Virtual Zones (http://www.virtualzones.co.uk)--an online community that allows users to create animated versions of themselves--has registered 26,000 members since it launched in London last December.
New members are registering at a rate of 2,000 per week, said Mecca Ibrahim of Thus, who is new project manager for VZones. Thus, formerly Scottish Telecom, is a partner in the site with Avaterra Europe Ltd, which licenses the VZones software.
Prior to the U.K. launch, Virtual Zones communities already existed for Honolulu, San Francisco, Seattle, and Silicon Valley. Members of an online "city" can travel online to any of the other locales. The most popular so far has been VZ, which is the core community of the Zones.
There are currently 150,000 "residents" worldwide. Membership is free in the U.K.--Thus makes money from the phone connections--but a $9 six month subscription fee is charged in the U.S. Once registered, members can "walk" through an animated landscape and purchase items with tokens earned through time spent on the site. The main items available for "sale" are things members can use to customize their online persona or "avatar," such as spray paint (to change the color of their clothes or skin), hats, or alternate heads to wear during chats, including cat, dog, and fish faces (each has its own range of facial expressions).
Advertising partners such as Mojo Records and Barnes and Noble sponsor areas of the site, such as record stores or carnivals.
Later this month, GayVZones will debut as a stand alone area, accessible through U.K. Gay Guides. VZSci-Fi, another themed world, will debut in late April.
Ibrahim noted that approximately half of the members choose avatars that look like themselves, while others opt for masks or animal heads. The company is exhibiting at the International DM Fair at Wembley to increase its profile as a relationship marketing vehicle. For example, a pet food marketer could purchase the sponsorship opportunity to talk online with cat and dog headed residents, who, presumably, have some affinity for the creatures they resemble.
The DM Fair concludes today.
