Gaia goes the other way. Virtual clothing becomes real.

It didn’t take too long did it.

Gaia Online has made available to purchase in the real world (via their website) a selection of garments originally created in-world – this is where the metabrand hits the real world.

Gaia has been a busy place of late. First there was the Sony/Warner Bros deal bringing movies in-world, then, not to be outdone, Time Warner invested in the company.

This latest development is another example of brand new revenue streams being realised from virtual world activity. More information about Gaia accessories over on the Wonderland blog.

This is an example of a world owner creating real world products. But the bigger market has to be the operators of in-world metabrands, Second Life being an obvious example of this.

Whilst 99% of marketing effort wrt virtual worlds is from the real world inwards, sooner or later a metabrand will reach a point where there’s a strong enough business case (and customer base) to warrant real world activity.

And that’s when the fun begins.

Gaia is featured in the K Zero Kids and Tweens virtual worldscase study.