JLL Scores With ‘Virtual Shopping Bestie’

JLL Retail Property Management recently became the first shopping center owner to introduce a virtual influencer, and it found year-over-year online website visits across participating shopping centers vaulted by 500% in its first month.

The “virtual shopping bestie,” named Cindy, was developed by AI provider Imaginuity and introduced to 13 shopping centers across the U.S. She’s tasked with publicizing local events and sales that retailers are offering on each center’s website and social media pages as part of a two-month campaign.

In a LinkedIn Live session, officials at JLL; The Dealey Group, the shopping center operator’s lead brand agency; and Imaginuity discussed Cindy’s development.

One reason behind Cindy’s arrival was that one virtual influencer could be customized to support multiple properties at a significantly lower cost than using real influencers at each property. Another was recent advances in artificial intelligence, including ChatGBT.

JLL also felt confident that a virtual influencer would resonate with real shoppers because a study from the London School of Economics & Political Science found that “customers are increasingly attracted to virtual influencers and that virtual influences are perceived as more trustworthy, credible, and relevant to customers’ preferences, leading to an increase in purchase intention.”

The study didn’t identify the underlying reasons, but Corbett Guest, Imaginuity’s president and chief strategy and innovation officer, said human influencers are often distrusted because they’re paid. He said at the LinkedIn session, “Even though the brand may indeed control that virtual person, the fact that somehow they’re not personally getting paid may have a huge impact on people’s perception that they’re more authentic.”

Regardless, a major challenge in creating Cindy was overcoming the “uncanny valley effect,” or the phenomenon where people feel a greater affinity for artificial humans as they become more realistic, but then feel a sense of unease or even revulsion if they’re overly realistic.

Ashlyn Booth, JLL’s EVP and director of property marketing, said JLL wanted shoppers to know Cindy was “computer generated,” as transparency over the use of robots and artificial intelligence in campaigns is becoming increasingly important.

She was looking for Cindy to mimic virtual spokespersons at Disney World or Disneyland. Booth said, “You get to certain areas and you’re getting on a ride, there’s this sort of virtual person that’s telling you if you’ve been through Epcot… it’s like this futuristic spokesperson, and that’s how I wanted [Cindy] to feel. You knew she wasn’t real, but you also trusted her.”

Much of the session explored how Cindy’s looks, mannerisms, and personality were created to feel authentic and relatable across markets while landing on the “fine line between too human and not human enough,” said Guest.

In her introductory video, Cindy appears in a mall setting, saying, “Hi, besties. I’m Cindy, your virtual source for styling tips. You can always find me right here in my favorite place, getting my steps in and showing you how to style the latest trends. Follow me and check out my picks for more. Shopping is my cardio.”

Backlash has been seen from past campaigns using virtual influencers by Marks & Spencer, H&M, and PacSun. Some critics have called out risks to girls’ mental health competing against computer-generated models.

JLL’s minimal backlash so far to Cindy was attributed to efforts to make her relatable. The negative feedback related to the replacement of real influencers, but JLL assured commentators it would continue to work with human influencers on local campaigns.

Indeed, JLL found consumers across age groups interested in AI technology. Booth said, “There were a lot more sort of fun comments, like ‘Is she real?’ You start to see the dialogue between the shoppers, which was fun, but overwhelmingly positive feedback… [Cindy’s] got this trustworthy quality about her.”

Guest said AI advances will continue to push the envelope in making increasingly realistic virtual influencers, and he expects transparency will continue to be a hotly debated topic. He said, “We’re going to get to the point that we can have these AI-driven personalities that are specific to your tastes and your wants. Because of your data, they’re going to know what you’ve been looking at and what you’ve been shopping for.”