As Virtual Worlds gather momentum to establish the foundation for Web 4.0 (refer to AI 1) it seems there is a growing number of strategic consultants emerging. The latest is World and Games.
The following details have been extracted from Virtual World News.
Worlds and Games announced its public launch today as a strategy and services firm for brands looking to make their way into virtual worlds and games as well as for the developers themselves.
The company, operated by Mark Friedler and Karim Sanjabi, has been in stealth mode since April and says it is already working with four North American clients, some which may see campaigns launched this year, and in discussions with various platforms. One difference, they say, between themselves and other more traditional agencies is that they work with a broad spectrum of partners for platforms as well as farming out team work to subcontractors instead of retaining in-house help.
"A big differentiator is that Karim and I are the principals and we're working with teams of people we've worked with previously to do media planning and execution," said Friedler. "We pass along those really focused smaller companies directly to our clients. They get access to super-focused people at a much lower rate than what they'd do with a larger agency. The strategy isn't, 'Hey you should do this,' but 'here's the steps and here are the parties that can get you there with a lower cost.'"
That strategy, they say is already paying off for clients.
"A music company is working on optioning a virtual world later this year," said Sanjabi. "Originally when we got involved with them, they were working with a company that was really invested in having them take a bunch of solutions because these guys represented them. We had our initial meeting and said there are these other guys that we work with and could save you a lot of money. Two months later, now, they've signed on with those guys. With our expertise in interactive marketing, we're there to come up with what we think would be the best execution. Right off the bat, they saved well north of 1 million dollars by going in the direction we're talking about. And their focus is changed from being a content developer from being a software developer."
Friedler and Sanjabi come from game backgrounds, with Friedler's most recent firm, GameDaily, being acquired by AOL in 2006. Sanjabi previously founded digital marketing company Freestyle Interactive, which was acquired in 2003 by UK Aegis Group. That background, they say, is helping them plan the right strategies for different clients.
"We're doing something with a film publisher who has a new IP coming out," said Friedler. "That won't see the light of day until the middle of '09. We saved the film publisher millions of dollars. They were going to do an Xbox game so that the audience could engage with the characters. We said, 'let's do a virtual world, and if the virtual world is successful and people engage, your video game effort will be even more successful.' And most importantly, they now have a realistic timeline with all these different developers."
The important part, says Sanjabi, is picking the right enviroment or environments.
"We're looking at the target audience they're going after and the reaction they're targeting and looking at what's in the tool belt," he explained.
"We're seeing a lot of convergence. In the past, someone would sponsor a game or put an ad in Need For Spped 4. They weren't putting a target where the rest of the audience would interact. The difference between a standalone PC Game and the virtual worlds are the intersections between long-lasting play, the social network experience, and the interactive experience of just normal websites. We're trying to take an approach that I think the clients are looking for and say, 'Here's how we can get your audience at many different touchpoints.'"
