MTV's lineup of virtual worlds based around their programming (Laguna Beach, The Hills) is getting a new set of wheels. Trilogy Studios (Daybreakers) is rolling out a fully realized virtual world for MTV's hyperbolic car-customizing show, Pimp My Ride. There's already an (abysmally rated) Pimp My Ride game by Activision for the Playstation Portable, but Trilogy's newest is a free downloadable. Users can enter Van Nuys, California and build custom cars, engage in drag racing contests, and meet other fans.

"Why co-mingle a brand like the NBA in a virtual world like Second Life when you can create your own virtual NBA world?" asked Michael Pole, Trilogy Chairman and CEO. "We think we can attract 10 to 20 million mainstream consumers to a focused virtual world site and deliver a full brand experience."

MTV's Jeff Yapp chatted about the media giant's future musings on virtual worlds at the recent Under the Radar Digital Entertainment and Media Conference in Mountain View, CA. "The scale and the scope of this thing is absolutely immense; we have fairly ambitious plans," Yapp said, amid footage of Doppelganger's Virtual Lower East Side and MTV's Virtual Laguna Beach being synthesized as mobile, web, and TV content. "We believe in 'one avatar, one world'; the ability to take your avatar-- that personality, that 3D representation of who you are-- anywhere you want to go." Check out the video at CNet (for all you gamers, there's Rock Band stuff, too!).

Yapp's presentation was a keynote separate from the virtual worlds group presentations at Under the Radar, where Doppelganger and Kaneva were the highlights. During the panel, Doppelganger (Virtual LES) CEO Tim Stevens said their service currently has 150,000 users, growing at a rate of 10% weekly. Kaneva, whose 3D social networking site just went public beta in April, said that despite its resemblance to MySpace and its ilk, it sees its primary competitor as television and movies-- go figure. Both of these companies glean their primary income from sponsorship and the sale of virtual goods.

Another participant in the group was Meez, an avatar specialist. Through Meez's website, users can design custom avatars that can then be exported to other services. Photobucket members, through a recent partnership with Meez, can now export and store their 3D avatars on Meez. Despite having 2 million registered users (and 425,000 newcomers each month) to Photobucket's considerably larger estimated 40 million, Meez apparently gets enough revenue from sponsorship, virtual goods, and their associated promo partnerships to be able to pull it off.

Finally, founder Corey Bridges discussed Multiverse, an MMO development platform that runs in a "world browser" (according to Bridges, that's like a web browser) and can be used by anyone to make their own online games. Multiverse is the platform University of Indiana prof Ted Castronova is using to build Arden, his MacArthur-funded Shakespearean world. In a round of fundraising led by hedge fund Sterling Stamos Capital Management, Multiverse recently snagged $4.175 million.

[Via Webware.com]

Videogame software developer Trilogy Studios announced it will continue to collaborate with MTV Networks on MTVN's Pimp My Ride virtual world, which it helped launch.

Virtual Pimp My Ride features the same larger-than-life, West Coast-style car modification that popularized the MTV show of the same name. It also lets users personalize avatars and race their vehicles in multiplayer challenges. According to the company, Trilogy will help evolve the world, adding new features, additional functionality and "a deeper level of engagement."

The announcement marks an expansion for Trilogy's virtual world software development studio, which is aimed at developing new virtual world properties for media companies. "We’ve developed a business model that enables media companies to successfully monetize their franchises through virtual world networks including micro-transactions, in-game advertising and sponsorships, premium subscriptions and e-commerce," said Michael Pole, Trilogy's Chairman and CEO.

MTV's annual Video Music Awards, held this year on September 9th, are a huge event for the network, and this year they're taking the event to as many platforms as possible -- for example, simulcast on mobile phones with text message voting, and performances and polls online.

Of course, vMTV's getting in on the action, too -- MTV will create a virtual world specifically for the VMAs, available for free download from its VMA website. The world will recreate the various areas of the Palms Hotel's Fantasy Suites, including the basketball themed "Hardwood" suite, the glammed out "Pink Suite"and the crown jewel of the Palms, the incredible "Sky Villa," and MTV says it'll feature celebrity guests and in-world events in a week-long party leading up to the big show.

MTV Networks has announced it's teaming up its virtual worlds with independent video entertainment site Metacafe to create "MTV's Virtual Worlds Virtual Music Video Contest," a competition that lest fans direct and film their own music videos in one of MTV's seven virtual worlds (which include The Hills, Laguna Beach and Pimp My Ride, to name a few) for the chance to win a Sony Vegas Pro 8 professional video/audio editing and DVD creation software package. In addition to submitting music videos, fans can go to the MTV's Virtual Worlds channel on Metacafe to check out and vote for their favorites.

Tapping into the participatory content boom, an MTV Virtual World channel will be designated on Metacafe where fans can view the entries and submit votes for their favorites.

MTV and Metacafe will provide the audio tracks for contestants to use; Saves the Day's "Can't Stay the Same," A Cursive Memory's "Everything," Dannel Vonn Dillon's "Worn and of Plastic," Dr. Manhattan's "Big Chomper" and Grayskul's "Us" are the options. Contest submissions can be uploaded to Metacafe until December 4, 2007, and the top 10 finalists selected by viewers will be evaluated by a panel of MTV judges on creativity and originality, technical execution and overall impression. In addition to the grand-prize winner, two first-place winners will receive $2,000 virtual MTV bucks.

Matt Bostwick, SVP of franchise development for MTV Networks Music & Logo Group said, "Virtual Worlds serve as an untapped incubator for young talent who love music and technology, and their desire to combine those two passions into a professionally developed final product. Music plays an integral part in our virtual worlds, and we can't think of a better platform than Metacafe to give fans the chance to launch a career based on their virtual life that could one day cross-over to their real life."

Added Metacafe CEO Erick Hachenburg, "Providing music fans with a fun and easy way to make and distribute their own virtual music video is a great example of the power of online video entertainment. Metacafe is an exceptionally interactive environment, and we're pleased to team with MTV to enable aspiring video creators to bring their vision to life and reach a large and global audience."

MTV Networks, cosmetic and beauty company Elizabeth Arden and Ford model management agency have announced they are launching a campaign to find the world's first-ever "virtual supermodel." The three brands will scour MTV's virtual worlds to find an avatar who'll be the virtual face of Mariah Carey's new "M" fragrance in MTV's Virtual Hills, the virtual world based on MTV's The Hills TV property.

The campaign kicks off November 19th, when viewers can go to the model search landing page to create an avatar for the competition. Participants will also be able to meet in-world with a roster of Ford Models' experts who will provide beauty and styling tips for the contestants that they can also use on their real looks outside the virutal world.

Contestants also get a virtual bottle of the Mariah Carey fragrance -- complete with a spray animation -- and a virtual Ford Models portfolio book to carry throughout the virtual world. Ford Models' branded digital video, offering more fashion tips, will also be available for 24-hour a day viewing content containing similar fashion and beauty insights will also be available 24 hours a day for viewing -- just in case you can't get enough fashion tips.

As part of the campaign, a series of events in early January will ask digital models to show off their virtual acting capabilities by posing with the bottle and acting out a commercial for the fragrance. They will also be asked to walk a virtual runway and compete in a virtual dance contest. Representatives from Ford Models, Elizabeth Arden and MTV will conduct the judging.

The avatar who comes out on top among three finalists will become Ford Models' "first-ever virtual world model", the fresh new face of a marketing campaign for MTV's virtual worlds, and the star of a :30-second Elizabeth Arden/MTV co-branded spot.

MTV Networks music and logo group VP of digital music Courtney Holt said, "Our viewers are accustomed to expressing personal style in all facets of their lives, and that extends to their virtual world personas as well. With Elizabeth Arden and Ford Models, we're tapping into their twin drivers of fashion and beauty and creating a social campaign where they can seek status and project a confident sense of self with others."

Viacom has formed an ad group called Digital Fusion, which will design customized cross-media campaigns for MTV's many digital properties, focusing on emerging online media, social networking and virtual worlds.

According to AdWeek, Jason Witt, former MTVN global digital media senior vice president, will head Digital Fusion, and the group will develop ad campaigns across all of the company's web properties. Reportedly they'll continue maxing the customizability angle, emphasizing non-standard features.

"Our marketing partners want solutions that take full advantage of our greatest strength, creating innovative and engaging content," an official told AdWeek. "Digital Fusion will empower marketers to further tap into our iconic brands, and access customized digital marketing solutions with the same ingenuity and inventiveness as our music, entertainment, comedy and pop culture content."

[Via AdWeek]

MTV Networks plans to unveil a case study to advertisers demonstrating how consumer engagement with programs and brands expand with each additional digital platform they are exposed to, including virtual worlds, according to a report from advertising news site Ad Week.

The "Multiscreen Engagement Case Study," which was conducted for MTV by Harris Interactive and MauroNewMedia in January of this year, details the involvement of 600 consumers with MTV's prime time hit show The Hills and their perceptions of key sponsor Pepsi.

The case study examined a control group of 300 people who did not watch The Hills and a group of 300 who did, finding that Pepsi's positive brand image traits dramatically increased among fans who watched the show and browsed The Hills content online, and even more so among fans who played in The Hills virtual world.

About half of the 240 fans who watched only the on-air version of the show said Pepsi promotes music events and supports music artists. Less than 30% of them said the brand was in touch with youth culture, and about 15% said they considered Pepsi "cool" or "hip."

Those numbers skyrocketed among those who watched the TV show and went online to enter The Hills virtual world, where upwards of 90% said Pepsi promotes music and recording artists, and nearly 70% considered the brand to be "cool," "hip," and in touch with youth culture.

Network executives say the study helps them make their case that MTV is the place to target 12 to 34 year olds, showing that in prime time, the networks are down 14% in that demographic, and MTV has had a gain of 14% according to Nielsen Media Research.

Said MTVN's integrated marketing executive vice president Tim Rosta: "What we've learned from the study is the more our audience engages with brand across platform the greater level of brand affinity they have. When we infuse it appropriately, brands become part of the dialog giving us the ability to create brand ambassadors. They know somebody is paying for the programming so they embrace brands where we don't try to fool them."

MTV UK has announced the beta launch of MTV House, a new flash-based virtual world targeted at younger users. In addition to offering exclusive MTV content, such as videos, reviews, and news stories, the "prefab establishment" will feature competitions, offers, and promotions.

MTV House invites users to create avatars, explore different rooms, listen to music, interact with channel-based characters, and play games. Developer Yomego intends to eventually allow users to produce short videos with their personalized avatars, audio files, background, and text.

Unlike vMTV's network of virtual worlds, which include Virtual Laguna Beach and Virtual Pimp My Ride, MTV House is not based on any single brand or program. MTV UK intends to offer companies "bespoke and generic advertising opportunities," such as house branding, themed rooms, and sponsorship.

vMTV offered similar opportunities to advertisers, and a recent case study showed that a significant amount of users had developed positive opinions towards advertised brands as a result of the promotions.

Said MTV UK vice president of digital media Philip O'Ferral: "Mtv.co.uk is about building a community for online audiences that are passionate about entertainment and music, as well as being socially conscious, and therefore our digital activity is evolving and adapting to allow the audience to express themselves more. By carrying out continuous research to find out what our audiences really want, and by introducing an enhanced user experience where the audience can interact with each other and the brand whether that be advice on sensitive issues or sharing great MTV content - we are in turn responding to their needs."