Coke Opens CC Metro, A Virtual Island In Virtual World There.com

Beverage maker and uber-brand Coke has had a few false starts in “social media.” Not long ago it ended “The Coke Show,” a video-centric platform that was intended to engage consumers and support user-generated content. Most recently, the company opted out of Facebook’s Beacon program amid the controversy surrounding involuntary tracking of user behavior on third party sites.

Now the company’s MyCoke site will direct users to a new social media experience, CCMetro, inside virtual world There.com.

CCMetro takes over for Coke Studios, which was part of MyCoke.com. Coke Studies was an avatar-based 3-D experience that is being reinvented inside There.com, a less popular destination than the better-known SecondLife but one that is also more family friendly.

At CCMetro, users can create detailed avatars, play games, interact with one another, upload videos, and so on. Coke rewards from the “real world” can be used to purchase things on the site. And Coke’s marketing partners will also make appearances at CCMetro.

Advertisers have generally found SecondLife to be an unsuccessful marketing environment because they haven’t understood how to present themselves in these environments.

You can read more at the NY Times, MediaWeek , and PaidContent.