Inspiration: Today, I came across a Tweet from Lilmiquela, a computer generated influencer who is dropping her 3rd NFT in a series. It got me thinking, while I had originally written about Computer Generated Influencers in July 2020, what could be refreshed about this due to the most recent push and craze over digital NFTs? A similar corollary to this idea was posted this in June 2020. You can read more of that original idea in our archive.
Problem: In order to become an influencer, you have to be a person that millions of people want to follow. Moreover, hiring an influencer can be challenging because of costs, misaligned campaign goals, and influencer fraud (fake followers and fake engagements).
Solution: A business that creates robots across various social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.) and uses these profiles to create Computer Generated Influencers. These social media influencers would be and act just like humans, the only difference would be that they’re not real at all. Brands would still be able to pay them and request advertisements; however, no one would have to compromise their personal morals to be involved. Moreover, by having a centralized “digital influencer agency” many of the difficulties of being a lone-influencer will be eliminated.
The current leader in CGI influencing is LilMiquela, who has over 3 million followers on Instagram. As reported by the New York Times in June 2019 (emphasis mine),
Human simulations have existed for years. They have dealt cards in Las Vegas, made music in the band Gorillaz and lived an approximation of real life in the Sims video game. But lately they have become more realistic and more engaging.
Fable Studio, which bills itself as “the virtual beings company,” created Lucy, a cartoonish character able to read and respond to viewers’ reactions in real time. The company says it makes digital creations “with whom you can build a two-way emotional relationship.”
Xinhua, the Chinese government’s media outlet, introduced a virtual news anchor last year, saying it “can work 24 hours a day.” Coca-Cola and Louis Vuitton have used video game characters in their ads. Soul Machines, a company founded by the Oscar-winning digital animator Mark Sagar, produced computer-generated teachers that respond to human students. Last month, YouPorn got in on the trend with Jedy Vales, an avatar who promotes the site and interacts with its users.
Edward Saatchi, who started Fable, predicted that virtual beings would someday supplant digital home assistants and computer operating systems from companies like Amazon and Google.
“Eventually, it will be clear that the line between a Miquela and an Alexa is actually very slim,” he said.
Virtual influencers come with an advantage for the companies that use them: They are less regulated than their human counterparts. And the people controlling them aren’t required to disclose their presence.
The Federal Trade Commission acknowledged in a statement that it “hasn’t yet specifically addressed the use of virtual influencers” but said companies using the characters for advertising should ensure that “any claims communicated about the product are truthful, not misleading and substantiated.”
Since these influencers can be designed to be hyper-realistic, could these influencers replace actual actors in television advertisements? Perhaps these influencers could be so realistic that you don’t even realize you’re following a false personality. The business would design influencers to match every sort of personality and person that exists in the world. Ideally having hyper-specific influencers would increase engagement and increase general profitability.
The creation of the virtual Colonel. Credit: Edelman and NYT
KFC worked with Generic Versatility to develop the virtual version of Colonel Sanders, here promoting Dr Pepper. Credit: KFC and NYT.
Monetization: Sales generated through business of the influencers.
Contributed by: Michael Bervell (Billion Dollar Startup Ideas)