Who is an influencer?
An influencer can be a person or thing that has the power to influence you.
Social media today is a big platform to influence people. Social Media influencers have a large market. They have the power to persuade and engage people by virtue of their authenticity.
Now there’s a new trend emerging in the market virtual influencers. Let’s understand this growing trend of Instagram virtual influencers.
What is a virtual influencer?
Virtual Influencers are 3D computer-generated-imagery (CGI) created influencers. Depicting the lifestyle of a human being, these personalities are entirely fictional. They are personas that influence our behaviours, attitudes and opinions.
Virtual Influencers inherit the characteristics and capabilities of the game-changing phenomenon.
Brands are teaming up with them to tap into their fan base.
Virtual influencers have been appearing more since 2016 and starting as art projects before ballooning in popularity in 2018. Los-Angeles based tech startup “Brud” handles three virtual influencers – Lil Miquela, Blawko, and Bermuda.
How Instagram Virtual influencers rocking Internet in 2020
Instagram Virtual Influencers, is a weird yet interesting trend over the Internet today, there are now agencies such as the diigital, dealing exclusively in Virtual Influencers and brand promotions over Instagram. This weird trend has become such a significant trend that companies like KFC now have roped in its own Instagram Virtual Influencer.
A virtual influencer’s life, though pure fantasy, presents a respite from the ‘normality’ of altered reality. The following are some of the best Instagram Influencers you should know about, today.
1. Shudu Gram (@shudu.gram)
Shudu is reportedly the world’s first digital supermodel, often mistaken for a real human influencer. After all, she blinks and moves in her video posts on Instagram. The creator of Shudu is a London-based photographer, Cameron-James Wilson.
Shudu also reportedly landed in brand deals with Fenty Beauty and Tiffany&Co., Shudu has been “featured” in photo shoots from across the world. Some of Shudu’s pics are supposedly shot in Dubai, while others in London and Sydney.
2. Miquela Sousa (@lilmiquela)
Lil Miquela, aka Miquela Sousa, took the world by storm when she got launched in 2016, this half-Brazilian, half-Spanish 19-year-old virtual influencer and model has become an Instagram sensation. With over1.5 million followers. From YouTube sensation Shane Dawson to media outlets like Vogue and BCC. She has also gone viral on music-sharing app Spotify, with her debut single “Not Mine.”
3. Imma (@imma.gram)
With Japanese influence and a K-Pop aesthetic, Imma is a virtual influencer that has become a global sensation, created by a Japanese tech company in 2018.
Like many of her virtual influencer counterparts, Imma’s resemblance to a real human is uncanny and leaves many confused. According to Interesting Engineering website “Imma was created by CG company ModelingCafe. Imma drives her name from the Japanese word ima, which means now.”
In one of her recent posts, Imma can be spotted with KFC’s virtual influencer Colonel Sanders.
4. KFC – Clonel Sanders (@kfc)
Colonel Sanders is the latest heartthrob in the town, KFC has launched its own Virtual Influencer, which has been named after KFC’s founder Colonel Harland David Sanders. First posted on Instagram, April 8th 2019, the colonel, the virtual influencer can be seen flaunting a tattoo “the secret recipe of success” on its abs. The company has been using the hashtag #secretrecipeforsuccess throughout its campaign to post updates from Colonel Sanders. Colonel Sanders, the virtual influencer, can also be spotted posting some motivational posts to inspire youth.
The exciting thing about KFC’s virtual influencer is that it has also been endorsing other brands through Instagram paid partnerships.
5. Bermuda (@bermudaisbae)
Known famously for being responsible for hacking Lil Miquela. Bermuda is another brainchild of Brud. Bermuda went from disputing with Miquela in 2017 to befriending her. She’s different from Miquela when it comes to ethnicity, style, and political views.
6. Blawko (@blawko22)
Blawko’s page boasts appearances from his virtual influencers friends Miquela and Bermuda.
Another member of the #brudgang, Blawko’s Instagram, is a social commentary and posts. He inserts himself into memes and has a provocative sense of style. He does not hold back when it comes to comically criticizing public figures.
7. Noonoouri (@noonoouri)
Noonoouri is the new sensation on the virtual block. In her words, she’s cute, curious and couture. She is one of the fastest growing influencers on Instagram. With about 280k followers on Instagram, she landed a KKW beauty contract. She has been featured as Dior Cosmetics’ ambassador. Noonoouri is based in Paris and the creator, Joergz Zuber, is based in Germany.
Noonoouri has even made her Middle East debut, gracing Harper’s Bazaar Arabia in a photoshoot wearing exclusive Zuhair Murad.’
Advantages of Virtual influencers
- Virtual influencers can empower the brands. The design team behind them have total control over the content they create for the campaign.
- Virtual Influencers are less risky in ways as the content can be designed to match the given brief.
- Human errors can be removed. Time, quality and communication issues can be quickly resolved.
- They are allowing brands to reach a younger and targeted audience. Going viral, getting publicity is the most significant benefit. Further, they are enhancing the audience size.
Growing Challenges with Virtual Influencers
1. Authenticity: Human Influencers on social media try and review the products out. Give an honest opinion and share with their audience. On the other hand, virtual influencers are not able to do any of the above. Therefore, they provide no authenticity behind the endorsements they do.
2. Unrealistic Expectations: Virtual influencers intended to be flawless and not have any imperfections. They pose a dangerous effect on society as a whole. Create unrealistic expectations about what beauty, style and culture look like, and this can lead to severe implications for youngsters people. Young people take social media stars as key influencers. There is enough pressure on mental health, and Virtual influencers further perpetuate these issues.
Virtual Influencers and Social Media Marketing
Avatar culture has been around for years. It’s in recent times that virtual personas have managed to gain “mass attention” on social media.
Brands are finding value in auditing their influencer marketing plans to identify gaps that could be plugged by a Virtual Influencer. Some advertisers are also experimenting with virtual influencers that comprise pixels, rather than flesh and blood.
Instagram is the leading platform for the growth in VirtuaI Influencer’s popularity. Furthermore, Instagram has launched its new shopping space, and there is now an excellent opportunity for virtual influencers to be more effective advertising vehicles for brands.
Concerns are growing for many around to what is real and what is not. There has been a degree of uncertainty floating around concerning how we should always act with these virtual beings, significantly as we tend to see them.
They are emerging onto the media platforms of our everyday lives. The boundaries between the virtual and the fake are getting increasingly blurred.
The notable rise in followers of virtual influencers indicates that it may last longer than a mere ‘fad’ or ‘craze’. The popularity of virtual influencers is reflective of a broader change in how people are starting to consume media. People are more open to following ‘unreal’ influencers online than we would expect.
One of the recent consumer research conducted by UK Futures division of Mindshare found that one-third of 18-34-year-olds do follow profiles on Instagram or Twitter that they know are not real. The study further states that more than fifty per cent (54%) of all UK customers find virtual entities interesting on some level, rising to 69% for those who consider themselves informed about tech. This may be because they are already familiar with fakery online; almost four of every ten UK customers feel that ‘everything on Instagram is fake to some extent’. People are preferably open to following something they know is authentically fake.
It would be interesting to see whether the public continues to see them as a fun novelty in the knowledge that they are ‘authentically fake’. Start to embrace them more deeply into diverse aspects of their day to day lives.
It’s now possible to imagine a future where virtual influencers are a significant part of the everyday media. For instance, 20% of under 35s admitted that they would prefer a virtual news anchor over a real one while 43% of all UK customers think that in the coming ten years, virtual entities will be all around us.
From a business perspective, virtual influencers offer plenty of opportunities. They can provide brands and advertisers with a chance to connect with wider internet platforms along with traditional mediums, resonating particularly with Millennials. With virtual influencers, the problem misrepresentation of a brand also becomes a thing of the past, as the virtual influencers don’t have minds and actions of their own to go ‘off-script.’
It would be interesting to see the journey of virtual influencers as they grow. From the huge fan following these virtual Influencers are getting over Instagram, it’s quite evident, the trend of Virtual Influencers in not merely a fad, it’s likely to grow in the future and likely to be a billion-dollar industry in years to come.
Do you think it’s a fad or going to be the next big trend in Digital Marketing? Tell me in the comments.
Those are some real good insights sir… Can see the future coming ?
Thank you Vishal 🙂