Can virtual influencers achieve success in the Serbian market?
As last year's research showed, marketing is one of the top 3 least trusted professions.
And as if that wasn't enough for us, following the world trends and the development of technology, we gave "ordinary" people, who are our target group at the end of the day, even more reasons for suspicion - a new level of virtual reality, the metaverse, which brings unlimited possibilities to marketing development.
In a world that is essentially not real but is also a part of our reality, everything seems perfectly "normal". If you've ever believed in a parallel reality, the metaverse would probably be just that. As with any other novelty this big and foreign, which can seem intimidating and a bit unsafe, the introduction and preparation were gradual. For example, virtual influencers were only one of the first elements that tickled the attention of the public in this regard but also divided it. Virtual in real, real in virtual... Many find it difficult to define their position on this topic.
The second half of the 2010s was the period when brands and marketing agencies slowly but surely started to create and use virtual influencers to promote their products, services, and ideas. Let's remember the digital model Shudu Gram, who presented the new Fenty Beauty lipstick and which no one could believe was not real. There is also Miquela Sousa, a digitally created influencer, who wholeheartedly supported the Black Lives Matter movement but also participated in Prada brand campaigns. Fashion house Balmain "used" virtual models for its campaign, however, causing an avalanche of comments regarding whether such figures can really promote social diversity.
Some of the most followed virtual personalities who have a serious impact in the real world include Lou do Magalu (5.9M followers on Instagram), Barbie (2.1M followers), Guggimon (1.5M followers), while Miquela Sousa, Imma, Bermuda, Shudu Gram, and Rozy are listed as the most realistic virtual influencers. And indeed, sometimes it's hard to tell the virtual from the real, which was certainly the point.
Whatever you think about them, virtual influencers are here to stay and their time is yet to come, especially with the further development of the metaverse, but also with our opening to news and modern trends of development. But the question arises whether every brand can use the power that such ambassadors possess; is every market an adequate market for this kind of innovation, and how much role in making the final decision on the inclusion of a virtual influencer in the campaigns does the target group that the brands are addressing have?
As much as you may be intimidated by the idea that our opinions and consumer habits are defined by someone who is not "of flesh and blood," the fact is that virtual influencers were created to facilitate and bring a kind of refreshment to influencer marketing. And no, don't worry about them replacing anyone - they're here to provide option B to brands that want to push the boundaries but also test themselves.
"Virtual influencers in the world are an alternative to the typical approach to influencers through which companies manage their own brand ambassadors. Virtual influencers are more suitable for brands because they are created as desired, are constantly available, perform tasks faster, save time, and there is a much lower risk of negative reactions," explains Anja Petrović, who deals with influencer marketing at the agency Smartpoint Adria.
The advantages of virtual influencers are, therefore, numerous, and it is easy to conclude that it is a trend that should be part of serious marketing campaigns whose creators are not afraid of risks. Hand on heart, it cannot be 100% claimed that the brand itself will be satisfied with the implementation of the campaign and that its results will be desired. However, marketing is a game in which it is always desirable to search for new answers to old questions.
Does all this mean that virtual influencers can take their place in the digital sky of Serbia?
"For our market, this is a new trend that still sounds counterintuitive," believes Anja Petrović and adds: "Given the commercial potential of virtual influencers, they will definitely be a part of every market in the future. However, their development would be much more difficult in Serbia, due to the psychological moment arising from the fact that traditional advertisements built trust between real people."
While virtual influencers do not exist in Serbia, at least for now, things are a little different in Romania. Ana Tobor is one of the first virtual influencers in this region who has gathered almost 5000 followers, and her cooperation with Samsung on the promotion of the Galaxy Z Flip phone, in March 2020, confirms that she is a person who has potential for success.
The way in which our country could also contribute to the development of virtual influencers is through Metahuman - a project launched by the domestic studio 3Lateral, which aims to "revive" metahumans, that is, digital characters that are almost identical to humans. Metahuman is already part of the Unreal Engine, the most advanced tool for creating photorealistic 3D visuals, has become part of the world-famous Netflix series Love Death + Robots, and is finding its way into the gaming world as well. This is precisely why we believe that this project can achieve great success.
Real people, i.e., the target groups of brands, are the key factor that determines the success of virtual influencers. That their future can still be bright is shown by the research conducted by The Influencer Marketing Factory agency in March of this year.
The results showed that 58% of respondents (the survey sample consists of 1000+ Americans aged 18 to 55+) follow at least one virtual influencer on social networks, while 24% of those who do not follow them did not even know such a thing existed.
Furthermore, 27% of users who follow virtual influencers do so because of their content, 19% because of storytelling, and 15% because they inspire them.
Although only 35% of users bought a product or tried a service promoted by virtual influencers, an interesting fact is that the most respondents aged 35 to 44 actually rated virtual influencers as trustworthy people (6.5 out of 10).
On the other hand, looking at social media consumers in Serbia, it is assumed that the younger population that follows the trends would more easily accept the new generation of influencers, although there is a possibility that our assumptions may deceive us. Accordingly, Anja Petrović, who deals with influencer marketing at the agency Smartpoint Adria, predicts that precisely determining the target group will be the most difficult part of creating campaign strategies that include virtual influencers.
Despite the undoubted potential, the further development of virtual influencers raises a number of questions. How to create a "human connection" with a brand that is not promoted by real people or, from an ethical point of view, is it okay to use "deepfake" and AI technology to present the brand's products or services? In this way, would the brands distance themselves from their consumers or would they be more attractive to them? And, in general, where does reality end and fantasy begin? We're eager to find out.
For Marketing mreža website text written by: Ivana Tomić, Smartpoint Adria Brand Specialist
Photo: Unsplash