Intel says Hi to HipiHi. HiPiHi says In to Intel

The often-titled Chinese Second Life, HiPiHi has announced that Intel will have a presence in-world at launch. Intel is apparently launching Intel Island on 160,000 square metres of virtual land.

Tech sector companies were very quick to embrace virtual worlds (as this analysis shows) so it’s highly likely others will follow the lead set by Intel.

Commenting on the Intel move, Xu Hui CEO of HiPiHi said:

‘As Chinas first company to enter into the virtual worlds market, HiPiHi has already attracted Intel and P&G which are well-established multi-national companies. We believe that there are other companies of such stature who will join us in the future and take HiPiHi to the next level such that it will add value and attract more enterprises and consumers to join us. ‘

But wait a minute, there’s an alarm bell ringing. ‘Intel will launch Intel Island on 160,000 square metres of land’. Could this be another virtual mega-build opting for a spatially-driven idea rather than conceptually created? In other words ‘we have all this land to fill, let’s build it out with big buildings’. Let’s hope not.

Marketers considering virtual world strategies should remember that No Brand is an Island – a strategic assessment of virtual world marketing strategies.

Is bigger better?

When companies are considering entering a virtual world such as Second Life, one decision to be made is how to visualise and create their company environment.
Across all business sectors, the typical metaverse deployment involves purchasing a single island off the mainland. On it there is typically a main office area and an auditorium.
Interestingly, tech sector companies have adopted a ?¢‚ǨÀúbigger is better approach. Bearing in mind the average number of venues across all sectors is just over one, look at the graph below showing venue counts for the tech sector.

The average in this category is just over three venues, with IBM stealing the show with 18+.

Furthermore, the actual buildings created on these islands are much larger than their counterparts in other business categories. This is most likely explained by an objective of creating the perception of dominance in a newly charted territory.

Shown below are two examples of ?¢‚ǨÀúgoing-large in Second Life.