Digital Doppelgänger Chef Brings Culinary Charisma to Ads in Minutes
METRO and BBDO have teamed up to deploy an AI service that—after analyzing just 40 minutes of footage—reproduces celebrity chef Konstantin Ivlev’s voice, tone, and energy in branded audio spots, cutting production time and budgets by tens of times
AI‑Powered Voiceover at Scale
Daily promotional campaigns demand fresh audio content on tight deadlines. To solve this, METRO and BBDO developed a neural‑network system that generates fully voiced ads in minutes. “Our AI captures his unique intonations and charisma,” explains a BBDO spokesperson, highlighting the model’s ability to mirror Ivlev’s lively, authoritative delivery. By automating voiceover production, retailers can roll out campaign‑specific spots instantly—no studio bookings, no travel, no reshoots required.
Built on 40 Minutes of Footage and Advanced Algorithms
The core technology was trained on a forty‑minute video archive of Ivlev, then fine‑tuned through multiple AI algorithms to reach broadcast quality. Once the voice model is ready, marketers simply input new scripts; the system adapts its rendering to match any product in the METRO assortment without further celebrity involvement. This modular approach not only scales across hundreds of SKUs but also lays the groundwork for in‑house creative toolkits that agencies can leverage for diverse branding tasks.
Real‑World Benefits for Brands and Consumers
By slashing turnaround times and cutting speaker fees, this platform conserves budgetary resources that can be reinvested into richer marketing initiatives or passed on as savings to customers. Faster campaign launches also mean shoppers hear about deals in real time, boosting engagement and sales. On the agency side, creative teams are freed to focus on strategy and high‑value storytelling rather than routine recording sessions. This project builds on Russia’s earlier experiments with digital doubles—such as the AI‑driven voice of Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky, complete with regional‑event forecasts—demonstrating the country’s growing leadership in practical, large‑scale voice‑synthesis applications.
