Market Truths wins Second Life Business Plan Contest

The Electric Sheep and Edelman's business plan contest has a winner, Market Truths.

From CNET:

"The proposal was for a system in which Market Truths would conduct regular focus groups, as well as surveys and other market research to determine the kinds of things that members of the Second Life community like and don't like about brands, products and services from third-party companies.

"I personally favored Market Truths because they had the best execution," said Susan Wu. "It seemed most likely that they would be able to execute on their idea (and) the fact that (Gordon) already has experience doing this."

From 3pointD:

"They walk away with six months of free access to a private island, plus L$350,000 in prize money (a little over US$1,000). I’ve been a big fan of this contest for some time, so I’ll be interested to see what Market Truths can do with their new venture. I’d also love to see a small VC fund that backed virtual business ideas.

From Marketing Truths:

"Market Truths is a real life market research company and we also provide our services in Second Life, to both organizations in Second Life and organizations interested in Second Life.

We do custom research for clients according to their needs. We also have standard reports on various aspects of Second Life."

Linda Zimmer interview:

"In what areas do you believe RL businesses are most interested in acquiring research about virtual worlds?

It's clear that many businesses are finding that some channels they have traditionally used are not as effective as they were in the past, and also that customer expectations have changed in the sense that more people want a two-way dialogue with companies, with fewer willing to accept a one-way monologue.

Many people seem to be trying to determine the long-term implications of that and so I think companies are interested in exploring the extent to which virtual worlds will emerge as a new channel (for information, promotion, and/or sales) for their particular product or service, and if they do, what form that interaction will take."