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05 Virtual genuinfluencers
Virtual genuinfluencers
A new class of influencer is emerging.
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Meet the genuinfluencer—a term first coined by WGSN—who garners followers by being relatable rather than aspirational.
Angie, a virtual influencer on Douyin created by Jesse Zhang, is setting new beauty standards in China by celebrating her “imperfections.” Unlike other virtual influencers, whose skin has been smoothed to perfection and whose faces are perfectly symmetrical, Angie’s skin is sometimes dry or flushed, she gets acne and acne scars, her makeup creases and her teeth aren’t perfectly aligned. Instead of posing in designer clothes, she wears simple white T-shirts
and athletic shorts. “The reason I like Angie is that she is more realistic than many people who are actually real,” Xiao Qi, a millennial living in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing and one of Angie’s nearly 300,000 followers, as of December 2021, told CNN.
Yoox, an online luxury marketplace owned by Yoox Net-a-Porter Group, first launched its virtual influencer Daisy in 2018 and is now shifting its strategy. Yoox’s priority for Daisy in 2021 was to make her more relatable, Yoox brand and communication director Manuela Strippoli told Vogue. “We’re moving away from her initial image where she always seemed flawless and we’re humanizing her by giving her likes and dislikes as well as flaws.” This includes developing her voice, and having her engage more in social issues. “She has a point of view, whether it’s on fashion or social causes. It’s important that she’s not neutral,” added Strippoli.
Gen Z’s approach to brands is likely a significant contributor to this shift—the vast majority prefer a brand that they can relate to and that shares their values. In the United States, 73% of gen Zers want a brand that understands them and 76% want a brand that is accepting of a range of identities and experiences, according to October 2020 findings from Wunderman Thompson Data.
Why it’s interesting Influence is shifting. “Being too aspirational is repellent now,” the Guardian reported in August 2021. This is also filtering into the virtual realm, where brands have an opportunity to craft their avatar influencers around core values and relatability.
