◼ BUSINESS Bloomberg Businessweek November 2, 202016 ● As Covid grounds many social influencers,
brands are turning to digital spokespeople
When the Pitchman
Isn’t Human
During the pandemic, many social media
influencers—those online tastemakers marketers use
to reach young, connected consumers—have been
stuck at home. But not Seraphine, whose flowing
pink hair, catchy songs, and cute Instagram posts
about her cat have won her a devoted fan base of
nearly 400,000 followers who track her every move.
She’s busy making appearances in Shanghai to pro-
mote her music and prepping for a future collabo-
ration with K-pop girl group K/DA.
Dealing with the harsh realities of pandemic life is
easier for her because, well, she’s not real. Seraphine
is a digital creation of Riot Games Inc., the folks
behind League of Legends, a hit e-sports game. So she
can keep cranking out posts—and marketing tie-ins—
on Twitter, Instagram, and SoundCloud despite lock-
downs or travel restrictions. (That doesn’t mean she
ignores reality: Seraphine sometimes wears a mask.)
At a time when interacting safely with other
humans can no longer be taken for granted, busi-
nesses’ appetite for such digital spokespeople is
accelerating. Brands are expected to spend as
much as $15 billion annually on influencer market-
ing by 2022, up from $8 billion last year, according
to Business Insider Intelligence. And a growing slice
of that money belongs to virtual influencers, whoseTHEBOTTOMLINE EliLillyandRegeneronareracingtoproduce
antibodies against Covid. But even if they work as hoped, the
companies won’t be able to make enough to satisfy demand.onOct.26,whena government-sponsoredtrial
oftheLillyantibodyinhospitalizedpatients—who
tendtobesicker—wasterminatedduetolackofeffi-
cacy.Still,thatfailuremaynotdeterthepending
FDAauthorization,whichis focusedon“highrisk”
patientswithmild-to-moderate Covid symptoms.
Ricks says rich nations will pay more for its drug
than poor ones—it’s charging $1,250 per vial in the
U.S., less than some analysts expected—but Lilly
doesn’t expect big profits. “We’re not optimizing our
financial return in the short term,” he says. “We’re
trying to escape the pandemic and do some good.”
�Robert Langreth and Riley Griffin, with Anna Edneyproducersoftenusesophisticatedvideoanddigital
tools to make them look and act almost human.
“Virtual influencers, while fake, have real busi-
ness potential,” says Christopher Travers, the
founder of virtualhumans.org, a website that docu-
ments the industry. “They are cheaper to work with
than humans in the long term, are 100% controlla-
ble, can appear in many places at once, and, most
importantly, they never age or die.”
Seraphine—who on Oct. 13 was also tapped to be
a playable character on League of Legends, which
draws as many as 8 million concurrent daily users—
is one of about 125 active virtual influencers, accord-
ing to Travers. More than 50 of those premiered on
social media in the 18 months prior to June 2020.
The biggest influencers can attract brand part-
nerships and other lucrative deals. With 2.8 million
Instagram followers and a fee of about $8,500 per
sponsored post, Lil Miquela—a Brazilian “model”
who’s done promotions for Calvin Klein, Prada,
and other brands—is the industry’s highest earner,
according to OnBuy, a U.K.-based online market-
place. OnBuy estimates Lil Miquela could make up
to $11.7 million this year. As Covid leads to the can-
cellation of product launches and sponsored travel
junkets, many human influencers with big social
media followings are seeing revenue streams dry
up. Virtual pitchpeople haven’t suffered that fate.◀ Digital influencer
Seraphine at home▼ Virtual influencers with
the largest followings
across all social
mediaplatformsasof
September 2020
First appeared online
in 2019 or 2020Barbie
25.5mLudoMagalu
18.Hatsune
Miku
10.3.Nobody Sausage3.Any Malu4.FN Meka5.Miquela Sousa2.Guggimon2.
Janky2.
Noodle and Bun