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China Brands, Marketing & Consumers

China’s Booming Cyberstar Economy & Papi Jiang

China’s ‘cyberstar economy’ is alive and kicking.

Manya Koetse

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How far would a Chinese company go to connect their brand to Papi Jiang, China’s rising Weibo superstar? Today’s ad auction showed that people are willing to pay millions to get their ad in one of the popular videos by Papi, who has become China’s national sweetheart. The staggering winning bid makes it clear: China’s ‘cyberstar economy’ is alive and kicking.

 

On April 21, a video ad auction was held in Beijing, in which bidders went as high as 22 million RMB (3,4 million US$) to get Papi Jiang (papi酱) to promote their brand.

 

Straight to the Millions

 

The auction starting price was 217.000 RMB (33.555 US$) and increased with 100.000 RMB (15.463 US$) for every bid, Sohu Business reports. Just moments after the auction had started, bidding prices went straight to 10 million (1,5 million US$).

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Ultimately, Papi’s video ad auction was won by makeup company Lili & Beauty (丽人丽妆) for 22 million yuan (3,4 million US$). Lili & Beauty is an e-commerce company that represents a variety of cosmetic brands like Shu Uemura, Max Factor and Maybelline.

 

The Year of Papi Jiang

 

Papi Jiang is famous for her online humorous videos that make fun of everyday societal issues. This year marked her rise to fame, as she gained millions of followers on her Weibo account – just a few months after she uploaded her first video. She also secured a 1,200,000 RMB (±184,000 US$) investment.

Papi made headlines earlier this week when her videos were taken offline by censors for containing ‘foul language’. The videos will be allowed back online when Papi takes out the swear words, which she promised she would. The government reprimand has seemingly only boosted her popularity.

 

“Can I ask what this is all about?” 

 

News of the auction soon made its rounds on Weibo under the hashtag of ‘extremely expensive Papi Jiang ad’ (#papi酱天价广告#).

Although many netizens think it is ‘awesome’ that Papi was able to raise such a staggering amount, some were also critical: “Can I ask what this is all about?” one netizen said: “Aren’t there many poor people in the rural areas that could really use this money?”

Others believe that the ‘hot online celebrity’ phenomenon is becoming too hyped, as brands would do anything to get a popular Weibo celebrity mention their name.

 

Cyberstar Economy

 

Today’s auction shows that ‘online celebrity marketing’ or ‘cyberstar economy’ is alive and kicking in China, where self-made celebrities are mushrooming all over the internet.

China’s so-called ‘Big V’s’ – popular microbloggers who have a ‘v’ behind their name as their accounts have been verified by Weibo or Tencent – are worth big money. These social media celebrities vary from comedians to fashion bloggers or make-up stylists. Some Chinese online celebrities have just become famous because they blog a lot or have an extraordinary appearance.

These online stars offer great marketing potential for brands because they have a huge following, much influence, and often the right target audiences.

Papi’s auction bidding is an extreme case of how much brands are willing to offer to be promoted by celebrities, but prices are not always this transparent – nor is the product marketing. A recent example is how on March 26, China’s famous singer, actress and presenter Xie Na (also known as ‘Nana’), posted a dressing room picture on her Weibo account.

xiena

With more than 83 million fans, Xiena is one of Weibo’s top celebrities. In her photo (pictured above) you can spot ‘lung support tablets’ on her dressing table, which are medicine that supposedly counter the negative effects of air pollution.

Xie Na’s picture and the lung support brand then became a trending topic on Weibo; the picture was shared almost 10,000 times, got 31.000 likes and 11210 comments, with many netizens wanting to purchase the tablets while praising Xiena for taking such good care of her health. Who knows how much the lung tablet brand paid Xie Na to put their medicine on her table?

lungsupport

For some celebrities, their prices are less mysterious. Stylist and Weibo ‘Big V’ (popular microblogger) make-up artist Perry (Xiao P Laoshi) has over 36 million fans on his Weibo page, and it will cost 76.000 RMB (±11,750 US$) for him to mention your brand. These deals can be easily made through Chinese online media buying companies. Perry’s prices are considered reasonably low, since the general price for brand promotion by a ‘Big V’ is set around 100.000 RMB (±15,460 US$).

bigv

 

“Not that expensive”

 

As for today’s action – Papi Jiang’s business partner stated that the money raised with the auction will be donated to Beijing’s Central Academy of Drama (中央戏剧学院), the academy that Papi graduated from.

This decision caused some commotion on Weibo, where many netizens think she should have given the money to the poor instead of to the academy. Amongst the commenters, there are also many who defend Papi, saying she can do whatever she wants with her money, as it is a reward for her huge success.

According to Yangcheng Evening news, the successful bidder later stated that they felt their 22-million-video-ad was “not that expensive.”

– By Manya Koetse

©2016 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

Manya Koetse is the founder and editor-in-chief of whatsonweibo.com. She is a writer, public speaker, and researcher (Sinologist, MPhil) on social trends, digital developments, and new media in an ever-changing China, with a focus on Chinese society, pop culture, and gender issues. She shares her love for hotpot on hotpotambassador.com. Contact at manya@whatsonweibo.com, or follow on Twitter.

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1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Avatar

    winona

    May 14, 2018 at 2:02 pm

    she is living the dream. go her!

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China Brands, Marketing & Consumers

Tick, Tock, Time to Pay Up? Douyin Is Testing Out Paywalled Short Videos

Is content payment a new beginning for the popular short video app Douyin (China’s TikTok) or would it be the end?

Manya Koetse

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The introduction of a Douyin novel feature, that would enable content creators to impose a fee for accessing their short video content, has sparked discussions across Chinese social media. Although the feature would benefit creators, many Douyin users are skeptical.

News that Chinese social media app Douyin is rolling out a new feature which allows creators to introduce a paywall for their short video content has triggered online discussions in China this week.

The feature, which made headlines on November 16, is presently in the testing phase. A number of influential content creators are now allowed to ‘paywall’ part of their video content.

Douyin is the hugely popular app by Chinese tech giant Bytedance. TikTok is the international version of the Chinese successful short video app, and although they’re often presented as being the same product, Douyin and Tiktok are actually two separate entities.

In addition to variations in content management and general usage, Douyin differs from TikTok in terms of features. Douyin previously experimented with functionalities such as charging users for accessing mini-dramas on the platform or the ability to tip content creators.

The pay-to-view feature on Douyin would require users to pay a certain fee in Douyin coins (抖币) in order to view paywalled content. One Douyin coin is equivalent to 0.1 yuan ($0,014). The platform itself takes 30% of the income as a service charge.

According to China Securities Times or STCN (证券时报网), Douyin insiders said that any short video content meeting Douyin’s requirements could be set as “pay-per-view.”

Creators, who can set their own paywall prices, should reportedly meet three criteria to qualify for the pay-to-view feature: their account cannot have any violation records for a period of 90 days, they should have at least 100,000 followers, and they have to have completed the real-name authentication process.

On Douyin and Weibo, Chinese netizens express various views on the feature. Many people do not think it would be a good idea to charge money for short videos. One video blogger (@小片片说大片) pointed out the existing challenge of persuading netizens to pay for longer videos, let alone expecting them to pay for shorter ones.

“The moment I’d need to pay money for it, I’ll delete the app,” some commenters write.

This statement appears to capture the prevailing sentiment among most internet users regarding a subscription-based Douyin environment. According to a survey conducted by the media platform Pear Video, more than 93% of respondents expressed they would not be willing to pay for short videos.

An online poll by Pear Video showed that the majority of respondents would not be willing to pay for short videos on Douyin.

“This could be a breaking point for Douyin,” one person predicts: “Other platforms could replace it.” There are more people who think it would be the end of Douyin and that other (free) short video platforms might take its place.

Some commenters, however, had their own reasons for supporting a pay-per-view function on the platform, suggesting it would help them solve their Douyin addiction. One commenter remarked, “Fantastic, this might finally help me break free from watching short videos!” Another individual responded, “Perhaps this could serve as a remedy for my procrastination.”

As discussions about the new feature trended, Douyin’s customer service responded, stating that it would eventually be up to content creators whether or not they want to activate the paid feature for their videos, and that it would be up to users whether or not they would be interested in such content – otherwise they can just swipe away.

Another social media user wrote: “There’s only one kind of video I’m willing to pay for, and it’s not on Douyin.”

By Manya Koetse

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Spotted a mistake or want to add something? Please let us know in comments below or email us. First-time commenters, please be patient – we will have to manually approve your comment before it appears.

©2023 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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China Brands, Marketing & Consumers

Tsingtao Brewery ‘Pee-Gate’: Factory Worker Caught Urinating in Raw Material Warehouse

The pee incident, that occurred at a subsidiary Tsingtao Beer factory, has caused concerns among consumers.

Manya Koetse

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A video that has circulated on Chinese social media since October 19 shows how an alleged worker at a Tsingtao Beer factory climbs over a wall at the raw material production site and starts to urinate.

The incident reportedly occurred at the Tsingtao Beer Factory No. 3, a subsidiary of the Tsingtao Brewing Company, located in Qingdao, Shandong.

After the video went viral, the Tsingtao Brewery Company issued a statement that they took the incident very seriously and immediately report it to the authorities, who have started an investigation into the case. Meanwhile, the specific batch in production has been halted and shut off.

The incident has caused concern among consumers, and some commenters on social media wonder if this was the first time something like this has happened. “How do we know this hasn’t happened many times before?”

Others speculate about what might have motivated the man to urinate at the production site. There are those who believe that the man is part of an undercover operation orchestrated by a rivaling company, aimed at discrediting Tsingtao. It’s even suggested that there were two ‘moles’ leaking in this incident: one doing the urinating, and the other doing the video ‘leak.’

Meanwhile, there are voices who are critical of Tsingtao, suggesting that the renowned beer brand has not effectively addressed the ‘pee gate’ scandal. It remains uncertain how this incident will impact the brand, but some netizens are already expressing reservations about ordering a Tsingtao beer as a result.

But there are also those who joke about the “pissing incident,” wondering if Tsingtao Beer might soon launch a special “urine flavored beer.”

By Manya Koetse

Get the story behind the hashtag. Subscribe to What’s on Weibo here to receive our newsletter and get access to our latest articles:

Featured photo by Jay Ang (link).

Spotted a mistake or want to add something? Please let us know in comments below or email us. First-time commenters, please be patient – we will have to manually approve your comment before it appears.

©2023 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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