Can AI replace real influencers? Virtual influencers, created using artificial intelligence, have unique personalities and can do everything real bloggers do: engage with audiences and promote products or services.
What's the Concept and How Old Is It?
Virtual characters have been part of pop culture for over 20 years. One of the earliest examples is the band Gorillaz, formed in 1998. The band includes both real and fictional members, all part of a virtual universe featuring everything from cyborgs to floating islands. They promoted their music and world through various media formats—videos, comics, and animations.
Brands are increasingly adopting virtual mascots for promotion. These digital personas are brought to life with voices, personalities, and emotions, allowing them to interact with audiences in various ways, including live broadcasts. In 2019, Colonel Sanders became a virtual influencer, promoting KFC on social media.
One of the first virtual influencers, Lil Miquela, was created in 2016. Designed by the startup Brud, she is portrayed as a 19-year-old girl from Brazil with Spanish roots who "lives" in the United States, promoting brands like Prada, Balmain, and Samsung.
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Another example is Imma Graham from Japan, known for her bright pink hair and social media presence, sharing details of her glamorous life and frequently appearing on fashion magazine covers. The concept of virtual influencers has gained popularity globally, including in Russia, joining the ranks of celebrities, athletes, and artists as opinion leaders. They are more affordable, controllable, and "always available."
Julia Vlasova, Global Account Director at Uplify, explains: "Virtual influencers behave just like real ones. They can host live streams, post 'life' photos, interact with followers, and even 'go on' real-world tours (for example, through hologram concerts)."
Startups often develop virtual influencers, but anyone can create their avatar. For instance, the AI tool HeyGen can translate a person's speech in a video into another language, even matching lip movements.
Brands benefit from working with virtual influencers, as their followers can become potential customers. Influencers often become the face of a brand, expanding into other areas like movies, series, merchandise, and more.
Julia Vlasova notes, "Any company can collaborate with a virtual influencer. The key is to analyze the existing audience of virtual influencers or create a clear strategy with a detailed visual concept of the influencer they want for their brand."
Pros and Cons for Virtual Influencer Owners
Virtual influencers can be asked to perform any task, such as conveying a message in another language, helping to enter new markets. They can easily be edited as needed and are always available, never having a bad mood or off day.
They can also be present in multiple places simultaneously, which is advantageous for various platforms, including Uplify. However, there are downsides: a virtual influencer can't spontaneously take a selfie and is heavily dependent on the human team behind them.
Julia Vlasova states, "Influencer marketing is a powerful tool for both reach and conversion, valued for its authenticity. People follow and trust opinion leaders, making their recommendations seem natural. Modern technology should enhance the human element, helping achieve greater results. While digital influencers are trendy, people still prefer buying from people. If a real influencer or brand with shared values backs a digital avatar, it creates synergy. Automation allows for scaling successful influencer marketing experiences, boosting effectiveness and results."
What does this mean for influencer marketing? The future with virtual influencers is already here. Whether to invest in them is up to each company, but ignoring this trend isn't advisable. While the authenticity of virtual bloggers is still debated, their popularity and the opportunities they offer are undeniable.
In the digital transformation era, the authenticity of influencer marketing is key to attracting and retaining audiences. Julia Vlasova explains, "Uplify provides brands with the ability to create authentic sponsored integrations that seamlessly blend into content, ensuring high engagement."
Julia Vlasova concludes, "Uplify opens unique opportunities for brands to maximize the effectiveness of influencer marketing. The platform helps automate and scale your marketing efforts based on media metrics, all without direct contact with influencers. This ensures a high degree of transparency and control, enabling brands to reach significant scale with programmatic technologies. With Uplify, you can easily expand your audience across multiple platforms and optimize workflows for the best results."
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