Online worlds have attracted big business. Marketing and advertising inside virtual worlds has taken on new and innovative strategies, as more and more companies are establishing an interactive presence “in world.”  The Engauge Digital Behavioral Research Department loves to conduct research in a range of worlds - so I thought it would be a fun idea to explore Webkinz.

If you aren’t already familiar, Webkinz is an online world created by Ganz for kids ages 5-13. Webkinz has an estimated 530,733 in world visitors everyday. In terms of US visitors, Webkinz has seen tremendous traffic and growth in comparison to other virtual worlds.

Ask any child you know if they have heard of Webkinz and you will most likely get an earful about their specific Webkinz avatar: born from a real-life stuffed animal that translates into a digital avatar with its own personality and hobbies. The avatars – whose stuffed counterparts are purchased in stores by parents – have the ability to chat, make friends, get jobs, build homes, and play games with others, all in the comfort of a supervised and secure environment that caters to parental concerns.  And of course the in-store purchasing power is not limited to only stuffed animals – parents and their children can dress their stuffed avatars in clothes or give them Ganz brand lip balm, and all have digital codes to convert the real life products into interactive versions for their pet. Webkinz and Webkinz related products are well sought after gifts for children.

So in researching this whole Webkinz world as opportunity space for our clients, I naturally have my own avatar – a friendly, opportunistic, sunglass wearing chicken.  He’s got his own place, complete with a bed, couch and a couple of cacti and it turns out that he apparently really wants a toy cell phone.  He’s got several friends and even has a job where he earns his Kinzcash (Webkinz currency) to buy things like smoking hot sunglasses or furniture for his room.

It appears that with so many visitors to this online world, that Webkinz and the Webkinz generation will be the future of other online worlds. It will be interesting to see how the world grows and evolves as the “Webkinz generation” grows into adults. Will this generation transform the way we look at virtual worlds in the future?