With cause marketing campaigns working their way into brand-driven content consumed across multiple media platforms, it was only a matter of time before the social gaming industry jumped on the charitable bandwagon. The social entertainment network Meez, which combines avatars, games, and communities within a virtual environment, is using its influence on youth to positively affect change in the real world.
Through the creation of teen-oriented cause campaigns that reward users for taking online and offline action, Meez is building supportive communities for participating non-profits organizations, such as the American Heart Association and DoSomething.org.
Meez CEO John Cahill says having successful cause campaigns comes down to “raising awareness and offering educational programs in a non-preachy way.” As part of the American Heart Association’s Be the Beat movement, developed to encourage teenagers to lear
n CPR, Meez designed a special place for users to do good in the virtual world in June. Meez’s Be the Beat hangout featured Lucy Meez wearing full-fledge nursing attire and answering questions about heart health, while leading users to the Be the Beat website. The designated hangout area showcased promotional videos and campaign posters that linked to AHA’s site. When participants found Nurse Lucy, they were rewarded with virtual Red Cross t-shirts their avatars could wear. Meez had 65,564 users visit the campaign room and view the Be the Beat campaign video 206K times. More than 25K users wore the AHA Be the Beat t-shirt.
Meez isn’t alone is seeing the potential of combining cause and gaming. The Partnership for a Drug Free America gave the more than 36 million registered users of WeeWorld a creative way to engage with their brand – CheckYourself.com. Real-life recovering teen JT’s WeeMee avatar reached 20,000 friends by the end of the campaign.
Gaia Online had an initiative aimed at supporting the Gulf Coast clean-up efforts by allowing users to purchase a “Toxic Blob” with a portion of the sale going towards cleaning up the Gulf. Users can then clean up their Blob to uncover one of the limited edition sea creature, such as an otter, that accompanies them in the virtual world.
Of course, on Secon
d Life – the largest virtual world on the internet – you can find dozens of fundraising and charity related activities every year. The American Cancer Society Relay for Life has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars since the first one in 2005. No need to go out and do any running yourself. Let your avatar sweat!
In July, Meez partnered with the youth-driven nonprofit DoSomething.org for the Do Something 101 School Supply Drive, supported by Staples. For this, Meez created virtual Staples stores, where users would learn how they to find real donation centers in their cities.
Cahill says there is some degree of responsibility that comes with being a player in virtual worlds. “I think for many of the teenage generation, we [Meez] are their primary medium, and there is a corporate responsibility to do good. I’d like see other social game sites and communities adopt a cause agenda like we have. Everyone who’s running a community has an opportunity to do some good with things like cause campaigns.”
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Tags: American Heart Association, Be the Beat, DoSomething.org, John Cahill, Meez, social games, Staples, virtual worlds
