Like Adrag, I too have become sick and tired of the fictional character MySpace pages. But in cruising around Miss Helga's page I've noticed a couple of things, and I'm changing my tune on this, just a bit.
Helga's got great goodies. The life size Helga downloads are helgariffic. They're 18 page PDFs that fans can download, and tile together on the dorm room wall, for a life size Helga poster. I suppose they'll work equally well on your office wall. Nice playthings within the MySpace arena offers brand fans a one stop shopping joint for the brand stuff that they like.
Everyone has a personal brand. And there are brands that you associate with, as they are appropriate for your brand.
Kids on MySpace are no different. There are countless brands that they identify with, have fun with, and that are a part of their lifestyle. So - if you're going to participate in this lifestyle with them, why not do it on their terms?
The fictional MySpace page makes it convenient for the brand fan. Not that anyone actually believe's that Helga is behind this page. But it's a convenient mini-mall for everything Helga. Laid out and intuitive to the MySpace user. I don't have to explore a product site that's cluttered with a bunch of ad content that I don't care about. It's not about selling the car here - it's about celebrating the brand. And only the pieces (and tools) of the brand that make sense to me. (Which of course, sells the car.)
I believe that MySpace fanatics accept this - even expect it - as MySpace continues to grow, "brand mini-marts" become an important part of that space. Like a Starbucks kiosk on a college campus. It's not that it's not as good or real as the full size Starbucks downtown, but it's more convenient.
But then again, maybe I'm just blinded by Helga's tight dress.
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