Adidas marketing reaches Second Life

I must admit, I try many things online (and mobile for that matter). I figure that I need to understand the space as a consumer myself to be able to understand the consumer better. That means I've tried online shopping, email newsgroups, social networking, business networking, online tv, mobile tv, blogging, moblogging, tagging, ebay, instant messenger etc etc. However, much as I try, I can't get into virtual reality. I know it's big and it's popular and lots of people seem to be living out their lives through their virtuality. However, I just can't get into it. I've tried Habbo Hotel (ok, too teeny-bop for me) and There.com, albeit sometime ago. Maybe it's because I'm not that much into computer or videogames? Maybe I haven't given it enough of a go? It just seems a bit odd to me to want to spend your hard-earned cash on virtual real-estate that lives on a server somewhere. I feel the same way about chatrooms too.

However, this virtual living is HUGE and shouldn't be underestimated. There are folks who make their real-life living out of selling virtual stuff. And I really like the sound of this campaign from Adidas where they are using Second Life (one of the biggest virtual reality worlds), to promote its new Microride trainer. You can buy virtual Microride trainers to give you extra bounce and there's a bounce floor where you can test them out.

I think this sounds like a well thought through campaign and more interesting than the usual sponsorship you might normally expect in these areas.