Want to Reach Global Citizens?

Watch and reference what global citizens watch. Nielsen's research found 57% of adults aged 18 to 34 spend 11 hours a day on interactive social media. Trendwatching.com noted the Lisboeta hotel in Macau, China, and pop-up stores in New York City and Hollywood were using characters from a Japanese app in their decors. Emojis and other social media and app icons now join Disney characters as multi-format global presenters, especially in venues that attract tourists from around the world.

     Since potential customers already are watching something on their smartphones, they are a captive audience for anything, such as merchandise, food, films, and concerts, associated with what they are seeing right in their hands.

     The AFLAC insurance company has combined the traditional advertising art of creating recognizable characters, like Tony the Tiger, to connect customers to their brands with emojis from apps and social media. Working with the medical tech firm, Sproutel, AFLAC turned its recognizable duck into a companion for hospitalized children. Kids receiving chemotherapy can hook up their free ducks to IVs that demonstrate how that process works. In addition, when kids tap their ducks' chests with emoji discs, ducks act out feelings to show the medical staff and visitors if they are sad, happy, or about to cry or throw up.

Real Imaginary Friends

Have you heard about digital personalities? Your teens and students already may know a new kind of avatar named Miquela Sousa. By 2020, trendwatching.com reports AI, facial recognition, emotional sensing, and other new technologies will create 5 billion virtual assistants and virtual companions or computer-generated influencers (CGI).

     Marketers are able to tailor a perfect CGI for every marketing segment's sex, age, size, and passions. That's what Trevor McFearies and Sara De Cou are doing at Brud, an LA-based tech startup. Vogue's September, 2018 issue describes Miquela Sousa, the 19-year-old model and musician Brud based on current tastes and culture cues. Stylist Lucinda Chambers outfits Lil Miquela, as she is known since 2016 by her Instagram followers, in Alexander McQueen for a Vogue photo shoot. Miquela's interests are said to be: recording music, the politics of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, relapsing into tomboy clothes and activities, makeup tutorials on YouTube, and new Drake albums. She has blunt-cut bangs, straight dark hair past her shoulders, rather thick eyebrows over her brown eyes, full pouty lips, a slim but not skinny body, a pretty face speckled with freckles lightly covered with foundation a tad darker than medium.  

    What does a marketer want a susceptible young person to do after interacting with Miquela Sousa? Imitate her look, fashions, activities, and causes. The latter, in her case, are liberal.

     It is easy to slip out of reality and get caught up imitating what a made-up CGI looks like, wears, does, and says. Too easy.