Yahoo! have already created a 'Brand Universe' microsite for one of the biggest players in the current games console market - the Nintendo Wii. Displayed below, the Nintendo Wii site pulls in Flickr photos, links from Del.icio.us and content from Yahoo! Answers.
Project Brand Universe has been designed by Yahoo! to create attractive online destinations that will draw large audiences around individual movies, games, TV shows, bands, celebrities and other types of entertainment.
Vince Broady, head of games, entertainment and youth at Yahoo!, commented:
"We don't connect the dots for our users around those brands; Brand Universe is designed to fix that problem. What we are really trying to do is create environments where fans of brands can hang out when they are online."
Mr Broady added:
"The sites would also create windows where visitors could find out more about specific attractions and perhaps become fans."
With the creation of the Nintendo Wii microsite this week, as well as the announcement of several more big brand sites for The Office, Harry Potter, Lost, the Sims, Transformers, The Toy Line and Halo, Yahoo! are already generating huge interest.
Like much of Yahoo!'s online empire, the Brand Universe project will also act as a platform for advertising opportunities. Yahoo! had already mentioned that they intend to incorporate a structure that allows ad revenue to be shared with the brand owners.
However, an interesting conflict may develop as the Brand Universe project progresses. Yahoo! has stated that they do not intend to ask permission from brand owners before constructing sites around their product or brand. So what happens if the brands themselves are losing out on traffic and potential revenue because of Yahoo!'s new attractive entertainment site?
Well, although Yahoo! will not ask brand owners before they build sites, they have stated that they intend to pull the plug on proceedings should any objections be made. If this is the case, Yahoo! will simply move onto another mega brand. However, the general consensus around the project seems to indicate that most brands will welcome further online promotion - especially from Yahoo!, a brand with a globally recognised reputation - whether or not permission is asked.
Ultimately, Yahoo!'s Brand Universe project looks set to attract large numbers of young web users to the search engine's vast network of sites, bringing with them both a new revenue stream and the creation of a new type of online community.
