Tata Indicom gets a Second Life!

I distinctively remember just when I had to prepare a presentation on 'Sustainable Assets Management (SAM) and I was learning about Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), a new broke out - "TCS makes it to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index". What a coincidence!

Well, history repeats itself... sometimes...

Now that I am about to complete my project on Second Life, another news broke out last week - "Tata Indicom gets a Second Life". Well, this makes Tata Teleservices Ltd the first Indian telecom company to establish it's presence in Second Life.

"the first telecom operator to have a presence in the virtual world with a mass media campaign; the first to offer a virtual talent hunt, which will invite participation from people all over the world; and the first to have its brand ambassadors, in their virtual avatars, engage with visitors from the Indian subcontinent in an interactive forum. "

As part of the initiative, Tata Indicom will create and own an 'island' in the virtual world of Second Life. Users can visit this island, participate in the talent hunt, get a deeper understanding of the company's products and offerings and enjoy the softer properties on the island, including games, songs and other interactive programs.

Lloyd Mathias, chief marketing officer, TTSL, says, "With the exciting Second Life initiative, we continue with our tradition of launching many industry firsts. The digital world is evolving at a fantastic pace – cutting across geographical and cultural barriers – and we firmly believe that the virtual world has a huge outreach potential for businesses. “As a company at the cutting edge of technology, TTSL always scouts for relevant and innovative technologies and opportunities. We feel our association with Second Life will redefine the concept of outreach and take digital interactivity to the next level, for it will allow Tata Indicom to engage with the growing digital audience in a manner that is relevant to them."

Second Life is an Internet enabled virtual world in which users can create their virtual identities to interact with the virtual identities of other users. Members of Second Life can participate in individual or group activities and create and trade items like virtual property and services. Members have to pay for the space they purchase on Second Life. Second Life is developed by the US based Linden Lab.

Now here are some interesting figures regarding the virtual world. According to Gartner Inc., by 2011, 80 per cent of active Internet users will interact with virtual worlds; by 2010, 20 per cent of global Tier I retailers will have a marketing presence in online games and virtual worlds. As far as Second Life is concerned, it has 15 million registered users and around 1.5 million active/unique users.

Long live Second Life:-)