Past Press Releases：2007
Nasco Inc.
ValueCommerce Co., Ltd.
Chat Affiliate in Second Life
ValueCommerce Pays Residents in Linden Dollars
TOKYO -- Dec. 3rd 2007-
TSUKUMO Co., Ltd (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President: Junichi Suzuki, TSUKUMO) and ValueCommerce Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo, Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers Stock Code: 2491, Chairman and CEO: Brian Nelson, ValueCommerce) started providing a chat affiliate in the virtual world "Second Life" operated by U.S. firm Linden Research, Inc. on December 1, 2007. Nasco Inc. (Headquarters: Kyoto-shi, Kyoto, CEO: Tadao Nagata, Nasco), which provides the support service to enter into Second Life, is responsible for developing and providing the system.
TSUKUMO's virtual shop, which opened on December 1 in Second Life, distributes a "chat sensor" for free. When a resident in Second Life wearing the chat sensor as an accessory talks with another resident in Second Life, the chat affiliate will respond to certain keywords and automatically display a relevant advertisement. If a resident who has clicked on this advertisement buys an item at TSUKUMO NETSHOP operated by TSUKUMO, a performance-based reward will be generated. The reward is paid from ValueCommerce to Nasco. Through the SL payment mechanism provided by Nasco, the reward is exchanged into the currency in Second Life "Linden Dollars" based on the prevailing rate, and then automatically paid to the account of the resident who wore the chat sensor.
To date, the principal forms of advertising in Second Life have been stationary advertisements and residents walking with mobile advertisements. Some users claimed that this type of advertising was artificial. By naturally displaying advertisements geared to conversations between residents, the chat affiliate aims at increasing the conversion rate. Since payment for performance is automatically made to users' accounts in Linden Dollars. Hence, the users only need to wear the chat sensor, and do not need to register or complete any procedure to receive payment.
The three companies, TSUKUMO, Nasco, and ValueCommerce, will continue to plan and develop affiliate programs that are readily available to residents in Second Life.
* Exhibit: Flow from display of advertisement to the payment of a reward for performance, image of an advertisement, and TSUKUMO's virtual shop
* Location of the virtual shop http://slurl.com/secondlife/Microsoft%20Japan/62/106/38
[ TSUKUMO Co., Ltd. ]
TSUKUMO Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Foundation date: February 7, 1962, President: Junichi Suzuki) has shops mainly in the Akihabara area, and in Umeda, Namba, Nagoya, and Sapporo. As a retail store dedicated to information and communication technology, it is developing a sales business centering on parts for computers built by users, computer related devices, and original brand personal computers developed by TSUKUMO Co., Ltd.
[ Nasco Inc. ]
Nasco Inc. (Headquarters: Kyoto-shi, Kyoto, Foundation date: July 12, 1971, CEO: Tadao Nagata) develops a number of Web systems and systems related to Second Life and helps enterprises enter Second Life.
[ ValueCommerce ]
ValueCommerce Co., Ltd. (Listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers Market,
Code No: 2491, Headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo, Founded on March 12th,
1996. Chairman & CEO: Brian Nelson), is distributing online advertisements
and providing consulting services for companies conducting e-business.
[ ValueCommerce Affiliate Program ]
ValueCommerce provides a powerful performance-based affiliate marketing platform with over 1,600 screened EC sites (advertisers) and 510,000 screened media sites (affiliate partners)