The rise of AI influencers in South Africa

FRANCE 24 English

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00:00Hey France 24, my name is Kim Zulu. I am South Africa's very first virtual influencer.

00:06You may be wondering, what do I do for fun? I run a fashion blog called Brownstreet on TikTok,

00:11and I'm also into beauty and all things fashion.

00:15This influencer is completely generated by artificial intelligence,

00:19yet she's followed by thousands of real people.

00:22And she's worked on marketing campaigns for brands like Mini and Puma.

00:26We travelled to Puma's head office in Cape Town.

00:30The company reached out to Kim Zulu's creators, a Johannesburg-based marketing agency,

00:34and digitised one of their shoes for a collaboration.

00:37That's the shoe they digitised.

00:40It actually made it look really cool.

00:42That's how we're wearing the shoe.

00:44We made one, so we might as well just put a bunch of other shoes on set, you know.

00:48I mean, we still speak to humans at the end of the day, and we are humans.

00:52So I think it's always humans first, but if the technology is there, and that's where the world's going,

00:58you know, you have to listen. As a marketer, you have to listen.

01:03The global virtual influencer market was valued at 5.5 billion euros in 2024.

01:08It is expected to grow to 98 billion by 2032.

01:12The main target audience is Gen Z.

01:15I mean, it's very realistic.

01:16I mean, I wouldn't know if it wasn't legit if you hadn't told me already that it's AI.

01:22We should be using AI for more important things,

01:26like helping people around the world with real problems,

01:30not creating influences, because there's a lot of people that can just put on make-up

01:34and talk about make-up and clothes.

01:38We don't need AI to do that.

01:40In May, the creators of Kim Zulu released a new digital influencer called Tabi Forever.

01:46Even more realistic, she appeals to an audience of young girls,

01:49often posting about break-ups and fashion.

01:52And they're very, very interesting.

01:52In May.

01:53One more real.

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