Agency
Saint Elmos

Client
Black Forest Tourism

Year
2025

 

Overview

Using artificial intelligence, a completely new virtual character, SchwarzwaldMarie, was created to serve as a digital brand ambassador for the Black Forest. The challenge was to design an authentic and culturally accurate figure, including the traditional Black Forest costume and iconic Bollenhut, while capturing the region’s identity and spirit. As an innovative virtual influencer, SchwarzwaldMarie connects tradition with modern technology and inspires new audiences to discover the Black Forest as a travel destination.

Challenges

Tradition meets AI

The task began with the idea of digitally enhancing an existing campaign featuring a real model in traditional Black Forest costume. When the model declined an AI reproduction, the project shifted to creating a fully AI-generated character from scratch.

The key challenge was to design a credible and representative face for “SchwarzwaldMarie” that authentically captured the tradition and identity of the region. In particular, accurately recreating culturally significant elements such as the traditional costume and the iconic Bollenhut required great precision and sensitivity to preserve the visual heritage of the Black Forest.

Solution

From the AI-generated figure to the digital brand ambassador

Using artificial intelligence, a completely new virtual character was developed as a modern brand ambassador for the region. “SchwarzwaldMarie” was designed to combine tradition with innovation, enabling her to feature across marketing campaigns and act as a virtual influencer.

The result is a distinctive digital personality that brings the charm and cultural richness of the Black Forest to life in a contemporary way, inspiring a broader audience to discover the region as a travel destination.

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Provided services

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"The future belongs to the brave! For me, looking boldly into the future of tourism means recognising the opportunities of change and actively shaping them. This requires a spirit of innovation, the clever use of new technologies such as AI for our SchwarzwaldMarie and, of course, an innovative sparring partner like our agency. Those who manage to prioritise authenticity and regionality can touch guests with genuine, unadulterated stories - and that is exactly what makes me confident."

Hansjörg Mair

Schwarzwald Tourismus GmbH

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Claudia Raith
Saint Elmo's
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