Virtual Influencers Are Revolutionizing The Way Brands Approach Consumers
Virtual influencers are essentially virtual people created with CG (Computer Graphics) softwares that can generate content for different social media platforms. These characters have been gaining a lot of success lately thanks to their viral nature, which works very well when it comes to collaborating with brands.
You may remember Lil Miquela (the most famous virtual influencer by far) from the Calvin Klein campaign when she was hugging and kissing Bella Hadid, one of the most important celebrities in the world. So yeah, this is quite a big business.
The last big news regarding this crazy digital world is the collaboration between ImmaGram and IKEA Japan. In order to celebrate the opening of IKEA’s new city shop in Tokyo, creative agency Wieden+Kennedy to design a 3-day screen installation displaying Imma’s apartment inside the new shop, where they shared the concept of home furnishing solutions for small space living targeted at the youth of Tokyo.
Those passing by the first floor could peer into Imma’s living room, watching as she lounged on a couch, vacuum-cleaning her house, doing yoga, and many other things. To make it look as if Imma was inside IKEA’s shop-windows, the installation employed a set of LED monitors merging into the physical space of the store’s window. The screens’ color temperature would adapt in real-time, thus ensuring a seamless viewing experience of the futuristic diorama to the 110.000 people passing by Harajuku station every day.
In the meantime, Imma was keeping her fans updated on social media, in real-time. When she doodled in the window, we saw the drawing on Instagram; when she bounced around the living room, her fans could listen along to her Spotify home playlist; when she wasn’t on screen, she was walking her dog Cottoncandy.stein (yes, he does have an Instagram profile) around Yoyogi park.
We are on the edge of a completely new approach that brands are following to resonate with the consumer, and Computer Graphics will play a fundamental part in this shift.
Article by Giulio Vescovi