What do Serena Williams, Jennifer Aniston, Karlie Kloss, Dani Alves, and the D’Amelio family have in common? Each has partnered with internet-first animation studio Invisible Universe to launch their own animated characters on social media instead of on the big screen.
In a world that spends hours scrolling on timelines, Invisible Universe leverages social media to create timeless and indelible characters and IP that will become the most popular entertainment franchises of the future. Their characters include Qai Qai (Serena Williams), Clydeo, (Jennifer Aniston), Kayda & Kai (Karlie Kloss), Crazynho (Dani Alves), and Squeaky & Roy (the D’Amelio family) – all animated characters that were born on the timelines of social media.
With the ultimate goal to become the “Pixar of the internet,” Invisible Universe leverages its characters to create affinity and community amongst consumers. Thanks to their ability to quickly develop and produce animations for fast-paced internet culture, Invisible Universe can respond to emerging trends in a fraction of the time of a traditional animation studio.
By leveraging the best practices from Hollywood, Invisible Universe has a world-class animation team distributed around the world. They bring the characters to life whether in their own 3-D homes or expertly animated on top of real-world footage.
Invisible Universe is proof that high-quality animated characters can live and tell stories on social media, debuting content for the 21st-century consumer that not only excels on these platforms but successfully transitions to storytelling such as books, long-form content, and more.
The ultimate goal of each of Invisible Universe’s animated characters is to create a fully formed character, build traction, grow affinity, and foster a community among fans.
Full Character Development: Each celebrity partner is closely involved in the creation of each of the characters and how they fit into the celebrity’s life. The inspiration can come anywhere – Squeaky & Roy is based on Dixie D’Amelio’s long lost favorite toy, Clydeo is the cousin to Jennifer Aniston’s real-life dog Clyde, Qai Qai is Serena Williams’ daughter’s doll brought to life. From here, Invisible Universe develops character 360s – each character has real dreams, flaws, and motivations (ex: Clydeo wants to be a chef). Finally, Invisible Universe’s global team of animators creates their world, which includes both their own fictional universes and the real-life homes of their celebrity partners.
Building Traction: In order to debut each character, Invisible Universe leverages the partner’s platform as a launch pad to popularize the character. Each partner establishes how and why these animated characters fit into their lives. Based on both the partner’s community and the characters, Invisible Universe both tells stories about the characters and adapts to their followers' interests and habits. Invisible Universe’s animation team operates like a 24/7 global newsroom – constantly watching for emerging social trends and creating content that fits its characters into them.
Growing Affinity: As each animated character’s following continues to grow on multiple social platforms, a key aspect of Invisible Universe’s strategy is its unmatched ability to respond to trends in real time. Invisible Universe has proven animation no longer needs to be a drawn out process that takes months or even years to develop. Instead, Invisible Universe’s characters can move at the speed of social so Qai Qai is always ready to bust a move of the latest TikTok dance or Clydeo is can try the trending cooking challenge. Not only does Invisible Universe’s flexibility and quick reaction time allow them to create new content in parallel with emerging trends, but also allows for speedy action regarding audience requests.
Fostering Community: Invisible Universe relies on community engagement to build content that is tailored to each character’s audience. The characters’ social teams are constantly interacting with fans and reading their comments, taking into account what they want to see their favorite animated characters doing. Squeaky & Roy’s fanbase loved their rooms in the D’Amelio’s house and were constantly requesting a room tour, which the animation team was able to produce before the fans had lost interest. The fans help create the characters’ plot; what the fans request, the animation team creates, resulting in an extremely intimate and personalized experience. This unique approach to keeping audiences as part of the storyline building is what helps to keep the community at its core.
Invisible Universe has seen tremendous growth since launching. Combined, all of the company’s characters have a total of over 7 million followers.
Qai Qai, Serena Williams’ daughter's doll brought to life, has captured the hearts of audiences with the latest dance moves and infectious personality. As the company’s first and most successful character, Qai Qai has a combined following of over 3.6 million across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Additionally, she is a best-selling doll on Amazon and has had sponsored partnerships and will debut Serena Williams’ first children’s book, The Adventures of Qai Qai, which is an inspirational story about believing in yourself.
Squeaky & Roy, developed in partnership with TikTok sensations Charli and Dixie D’Amelio, are inspired by Dixie’s long-lost toy. In the first 48 hours after launch in June 2021, Squeaky & Roy had over 105,000 followers across social accounts, over 5,000 shares, and over 431,000 likes on TikTok. The duo now have over 1 million followers across accounts and interest from merchandisers for upcoming deals.
Clydeo, Jennifer Aniston’s newest furry friend, is social media’s favorite foodie and the cousin of Jen's real-life dog, Clyde. In just a few months, he now has over 100,000 followers across accounts.
Kayda & Kai, Karlie Kloss’ robot personal assistant and docking station, debuted on TikTok in February 2021 and grew from zero to over half a million followers in less than 90 days.
