India's 1st virtual influencer Kyra: She talks, sings and dance - has thousands of followers on Insta
Have you heard of virtual influencer before? A virtual influencer is a made-up person or character with a social media account.
New Delhi: If you've ever watched Black Mirror or Love, Death and Robots with rapt attention, you won't be surprised to find that virtual influencers not only exist, but are rapidly growing in popularity.
Kyra target audience
Brand influence
What's in it for the brand that's collaborating? Himanshu puts it succinctly, "They receive their first virtual ambassador." "Plus, consider this: a company wants to run a vacation promotion. It will be much more expensive to fly an actual influencer around the world than it will be to set a virtual influencer in front of, say, the Hawa Mahal, using an actual photograph or one reproduced in 3D. Kyra has done'shoots' in front of Amer Fort and other locations. Furthermore, virtual influencers will never grow old or become embroiled in conflicts. If a controversy arises, you can quickly resolve it by replacing a copywriter or designer. Kyra's existence is more of a business or artistic decision than an emotional one, which helps."
Kyra
Influencers
"However, even brand managers acknowledged Kyra appeared to be more real than virtual," he continues. "Given the numerous filters that people use on Instagram, there were remarks like 'aapki asli shakal kaisi hai' and 'filter kyun laga raha hai.' Fortunately, many people are already familiar with the concept of virtual space, particularly after Facebook's name was changed to Meta."
Reactions
Influencer marketing
Himanshu Goel
Virtual Influencer
A virtual influencer is a made-up person or character with a social media account who is managed by a content creation team who works with brands. Late last year, Himanshu Goel, business head at Top Social India, launched Kyra, a 21-year-old virtual influencer (@kyraonig with 88.1K followers) who was the idea of Himanshu Goel.