SHUDU

Creation of a London-based photographer, Cameron-James Wilson - Shudu, is known as “World’s First Digital Supermodel,”. She has the same attributes as all other CGI virtual influencers but she has been super successful in  attracting partnerships with luxury fashion house Balmain and Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty.

Pros Of using CGI Model in Influencer Marketing:

• Adaptability:
  As simple as, you cannot control a human model, they have their own life...but when it comes to CGI virtual models, you are in total authority of each and every aspect of their life, which makes them more adaptable. They can be molded into any promotional capacity as the creator wants.
• Brand Safety:
  In simple terms...a real-life model can get into controversies or may be leading a life which is not so desirable in the perception of the audience, this could be a major set-back in your branding strategy. But with CGI models, this is never the case as they operate according to their creators commands.
• Relatability:
  CGI models are presented as humans, having human attributes such as emotions, feelings, having opinions, leading a lavish lifestyle - but are actually robots. This is the fact that excites the audience the most as they become interested in their life and follow them as they follow any other real-life celebrity. This creates a balance of relatability as they have both a CGI character and human influencer which share similarities in life.

Cons Of using CGI Model in Influencer Marketing:

• May lead to layoffs:
  The major concern is CGI influencer models could take jobs from real models and dominate the industry few years down the line.
• Difficulty to distinguish between real and fake:
  Though the concept is new, but the question of concept being ethical always prevails. Creators are using digitally created identities to interact with the audience and influence them while the audience is still under impression that they are real. Another point is due to CGI models being fake entities...they don't have to follow rules in terms of sponsored content.