niels says...

We love it when the online world and the offline world come together and share. It’s what we have seen from exciting brands like Red Bull and Apple and we believe many brands have the opportunity to port their offline activities to the online world. And today Diesel is doing such a thing.

At this very moment the world’s hottest fashion designers and brands are showing their fall 2010 collections at the semi-annual New York Fashion Week. Among these is Diesel who will show their Diesel Black Gold fall 2010 collection today at 5pm.

Many want to attend this fashion show, but only a few actually can. From Apple we learn that major offline presentations (the Apple Keynotes) are followed by many via streaming video. At the Diesel Black Gold dotcom you can tune into the live broadcast of the runway show, giving you the opportunity to be among the first to know about this fall’s hottest designs.

In addition Diesel invited not only their offline press relations to the runway show, but also several online fashion influencers. By doing so Diesel shows the importance of having an online presence and closes the gap between traditional journalists and bloggers.

Discussing what you’ve just seen at the live broadcast can be done at Diesel’s Facebook and Twitter channels. It really looks like Diesel is moving away from traditional marketing and towards a model which is more content driven, engaged and focused on consumer dialogue.

Posted by brian tiong at 09:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source : Jordan Chark *)

Avatar creator Meez is back in the news this week, but there are dozens more avatar creation tools gunning for this market. Today we attempt an overview of that market: please add more suggestions in the comment section.

Weblin- Create an avatar and use it as your virtual self within web pages in real-time, interacting with other Weblin users who share the same interests.

Meez.com- Create a 3D animated avatar for export directly to most web profiles, blogs, etc.

Second Life- Use this extremely popular virtual world to do just about anything, but first, you have to create your avatar. Here, avatars can be customized almost entirely, with plenty of room to create a most accurate likeness of yourself.

Mypictr- Use any image and resize, crop, customize, and export it to many other web 2.0 social networking sites and profiles, like Facebook, and Digg.

Gizmoz- Create, animate, and share photorealistic, great looking avatars, and even video clips featuring them. The animation and overall look of the avatar is sourced from a real picture, actually ending up almost like a personal CGI generator.

Mii Editor- Create your own “Mii”, the avatars characteristic of the Nintendo Wii.

Simpsons Avatar Maker- “Simpsonize yourself” by creating an avatar in the classic style of the Simpsons.

Gickr- Instantaneously create an animate gif file by either uploading your own pictures, or sourcing from Flickr.

Gravatar- Create an 80×80 pixel avatar by uploading an image which is then associated with your email address, appearing on Gravatar enabled websites and blogs without additional effort.

IMVU- Create and dress up your personal avatar which can then be used in their virtual chat-rooms or with their visual messenger client.

fix8- Create, animate, and dress up your avatar primarily through interfacing with your webcam in order to capture real movement and look.

Zwinky- Customize your personal cartoon avatar and share it across the web.

Digibody’s Caricature Maker- Use the components of a caricature to create your unique caricature avatar.

Faketown- A pixel-art, avatar based, MMORPG, similar to second life, but much less realistically.

DoppelMe- Simply assemble an apparently “hand drawn” avatar image for use anywhere.

SitePal- A pay-based 3D, animated avatar creation service aimed towards business looking to create a personal presence on their website.

Gaia- Another avatar-based MMORPG, this one, anime-styled.

imbee- The social network for young people includes an avatar creator featuring images of animals from the National Geographic Kids library.

Myrl- A social network based on avatars in the “metaverse”, supposedly using avatars to connect with the web by virtue of collaboration. Close to it’s beta launch, this definitely looks like something to keep an eye out for.

Kaneva- Yet another avatar-based virtual world, Kaneva looks like a valid Second Life alternative.

Blogscoped- Chat with others in this virtual, visual, chatroom, which makes efficient use of user avatars. While it may not appear to be that “web 2.0″ it uses PHP, MySQL, Ajax, and the Google API, which effectively categorize it as so.

MojiKan- A somewhat odd MMORPG for customizable 3D pet avatars.

Frenzoo- Customize and use one of their well-designed avatars in chats as well as a variety of other environments.

Clickbeurs (Dutch)- Create an avatar and apply for a job through virtually chatting with potential employers, a somewhat odd idea.

Mr. Picassohead- Create stunning, Picasso-like paintings which are easily transformed into avatars.

Whyrobbierocks- Create a “stereotypical” avatar for use on various social networking sites, IMs, etc.

Weeworld- Interact with some quite uniquely designed avatars in a virtual world primarily based on chats and mini-games.

Voki- Create an avatar, record your voice, and share. A possible alternative to something like Sitepal, but geared more towards a less-business-oriented audience.

Honorable Mention

While all of the sites (except for a couple, added for their significantly customizable avatars and creation engines) above are primarily based upon the principle of avatar creation and customization, I’d like to quickly mention the importance of your “avatar”, or probably more aptly named character in many popular MMORPGs. The likes of which are probably most easily recognized in games like World of Warcraft.

Posted by brian tiong at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source : Kristen Nicole *)

There.com has partnered with CosmoGIRL to bring its brand into the virtual world. This will be a “physical” virtual location where users can come to a dance party, fashion shows, spa makeovers, play in photo booths, shop for clothing and accessories, and visit live events held by CosmoGIRL. The extension of branding in this way is a good format for the publication to use, considering the growing popularity of web-based virtual worlds and the niche audience of teen girls that are found on There.com.

This could prove to be a better alternative for branding than Second Life, which has a broader user base. It could also prove to be a good distribution channel for other brands looking to market to teen girls in a virtual manner, as they can offer digital goods to be doled out via CosmoGIRL without the necessity of launching a full-fledged virtual marketing effort on their own. It will be interesting to see if a virtual venue of this nature could do better than an online network like Flip, which hasn’t met company expectations for growth. CosmoGIRL’s virtual playland opens up at There.com on November 20, 2007.

In other virtual world news, SceneCaster has recently signed on Turbo Squid for the provision of 3D objects to be used in its graphic creations, and Multiverse has signed a similar deal with Google 3D Warehouse.

Posted by brian tiong at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source : PSFK *)

Alisson  Mooney says :

Kids are consumers (virtually)! That was the message on the “New School” panel at the YPulse Tween Mashup on Friday. Speakers from Stardoll, WhyVille, and Cartoon Doll Emporium all recounted that young users of their virtual worlds wanted brands brought into their online environments.

Mattias Mikshe, CEO of Stardoll, said that users were begging for real world brands (“everything from Gap to Gucci.”) This is what led them to create “StarPlaza,” an in-world mall stocked with virtual brands (they now have 9). LVMH-owned Sephora and DKNY just became the first real world brand to set up shop there (featuring the same items as the stores). Cartoon Doll Emporium, a similar “paper doll” site, is also working with offline brands.

The virtual world meets social network WhyVille has 3,000 different lines of clothing—by 3,000 different girls. CEO Jim Bower says they want to have a Whyville store with the designs from 12 year olds. But kids in WhyVille aren’t immune to brand fever: one group of kids actually created M&Ms costumes for their avatars. Over in WeeWorld, users “consistently asking for brands to better express themselves,” says Marketing and Editorial Director, Maura Welch. “By choosing to wear the assets,” she says “the users are endorsing the brands to their friends.” According to the site’s latest food and drink survey, users’ WeeMees (avatars) were jonesing for some Sprite, Gatorade and Cheerios. As it is, they can already pimp themselves out in Armani sunglasses while they pop Skittles.

According to Mikshe, the kids can “distinguish between being marketed to and adding value.” Or maybe the marketing has just done its job. The demand is there for the brand names, creating a pull rather than a push scenario. And now that these brands can provide utility online, they are becoming more and more integrated into the lives of young consumers.

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(* Source : Reuters *)

Michele Gershberg says :

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Young girls waiting to grow into full-time fashionistas will get a chance to experiment with couture as designer Donna Karan and cosmetics chain Sephora open shop in the virtual play-dress world of Stardoll.

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(* Source : Michael Estrin *)

Now that fashion designer Giorgio Armani has opened a store in Second Life, there really is no excuse for a poorly dressed avatar.

According to a Reuters report, Armani's Second Life store will allow residents to purchase virtual clothing using the site's Linden Dollar currency. Second Life residents also can purchase real clothing with U.S. dollars by going from Armani's virtual store to his website.

Armani, who will attend his store's virtual opening by sending a well-dressed avatar, joins a slew of companies that have embraced Second Life as a marketing tool. Most recently IBM opened up a customer service center in the virtual world, while HBO has mined the site for content by optioning a Second Life film.

With growing interest in virtual worlds coming from brands, Google has taken notice. Early this week, rumors surfaced that Google may be working on its on virtual world to rival Second Life.

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(* Source : Nextgreatthing.com*)

Sherrie Hui says : 

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(* Source: PSFK *)

Christine Huang says :

South Korea’s Shinsegae Department Store is planning on opening the world’s first “advanced virtual reality fashion store,” where customers will be able to use a smart card holding an avatar of themselves (with their real dimensions) that can be used to try on items in the virtual shop and even get them custom-fit. According to iFashion, the virtual store and fitting room site, the joint project between the Clothing Technical Centre at Konkuk University and clothing manufacturer FnC Kolon Corp with support from the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy aims to revolutionize virtual and online shopping. Jung Dong-chang, head of the Ministry’s textile industry team, claims that “anyone with this card will be able to easily try on and buy clothes using mobile phones and computers,” and that people with access to others’ smart cards could easily gift their loved ones with clothing without having to worry they’ll be the wrong fit. The project is still in the experimental stage, according to iFashion, but FnC Kolon hopes to have its virtual shop open by November.

[via Communities Dominate Brands Blog]

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(* Source: Mashable *)

Kristen Nicole says :

Stardoll, the virtual paper doll social network, has reached a milestone with the registration of 10 million members.

Reported by comScore as being the number one site for girls age 9 to 17, Stardoll has definitely become a hub for teenage activity online. To celebrate this achievement, Hilary Duff is welcoming the 10 millionth member with a personal video congratulation, and a Stardoll expert stylist will work with that same member to personalize their suite and build up their virtual wardrobe. This lucky member will also get 1000 stardollars for buying virtual fashion goods on the site, and will be featured on the site’s homepage and magazine. All Stardoll members will get virtual goodie bags full of prizes, including perfume, chocolates, and Seventeen’s current issue.

With Stardoll recently launching real brand fashion boutiques in its online virtual world, it’s no wonder that the site has done so well for itself. The level of integration between the real and virtual world is appealing to teens and tweens, and is proving a good breeding ground for particular marketing campaigns as well.

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(*Source: BusinessWeek *)

Reena Jana says:

The social-networking site's new fashion community might benefit big, established brands and fledgling designers alike

Since its launch in 2003, social-networking site MySpace (NWS) has been associated with music fans, as well as teens and twentysomethings seeking to meet or contact friends online, but now the site hopes to court another trendy group: fashionistas. On Aug. 28, MySpace launches a fashion community just in time for the spring 2008 runway shows that will take place during New York's Fashion Week, Sept. 5-12.

The move reflects MySpace's strategy of identifying the communities of interest that have grown organically and the building official member communities around them, turning once-grassroots groups into content platforms for old-media companies and consumer brands. But will the top-down approach work? And if so, who will be the big winners—the established corporations or the unknown designers trying to make their names among peer-driven social networks?

Pairing Partner and User Content

These are the questions that surround MySpace's fashion community, whose no-frills beta-version launch last September was timed to coincide with the 2006 New York Fashion Week shows. The new, redesigned landing page is appropriately stylish. It features a highly textured set of images, including a price-tag graphic featuring a daily fashion trend and tactile images of fabric swatches. In addition, a series of video screens of varying shapes shows interviews with bands and stars—including actress/musician Hilary Duff—who talk about their own dressing habits. Slick content from big-media partners such as InStyle magazine, including behind-the-scenes footage of photo shoots and how-to guides for applying makeup, is positioned near user-generated videos submitted by aspiring designers.

More here 

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(* Source: Christopher Healy *)

FIRST THINGS FIRST Tom Faulkner, 31, outfits his fighter for a wrestling match.

AFTER a long shift at the television station where he works as master control operator, Tom Faulkner of Clarksville, Ind., can often be found at his Xbox 360, engaged in his favorite wrestling game, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw. It will be an hour or two, though, before Mr. Faulkner, a 31-year-old father of two, plays a match — if he decides to do so at all.

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VIRTUAL CLOSET The character-creation mode of Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground includes a Nixon jacket, an Adio shoe and pants by Quiksilver.

Flicking the thumb stick of his controller, he quickly bypasses the built-in roster of World Wrestling Entertainment professionals and heads straight for his favorite feature of the game, the “Create-A-Superstar” mode, where Mr. Faulkner excels as a virtual fashion designer.

Will Mr. Faulkner attire his brawler in a classic spandex unitard or a Brooks Brothers-style button-down shirt and blazer? If he opts for one of the menu’s 20 styles of tights, which of the 45 patterns will he choose? And which if any of the 346 graphical add-ons — from Gothic crosses to butterflies — will he use to adorn his wrestler’s costume? And what kinds of tops, socks, shoes, gloves, hats, jackets and jewelry should his grappler wear? Should Mr. Faulkner design a separate outfit for him to don backstage?

While men like Mr. Faulkner are more likely to be found reading Electronic Gaming Monthly than the latest issue of Men’s Vogue, customizable fashion is playing an increasingly large role in the video games they play. Female-friendly games like the Sims and online virtual worlds like Second Life are already well known for offering an almost infinite wardrobe from which users can choose their characters’ couture.

But playing dress-up in a digital world is not just for the girls. Testosterone-heavy male-targeted games now feature costuming elements, allowing young men to express themselves through clothing in a way no traditional male pastime has allowed before.

More here 

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(* Source: Sam Cassels *) 

TOKYO STYLE CLASH was a project by Publicis Japan for their client BEAMS, done in collaboration with Nick Knights ShowStudio.  It was a chance for Toyko’s most stylish to battle it out and find out if they were HOT or NOT?  A roster of 9 international and local photographers set up studio in the front window of BEAMS' over the course of three days.  With queues reminiscent of the opening of the Apple Store in Ginza, over 1,400 people showcased their personal styles in preparation for the Style Clash!

All the images were then used to create the interactive game HOT OR NOT which randomly paired contestants in the Style Clash that was played out over six weeks on SHOWstudio.com. The celebrity panel along with the voters from all around the world collectively decided who really has the hottest look in Tokyo!!

I hear from Sam that over 1.5 million people played the game.

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