This one had to raise one of my eyebrows of course: Index is a serious investor, and until now, I had never looked at this phenomenon of tamagochis online. I know basically nothing about stardoll or barbie.com… but a couple of random thoughts:
- tapping into very young internet users early on is probably a good idea if you want to create a long lasting relationship. The first to offer them an email address, an IM ID, a place to store their digital life, or even hang out is probably a winner. Stardoll is maybe trying to capture this. As they say with cigarette brands: you randomly choose your first brand, then stick to it.
- playing with an online avatar creates lots of stickiness, and hence page views and loyalty. WoW is an example, Taatu might become another. If you create an emotional bond with a character (such as what tamagochis did), then you are bound to hand around the site: this creates opportunities for e-commerce and advertising.
- I wonder what the social network implications (you know, the dreaded web 2.0) are for pre-teens: consumer research in a number of industries (toys, food, TV, music, clothing) ? group recommendation? Indeed pre-teens tend to gave a very strong community effect.
There was a trend recently catering towards the elderly (including Honda’s ASIMO) because it is a growing segment of population with a large wallet. I guess targeting the other end is astute, and they influential power is not negligible.
Thanks to Valerie for spotting this, and reporting it on the a:c euro. The press release is here.
