Marketers balance creepiness and realism as more AI-generated avatars come online
AI-generated avatars are further blurring the lines of reality as more life-like characters and animations are integrated into social media and digital platforms.
It’s now possible to generate avatars in minutes using audio, images or videos and produce content with hundreds of different backgrounds, outfits, tones and languages or gestures. But do you as a marketer aim for realism or steer clear of the uncanny valley? Increasingly, they are trying to balance the quirky with the realistic in an avatar’s look and feel to strike the right tone.
The uncanny valley refers to an unease or negative response (that creepy vibe) we feel when encountering something that seems almost human — but it feels off. Think early forms of generative AI-designed avatars that look like a real person, but has no eye movement, or a digital representation that looks exactly like an influencer, but is lacking natural movement or features.
Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.
What the rise of the niche and nano-creator means for influencer marketing
The so-called TikTok-ification of social media, in which the platform’s short-form, viral, and algorithm-driven content, has fueled the exponential growth of the influencer marketplace and creator economy. As it swells, marketers are tasked with allocating ad dollars to maximize return on investment. As it stands, smaller, more niche creators are delivering the best bang for buck, according to five influencer marketing execs Digiday spoke to for this story.
That means general lifestyle influencers have to adapt and find a niche or run the risk of fizzling out.
“It’s attention, really,” said Sophie Crowther, global talent partnerships director at Billion Dollar Boy, and head of creators at FiveTwoNine, the influencer marketing shop’s creator community membership program. “Attention is in new formats, new creators that are tapping into something completely brand new, basically.”
Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.
Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for Wed, 25 Dec 2024
The Year The Pop Tart Edible Mascot Invaded Our Ids
By the Book: How ‘The Fugitive’ Director and an Investigative Journalist Collaborated on 2024’s Timeliest Thriller
Ad revenue or subscriptions: What’s more viable to Snap’s success as a business?
Snapchat’s subscription play is shaping up to be one of media’s most compelling plotlines in 2025.
While subscriptions are still a modest slice of Snap’s revenue pie, they’re giving the company’s top line a noticeable lift. Case in point: Snap’s ad revenue climbed 10% to $1.25 billion in its last quarter, but thanks to $123 million in non-ad revenue — largely driven by its member program, Snapchat+ — the company posted a 15% overall revenue jump to $1.37 billion.
It’s a rare win for a platform navigating a precarious business model, heavily dependent on fiercely contested ad dollars.
Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.
Media Agency Report: Horizon, Publicis, UM and others on CTV’s appeal, agency partnerships and programmatic’s evolution
This is a bonus behind-the-scenes look at our conversations with executives for Digiday’s 2024 Media Agency Report, which examined the current and future state of media agencies, from the perspective of total client spending and spending by media channel, and delved into the impact of retail media on the agency landscape.
Digiday hosted a focus group of eight senior media agency executives who oversee media investment at holding company-owned and independent media agencies to gather first-person accounts of client spending. Agencies and networks that participated in the focus group were:
This is a member-exclusive article from Digiday. Continue reading it on digiday.com and subscribe to continue reading content like this.
‘SNL’ At 50: NBC Preps Anniversary Specials For 2025
Spyware Company NSO Unlawfully Hacked WhatsApp, Judge Rules
ruled late last week.