TRENDHUNTER MAGAZINE on IMAX in Second Life: "The company was able to reach 15,000 individuals in their target demographic. Now that's some innovative marketing!”
President of IMAX Film Entertainment, which promoted IMAX screenings of the latest Harry Potter movie in Second Life, and as he told it, doing so wasn't a gimmick, or an experiment with mixed results. No-- according to him, it was instrumental to the movie's success on the company's chain of giant screens.
New World Notes on IMAX in Second Life: "I was skeptical, for the company behind the SL-based promotion, This Second Marketing, was frankly one I hadn't heard of before. But somehow, in the space of a week, the firm managed (by the Reporter's account) 15,099 unique avatar engagements, the most for any single one-on-one SL campaign."
"... [This] turned out better than I expected. Thank you so much for participating and helping to position IMAX exactly as we could have hoped in this piece. I hope your phone starts ringing off the hook today from Hollywood’s big wigs looking to put your fabulous skills to work!!!" Maggie Huntington, Marketing & Special Projects Leader; IMAX
"As far as everyone can tell, this was the highest one-on-one branded interaction known to date that ever took place on Second Life," said Greg Foster, chairman and president of Imax Filmed Entertainment.”Reaching 15,000 people in exactly the demographic you're shooting over seven days is sort of hitting the marketing bonanza." The Hollywood Reporter August 3, 2007
"A huge proportion of our opening weekend tickets came from advance Internet purchases, and a large number of those people came from interacting on Second Life," he said. "We had more than 15,000 one-on-one unique interactions on Second Life, and we captured over 15,000 avatar names. Those people virtually became walking billboards," he said, referring to the fact that whenever an avatar put on the virtual 3-D glasses, the "Potter" Imax cube appeared, spreading the viral campaign." Greg Foster, Chairman and President of Imax Filmed Entertainment, The Hollywood Reporter August 3, 2007