Virtual influencers are now becoming the new face of influencers. Blurring the line between what is real and reel, these avatars bear an uncanny resemblance to actual models, which makes it even more difficult to differ from real humans and virtual influencers.
Born on 28 January 2022, Kyra has set to change the face of influencer marketing. Made by Himanshu Goel, the business head at Top Social Media, she is becoming quite popular on Instagram gaining followers to 100,000. Her Instagram bio says “dream chaser, model and traveller”.
Most of you might not be aware but earlier sustainable apparel brand LOTA designed its first virtual influencer- Rajiv in India. LOTA’s co-founder Adhiraj also a digital designer created India’s first CGI influencer. Additionally, adhiraj also partnered with a jewellery brand to design their virtual models to display their collection at Helsinki Fashion Week 2020.
By 2020 we got another virtual model- Nila. Represented by talent agency Inega. Agency stated-“She more of Birkenstocks kinda girl”.
Saying Rajiv and Nila paved the way for Kyra wouldn’t be wrong. Developing Kyra wasn’t that easy. “We looked at the gender and genre she will cater to. Creating her persona was then a business decision since most followers and businesses are in the spaces of lifestyle, technology, fashion, make-up and beauty. And women are followed more than men. That’s the nature of the internet, which has a bigger male audience,” says Himanshu.
“We wanted to create someone who looks Indian and can also appeal to a broader audience. We looked at lots of features and went with what was popular among a wide variety of people. In CGI (computer-generated imagery), most artists create American characters, so getting the Indian-ness was difficult,” Himanshu reveals.
Lil Miquela, shudu gram and many more are already gracing the covers of international magazines, it’s good to see India has finally entered the market of virtual influencer marketing.
