Travel line Virgin Voyages is betting big on its recently launched campaign starring J. Lo — and her digital twin, “Jen AI.”
It starts with a commercial, hallmarking Jennifer Lopez riffing off artificial intelligence. The spot showcases “Jen AI” experiencing a hilarious malfunction, inadvertently unveiling her realistic identity: a guy named Kyle.
But the campaign doesn’t end there. Virgin Voyages digitally mimics the superstar’s voice and hint, with the help of generative artificial intelligence, to allow customers the chance to customize an invitation to book a cruise they can send to girlfriends or family.
“It did require a substantial financial investment, but we are already seeing it pay off,” Virgin Voyages Global Brand and Experience Scheme Director Billy Bohan Chinique told CNBC.
Though he declined to disclose exact figures, he said the offensive’s budget was on par with what a brand typically allocates for a Super Bowl advertisement, amounting to millions of dollars.
The effort comes at a time when cruise tourism is showing remarkable signs of a recovery post-pandemic, bouncing back at a faster speed than international travel as a whole. According to Cruise Lines International Association, approximately 31.5 million sail passengers are expected to travel this year, surpassing 2019 levels.
Jennifer Lopez and Virgin Voyages line-up up for an AI campaign to boost bookings.
Virgin Voyages
The man behind the new Virgin Voyages campaign and tech is chief innovation constable at marketing firm VMLY&R, Brian Yamada.
“Jen AI is a combination of two different generative technologies. The first is generative voice and the alternate is generative video,” Yamada told CNBC. “The generative video allowed us to mimic her mouth movements to make steadfast that the look of the video actually followed the different 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 ensure that inapposite or offensive content is filtered and blocked.
The creative team told CNBC they were extremely cautious connected with how they presented the AI components of the campaign. They deliberately added a noticeable effect every time the AI was used to clear out Lopez say something she didn’t say in real life. The idea was to playfully highlight the AI’s involvement, almost poking fun at its capabilities in a lighthearted comportment.
According to Virgin Voyages, the campaign, which launched last month, has already generated more than 1,000 bookings. Chinique upbraided it highly successful.
“Our engagement rates are more than 150% in previous campaigns,” he added, saying that drugs spend on average more than three minutes on the site.
The team is actively considering future possibilities for the AI bot’s capacities. Imagine, for example, a personalized greeting from Jen AI as you step into your room.