Submitted by OgilvyAgency IPI Score 98/100

AI-ncient Influencer

Influencer Marketing

Ogilvy turned a 67-million-year-old T. rex fossil into an AI-generated social media character to build anticipation for the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi's opening.

83.8KEngagements
50MVideo views
23.66MTop post views
95.9%Positive or neutral sentiment

About the campaign

The Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi was preparing to open with a 67-million-year-old T. rex fossil as its centerpiece, but a static exhibit could not build anticipation with audiences who spend their time in social feeds. Cultural institutions usually market exhibits as things to visit, which limits reach to people who already have visit intent. Ogilvy's insight, drawn from social listening, was that an active online dinosaur fandom existed with an appetite for content blending pop culture with scientific fact, and that reaching them meant giving the fossil a voice rather than advertising it.

Ogilvy turned the T. rex into the first AI-ncient influencer, an AI-generated character with a sharp, witty and expressive personality defined from the fandom's own tastes. Ogilvy Paris' AI.Lab and Memac Ogilvy Dubai built the character and produced social content in the memes, trends and formats the community already consumed, generating video with Google's Veo 3.1 model through WPP's Google partnership.

The work put audience research before creative and turned a static object into an owned media asset that could appear in feeds before the museum opened, with generative video making a non-human spokesperson practical. The specific platforms the character ran on are not named in the sources. No reach, engagement, follower or attendance figures have been published by Ogilvy, WPP or any third party, so the campaign's effectiveness cannot be assessed.

Case in 60 seconds

The Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi was preparing to open with a 67-million-year-old T. rex fossil as its centerpiece, but a static exhibit could not build anticipation with audiences who spend their time in social feeds.

Social listening found an active dinosaur fandom online with an appetite for content that blends pop culture with scientific fact. Advertising the fossil would not reach them; the fossil needed a voice.

Turn the T. rex into the first AI-ncient influencer, an AI-generated character with a sharp, witty and expressive personality defined from the fandom's own tastes.

Ogilvy Paris' AI.Lab and Memac Ogilvy Dubai built the character and produced social content in the memes, trends and formats the community already consumed, generating video with Google's Veo 3.1 model through WPP's Google partnership.

WPP's write-up reports 50M video views and 83.8K engagements, with the top-performing post alone drawing 23.66M views and audience sentiment running 95.9% positive or neutral.

Strategy Breakdown

The primary strategy-learning section — interpretation, not a press-release summary.

An active online dinosaur fandom drawn to content mixing pop culture with scientific fact, alongside the broader audience Experience Abu Dhabi wanted to reach ahead of the museum's opening.
Ancient history is presented as static and institutional, while the audiences museums need to win live in fast-moving social feeds and engage with characters, not objects.
Cultural institutions usually market exhibits as things to visit, which limits reach to people who already have visit intent and does little to build a following before opening day.
Experience Abu Dhabi positioned the museum's signature fossil as a digital creator, letting the destination brand meet audiences online before the museum's doors opened.
People follow and engage with personalities. Giving the fossil a sharp, witty, expressive persona let the museum join conversations the dinosaur fandom was already having, in formats it already rewarded.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • AI-generated video content produced with Google's Veo 3.1
  • Social persona content in meme and trend formats
  • Case film

Partners

  • Ogilvy Paris AI.Lab
  • Memac Ogilvy Dubai
  • WPP
  • Google (Veo 3.1 access via WPP partnership)

Participation mechanic

  • Character content built on the memes, trends and formats the dinosaur fandom already used

Creator role

  • The AI-generated T. rex character acts as the influencer, a brand-owned virtual creator rather than a human creator partnership

Results & Evidence

MetricValueResult typeConfidence
Engagements83.8KengagementAgency reported
Video views50MviewsAgency reported
Top post views23.66MviewsAgency reported
Positive or neutral sentiment95.9%sentimentAgency reported

Why Ogilvy's strategy worked

  1. 1

    Audience research came before creative: the character's personality was defined from what the online dinosaur fandom already engaged with, surfaced through social listening, not from brand guidelines.

  2. 2

    A persona travels further than an exhibit: giving the fossil a voice turned a static object into an owned media asset that could appear in social feeds before the museum opened.

  3. 3

    Generative video made a non-human spokesperson practical: WPP credits early access to Google's Veo 3.1 with producing expressive, personality-rich character content.

  4. 4

    Pairing a specialist unit (Ogilvy Paris AI.Lab) with a regional unit (Memac Ogilvy Dubai) combined AI production craft with market knowledge of the client and region.

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