O influenciador virtual como ação de comunicação e percepção de marca: o case Lu, da Magalu

Abstract

Succeeding the initial impact of the introduction of the internet in our lives, we started to realize how an environment of formation and coexistence between individuals and brands, was being built on it. The goal of this research is to analyze the perception of the consumers of the Magalu company over the focused brand values: “people that like people” and digital culture, in the online campaign for 2021’s International Woman’s Day, called #NemLoucaNemSozinha, on Facebook. Therefore, the used methodology was case study, developed through reception study, via mediation hermeneutics, coupled with the analysis technique, content analysis. We explored how the virtual influencer is constituted as a communication strategy when understanding the process of human and brand identity construction, and analyzing how this can be comprised in an advertising campaign and understood by the audience, by dint of the communicational structure emitter-message-receiver. The results point that the company’s history is directly akin to the virtual environment, and thus, Lu, that arises from it, has been in a complexification process together with the company’s development. However, given the width and popularity of the brand and the virtual influencer, it’s humanization – in the practical sense, of personal expression and direct speech to the public, falls short when it comes to the attitude and activities given and expected from her, making the communication of the brand values comprehensible, but superficial. The analysis indicates that the audience’s perception of the proposed theme and brand values in the #NemLoucaNemSozinha campaign had low adherence, mainly due to the lack of engagement promotion, intervention in discussions and feedback by the influencer, Lu.