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Gen Y is getting pretty clever at proliferating many different identities for one life. Certainly the Internet invites all of us to generate multiple brands of ourselves, but this generation knows how to work their identities. Each allows for the many facets of one person and lets them escape where they are at or enter new worlds.
Where a brand sits in relation to these broad-ranging identities is critical. If the responsibility of a brand is to reflect and mirror culture, a brand has to ask “What good am I?” a few times over. The more complex and creative one’s web of identities become, the more clever that consumer will be at snuffing out “poser” brands. For a staggering 26 million people virtual worlds are places to explore, enjoy and relax in. How will your brand fit in? Domenico Vitale of Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners' put it best at the American Association of Advertising Agencies' Account Planning Conference, "The world is coming to us. It's no longer about communications as an end in itself." Consider that just recently, the cover of FHM was obscured at Grand Central Station’s Hudson News outlets so as not to reveal more of World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) Torrie Wilson than commuters could handle. Better think quick, the obvious venues are shrinking. As things like aspects of decency change and the real world gets increasingly cluttered, alternate venues shouldn’t simply take the overflow. What about Grand Central Station in Second Life? Will Hudson News display the uninhibited cover of FHM? Offering a mirror of the real world is a missed opportunity. This is where brands can demonstrate their alter egos. what's hot Innovation, User-centrics, Authenticity, Complex identity, Organic development. what's not One size fits all, Identity labels, Build it and they will come, Posers, Quidnunc. what to watch for A renegade entrepreneurial spirit can often be found wherever alternate personalities are being played out. many forces at work • Respect for other cultures • Need for sounding boards • Need to express alternate views • Need for flexibility • Strength in anonymity ![]() Skit from the Anime Expo 2006 Masquerade featuring the cosplay group Assassins Inc in their Hellsing costumes. WATCH The Ultima Weapon from Kingdom Hearts WATCH Demo video for aircraft made and sold in Second Life WATCH Inside the Machinima follows a machinima director on a tour of his studio WATCH Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro, the somewhat-cranky looking man behind Osaka University's Repliee/Actroid series WATCH RESPECT FOR SPACE ![]() As life becomes more transparent and access inevitable, consumers will redefine the rules of personal space. In My Space, members maintain an unwritten etiquette across social circles. Although, face to face two people may be very good friends, they may not be welcomed into one’s My Space friends. Good friends respect a friend’s online persona and won’t cramp their style. INDIVIDUALISM BREEDS INNOVATION
As the call for innovation grows louder, there will be less of a call for team players. Instead, there will be a search for wizards behind the draperies. A study by professors from Berkeley and Cornell demonstrates “that creative companies need to encourage differences rather than build teamwork, which leads to conformity.” The study "Individualism-Collectivism and Group Creativity," was published in the most recent issue of Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. DETAILED REPLICATION ![]() Making alternate forms of oneself as real as possible is important whether online or offline. Hiroshi Ishiguro, a senior researcher at ATR Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories outside Kyoto, is a busy man. Between his two jobs, countless meetings and presentations, his demanding schedule was eating up all his time. So he built an android version of himself to pick up the slack. SEX IS AS SEX DOES ![]() Sexual identity takes a backseat. When men appear as buxom, scantily clad females in video games like "World of Warcraft," it is more about winning than finding an outlet for a real-world affinity for gender bending. "It has nothing to do with exploration of sexual identity," said Brenda Brathwaite, a game developer who delved into the subject for her book "Sex in Video Games," set for release this fall. …Most sexual experimentation happens in places like Linden Lab's "Second Life," where players build their own worlds, writing their own storylines free of constraints imposed by society or mainstream video games.
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