Former GSW blogger Tony Walsh has spotted an interesting new article on avatar-based marketing in the Harvard Business Review, and he likes what he sees.

Walsh comments: "The extensive article is detailed but easy to digest, leading readers new to virtual worlds (specifically, Second Life) through the basics and nuances of avatars, covering some of their current and potential relationships with marketing efforts. What most impresses me is the degree of research Hemp's apparently done, and the fact that he covers the potential for avatar-marketing failures."

The full article expands on this further, noting: "This new marketing landscape and audience come with all kinds of pitfalls. There are technology constraints. Stagecoach Island moved from the technology platform on which Second Life is built to the platform underlying Active Worlds, another virtual world. The Second Life platform required too much computer hardware capability of users, according to Collins, the Wells Fargo marketer." Definitely good to see realistic weighing-up of issues as well as advantages, here.