Intelligent influencer marketing: how AI-powered virtual influencers outperform human influencers

Is it already the end of the influencers' era? More specifically the human influencers' era? Indeed, AI-powered digital avatars called "virtual influencers" are replacing them as marketing influence partners with the biggest brands, such as Prada, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton. By this choice, they avoid associating their business with the names of influencers who could have a very bad reputation overnight. This research aims to understand the incredible popularity of certain virtual influencers among consumers as well as their limits. This article explores this emerging phenomenon using a mixed qualitative methodology combining three retail case studies in Brazil and 16 experts open-ended interviews with. The results show that: (1) not being human is advantageous to virtual influencers; (2) their story is more important than their appearance in creating engagement; (3) they contribute to improve digital marketing campaigns; and (4) they seem more authentic than human influencers.