Recently, virtual idols have become the new favorite of brand marketing. Many enterprises use virtual idols as spokespersons to seize the opportunity. There is also an upsurge of virtual online Red bloggers to bring goods and plant grass on platforms such as Tiktok and xiaohongshu. In this regard, insiders pointed out that driven by technology, the interaction between virtual and reality is more realistic, which also makes the virtual economy grow rapidly and become more and more attractive to brands. However, the virtual idol industry is still in its infancy, facing the problems of difficult to build and high cost, and whether the virtual idol can be accepted by consumers and produce good results still needs to be tested by the market. Many enterprises use virtual human as spokesperson The reporter learned that virtual idols are made 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. Axi is one of the representatives of virtual idols. Last August, Axi became popular. She likes to wear a white T-shirt and looks like a lovely girl next door. She is not perfect, her teeth are a little crooked, there are acne marks on her face, and she even yawns in front of the camera. However, it is such an imperfect virtual idol that is loved by the majority of domestic netizens, and its popularity is straight to the stars. 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 season Limited "apricot milk ice" ice cream. On April 13 this year, take some time to also announce Axi as the virtual spokesperson of the brand in 2022. "We hope that through Axi, a virtual idol, the brand influence will continue to penetrate into the 'generation Z' crowd." Take some time. The person in charge said that Axi, who is dressed simply and casually, is closer to the "beauty of the next door", and the daily emotions and life scenes can arouse people's resonance. In addition to spending some time and Zhong Xuegao, well-known enterprises such as huaxizi, Watson's and L'Oreal have also launched virtual idols as spokespersons. On the platforms such as Tiktok and xiaohongshu, there has also been an upsurge of virtual online Red bloggers bringing goods and planting grass. On the eve of "double 11" last year, the makeup video of virtual beauty expert "Liu Yexi" attracted millions of fans; In xiaohongshu station, many brands of virtual idols went online one after another to bring goods and plant grass What are the advantages of virtual idol marketing? With more and more enterprises showing strong interest in virtual idols, the virtual idol industry is also developing rapidly. According to the Research Report on the development of China's virtual idol industry and Internet users in 2021 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. What are the advantages of virtual idol marketing? Zhao Zhanzhan, 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 the main force in the consumer market, and they have a higher acceptance of virtual idols. Creating a virtual Idol 'human design' symbol for the brand or inviting a popular virtual idol as a spokesperson and combining real scenes with virtual things can give more image connotation and new value to the development of brand IP." Zhao Zhanzhan said that in recent years, star endorsement rollovers have occurred frequently, while the risk of virtual idols is low. Insiders also pointed out that the brand's non fictional marketing based on virtual idols can greatly expand the possibility of interaction and marketing scenarios. Brand virtual idols integrate into people's life through real voice, image and character, visually and completely present everything of the brand, and become a window for people to recognize the brand. At the same time, brand virtual idols can open live broadcasts, record variety shows, make movies, be customer service and make friends, bring more business possibilities to the brand, and play a positive role in the accumulation of brand assets and user assets. The relevant person in charge of huaxizi said that the emergence of virtual image goes beyond the identity of "spokesperson". For many reasons, real star spokesmen may not be able to accompany a brand for a long time. "We hope to create an exclusive image for the brand and accompany the development of the brand for 5, 10 or even 100 years for a long time, and the virtual image of 'huaxizi' can well meet our needs." Iteration of technology level and IP building 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 still needs to be tested by the market. Insiders pointed out that at this stage, the virtual idol industry is still in its infancy. The downstream consumer market of China's virtual idol industry chain is developed, while the upstream technology side is weak. The software layer companies are facing cost pressure, and the application layer companies also have difficulty in realizing. Therefore, the iteration of technical level and the creation of IP will be the key to the competition of virtual idol industry. In addition, virtual idols rely on IP influence to "break the circle" and form "hot money" in the market, which will be affected by many factors. At present, only the virtual idol IP in the "head position" has a good effect. Perhaps, we should study what consumers want in order to find the most suitable virtual idol and give full play to the best commercial effect. "Giving virtual idols' personas' in line with the brand tone can make virtual idols imperceptibly convey the brand concept in their interaction and communication with users. However, it should be noted that if the brand audience group is not consistent with the audience group of virtual idols, it is likely to greatly reduce its communication value and lead to poor publicity effect." Zhang Yi said that with the change of trend and the development of the times, iterative evolution, 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 specificity, and customize the matching virtual "human design" according to the brand needs. Regardless of the image modeling and "human design" selling points, it should be able to highlight the characteristics. If you can't find the hottest IP, you may not achieve the desired effect. At the same time, we should continue to improve the sense of technology and interaction of virtual idols to attract the attention of young people. (Xinhua News Agency)