Influencer marketing has seen a lot of downsides due to the global coronavirus pandemic, and many social media creators have been forced to alter their content strategies due to the technical limitations and difficulties that the social distancing measures brought on everyone. Especially influencers who work for brands and whose content is mostly based around traveling and events for promotion and sales have faced a major blow due to the pandemic.
However, companies like Brud, The Diigitals, and Genies who create computer-generated virtual influencers are doing business as always. The main reason is pretty understandable. These virtual influencers can go anywhere, anytime, without having to adhere to any social distancing and stay-at-home policies due to COVID-19. That is the reason why many brands are now taking a keen interest in these virtual influencer companies and start-ups and are using their “star-influencers” for the marketing of their products.
Some of the most famous virtual influencers are music pop star Lil Miquela from Brud, Shudu Gram, the famous virtual supermodel created by Cameron James Wilson from The Diigitals, and music artist J Balvin from Genies. These virtual influencers have a great fan-following, especially Shudu Gram, who is extremely popular on Instagram with more than 205,000 followers.
Now, this is an extremely innovative and effective method of carrying out business even when the rest of the world is going through a major financial crunch. This has been confirmed by the president of Brud, Kara Weber, that while there are travel restrictions and a pile load of limitations for real influencers these days, her Lil Miquela is completely un-affected by the chaos in the world. She is completing her modeling projects as usual, without any qualms with famous brands like Givenchy, Samsung, Prada, Calvin Klein, and some more. Lil Miquela is not only a computer-generated virtual influencer, she is also a pop star and hence, a fashion icon too. But this does not mean that she is a typical robotic creature. As per Kara Weber, Miquela is very close to her human fans and friends and she understands the difficulties that they are experiencing due to the pandemic. Therefore, she shares an excellent consumer relationship with her followers.
Kara uses this “almost humane” tone for her Lil Miquela to induce as much love and affection into the computer-generated virtual influencer as humanly it is possible. And it is really sweet. While solving so many problems these virtual influencer business models can, companies like Brud, The Diigitals, and Genies can benefit a lot from their virtual influencers by drawing in exclusive brand deals, generating revenue from IP- driven content which includes television appearances and music releases, consumer products and so much more. The possibilities are endless!
The popular Shudu Gram has been booked by fashion brands like Balmain, and other virtual avatars by Shudu’s company, The Diigitals have seen an enormous influx in bookings by various other brands during the pandemic.
Apart from fashion models and music artists, brands are taking interest in virtual influencers belonging to the fields of technology, medicine, and finance as well.
Brands like Cheetos, Gucci, New Balance, and Bird have already been using digitalized versions of celebrities and influencers created by Genies in the past also, and now with the ongoing pandemic, the popularity of these virtual influencers among the brands has increased multiple folds.
Read next: Research Shows That YouTube Influencers Are Most-Trusted By Consumers
However, companies like Brud, The Diigitals, and Genies who create computer-generated virtual influencers are doing business as always. The main reason is pretty understandable. These virtual influencers can go anywhere, anytime, without having to adhere to any social distancing and stay-at-home policies due to COVID-19. That is the reason why many brands are now taking a keen interest in these virtual influencer companies and start-ups and are using their “star-influencers” for the marketing of their products.
Some of the most famous virtual influencers are music pop star Lil Miquela from Brud, Shudu Gram, the famous virtual supermodel created by Cameron James Wilson from The Diigitals, and music artist J Balvin from Genies. These virtual influencers have a great fan-following, especially Shudu Gram, who is extremely popular on Instagram with more than 205,000 followers.
Now, this is an extremely innovative and effective method of carrying out business even when the rest of the world is going through a major financial crunch. This has been confirmed by the president of Brud, Kara Weber, that while there are travel restrictions and a pile load of limitations for real influencers these days, her Lil Miquela is completely un-affected by the chaos in the world. She is completing her modeling projects as usual, without any qualms with famous brands like Givenchy, Samsung, Prada, Calvin Klein, and some more. Lil Miquela is not only a computer-generated virtual influencer, she is also a pop star and hence, a fashion icon too. But this does not mean that she is a typical robotic creature. As per Kara Weber, Miquela is very close to her human fans and friends and she understands the difficulties that they are experiencing due to the pandemic. Therefore, she shares an excellent consumer relationship with her followers.
Kara uses this “almost humane” tone for her Lil Miquela to induce as much love and affection into the computer-generated virtual influencer as humanly it is possible. And it is really sweet. While solving so many problems these virtual influencer business models can, companies like Brud, The Diigitals, and Genies can benefit a lot from their virtual influencers by drawing in exclusive brand deals, generating revenue from IP- driven content which includes television appearances and music releases, consumer products and so much more. The possibilities are endless!
The popular Shudu Gram has been booked by fashion brands like Balmain, and other virtual avatars by Shudu’s company, The Diigitals have seen an enormous influx in bookings by various other brands during the pandemic.
Apart from fashion models and music artists, brands are taking interest in virtual influencers belonging to the fields of technology, medicine, and finance as well.
Brands like Cheetos, Gucci, New Balance, and Bird have already been using digitalized versions of celebrities and influencers created by Genies in the past also, and now with the ongoing pandemic, the popularity of these virtual influencers among the brands has increased multiple folds.
Read next: Research Shows That YouTube Influencers Are Most-Trusted By Consumers
