The “Theater” Trend in Chinese Video Draws Rave Reviews With a Side of Drama
Plus: A livestreaming talent show, "Couture Content," and the CCI Report Corner.
Popular Chinese television and video streaming dramas have often emphasized romance with drawn-out storylines and sub-plots that stretch over as many as 70 or 80 episodes, diluting the quality of content and leading to poor reviews. But recently, a new trend for tightly-written dramas with high production values and far fewer episodes is emerging, with more targeted content offerings highlighted via content libraries (known as “theaters”) dedicated to specific genres.
iQiyi launched its ambitious suspense-focused “Mist Theater” in May 2020 and shared a line-up of six planned releases, many adaptations of successful published novels. The goal of the Mist Theater is to build upon iQiyi’s pre-existing Mystery & Suspense Theater to further develop audiences of genre fans through high-quality content and interactive features.
The Mist Theater offers brands opportunities for participation through marketing on the entire channel or through cooperation with individual dramas. Among the brands involved in iQiyi’s broader theater marketing model are Oppo, Audi, Volkswagen, Nissan, and Nanfu Spring Water.
KFC launched a campaign with iQiyi to place clues to the suspenseful plots of Mist Theater dramas on 10 million cups of KFC coffee, and offered additional incentives to iQiyi’s paid subscribers such as KFC coupons, free coffee, and early access to Mist Theater content with the purchase of KFC coffee products.
So far, two 12-episode dramas have been released on iQiyi’s Mist Theater: “The Kidnapping Game” (十日游戏) in early June, followed by “The Bad Kids” (隐秘的角落) in mid-June. The latter has drawn rave reviews for its edgy story about a group of children who witness a murder, but may have also ruffled some feathers among regulators. Viewers were anticipating that the third series in iQiyi’s line-up, “Crimson River” (非常目击) would premiere on June 30, but it is still in post-production, according to an iQiyi spokesperson, and no release dates have been posted for the remaining four dramas in iQiyi’s line-up.
Still, despite the potential setback, suspense is now one of the most popular drama genres in China — after romance and historical dramas — with a built-in audience of fans/readers and the potential to grow through word of mouth for compelling narratives. There are also plenty of opportunities for crossovers into other types of content such as romances, and suspense stories lend themselves well to the lower episode counts that regulators have been pushing.
Youku has also established a suspense theater, with the sci-fi mystery hybrid “Missing Persons” (失踪人口) as its debut offering, and nine others planned for release.
Mentioned in today’s newsletter: Armani, Audi, Bilibili, Cartier, Dior, Fendi, iQiyi, KFC, Nanfu Spring Water, Nissan, Oppo, Taobao Live, Tmall, Volkswagen, Xigua Video, Youku.
Chinese Talent Competitions Search for the Next Wave of E-commerce Livestreaming Stars
China’s fascination with e-commerce livestreaming is extending to the popular format of reality show competitions, with the new sub-genre cropping up across platforms.
Alibaba’s Youku, Taobao Live, and Tmall recently launched a new take on the idol competition format called “Go! Streamers” (奋斗吧! 主播), which is currently recruiting contestants to participate in the three-month-long series that will air on Youku. Eleven winners will be crowned “super anchors” and will make their official debuts on the big stage of Tmall’s Singles’ Day shopping extravaganza on November 11.
Contestants with varied backgrounds in creating online content — from short video creators to esports anchors — are welcome to audition by trying their hands at e-commerce livestreaming via Taobao Live. Factors such as audience reach and total sales will be considered in choosing the 30 who make the cut to appear on the Youku series.
An all-star cast will serve as mentors, including top livestreamer Li Jiaqi, actress Yang Mi (known as the “goddess of goods” for her ability to boost sales for the brands she represents), and singer Cai Xukun, another brand favorite.
Brands will be featured prominently on the show as contestants compete to sell their products, and those that participate in “Go! Streamers” will be given priority for placement on the winners’ Singles’ Day broadcasts.
Livestreaming reality shows have also recently appeared on Douyin and Weibo, two platforms that are seeking to boost their e-commerce capabilities through sales-oriented broadcasts.
Douyin adopted the competition format as well for its show, “Trainees Please Livestream” (练习生请开播), which sought out existing users of the short video platform who could be considered “idol trainee material.” The entertainment companies Banana Culture and EE-Media were among the main hosts of the program.
Weibo is partnering with Taobao Live and its leading livestreamer Viya to host “V Chooses Great Goods (V选好物), which premiered on July 8. Each episode will feature a surprise celebrity guest sharing their favorite products, with the guest’s identity teased with clues on Weibo beforehand. The format will give viewers opportunities to interact with celebrities while they shop and enjoy discounts on their personal recommendations.
- by Ginger Ooi, CCI Team
Bilibili Wants to Help Brands “Sparkle” With Content
The trendy video platform Bilibili is opening up its Sparkle service to help match brands with its popular creators (aka Uploaders).
Known as Huahuo in Chinese, the matchmaking service aims to increase commercial opportunities for creators and has until now been used internally by Bilibili. It will provide creators with features such as pricing recommendations, a means to showcase samples of their video work, and access to data on followers and audience engagement that can be used to develop monetization strategies. For brands, it will offer a one-stop shop for finding potential content partners, with targeted recommendations and project management tools.
Creators and multi-channel networks (MCNs) were invited to sign up for Sparkle on July 8, while brands and agencies can join on July 17. The criteria for creators limits participation to those 18 and over with a minimum of 10,000 followers, at least one original video posted within the past 30 days, and fulfillment of Bilibili’s requirements for audience engagement and creditworthiness.
The battle for top creators has been heating up across platforms. Bilibili recently lost top creator Necromancer Financial to Bytedance’s Xigua Video in a deal reported to be worth RMB 100 million ($14 million), with the business vlogger stating that depending on Bilibili fans for revenue was unsustainable.
This week, however, Bilibili took back another big name from Xigua, the popular esports commentator and podcast host Ao Changzhang, who started out on Bilibili in 2011 but left for Xigua in 2019. Now, under a reportedly exclusive five-year contract, Ao Changzhang is back to producing videos for his more than 7 million followers on Bilibili — among his first was an unboxing video for a limited-edition Oppo smartphone collaboration with Japanese anime series “Neon Genesis Evangelion.”
Brand Film Pick: Dior’s Couture Content Revolution
For many years, the luxury industry has relentlessly protected its traditions from the encroachment of the internet. Now, in a matter of just a few months, the industry’s biggest players have started to embrace the potential of digital transformation. With international travel and large-scale in-person gatherings still restricted, global fashion brands have been forced to take the debuts of their collections online, with short films emerging as a favored route for the presentation of the latest round of couture collections.
The French luxury house Dior produced a 14-minute-long film, “Le Mythe Dior,” by award-winning Italian director Matteo Garrone, to present the 37 designs of its 2020 Autumn/Winter haute couture line. Within the ethereal film, characters from fairytales and ancient Greek mythology reveal the new creations from Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri.
While the film was produced for a global audience, Dior tailored its presentation to Chinese viewers by featuring it as the opener for a livestream on Weibo to launch the collection. Among the guests were actress and Dior ambassador Angelababy, TV host Liu Yanchi, magazine editors Sun Zhe and Liang Jiajun, and model Cici Xiang, who gathered in conversation to introduce concepts of couture craftsmanship and expand upon the brand film’s content.
The livestreamed event hit all the right notes: it was cultured, tasteful and aesthetically pleasing, as well as interactive, and brought a much larger audience than the film would have seen on its own had it been simply posted to Weibo. More than 11.3 million viewers tuned in, generating more than 34,000 comments and 4,000 shares.
Dior built on the savvy model deployed to livestream its Fall/Winter ready-to-wear collection via Weibo in February, when it leveraged the celebrity of its Chinese brand ambassadors and leading influencers to draw 12 million viewers for the Paris runway show.
But Dior’s new direction with the couture collection also bodes well for Weibo. Employing the brand’s fashion premiere as a model, the social media platform can further leverage its brand and celebrity connections to build and strengthen its livestreaming reputation, while signalling that there is still plenty of room for luxury brands and platforms to innovate further with content.
- by Benjamin Guggenheim, CCI Team
Report Corner
The 2020 China Internet Report from SCMP is out, with an overview of how the coronavirus has changed the use of technology and detailed data in 10 sectors, including e-commerce, social media, and AI.
CBNData and Bright Data analyzed the performance of 14 celebrities who began e-commerce livestreaming on Douyin in April and found that the majority only conducted one broadcast, while those who had repeat shows failed to maintain high levels of traffic and sales on subsequent shows.
Educational spending accounts for more than 55% of Chinese parents’ expenditures on their children, according to QuestMobile’s 2020 report on the country’s children’s economy.
In a report on China’s nighttime economy, Alibaba’s marketing tech and data platform Alimama finds that there are some 180 million consumers active nationwide between the hours of 8 pm and 6 am.
News in English
The new shopping platform Verishop aims to replicate China’s successful social e-commerce model in the U.S. Axios
Luxury brands have to develop new digital tools to reach Chinese consumers who would normally spend $111 billion annually shopping for high-end goods overseas. Bloomberg
Inclusive luxury, experiential e-commerce, and shopping festivals are among 10 key trends fueling the future of global retail in the post-crisis period. Coresight Research
Sina is reportedly planning to delist from Nasdaq, but no word on whether its subsidiary Weibo may follow. KrAsia
After working with brands such as Armani, Fendi, and Cartier, pop star Jackson Wang is launching his own fashion label, Team Wang. Vogue
Foreign fashion brands are collaborating with a creative range of partners in China to help them stand out and connect with young consumers. WWD
We’ve Got China Covered
China Film Insider: Tencent Plays in U.S. With California Game Studio Launch
Jing Daily: Why Is TikTok Cutting Ties With 150,000 Hong Kong Users?
Jing Travel: Guide to Livestreaming for Chinese Tourism Marketing
Thank you for reading! We will be back next Tuesday with more news and insights. In the meantime, drop us a line if you have a story tip, are interested in collaboration or sponsorships, or just want to say hello. We hope you have a productive rest of your week and restful weekend!