If you’re a keen follower of social media, chances are that you’d have noticed prickly heat powder brand DermiCool’s new digital film, said to be its first AI-generated ad. In the video, cool ‘neem-tulsi-powered’ superheroes take down monsters (read ghamoriya or prickly heat) in a fantasy battlefield reimagined through a video game-inspired narrative.
Earlier this year, fast fashion giant H&M announced plans to create digital clones of its models using AI tools. The Swedish company said it will initially create 30 AI doppelgangers of its models, to be used in social media posts and marketing campaigns, instead of real humans.
Similarly, fashion retailer Mango featured AI-generated glam bots in its adverts last year, at a time when others like Hugo Boss and Levi Strauss & Co have also talked about using generative AI for product images.
Amid changing modern storytelling formats, brands are increasingly turning to AI to create ads, not only as a cost-effective tool but also as a creative collaborator. “It (the DermiCool campaign) embraces future-facing technologies in brand communication while staying true to the core emotional legacy and promise,” explains Kaushik Vedula, AVP-Marketing, Emami.
As per Jörgen Andersson, chief creative officer of H&M, “At our heart, we have always been radically curious, wanting to see what’s coming and explore what’s out there. This project is exactly that.”
“We are exploring what is possible, and we are doing so in close collaboration with other creatives within the industry, agencies and the models themselves – who are in full control of when the digital twin would be used and paid accordingly. This is a way for us to stick to who we are, while also figuring out how technology can enhance our creative work,” adds Andersson.
No doubt, AI is transforming the way companies approach campaigns, creating a new normal in advertising and offsetting brand marketing costs. But is the disruptive, and sometimes controversial, technology also posing a threat to real faces, leading to a shrinking of potential celebrity endorsement deals?
Not yet, feel experts. The reliance on AI models happens when heavy endorser spends do not receive return on investment (ROI) in terms of brand equity, credibility or sales, and AI models become a viable alternative for brands to evaluate, they say.
“The advantage of AI influencers is that they exist in an environment controlled by their custodians, preventing any slip-ups and scandals that can spoil the brand image of human influencers. This makes them a safer bet,” says Nisha Sampath, founder of Bright Angles Consulting, a marketing and brand consulting agency.
Take the case of D2C brands that are increasingly finding their audiences to be sceptical about celebrity endorsements and more so about influencers. For brands with small budgets who cannot afford celebrities, AI models offer an attractive option. “It’s best if the brand creates an in-house virtual persona like Myntra’s Maya as this enables them to etch a better fit with the brand and build higher recall. It is a new-age replacement of the old-time brand mascots. However, AI influencers will play a bigger role not just with Gen Z but even with Gen Alpha, who will grow up with a blend of virtual and real influencers as their online reality,” adds Sampath, who has worked with companies like HUL, Aditya Birla Capital, Swiggy and BookMyShow.
According to Himanshu Arora, co-founder of social media and digital marketing company Social Panga, celebrities are not going anywhere, AI is just a smarter way to optimise campaigns and make it impactful.
“For early-stage teams, AI can act as a smart research partner, digging through conversations, scanning market trends, and helping pressure-test new product or campaign ideas before they hit the market. For more evolved brands, it steps into a strategic role—predicting regional acceptance, optimising media mix, or automating repetitive production workflows so teams can stay focused on creative problem-solving. There’s no one-size-fits-all formula,” says Arora. He quotes an example of a D2C personal care brand that recently used AI to scan past campaign data and identify that print ads with high regional emotion-index (festive, family-driven narratives) worked 3x better in UP and Bihar. That insight changed their copy and media plan entirely.
However, experts also feel celebrities need to be more ‘involved’ with a brand. If they don’t come through as a brand custodian, brands would use AI generated influencers, who are budget balancers that help sustain a campaign at relatively low costs, they add.
“Brand teams, especially the social media handlers, are churning out a multitude of posts that are responsive to social stimuli and inclusive of all the keywords that define the new lingo. If brands were to decide to ‘take back the power’, AI could help deliver the goods. The goods in this case would be a mix of amenable influencers who say what the brands want them to say. This was a way of bringing back the impactful icons of advertising like Lalitaji of Surf and the ladies of Nirma,” says Manas Mohan, chief digital & data officer at Laqshya Media, and CEO of Digitalabs, working with brands like HDFC Bank, Smaaash, and Delhi Police, among others.
Even if AI-generated models and celebrity clones are a game-changer in the marketing landscape, offering brands cost-effective, highly customisable, and scalable alternatives to traditional endorsements, they are also a violation of rights without permission.
“With AI-driven models, brands can create dynamic messaging that resonates with specific consumer segments in real-time,” says Ameer Ismail, former president, Lintas Live, the digital-first creative PR agency of MullenLowe Lintas Group. Ismail quotes an example of how HUL is leveraging AI to transform its marketing and media strategies through ‘Sangam’, an AI powered platform aimed at streamlining media planning and buying processes.
Even if technology can help brands create custom content, it is unlikely to completely replace the emotional connection that real-life celebrities bring to the table. “Celebrity endorsements continue to provide authenticity, trust, and relatability, which are difficult to replicate with AI. Companies may leverage AI for cost efficiency, but the human element of celebrity endorsements will remain crucial for fostering deep emotional engagement with consumers. It’s not necessarily about replacing the traditional model but rather complementing it with innovative and future-forward approaches,” adds Ismail.