Coca-Cola is migrating its CC Studios, a virtual environment that is part of the five-year-old MyCoke.com loyalty program, into There.com, an online community owned by California-based Makena Technologies. The strategic decision was announced yesterday, and CC Studios will be renamed CC Metro inside There.com. It takes effect in North America (with a focus on the US) but will roll out globally in the coming months.

Both MyCoke.com and There.com users will have immediate access to CC Metro, which puts the optimistic ‘Coke Side of Life’ attitude into a virtual space on a Coke-bottle-shaped continent inside There.com. The environment includes music, gaming, sports and entertainment, a skate park where users can test their ‘hoverboard’ skills and a theatre featuring exclusive video content by Coca-Cola. Members will also be able to develop their own music through the ‘music mixer’ and socialize with other members via chat and voiceover IP.

Coca-Cola will also use the CC Metro space as a place to tie in other associations like American Idol, NASCAR and the Olympic Games. The My Coke Rewards program will be integrated into the environment, allowing users to obtain virtual merchandise through an in-world store and purchase Therebucks, the There.com virtual currency, to buy clothes and accessories for their avatar, as well as property, pets and vehicles.

Carol Kruse, VP global interactive marketing for the Coca-Cola Company, says that ‘with the increasing sophistication in the digital world and virtual environments, we knew it was time to create a richer, more lifelike experience for MyCoke.com members. There.com offered the flexibility, technology and collaboration we needed to create the kind of multi-dimensional virtual environment we envisioned for the next phase of Coke Studios.’

MyCoke.com has 8 million registered members worldwide, and There.com has one million.