Submitted by OgilvyAgency IPI Score 98/100

Lu from Magalu

Influencer Marketing

Ogilvy Brasil turned Magazine Luiza's 2003 virtual mascot into the world's biggest virtual influencer, linking entertainment content directly to shoppable products across social, TV and music.

1.6Breach
3.5Bviews
31Mfollowers
1.9Bimpressions
78Minteractions
1Btiktok views

About the campaign

Magazine Luiza's virtual character Lu had existed since 2003 as the in-store voice of its commerce site, but the retailer needed her to move beyond mascot status in a market where 71 percent of Brazilians follow an influencer and 70.7 percent have bought a product a creator influenced.

Ogilvy Brasil's insight was that a brand-owned virtual creator, always available and never off-message, could operate as Magalu's largest, most effective and cheapest media channel, so from 2021 the agency accelerated Lu's career from virtual assistant into tech expert, activist and model. She starred in music videos with Anitta and DJ Alok whose featured clothing sold out on the Magalu app, performed live on Globo TV, provided live soccer commentary, appeared in fashion magazines, built a TikTok profile that surpassed one billion views, and fronted paid partnerships for brands including Apple, McDonald's, Netflix and Hugo Boss, with product appearances linked directly to shoppable pages.

Award entries report figures including 1.89 billion impressions, 3.5 billion views, 78 million interactions and 99 percent brand association, though numbers vary across submissions and are self-reported. By 2022 Lu counted 31.2 million followers, and the work earned a Cannes Lions Gold and a Clio Grand Award.

Case in 60 seconds

Magazine Luiza needed Lu, a virtual character created in 2003 as an in-store commerce voice, to move beyond mascot status and earn the cultural relevance, reach and interaction levels required to drive brand health and sales at scale in a market where 71% of Brazilians follow an influencer and 70.7% have bought a product influenced by a creator.

Influencers function as media channels in their own right, and a brand-owned virtual creator — always available, never off-message — could operate as Magalu's largest, most effective and cheapest media channel while sidestepping the risks attached to human talent.

Ogilvy Brasil would accelerate Lu's career from virtual assistant into tech expert, activist and model, placing her wherever Magalu needed to connect with consumers — to sell, to build the brand, or both.

From 2021, Magalu and Ogilvy created custom projects with major social platforms, global brands including Apple and McDonald's, and artists including Anitta and DJ Alok. Lu starred in music videos whose featured clothing and accessories sold out on the Magalu app, performed live on Brazilian TV including Globo, built a TikTok profile that surpassed one billion views, appeared in fashion magazines, and promoted social causes.

The Cannes Creative Strategy entry reports 1.89bn impressions, 78m interactions, 3.5bn views, a reach of 1.6bn and 99% brand association. The work won a Cannes Lions Gold, a Clio Grand Award and recognition at The One Show and Effie Brasil. Reported figures vary across entries and should be read as directional.

Strategy Breakdown

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

Brazilian social media users who are active retail shoppers and pop culture followers. 71% of Brazilians follow an influencer online and 70.7% have purchased a product influenced by a creator, making influencer-driven commerce a structurally important channel in this market.
Human influencers attract audiences through personality, memes and challenges in ways that branded mascots typically cannot match. Brands struggle to compete with human influencers for cultural relevance and earned interaction, yet reliance on human talent carries reputational and contractual risk. Lu sat in the gap: recognisable and brand-safe, but not yet a credible cultural participant.
Virtual or CGI brand characters historically function as sales tools rather than as creators with genuine audiences. Lu's 3D rendering needed to evolve so she could interact with followers and create new experiences, and she needed the kind of narrative depth — music video cameos, live TV appearances, social causes — that builds parasocial connection.
Ogilvy positioned Lu as media in her own right, describing her as Magalu's largest, most effective and cheapest media channel. Rather than buying external influencer reach, Magalu would own the creator asset outright, enabling continuous activations at lower marginal cost and with direct links to product pages on the Magalu app.
Consumers who follow a creator and see a product in an entertainment context — a music video outfit, a TikTok challenge item — are primed to purchase when the path to that product is immediate. By linking Lu's content directly to shoppable products on the Magalu app, the campaign compressed the distance between cultural moment and commercial action.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • Instagram posts and Stories (fashion, product, cause content)
  • TikTok challenges and short-form video — surpassed 1 billion views
  • YouTube product reviews and unboxing videos
  • Music video appearances with Anitta and DJ Alok — outfits sold out on Magalu app
  • Live TV performance on Globo (Brazilian Strictly Come Dancing equivalent)
  • Live soccer streaming commentary
  • Fashion magazine appearances
  • Social cause campaigns

Partners

  • Ogilvy Brasil / Ogilvy Sao Paulo (lead creative agency) — source
  • Anitta (music artist collaboration) — source
  • DJ Alok (music artist collaboration) — source
  • Apple (brand collaboration) — source
  • McDonald's (brand collaboration) — source
  • Netflix (sponsored Instagram content) — source
  • Hugo Boss (sponsored Instagram content) — source
  • Globo TV (live performance platform)

Participation mechanic

  • TikTok challenge formats inviting audience participation
  • Shoppable product links tied to music video and editorial appearances
  • Live event interaction (TV performance, soccer commentary)
  • Sponsored brand-partnership content published through Lu's own social accounts

Creator role

  • Lu is a brand-owned virtual creator functioning as a standalone influencer and owned media channel, not a paid external collaborator
  • She fronts both organic brand content and paid third-party brand partnerships (e.g. Netflix, Hugo Boss, Apple, McDonald's)
  • Her long-form narrative (tech expert, activist, model) provides the personality architecture that supports each activation

Results & Evidence

MetricValueResult typeConfidence
Impressions (WARC Cases entry)1.3bnReach / impressionsAgency reported
Interactions (WARC Cases entry)60mEngagementAgency reported
Total reach (WARC Cases entry)1bnReach / impressionsAgency reported
Impressions (Cannes Creative Strategy entry)1.89bnReach / impressionsAgency reported
Interactions (Cannes Creative Strategy entry)78mEngagementAgency reported
Total views (Cannes Creative Strategy entry)3.5bnReach / impressionsAgency reported
Reach (Cannes Creative Strategy entry)1.6bnReach / impressionsAgency reported
Brand association99%Brand healthAgency reported
TikTok viewsSurpassed 1 billionReach / impressionsAgency reported
Total social followers (as of 2022)31.2 millionAudience sizeAgency reported

Awards & Recognition

Award showYearCategoryResultSource
Cannes Lions2023Not specified in sourcesGold Lion—
Cannes Lions2023Creative StrategySilver Lion—
Clio Awards2023Use of Talent and InfluencersGrand Clio—
Clio Awards2023Use of Talent and Influencers (Silver)Silver—
Clio Awards2023Use of Talent and Influencers (Bronze)Bronze—
The One Show2023Not specified in sourcesWinner (category and level not specified)—
Effie Brasil2020Not specified in sourcesShortlisted / winner (level not specified in sources)—

Why Ogilvy's strategy worked

  1. 1

    **Narrative depth compounds over time.** Lu's two-decade history gave her an authenticity that newer virtual influencers cannot replicate immediately. Long-running brand characters carry existing audience relationships that reduce the cold-start problem facing any new creator.

  2. 2

    **Owned creator as owned media.** Positioning Lu as a media channel rather than a mascot reframed the investment logic: the cost of creating and distributing Lu's content was weighed against the cost of buying equivalent external influencer reach, making the case for sustained investment easier to sustain internally.

  3. 3

    **Commerce attachment turns reach into revenue.** Linking music video appearances to shoppable app listings — with clothing and accessories selling out on the Magalu app — demonstrated that entertainment-format content could close a purchase loop when the path to product was made immediate.

  4. 4

    **Platform-native formats matter.** Deploying Lu in challenge formats on TikTok, unboxing videos on YouTube and editorial content on Instagram, rather than repurposing a single asset, allowed each channel's participation mechanics to work for the campaign rather than against it. TikTok alone surpassed one billion views.

  5. 5

    **Cultural participation, not product promotion, builds scale.** Appearances in music videos, live TV, fashion media and social causes gave audiences reasons to follow Lu that were not purely transactional, which in turn created the scale needed for the commercial integrations to register.

  6. 6

    **Brand-safe talent removes reputational risk.** A virtual creator cannot generate a scandal, cancel an appearance or renegotiate a contract. Sustained investment, not technological novelty alone, underpins virtual influence, but the structural control a brand retains over owned virtual talent is a material advantage.

Related Case studies