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Virtual influencers gain ground in Indian brand campaigns with boAt, Titan, Myntra
Our read
Test a virtual influencer against your human creator roster now, since AI personas like Kyra and Maya are already delivering ~7% engagement versus 3.5% for humans on comparable Indian brand campaigns.
Watch
ASCI or SEBI guidance on AI/virtual influencer disclosure
The report,
Indian virtual/AI influencers (Kyra, Naina Avtr, Myntra's Maya, Collective Artists' Kavya) are gaining traction in brand campaigns with partners like boAt, Titan Eye and Amazon, reshaping influencer marketing economics for Indian retail and consumer brands.
Reported figures
From the report. Source details below
| $8.76 billion | 2025 market |
|---|
Other figures
- 1.35 lakh followers
- 38.4% CAGR
- 2.55 lakh followers
- 3.77 lakh followers
Why it matters for the brand
Watch Collective Artists Network and other AI-persona studios as potential acquisition or partnership targets as brands institutionalize virtual influencers into their marketing mix.
What to track next
- First public engagement-decay data as virtual personas age past novelty phase
- A brand-safety or deepfake controversy involving a virtual persona
- Conversion (not just engagement) benchmarks published for virtual vs human
- Global platform (Meta/Instagram) AI-content labeling policy shifts
Likely next moves
Our read of what comes next — analysis, not reported by the source.
- Brands pilot hybrid campaigns pairing virtual personas for reach with human creators for conversion validation
- Talent networks (Collective Artists) build proprietary virtual IP to capture margin beyond human roster commissions
- D2C brands like boAt test virtual influencers for high-frequency SKU launches to cut per-campaign creative costs
- MarTech vendors bundle AI-persona generation with performance analytics to lock in agency spend
The counter-case
The case against this reading — not reported by the source.
The 7% vs 3.5% engagement gap is almost certainly a novelty artifact, not a durable advantage. Virtual influencers currently command curiosity clicks and algorithmic boosts precisely because they're rare; as they proliferate, engagement will regress toward or below human baselines. Worse, engagement is not conversion—no data here ties these personas to actual sales lift for boAt, Titan, or Myntra. Brand deals with AI personas also carry latent reputational risk: consumer backlash over 'fake' endorsements, undisclosed AI-generated claims, and regulatory scrutiny under India's evolving advertising and deepfake disclosure norms could reverse adoption quickly.
The source
First seen