AirAsia Experiments With Virtual Influencer Miss AVA

AirAsia has unveiled a virtual influencer named Miss AVA, an evolution of its chatbot named AVA (AirAsia Virtual Allstar) launched in January 2019.

Miss AVA currently focuses on travel-related content across social media platforms, particularly Instagram. Speaking to trade publication A+M, Rudy Khaw, AirAsia’s group head of branding revealed the idea for Miss AVA came about in early 2019 but it took the team a little under a year to unveil her because it wanted to ensure AVA had the right look that could cut across markets. The virtual influencer was created as a means to cut through the noise to engage consumers and attend to their queries, as well as fuel social engagement.

“AirAsia has always been about doing things differently and following the introduction of our chatbot AVA, we saw an opportunity to take it one step further. We thought that it would be groundbreaking if we could give her life and a personality; to make her out to be more than just a chatbot which can engage with our fans, someone they can interact and have fun with,” he explained.

AirAsia joins brands including PUMA, SK-II, and KFC in riding the virtual influencer wave across the region. PUMA Southeast Asia, for example, recently launched its virtual influencer named Maya in partnership with UM Studios in Malaysia, to promote its Future Rider sneakers. While PUMA still works with real-life influencers such as Singaporean rapper Tosh Zhang, Malaysian singer Ismail Izzani, and Indonesian actor Adipati Dolken, Maya will drive interest by updating her collaborations with PUMA on Instagram.

Last year, SK-II created YUMI to engage with younger consumers who want more meaningful experiences with the brands they know and trust. According to AI company Soul Machines, which worked with SK-II to produce YUMI, the virtual influencer “can operate at scale, autonomously of human intervention”.