Marketers are often expected to be in touch with cultural trends long before they become “mainstream.” It’s up to us at the thinkbank—since we pride ourselves on being one cultural step ahead of everyone else—to discover these movements in their earliest stages so our clients can harness the power of these potential marketing tools before they become oversaturated and, well, less powerful.

One cultural hot-button we’ve been in touch with for several years that has only recently begun attracting newsweekly feature stories is an online social networking community called Second Life. Many of you may already know about Second Life. Some of you may know it well.

The Second Life world costs nothing to join and is completely customizable by its users. Build a lemonade stand? Go right ahead. Create a movie set and shoot a film with other avatars? No problem, Spielberg. True, it may not be the real world—what with the flying and teleporting and whatnot—but it’s pretty damn close.

THE POWER OF $ECOND LIFE

If you can’t imagine yourself “playing” something like Second Life, chances are you soon will. In the past 12 months, registered Second Life users have soared from around 2 million to over 9 million (though it should be noted that several million of those user avatars are infrequent users). According to Gartner Research, by 2011, four out of every five Internet users will be active participants in Second Life or a similar virtual escape.

Four out of every five. Unbelievable as it may seem, that will probably include you, and that’s precisely why we’ve been paying such close attention to this phenomenon.

Here’s another reason we’ve made Second Life a learning priority: It has its own economy. You can buy things like clothes, cars and small, private islands using Linden Dollars (named for Second Life’s creator, Linden Labs). These Linden Dollars can be purchased with real dollars. For the growing list of Second Life entrepreneurs, Linden Dollars can also be cashed out for real dollars. The current exchange rate (and, yes, it does vary) is 270 Linden Dollars to one U.S. dollar. You can even get a virtual credit card to support your Second Life spending sprees.

On an average Second Life day, $1 million is spent on virtual goods. Yes, real money is being made in a virtual world. But wait, it gets even more real. Consider this:

• IBM, General Motors, Coca-Cola and countless other companies have set up virtual communities for sales and marketing purposes.

• Anshe Chung buys and sells virtual land in Second Life. Today, she is Second Life’s first real-world millionaire. Her real company builds and sells virtual property and has a staff of 60 real employees.

• The thriving virtual real estate economy has inspired Coldwell Banker to set up a Second Life office. Your very own invitation-only Second Life island costs around 445,500 Linden Dollars (or 1,650 real dollars).

• Hundreds of universities across the nation (including Harvard and MIT) have set up distance learning programs in Second Life.

• Some companies use Second Life to screen and interview prospective hires.

• Sweden has a virtual Second Life embassy on Diplomacy Island. There, visitors can chat with a virtual ambassador about visas, trade or Swedish meatballs.

So what does this all boil down to? It’s simple: There are relationships to be built and money to be made in that vast and still-evolving virtual world. For marketers, the emphasis is on the relationships.

A presence in Second Life works best for brands targeting early adopters and other influencers. Companies with products or services that require a learning period can thrive there as well. For one Pavone client who’s leading the way in the hydrogen fuel movement, Second Life is a natural fit.

I’m not saying Second Life is for everyone. Just like television commercials or sports sponsorships, Second Life is just another marketing channel that may or may not fit into your overall brand objectives. I’m also not suggesting that Second Life is going to take over the world. But it’s good to know the thinkbank has a grasp on it just in case it does.