The Splice 🧬 Paris Hilton Teams Up With Virtual Influencers
Plus meet Alibaba's virtual influencer for the Beijing Olympics and why the metaverse will overtake social media one day.
Good afternoon!
Welcome back to The Splice 🧬 by VirtualHumans.org: a weekly newsletter curating the latest news, developments, and insights in the virtual influencer space.
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🧬 Core Strands from This Week
Alibaba Creates Virtual Influencer ‘Dong Dong’ for the Beijing Olympics
🔎 The Synopsis: The e-commerce brand Alibaba created a virtual influencer for their partnership with the Beijing Winter Olympics. Her name is ‘Dong Dong’ which means ‘winter’ in Mandarin.
🧬 The Splice: You can’t follow her on social media (yet), but you can interact with Dong Dong on shopping live streams where she reviews official Olympic merchandise. This partnership now marks the 3rd time a virtual influencer has officially worked with the Olympics.
Superplastic’s Guggimon and Dayzee Team Up With Paris Hilton and Gucci for NFTs
🔎 The Synopsis: Superplastic, the brand behind virtual influencers Guggimon and Janky, has recently collaborated with Paris Hilton and Gucci for NFT projects.
🧬 The Splice: Paris Hilton worked with Superplastic’s female virtual influencer Dayzee to create a series of NFTs centered around her life in the public eye. This project comes on the heels of Superplastic’s recent collaboration for a series of NFT for Gucci (aptly titled ‘Supergucci.’)
🔭 What We’re Looking at This Week
70% of influencers think the metaverse will replace social media, according to a new report
🔑 Key Quote: “56% of influencers say they currently participate in the metaverse. 90% of influencers support brand partnerships in virtual worlds. 70% of influencers believe social media will be replaced by the metaverse.” — Business Insider
Virtual Human in K-pop: Virtual Influencer Rozy to Debut as Idol + BLACKPINK To Collaborate with AI YG Artist Han YuA?
🔑 Key Quote: “On February 15, Rozy, who initially rose into popularity as a virtual influencer confirmed her debut in the music industry…Aside from Rozy, another virtual human also set her career in the entertainment industry by signing a contract with YG KPLUS, a subsidiary of YG Entertainment.” — Kpop Starz
Samsung's Live Shopping Event Was Hosted By a Virtual Influencer
🔑 Key Quote: “The phone company tapped a CGI-created influencer called Zero to unveil its Samsung Galaxy S22 phone at a virtual event co-hosted with TikTok creator Liam Kalev. Zero is one of a growing number of avatar influencers gaining popularity on social media platforms that brands have been using to promote their products.” —Adweek
Best,
VirtualHumans.org
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Insights by Makena Rasmussen and Christopher Travers.