July 9, 2007 by Nic Mitham
Coca-Cola, trademarks and brand advocacy. A story that has gained much coverage in recent weeks is the case involving Coca-Cola and a well-known Second Life content creator, Vint Falken.
The story relates to a Coke-themed outfit made by Vint. There’s been much discussion about the use of registered trademarks on an unauthorised basis - this being the most prominent to date. The outfit, available to buy in SL, was also promoted on SLexhange (a website for retailer in SL). The outfit was originally removed from this website in light of trademark infringement (apparently a decision made by SLexchange, not Coca-Cola). Then, SLexchange released the following:
‘We have spoken to Coca-Cola and they have released their trademark to SL Merchants. Therefore, any of your items that were disabled on June 7, 2007 have been retrieved.’
Quite a turn-around.
So, is this a sign that real-world brands are simply giving up trying to police their brands in virtual worlds? Not at all. There’s a far more strategic reason for adopting this strategy. The reason behind Coke’s decision was originally explained in the K Zero Luxury Brands case study back in March 2007. Here is an extract from this case study.
One critical factor to be considered by brand owners is the fact that their products probably already exist in Second Life.
A key characteristic residing within large numbers of Second Life residents is the high degree of brand advocacy. Explore a little into Second Life and you will find virtual shops selling unofficial but high quality versions of brands and products. These people in some some cases are generating revenue streams from this activity.
On the one hand, this activity is potential illegal but for now loosely explainable by the terms and conditions of the Linden Lab IP clause - all content is the property of its owner.
A more proactive approach here is to remember that the majority of residents doing this do not make a living out of it - they do it in the first place for their love of the brand. This has to be leveraged.
Embrace these people, get them involved in your brands and let them continue to be brand ambassadors, in an official way.
This is a smart move from Coca-Cola. They’ve realised that allowing residents to work with their brand will yield far greater opportunities than if they prevented brand usage. Coke works hard to leverage their brand in the real world and are now opening up the options for their brand to be extended virtually - an importantly - by other people. In a way, this is user-generated NPD.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Herman Miller Fights Trademark Infringement in Second Life with “Get Real” Campaign
October 8th, 2007 by Benjamin Duranske
Virtual World News alerted me to this story: Herman Miller (who makes the best, albeit most expensive, chairs in the world) is fighting knock-offs in Second Life by giving away the real thing. Well, the virtual real thing. But not a knockoff. You get the idea.
From the VWN article:
Furniture designer and manufacturer Herman Miller announced that it would be entering Second Life with help from Rivers Run Red. In the real world, Herman Miller has taken aim at knockoff products with its “Get Real” campaign, and it will be bringing the same principle to the virtual world.
It will be offering a collection of 15 pieces for L$300-L$850, or approximately U.S. $1.40 to $3.50, but users that have bought knockoffs in the past will get the new pieces for free. … Those taking advantage of this limited-time, honor-based offer need only delete their old inventory and then “Get Real.”
And from Herman Miller’s in-world advertisement:
Herman Miller is pleased to give you the opportunity to own authentic virtual versions of some of our products. Each is designed to represent as closely as possible its real-world counterpart
This means three things to me. First, big companies are now — finally — starting to pay attention to trademark abuse in Second Life. Second, some of them, like Herman Miller, are going about it the right way, embracing the virtual world and trying to deal with the problem creatively. And third, my Second Life avatar ‘Benjamin Noble’ has a nicer chair than I do right now. A L$500 sixty-three prim chair, but a nicer chair nonetheless. And yeah, I paid for it.
Virtual World News alerted me to this story: Herman Miller (who makes the best, albeit most expensive, chairs in the world) is fighting knock-offs in Second Life by giving away the real thing. Well, the virtual real thing. But not a knockoff. You get the idea.
From the VWN article:
Furniture designer and manufacturer Herman Miller announced that it would be entering Second Life with help from Rivers Run Red. In the real world, Herman Miller has taken aim at knockoff products with its “Get Real” campaign, and it will be bringing the same principle to the virtual world.
It will be offering a collection of 15 pieces for L$300-L$850, or approximately U.S. $1.40 to $3.50, but users that have bought knockoffs in the past will get the new pieces for free. … Those taking advantage of this limited-time, honor-based offer need only delete their old inventory and then “Get Real.”
And from Herman Miller’s in-world advertisement:
Herman Miller is pleased to give you the opportunity to own authentic virtual versions of some of our products. Each is designed to represent as closely as possible its real-world counterpart
This means three things to me. First, big companies are now — finally — starting to pay attention to trademark abuse in Second Life. Second, some of them, like Herman Miller, are going about it the right way, embracing the virtual world and trying to deal with the problem creatively. And third, my Second Life avatar ‘Benjamin Noble’ has a nicer chair than I do right now. A L$500 sixty-three prim chair, but a nicer chair nonetheless. And yeah, I paid for it.
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