. We have published the results of a new Repères Second Life study: “Purchase Habits”, to know everything there is to know about the shopping habits of SL residents, ranging from the frequency with which they visit shops to the psychological price of clothing for avatars. You can read a complete report on the study here.

. Marie Juan Lallier has published a note in her blog "Pourquoi Second Life n’est pas une déviance ? "(Why Second Life isn’t a deviance?)

. The apéros du jeudi organised on Thursday 22 February, by Jeremy Dumont from the agency pourquoitucours gave me the opportunity to share a few thoughts about Second Life (the summaries of all the talks are available on the blog levidepoche) and especially to explain what, according to us, constitutes the three main areas of opportunity for brands in Second Life:
• communication: Second Life can enable brands to offer an experience of immersion in the values of the brand via a site presenting the brand’s platform in an interactive and fun manner,
• e-commerce: Second Life, often considered as the future of the Web, is characteristic of what could be the future of e-commerce, more human and more experience oriented,
• lastly, an area which especially interests us at Repères Second Life, this platform gives us an opportunity of offering brands protocols for the co-creation of products and services: this is a typical example of participative marketing, with creative residents who wish to express themselves and to act and whom the brands will be able to call on in order to develop their offers.

The interest previously shown by brands and the media in Second Life has been confirmed. On Christmas day, we had the pleasure of discovering the television report by Soir 3 on Second Life, which included sequences shot at Repères and a short excerpt of the interview I had given on this occasion. This report can be seen on YouTube.

At the beginning of the New Year, François Laurent also interviewed me on his Blog marketingisdead.

Today we are communicating the main research findings of our 1st exploratory study conducted with residents from Second Life and dealing with their perception of this universe. 137 residents from our panel have completed our survey.

These results reinforced our perception of Second Life as a deeply humain universe. According to its residents, Second Life is first at all :

The largest community ever created, offering opportunities for exchanges with other people ranging far beyond that of the simple chat room,

A step forward for humanity with :
. more athenticity and access to the real self,
. the opportunity to develop and even surpass oneself via apprenticeships and the use and unexploited skills,
. an infinite potentiel for discovery and creativity.

I invite you to read the main research findings of the analysis. For more details about this survey, do not hesitate to contact Emilie Labidoire, Reperes Second Life project manager.

The announcement of the opening of our offices aroused definite interest, confirming the current appeal of Second Life and the relevance of our approach.

In the press, we had the pleasure of being interviewed by:
. Sophie Peters for Les Echos
. Jean Bernard Litzier for Le Figaro
. Tanguy Leclerc for CB News
. other interviews have been or will be done (articles not yet published) with LeMonde2, Télérama, VSD, Le Journal du Dimanche…

Our Press Communiqué also featured in different on-line newsletters: emarketing.fr, strategies.fr, Influencia, Neteconomie…

Lastly, we would like to thank bloggers who mentioned the launch: SLObserver, of course, but also David Castera, Jerome Boutelier, Wangxiang Tuxing.

Lastly, during the SEMO, the French annual market research exhibition which was held on 7 and 8 November, on our stand we set up an access terminal to Second Life: our clients and colleagues, many of whom were discovering Second Life for the first time, were enthusiastic and were won over by Repères’ initiative and especially by the fascinating aspect of this new universe.

What is more, we may have found a first client for a future Repères Second Life study! This would be for a company set up in Second Life who wishes to interview its visitors. At best I expected to find a first client in 6 months or a year…

This initial feedback is particularly encouraging. It is now up to us to fulfil the expectations aroused. To do so we will dedicate more human resources to the Second Life Repères team.

The first study (self-financed by Repères) conducted among residents who have joined our panel will take place in the next few days. It will concern a first exploratory approach, the findings of which will be published.

This of course is only a beginning: the prospects in terms of studies are extraordinarily promising (access to a creative international and avant-garde community, innovation tests, visits of virtual shops…).

A new adventure is beginning for my company: Repères has just established itself in Second Life.

Repères Second Life is the 1st market survey company in this world, but not the first company to have started doing business there. Brands such as Nike, Adidas and Toyota, communication agencies such as Leo Burnett, a press agency with a permanent correspondent (Reuters) and design studios are already in Second Life…

Our presence in Second Life is therefore a necessity:

. our signature “passion for research” takes on all of its meaning there: Second Life is a new world where practically everything remains to be discovered and built,

. as its name suggests, Second Life is not just a game but it is also a true extension of reality. The avatars that explore it and live there are not virtual but are the real expressions of a part of our humanity and gaining knowledge of this is an inherent part of our research work.

As an added bonus, by creating Repères Second Life, we take full advantage of the pleasures of Second Life: discovering new things, flying, exchanging and creating new ideas and having the feeling that we are pioneers…

Attached is our press communiqué concerning Repères Second Life (This text was drafted by Marie Juan Lallier, who is my life partner and takes an active part in the development of the methodologies of Repères whilst running her own practise as a psychologist).