Kurio

Energy crisis has had its toll on all of us. Still, many of us fared better than the brand image of energy companies. // To show their commitment to sustainable energy production and the green transition, Helen, a leading energy company in Finland, put a strategic emphasis on energy education. // Thus, they wrote, illustrated and published a children’s book: Ellen’s Energy Adventures. It is a story of a little girl who helps lost energy Posi and Neg find their way back to the electricity network. Along the way they – and you – learn about different energy sources, the climate crisis and about the different ways in which you can save energy at home.

We were tasked to making the book spread via social.

93% of the parents of 9–13-year-olds believe that kids learn the most about energy at home. But it’s not easy. 41% of parents felt they needed help in teaching it. // So, we knew we needed the parents’ attention. // We asked ourselves: Why should we tell the story of Ellen, when we can let her do it herself?

Ellen – the AI-generated influencer of Helen // Combining two of the hottest trends on social media – virtual influencers and generative AI – we turned our the 2D illustrated character into a 3D avatar. // Ellen the virtual influencer was brought to life using various different generative AI tools (e.g. Midjourney, DALL-E 2, and Stable Diffusion). With the help of the award-winning, boundaries-pushing “post-photographer” Antti Karppinen, we fed AI with the illustrations of Ellen and created a model, a code that is Ellen as a real-life 7 year-old girl. To get the right look, we worked closely with the mother of Ellen, the illustrator Eveliina Saarentaus. // Having a model in place, we can easily place Ellen in various places, poses, and purposes. In her first weeks of existence, she appeared in photos with the c-suite of Helen, the iconic actress Seela Sella and (traditional) social media influencers.

Two months after her first post: ROMI 167% // Earned reach 12 MM (including PetaPixel, LBB, the biggest national morning show, and the biggest newspaper in the country) // Earned media value 151,000 EUR // Our first (ever!) social media post got six-figure reach – organically // Brand lift 48% above average (vs. Meta average in EMEA) //// After the 2 months launch period: She has featured in the posts of the biggest artists and influencers of Finland // She has live-streamed the biggest stadium concert of the summer in Helsinki (the rap artist JVG’s gig, sponsored by Helen) // She has launched her book in an audio book format, too // She has been solidified as a comms platform in Helen’s social media strategy //// Not bad for a wee girl. And this platform is only growing in impact.