MTV's Nickelodeon (VIA-B) has launched their own virtual world called Nicktropolis, where children will be able to talk with Nickelodeon characters, play games, watch TV or chat online with each other if the choose to. They can create an avatar like other virtual worlds and explore the world on their own.
The children using the service won't be asked for personal information that would identify who they are when they join the Nicktropolis. Parents are also required to approve of the membership, which will be children between the ages of 6-14, although the majority will probably be in the 9-12-year-old range. Parents will also be able to disable the chat feature for added measures of safety if they so choose to.
The reason for the expected 9-12 range is because of because there is a plethora of online games targeted to that specific age group.
The users will be able to personalize their avatar and by choosing the type of hair and clothing they prefer. There will be points awarded in the world for those who play games and can be exchanged for items that they can use to decorate their own personal 3-dimensional room.
Another unique experience the children will be able to partake in is they can interact with characters like SpongeBob Squarepants and Jimmy Neutron, or they can just walk around if friend if they want to visiting the video games, amusement park or basketball court.
Concerning ads, the world will be launched without them at first, but they will be added later. "We're launching it as an ad-free site, but it's a unique advertising property," said Steve Youngwood, executive vice president of digital media at Nickelodeon. "There's clearly room for traditional banners or static ad units, but we want it to maintain integrity."
It's something worth watching if you market to this age group. Once it takes off it has a chance at being more of a branding mechanism for marketers. Of course it all depends upon whether it is readily adopted by the children or not ... and how fast.
i wolud like to join but how
Posted by: Anonymous | June 1, 2007 2:52 AM | Permalink to Comment