THE NEW FACE OF MEDIA

We can say that Lu is one of the longest-running experiments in what it means to make technology feel human. Created in 2003 as a virtual assistant to help Brazilians navigate online shopping for the first time, she grew into something nobody fully anticipated. Over two decades, she became the world's most followed virtual influencer, with 34 million followers, 149 million interactions in 2025, and 19 million users reached organically.
The problem retail media networks all share is that their inventory looks the same. Banners, sponsored listings, pre-rolls. Formats that are abundant but indistinguishable, where choosing a platform comes down to price and metrics alone. Magalu had that same challenge, but also an asset no competitor could replicate.

So they turned Lu into an independent media channel. She got her own media kit, pricing structure and commercial identity, now available to any brand, including non-endemic advertisers with no products on the platform. Brands stopped buying advertising slots and started buying presence in her daily content, where she tests, reacts and recommends in her own voice.
The results speak for themselves. Non-endemic revenue grew 148%, monthly revenue grew 194%, absolute brand recall reached 60%, and Lu delivered 28.5% more memorability than campaigns featuring human models. 70% of brands that advertised with her came back for more.

Lightfarm has been part of Lu's visual evolution for years, helping rebuild her entirely in 3D for Unreal Engine and taking her across campaigns for Samsung, Nvidia, Globo Pop, Copa da Lu and beyond. Each project demanded a different creative approach while keeping the character immediately recognizable. That consistency, built over time and across formats, is exactly what made this new chapter possible.