The use of avatar as a virtual world character in digital marketing activities; Facebook and comparison

Along with technological developments, traditional marketing activities have entered into a transformation towards digital marketing. Digital marketing, which is an internet-based formation, has also brought new marketing methods to the sector. The concept of virtual world, which has entered our lives with online games, has started to be used in the marketing sector as a result of the positive developments in this field. Here, real world users who exist in avatar appearance have revealed a new customer group as potential consumers. Brands engaged in marketing activities for avatars aim to create brand awareness on users in order to reach their potential customers. Within the scope of the study, the interaction created by the use of avatars, which are virtual world characters, in digital marketing activities on real world users was examined on the basis of Facebook and Instagram social media platforms. In this context, the real-world collaboration posts of The NorthFaceXGucci collection, jointly released by The North Face and Gucci brands, and the virtual world collection for The Pokemon Go avatars were compared and analyzed on Facebook and Instagram accounts of the Gucci brand. Virtual world collaboration posts using avatars within the scope of the research were positively received by the users of both platforms. When the interaction created by the virtual world cooperation is examined by comparing Facebook and Instagram users, it is seen that the highest interaction rates are in Instagram. In this sense, it can be said that the use of avatars in digital marketing areas such as social media will provide positive returns in terms of brand interaction.