Bring goods, plant grass... Virtual idols become brand spokespersons, where are the advantages?

With the popularity of virtual idols on the Internet, many companies have begun to use virtual idols as spokespersons, and virtual Internet celebrity bloggers have also surged on various online platforms. The interaction between virtual and reality has brought more business possibilities to brands, but industry insiders believe that the virtual idol industry is still in its infancy, and its effect has yet to be tested by the market.

Recently, virtual idols have become the new darling of brand marketing. Many companies have used virtual idols as spokespersons to seize opportunities, and platforms such as Douyin and Xiaohongshu have also surged with virtual Internet celebrity bloggers to bring goods and plant grass.

In this regard, industry insiders pointed out that under the impetus of technology, the interaction between virtual and real is more realistic, which also makes the virtual economy grow rapidly and the attraction to brands is increasing. However, the virtual idol industry is still in its infancy, facing the problems of difficulty in building and high cost, and whether virtual idols can be accepted by consumers and produce good results still needs to be tested by the market.

Many companies use virtual people as spokespersons

The reporter learned that the virtual idol is produced by computer graphics, AI (artificial intelligence), motion capture and other technologies. This digital virtual idol has specific character settings, story backgrounds, and personal preferences, just like real humans.

Ah Xi is one of the representatives of virtual idols. In August last year, Ah Xi became popular. She loves to wear a white T-shirt and looks like a cute girl next door. She's not perfect, her teeth are a little crooked, she has acne marks on her face, and she even yawns in front of the camera without hesitation. However, it is such an imperfect virtual idol that has been loved by the majority of netizens in China, and its popularity is directly true to the star.

Soon after becoming popular, Zhong Xuegao announced Ah Xi as "Zhong XueGao's SpecialLy Invited Tasting Officer", and launched Ah Xi's summer short film and seasonal limited "apricot milk ice" flavor ice cream. On April 13 this year, take a moment to also announce Ah Xi as the brand's 2022 virtual spokesperson.

"We hope that through the virtual idol of Ah Xi, the brand influence will continue to penetrate into the 'Generation Z' crowd." Taking a moment, the person in charge said that Ah Xi, who dressed simply and casually, was closer to the "beauty of the neighbor", and the daily emotions and life scenes could arouse people's resonance more.

In addition to taking a moment and Zhong Xuegao, well-known companies such as Huaxizi, Watsons, and L'Oréal have also used virtual idols as spokespersons.

On platforms such as Douyin and Xiaohongshu, a number of virtual internet celebrity bloggers have also surged up to bring goods and plant grass. On the eve of "Double 11" last year, the makeup video of virtual beauty master "Liu Yexi" attracted millions of fans; and in the Xiaohongshu Station, virtual idols of many brands have been online, carrying goods and planting grass...

Virtual idol marketing, where are the advantages?

As more and more companies show great interest in virtual idols, the virtual idol industry has also developed rapidly. According to the "2021 China Virtual Idol Industry Development and Netizen Investigation and Research Report" released by Ai Media Consulting, the scale of China's virtual idol market will exceed 64.56 billion yuan in 2020 and is expected to reach 333.47 billion yuan in 2023.

Virtual idol marketing, where are the advantages? Zhao Zhanzhang, a special researcher at the Intellectual Property Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law, believes that for brands, virtual idols can enhance consumers' awareness and trust in brands, and have become a new entry point for brand business development and "pleasing" consumers.

"Generation Z has become a major player in the consumer market, and they are more receptive to virtual idols. Brands create virtual idols 'human' symbols or invite popular virtual idols to be spokespersons, so that the combination of real scenes and virtual things can give more image connotations and new value displays to the development of brand IP. Zhao Zhanzhan said that in recent years, celebrity endorsement overturning incidents have occurred frequently, and the risk of virtual idols is low.

Some insiders also pointed out that brands carry out non-fiction marketing based on virtual idols, which can greatly expand the possibility of interaction and marketing scenarios. Brand virtual idols integrate into people's lives through real voices, images, personalities, etc., visualize everything in a complete way, and become a window for people to recognize the brand. At the same time, brand virtual idols can open live broadcasts, record variety shows, shoot movies, and also serve as customer service and make friends, bringing more business possibilities to the brand, and can play an active role in the accumulation of brand assets and user assets.

The relevant person in charge of Huaxizi said that the emergence of the virtual image has surpassed the identity of the "spokesperson". For many reasons, live celebrity spokespersons may not be able to accompany a brand for a long time. "We hope to create an exclusive image for the brand, to accompany the development of the brand for 5 years, 10 years or even 100 years, and the avatar of 'Huaxizi' can meet our needs very well."

Iteration and IP creation of the technical level are the key

Zhang Yi, chief analyst of Ai Media Consulting, said that although virtual idols seem to have a strong attraction, virtual idols are not easy to build and the cost is high. At the same time, whether virtual idols can be accepted by consumers and produce good results needs to be tested by the market.

Industry insiders pointed out that at this stage, the virtual idol industry is still in its infancy, the downstream consumer market of the mainland virtual idol industry chain is developed, while the upstream technology end is weak, the software layer companies are facing cost pressure, and the application layer companies also have difficulties in realizing. Therefore, the iteration of the technical level and the creation of IP will be the key to the competition of the virtual idol industry.

In addition, virtual idols rely on IP influence to achieve "breaking the circle" and forming "explosive models" in the market, which will be affected by many factors. At present, only the virtual idol IP in the "head position" has a better effect. Perhaps, take a good look at what consumers want to find the most suitable virtual idol and play the best business effect.

"Giving virtual idols a 'human setting' that conforms to the tone of the brand allows virtual idols to imperceptibly convey brand ideas in interaction and communication with users." However, it should be noted that if the brand audience and the virtual idol audience are not matched enough, it is likely to greatly reduce its communication value, resulting in a situation where the publicity effect is not good. Zhang Yi said that with the change of the trend and the development of the times, leading the aesthetics of different stages, virtual idols need to have stronger continuity in image development and content development in order to continue to attract traffic attention.

Zhao Zhanzhan pointed out that in the creation of virtual idols, the brand can highlight the exclusivity, and customize the matching virtual "human design" according to the brand's needs, regardless of the image modeling and the selling point of the "human design", it must be able to highlight the characteristics. If you can't find the hottest IP, it is very likely that you may not be able to achieve the desired effect. At the same time, we must continue to improve the sense of technology and interaction of virtual idols to attract the attention of young people.

Source: Workers Daily

Image: Visual China

Guangzhou Daily New Flower City Editor: Zhang Ying