The company introduced a virtual girl named Maya, who will be involved in brand advertising in the Southeast Asian market.
While developing a marketing campaign for the new Future Rider sneaker, Puma turned to a non-standard solution and presented the virtual heroine to the audience. Maya, this is the name the character got, has her own Instagram page, on which she describes herself as Your average not so average Southeast Asian Virtual Girl - “Your average not so average virtual girl from Southeast Asia.”
Maya is not only a picture on the screen, she has her own personality and psycho-physical features carefully thought out by the creators. When choosing them, the character developers conducted research on the youth audience in the region and made every effort to ensure that the heroine of the advertising campaign became a real influencer. Her life and stories should resonate with the audience and be close and recognizable to her.
At the same time, Maya's personality is constantly evolving based on her social interactions. All content is analyzed using artificial intelligence technologies, and the heroine changes her image in one direction or another. At the same time, it is noted that an increasing number of users throughout the region are involved in communication with the character. Questions arise whether Maya is real, with some users even expressing their romantic interest.
The project to bring the character to life was handled by advertising agencies UM Studios and Ensemble Worldwide. When choosing the appearance of Maya, a platform built on So.Min artificial intelligence technologies was used. With its help, millions of images of the faces of people from Southeast Asia were collected from various online sources, including Instagram. Based on these data, the character's face was created.
And then, with the help of 3D modeling technologies, a three-dimensional figure of a sports girl was embodied. The innovative company Intuitive Ideas participated in the development of the 3D model, which is responsible for the overall appearance and set of emotions that Maya can express. Graph Studios and Fly Studios, specializing in the creation of 3D models, were involved in the development of character movements.
