Cruise line Virgin Voyages is betting big on its recently launched campaign starring J. Lo — and her digital twin, “Jen AI.”
It starts with a business, featuring Jennifer Lopez riffing off artificial intelligence. The spot showcases “Jen AI” experiencing a hilarious malfunction, inadvertently unveiling her true identity: a man named Kyle.
However the campaign doesn’t end there. Virgin Voyages digitally mimics the superstar’s voice and appearance, with the assistance of generative artificial intelligence, to permit customers the possibility to customize an invite to book a cruise they’ll send to friends or family.
“It did require a considerable financial investment, but we’re already seeing it repay,” Virgin Voyages Global Brand and Experience Strategy Director Billy Bohan Chinique told CNBC.
Though he declined to reveal exact figures, he said the campaign’s budget was on par with what a brand typically allocates for a Super Bowl commercial, amounting to tens of millions of dollars.
The campaign comes at a time when cruise tourism is showing remarkable signs of a recovery post-pandemic, bouncing back at a faster rate than international travel as an entire. In keeping with Cruise Lines International Association, roughly 31.5 million cruise passengers are expected to travel this 12 months, surpassing 2019 levels.
Jennifer Lopez and Virgin Voyages team up for an AI campaign to spice up bookings.
Virgin Voyages
The person behind the brand new Virgin Voyages campaign and tech is chief innovation officer at marketing firm VMLY&R, Brian Yamada.
“Jen AI is a mix of two different generative technologies. The primary is generative voice and the second is generative video,” Yamada told CNBC. “The generative video allowed us to mimic her mouth movements to be certain that the look of the video actually followed the several syllables.”
While the concept of allowing any name in Lopez’s voice might raise concerns about potential misuse, the team has taken precautions, implementing measures to make sure that inappropriate or offensive content is filtered and blocked.
The creative team told CNBC they were extremely cautious about how they presented the AI components of the campaign. They deliberately added a noticeable effect each time the AI was used to make Lopez say something she didn’t say in real life. The concept was to playfully highlight the AI’s involvement, almost poking fun at its capabilities in a lighthearted manner.
In keeping with Virgin Voyages, the campaign, which launched last month, has already generated greater than 1,000 bookings. Chinique called it highly successful.
“Our engagement rates are greater than 150% in previous campaigns,” he added, saying that users spend on average greater than three minutes on the positioning.
The team is actively considering future possibilities for the AI bot’s capabilities. Imagine, for instance, a personalised greeting from Jen AI as you step into your room.