Below is a teaser featuring the following bods while we beaver away on the full edits…

• Sean Pillot de Chenecey, Captain Crikey
• keynote Oliver James, psychologist, author and broadcaster
• William Higham, Next Big Thing
• Dr. Nick Southgate, Grey Advertising

Thanks to guest hosts Sarah Davies, Alison Fydler and Chloe Fowler for their sterling work.

Do remember to subscribe to ResearchTalk (top left sidebar) so you get the full podcasts as soon as they’re out. And as always, feel free to embed the video on your own blog/website.

3mins | Produced @ AQR Trends Day ‘07 | More podcasts in this series

Series:Events Series:AQR Series:Trends07

During our chat, Emmi mentioned a big youth study which has now been published. Emmi was kind enough to send us a review copy, and we thought we’d share a few bits…

• LARGE: The study is very large, particularly for such an under-researched and valued audience: over 42,000 teen respondents (most aged 12-16) across 22 countries, interviewed in May 2006
• COMMUNITY: This scale is a testament to the power of good community-building – research panels could learn a lesson or two from them. For example, “They [the community] tend to treat Habbo staff members and moderators as celebrities, often creating rooms in their honour and sending them gifts at Christmas and Easter.”
• REPRESENTATIVENESS: The sample isn’t necessarily perfectly representative of all teens, but then again what sample ever is? As Emmi explained to me, “…teens with certain areas of interest, values and attitudes are more likely to use Habbo, and some groups of teens are probably not interested in Habbo at all. In some countries they are probably quite representative, but in others less so – for example in Brazil, the Habbo users are most likely from much wealthier families than the average teens and thus are not representative of Brazilian teens in general.” (ED: this is typical for many studies in Brazil, not just among teens)
• COVERAGE: Topic coverage is wide – media and brand choices etc., with an average questionnaire completion time of 33 mins
• SEGMENTATION: Part of the analysis includes a five-cluster segmentation based on the dimensions of attitude and social confidence (see chart below). In the global analysis the segments are of similar size but of course there are country differences (e.g. developed countries have a higher % of Achievers, Rebels more prominent in southern Europe and Loners in Japan)
• BRANDS: Found it interesting that Sony is way ahead of Apple in the favourite brand stakes. As Emmi notes, “…in this age group, the Playstation seems to be way more popular than the iPod.”

Below are some charts, enjoy!

CHARTS HERE…
Click thumbnails to enlarge charts

Sample size
 
 
 
 
 

Important Values
 
 
 
 
 

Attitudes to Social Issues
 
 
 
 
 

Interests
 
 
 
 
 

Sub-cultures
 
 
 
 
 

Favourite Brands
 
 
 
 
 

Segmentation
 
 
 
 
 

If you want more detail then I’m sure Emmi won’t mind you dropping her an email (emmi.kuusikko **AT** sulake **DOT** com)
Series:MarketingTalk

“Unlike other applications … Second Life has a storyline related to pretty much any press you want to talk about”

 EXCLUSIVE  You could for forgiven for not having heard of Habbo because it is aimed at teens. But with the seemingly blanket coverage it’s received in the mainstream media as well as on blogs and podcasts, you will surely have heard of Second Life. Both are online 3D virtual worlds where people interact with each other via avatars. Both are extremely popular and are experiencing rapid growth. And some of the largest brands in the world are starting to setup virtual life in Second Life. Here we learn more about them from their creators, and find out why they are so popular and what the future holds. For those unfamiliar with either of these social networks we recommend taking a quick look at their websites to get a basic feel

 STARRING 

• Emmi Kuusikko, Director of User and Market Insight, Sulake (Habbo)
• David Fleck, VP Business Development, Linden Lab (Second Life)
• Mario Menti, GMI, blog

The first conversation was recorded live at the Euro MR Event 2006

TIMELINE [30m19s]
00m00s Intro.

NOTE: Prior experience of these two free applications, and hence a basic understanding of what they look like, will enhance the listening experience.

1. Emmi Kuusikko (Habbo).
00m57s Intro to Habbo (scale, growth, turnover).
01m34s Sources of revenue.
02m54s Comparison with Second Life.
03m33s Core target group and managing individual safety.
04m36s Brands that advertise on Habbo.
05m21s Inspiration for Habbo – it started as a viral game.
06m09s Broadband as a growth driver.
06m32s Researching the need for regional customisation.
07m35s Competitors – for mindshare and for people’s time.
08m17s Average time spent in Habbo, and at what times of day.
08m50s Future developments – music, communication tools.
09m13s Key challenges – developing and advanced markets, partnerships.
09m46s Researching within the Habbo world – ‘research stations’ and ‘missions’.

Notable Mentions
Banner advertising.
Bebo.
Cyworld.
Games.
Google.
Habbo Homes.
Instant messaging (IM).
Micro payments.
MMORPG.
Music.
MySpace.
Nike.
Online teen community.
Orkut.
Research community.
Second Life.
Skype.
Social networking.
Surveys.
Teens.
The Snow War.
Tweens.
Viral.
Virtual worlds.
Youth.
YouTube.

2. David Fleck (Second Life), Mario Menti (GMI).
11m54s Intro.
12m20s Intro to Second Life – what it is, how it works.
14m18s Benefits of Second Life – webcasting with avatars.
15m24s Some brands in Second Life – BBC, Starwood Hotels, Harvard Uni.
16m00s Second Life vs. first life (i.e. reality) – policing, liaisons.
16m50s User base and growth.
17m37s Reasons for the wide media interest.
18m19s A utopian vision for Second Life.
18m49s Limitations with land.
19m27s Size of active user base.
20m29s User demographics – 31 is the median age.
21m50s Empowering the community to protect kids.
22m40s Mechanisms for community feedback.
23m01s GMI’s Second Life survey tool – immersive interviewing.
24m03s Business model and cash flow positive date.
“We’re hoping to declare profitability sometime in early 2007″.

24m41s Profitability drivers.
25m41s Whether any plans for a sales tax.
26m15s Future developments – integrated VoIP (virtual phone booths).
26m50s Using voice to hold in-world focus groups and for teaching.
27m27s Using SL to build 3D applications more cheaply.
28m29s SL’s billion dollar worth.

Notable Mentions
3D world.
Avatar.
BBC Radio 1.
Churn.
Economy.
Gaming.
Harvard University.
Linden Lab.
Media Intelligence.
Philip Rosedale.
Picnic 06.
Shopping.
Social networking.
Starwood Hotels.
Taxation.
Teens.
User controlled communities.
User generated content.
Virtual world.
World of Warcraft.

“Second Life is starting to move into the masses and word-of-mouth is starting to generate a lot of interest.”.

Music Theatrimus from the PMN

Series:MarketingTalk Series:AdTalk
Series:EMRE06 Series:Events