Not surprisingly, brands of various sorts are diving into these new interactive worlds hoping to capture tech-forward audiences with non-traditional marketing. The result is a chimera of computers, entertainment, and brand building.

"By being three-dimensional and interactive, brands can move past the 'show me' paradigm of other media and get into the 'touch me' world of true interaction, which offers significantly more bandwidth for communication and for the transference of brand attributes," observes Jennifer McLean, director of marketing for Double Fusion, an in-game advertising company.

While micro "grassroots" brands are plentiful thanks to virtual-world entrepreneurs selling their wares to other virtual-world residents, adidas was the first major brand to present itself within Second Life. The global sports-gear brand not only has its own virtual store but also a product stocked within. The a3 Microride shoe is designed to fit avatar feet perfectly, giving him/her/it a walk with "bounce and flexibility" for a mere 50 Linden Dollars (approximately US$ 0.19).

The advent of adidas inspired other brands to take the plunge. Nissan, Scion, and Pontiac are a few real-world car brands with virtual dealerships. Ranging from fantasy, customizable cars costing a little over a (real) buck, such as the Pontiac Solstice GXP or the Scion xB Monster Truck, to virtual Sentras that Nissan is handing out for free, the brands are able to benefit from a whole new realm of viral and experiential marketing.

Ad agency Leo Burnett Detroit partnered with viral marketing agency Campfire to create the virtual Pontiac presence and campaign. "Everyone assume[s] that if a user is excited enough to purchase a virtual version of a Pontiac, that might be something that rubs off in real world," says a Leo Burnett spokesperson.

The spokesperson adds that the Pontiac experience on Second Life has been so positive that it inspired the legendary ad agency to twin itself in the virtual world as the "Leo Burnett Ideas Hub."

So far, the business media has applauded these efforts. As Claire Beale commented in her column on advertising in The Independent, "The idea is to create a global creative community where creative ideas can be shared and briefs honed. It's a neat alternative to the usual company intranet and gives Burnett the option to leverage any commercial opportunities that might come out of the Second Life economy."

Alycia de Mesa is a brand identity consultant and writer with over 10 years' experience, from Fortune 100 to start-up companies. She is author of Before the Brand, the definitive brand identity handbook, published by McGraw-Hill (under the name Alycia Perry).