Experience Abu Dhabi, Ogilvy Paris and Memac Ogilvy UAE bring one of the world’s most famous T. rex’s to life just in time for the museum’s opening
Abu Dhabi, UAE – 17 December 2025: Experience Abu Dhabi has launched a world-first digital activation to celebrate the opening of Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi (NHM Abu Dhabi), bringing one of the world’s most iconic dinosaur fossils to life on social media.
STAN the Tyrannosaurus rex, the 67-million-year-old skeleton that now takes center stage at the new museum, has also quite literally ‘stepped’ into the spotlight as an AI-powered creator through the campaign ‘The AI-ncient Influencer,’ developed in collaboration with Ogilvy Paris’ AI.Lab and Memac Ogilvy UAE.
Using Google’s Veo 3.1 technology, the T. rex has been transformed into the world’s first “AI-ncient influencer”, combining prehistoric charisma with next-generation artificial intelligence to create a living, talking presence on social media. With a defined voice, expressive personality and sharp humour, the T. rex offers a new way for audiences to experience science and natural history online.
By embracing audience behaviour, trending formats and existing dinosaur fandom on TikTok, Experience Abu Dhabi has created a character designed to spark curiosity and encourage museum visitation. The T. rex’s persona was shaped using social listening to identify how dinosaur fans converse online and what content they naturally respond to, from memes and nostalgia to quick educational explainers.
The first phase of The AI-ncient Influencer launched as a series of short-form episodes on NHM Abu Dhabi’s social media channels, supported by teasers on Visit Abu Dhabi’s pages. The first two episodes aired around the museum opening, with further episodes rolling out as the channel grows.
Early results and campaign impact
Since launch, the activation has continued to gain rapid traction, with content collectively reaching 50 million video views and 83.8K engagements, driven by top-performing posts that generated 23.66 million views and 40.7K engagements respectively. Audience sentiment remains overwhelmingly favourable at 95.9% positive or neutral, reflecting strong resonance with viewers.
Ghadeer El Khub, Creative, Social & Digital Department Director at the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, said: “The T. rex is one of the most recognisable fossils in the world and bringing him to life as The AI-ncient influencer has been an incredible opportunity. Our social listening showed three things clearly: people drive dinosaur conversations online, STAN the T. rex already has an active digital footprint and there is huge appetite for short, engaging content that makes complex topics feel effortless. So, we built a character that speaks directly to those behaviours. By making science entertaining and accessible, we are inviting audiences to connect with the museum in a meaningful way and ultimately, encouraging them to come visit and discover more themselves.”
David Raichman, Global AI Creative Lead at Ogilvy, said: “The challenge was to use AI to accurately design every detail – from the smallest accessories to the exact architecture of the museum itself. With early access to Nano Banana Pro through WPP’s partnership with Google, we achieved a level of precision that brought our T. rex to life with unprecedented realism and personality.”
The AI-ncient Influencer was developed for Experience Abu Dhabi by Ogilvy Paris’ AI.Lab and Memac Ogilvy UAE, under the guidance of WPP, shaping a new benchmark for how museums can engage global audiences through social-driven storytelling.