The Rise Of The ‘Fake’ Influencer: CGI In Influencer Marketing
CGI influencers have become the hottest trend in the influencer marketing space at the moment with multi-national brands working with them to create unique campaigns. This article will look at various CGI influencers that have risen to fame and weigh up whether this futuristic approach is sustainable within the influencer marketing industry.
Computer Generated Imagery, better known as CGI has been around for years in movies, TV and advertising. However, social media managers, designers and programmers have recently created a new trend off the back of the influencer marketing industry: CGI influencers.
CGI influencers first made their debut in 2016 but with the influencer marketing industry set to be worth up to $10 billion by 2020, CGI influencers have mainly come to the surface this year, and have attracted many multi-national brands to create an alternative spin on the already rapidly growing industry.
Essentially, CGI influencers have the capacity to be anything that anyone wants them to be. They have been created to mimic the lives of real influencers but can be controlled in any way, whether that be in a social setting or to raise awareness for a political issue. Many brands have jumped on the bandwagon and allow them to have complete control over the influencer marketing they want to produce — from the placement of the actual image or what they want the influencer to say.
One of the first CGI influencers created on Instagram was through a start-up called Brud, which is based in LA. They created Lil Miquela, the popular CGI influencer who has a following of over 1.6 million on Instagram. She is the largest CGI influencer to exist in the space at the moment and has worked with brands such as Calvin Klein, Tinder and Samsung.
Many have begun to clock onto the success of Lil Miquela in the advertising industry, and other CGI influencers have started to appear in the space. For example, Bermuda, and her CGI boyfriend, Blawko have both racked up over 100,000 followers on Instagram each.
Brands are also engaging with this concept, and have started actively using CGI influencers in their influencer marketing campaigns. For example, Cameron-James Wilson created the world’s first digital supermodel, named Shudu. Shudu has represented a number of brands including Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty and luxury designer Balmain.
Sometimes they are involved in something controversial purely to gain greater traction and followers. For example, Bermuda is a pro-Trump conservative CGI influencer and the company that owns her staged a fake argument with Lil Miquela purely for publicity.
There is a great appeal for CGI influencers as they essentially have an ‘owner’ who controls them, and are therefore not unpredictable. Unpredictability in the marketing space can sometimes create problematic situations between a creator and a brand. Posts that are not properly managed may backfire and create a negative image of a brand. This usually happens when posts look inorganic and lack authenticity. Although CGI influencers are not immune to this.
As a new and emerging industry, brands have taken great interest in experimenting and trialling out new ideas without tarnishing the reputation of a creator who has a distinct personality and has formed a relationship with their audience. Furthermore, there are no physical restraints in space and time for CGI influencers as they are a computer-generated code. For example, they could be at a brand launch in New York while simultaneously recommending a beach resort in Bali.
Despite this, as I mentioned above, CGI influencers are not immune to bad press. For example, Lil Miquela recently featured in an advertisement for Calvin Klein where she is seen to be making out with supermodel Bella Hadid. The aim of the campaign was to challenge conventional norms within the advertising space. However, the backlash began as the audience accused the brand of queerbaiting, to which they then issued an apology.
Further to this, ethical considerations should be made regarding issues of cultural appropriation and money earned from brand deals. For example, Shudu is a CGI of a black woman but was created by a white man. Will a white man be receiving monetary gain for the representation of a black woman in the advertisement material he produces? Is this ethical?
Essentially, CGI influencers have become the billboard version of influencer marketing, and an extension for a brands marketing strategy. They are able to say anything that a brand wants them to say as they are controlled by someone externally.
However, this can often become problematic when the audience starts to believe CGI recommendations over that of real humans. They have faced some criticism for some of the brands they are working with to do this, particularly in skincare. CGI influencers can have flawless skin because they aren’t real, and they are promoting products they cannot use, providing unrealistic beauty standards and essentially a useless review.
The influencer marketing industry is shifting its main focus towards authenticity and transparency, and with CGI influencers unable to provide authenticity as they are not real, is this futuristic influencer marketing trend really here to stay?
