How Are Digital Humans Evolving AI Influencer Marketing?

Over the past few years, digital humans have been making their mark on the marketing industry.

Jade and Zelda, LLC, a Los Angeles-based company, has been using storytelling and innovative AI technology to create a diverse range of adaptable, cost-effective digital humans for various media formats, such as immersive technologies and YouTube videos.

Their digital humans have personal histories and interact with one another—and with people in the real world. Their signature digital human, Chef Jade, has a blog, a YouTube channel, a newsletter, and a mission to provide at least 100 meals every week to food-insecure people around the globe.

Has this concept caught your interest yet? When we (virtually) sat down with Brandon Ross, CEO of Jade and Zelda (J and Z), we couldn’t wait to hear more. 

So, what does your brand need to know about Jade and Zelda, and how can you use digital humans to maximize the potential of your marketing, PR, and influencer campaigns?

Find key details about the company and concept here.

What Is a Digital Human?

You’ve likely heard about AI avatars, AI influencers, and voice clones. Lil Miquela is a great example of an AI influencer who was created completely for the digital space. She ages, hangs out with celebrities, and is featured in campaigns for powerhouse brands like Prada. 

Shudu is the world’s first AI supermodel, and she’s already graced the cover of Vogue. 

These are just two examples of AI influencers. There are plenty more. And while these computer-generated influencers are in high demand, they don’t come without their share of criticism. 

While digital humans can also be considered AI influencers, they’re so much more. You’ll get to know Chef Jade and the other digital humans J and Z has created in this blog, but let’s start off with some key differences that make them stand out.

Digital Humans vs. AI Influencers

Digital humans, like the ones J and Z create, have relationships, family histories, and niche areas of expertise. Chef Jade has real-world struggles, like caring for hair, and real-world bonds, like her one with her dog.

This makes digital humans more relatable than your average AI influencers.

As for the appearance of J and Z’s digital humans, the image is much more animated compared to popular AI influencers like Lil Miquela, Shudu, and Imma. This makes sense, considering Jade and Zelda consulted with Mike Mitchell (animator and director of films like Shrek Forever After, Trolls, and Kung Fu Panda 4) during their creation phase.

But why create a less human-like image if they were to give their digital personas human-like characteristics? The answer lies in science and technological accessibility. 

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should—and in this case, scientific studies show that viewers respond better to animated characters. J and Z were also able to side-step the controversy born from “flawless” human-looking characters taking the spotlight from real humans. 

“Right now there are a lot of virtual influencers or AI influencers and they’re very human-looking. A lot of them are on Instagram, some of them even have OnlyFans, and that’s becoming a problem. 

That’s why there are flags going up and restrictions putting AI stamps on [social media posts]. We’ve unknowingly avoided the issues because we have this level of trust available because [Chef Jade] is animated,” Ross explained.

On top of this, the style of animation used to create Jade and Zelda’s digital humans simply translated better across platforms. They not only can be used in YouTube videos and social media content, but also via VR and AR technology.

Digital Humans vs. AI Avatars 

Avatars are replicas of existing people. Right now, you can go on TikTok and create a digital avatar of yourself. If you're a creator, it can even be used in influencer campaigns across the platform. You can also open your iPhone, create a Memoji, and use it in your messages and FaceTime. 

Digital humans are created personas along with a computer-generated image, complete with a voice and facial expressions. Since J and Z’s digital humans were created by a TV writer, the character development is incredibly thorough. 

Your AI avatar will be a copy of you. Chef Jade is her own woman.

About Jade and Zelda

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You’ve come to know a bit about Jade and Zelda, but let’s take a deeper dive into the company’s origins for an even better understanding of what they do and how they do it.

The Beginning

Jade and Zelda was founded in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Founders Brandon Ross and Tori Ross decided to combine their passions and professional experience in digital marketing and entertainment to create something innovative and new.

With the world practically shut down and hundreds of millions of people unable to go to work, they thought about the potential of someone who could keep digital marketing campaigns going without the possibility of being affected by human conditions like illnesses. 

This is one of the key benefits of hiring a digital human over a real human. And though the concept doesn’t come without contention, when looking at the big picture, we appreciate Jade and Zelda’s animated approach. Choosing a more animated image over a human-like one diffuses a lot of tension in the world of influencer marketing. 

The Concept

At the time, digital advertising was seeing significant growth, but many content creators were locked in their homes. The solution? Digital humans with specific niches who could provide innovative, reliable content unhampered by local restrictions.

Before they could do this, the founders had to ask themselves three questions:

• Can we create a fake person?
• Can we have that fake person do the same thing a real human does?
• Can we have people falling in love with this person?

That third question was the biggest obstacle, but as Ross explains, the answer amazed them.

“We get about half a million people who click to Chef Jade's website every month. I would say about 25,000 of those people know she's not real but leave comments. They engage.

It's not easy. It's a tightrope walk. But, with Chef Jade being adopted, she's biracial, she has a dog…we purposely put these things in. So, she has this curly hair, and we sometimes purposely talk about how difficult it is for her to manage her hair, and we've had comments, like, oh, yeah, for me, too.”

This person, she's not real, right? But the issue is real. The issue is a very relatable issue to some people.”

The Roster

Chef Jade was the first, a vegan and vegetarian chef who learns about the culture of the world through cooking. She’s active on social media including TikTok and Instagram, has her own website with a loyal following and has participated in ad campaigns.

Her brother, Naveen, an esthetician who specializes in natural skin care treatments, came next. Chef Jade’s French bulldog Zelda, horticulturist Sandy, and shop teacher Edward are also on the way.

How Do Brands Use Digital Humans?

The possibilities for brands to use digital humans are almost limitless. Like regular human influencers, digital humans have built an audience and connect with them through social posts, newsletters, and podcast features.

The speed with which AI can create content, though, is unrivalled. It makes it easy for brands to take a multi-platform approach to their campaigns, and the ability to produce tailor-made content that reflects a brand's specific needs is revolutionizing the digital marketing space.

What Benefits Do Digital Humans Have for Brands?

There are some significant advantages for brands looking to work with digital humans.

Control

For starters, brands retain complete control over their messaging. While AI tools (and real humans) actively create the content that Chef Jade and Naveen release into the world, Jade and Zelda have staff who edit everything and ensure that the images, videos, words, and audio are on-message and consistent with a brand’s values.

Speed

Digital humans create content at a remarkably fast pace. The turnaround time is practically instant. Chef Jade travels around the world making food from different cultures with vegan or vegetarian ingredients. Need her somewhere? There’s no need to book hotels or flights. 

“When an advertiser comes to us and says, ‘We have this iced tea we want to market, or it would be cool to see Chef Jade in Antarctica,’ in minutes, our team can create videos and images with her in Antarctica,” Ross explained. “We can even adjust the voice so it sounds like she’s cold.”

Creativity

Digital humans can be anywhere and do anything and, as we’ll get into in a second, they don’t require a massive budget. Brands can expand the horizons of their campaigns by using digital humans. If you can imagine it, AI can probably create it.

Are Digital Humans Cost-Effective?

Ross estimates that partnering with a digital human costs one-tenth of what it normally costs to work with a real-life human influencer.

There are no travel costs, for one, but Jade and Zelda is also four years into its journey as a business and have developed the AI technology it needs to create images, videos, podcasts, articles, and more. 

“Our cost has decreased dramatically from the beginning because we have certain structures and formats in place. The articles are created by the A.I. we built. The images are created by the A.I. we built. Now, it’s a review process more than anything.

​​It used to be hours of fees by our staff, now it’s a weekly review of our content. That will never go away, we’ll always have the human element involved. We’ve seen hiccups that only a human could have caught,” says Ross.

Evolving Influencer Marketing Together

One thing we love about Chef Jade? She’s authentic. Digital human or a real human, authenticity is king.

Digital humans are already a major part of the digital marketing and advertising landscape and their approach is only growing. Jade and Zelda is bringing an innovative approach to the realm of influencer marketing.

While Jade and Zelda has digital humans covered, MODERNSPEAK brings a fresh, innovative approach to influencer marketing and represents an expertly talented roster of creators specializing in the travel, tech, and lifestyle industries. 

Falling into the tech industry, influencer marketing is constantly evolving. MODERNSPEAK has found a way to adapt to the flow of the industry, creating dynamic partnerships and original concepts that are proven to result in high ROI.

Learn more about how MODERNSPEAK's innovative strategies can transform your online presence! Reach out today to get started with your next influencer marketing campaign.