Ever wonder how much your social presence online is worth? Or how valuable you are in your peers’ estimations? Empire Avenue, a new online social game, is here with an answer.
Fantasy Stock Market Game: Empire Avenue (currently invite-only beta) launched in February of 2010 under the leadership of Canadian Internet guru Duleepa Wijayawardhana – under the belief that a “better targeted advertising approach will lead to better returns and leads for advertisers.” Since 1993, Wijayawardhana has been working on Internet related projects, including databases, applications, and game-related properties at BioWare Corp. (now a division of Electronic Arts).
Wijayawardhana says, “Online, every writer, blogger, photographer or Twitterer has influence, but nobody has been able to answer the question, ‘What’s my influence worth?’ until now. We want everyone to realize just how valuable that influence is.”
Their approach integrates your roll as an investor with your status as an online influence commodity – in this system, you become “The Influencer.” Now, you not only can dabble in the stock exchange of other people (or other “Influencers”), but they can simultaneously invest virtual money in you.
How It Works: The game instigates and monitors the competition among users (a.k.a. influencers) in the arena of their Twitter, Flickr, Facebook or blog accounts. So the more quality activity you exhibit online, the more your influence spreads, and, in turn, the more your Empire Avenue value rises. Quality checks exist in the form of user-endorsed blogs, and thumbs up/thumbs down ratings of your activity. Additionally, other influencers can buy, sell or trade stock in you, affecting your online worth.
Future of Advertising? The company aims to allow “individuals and organizations to convert their online influence and reach into revenue.” Within the next few months, the online influence stock exchange will integrate with a real advertising platform; the defining quality of their advertising approach will be your level of control. On Empire Avenue, you’ll choose whether you want to monetize your influence and carry advertisements, while real-world advertisers decide which Influencers will best reach their target audience, based on an Influencer’s online worth. This micro advertising brings increased precision to the advertisement market, downsizing the cost of a wide-sweeping advertising campaign.
How Brands Can Use Empire Avenue: Businesses can join the game as Influencers, too. As a business’ influence increases and value rises, other Influencers notice. The implication for business-to-business interactions consists in strategically discerning which influential business is the best for your company’s needs. There are also possibilities for brands to partner with Empire Avenue, but no specifics have yet been announced.
And don’t miss Jeff Hilimire’s first impressions of Empire Avenue – “Want to Buy Stock in… Me?”
What do you think? Is Empire Avenue pioneering the future of advertising? Or is it just another social game fated to deteriorate?
Kate Hollingsworth is an intern in the Digital Innovation Group (DIG) at Engauge. As an upcoming junior at Emory University studying International Affairs, Classical Civilization and French, Kate plans to graduate in the Spring of 2012. As an officer of Emory’s Amnesty International chapter, she spearheads the group’s online Twitter presence and coordinates participation at campus events. Kate is also an active member of the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association (AiMA).
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