Can not doing what one wants be called rebirth?

Chapter 396 406. Celebration Banquet

"Senior, let's go back first."

"But Junior Lu hasn't come out yet."

"No need to wait for him."

Guan Yongyi raised his wrist, adjusted the short hair beside his ears, and waved his hand with a smile.

"He will attend a dinner party with the show crew tonight."

A few seconds later, the girl added three more words.

"A celebration party."

The stage and the audience are like two completely different worlds.

During the first half of the debut night, Lv Jincheng was still laughing and joking with the members of the research group and giving advice to the contestants on the stage.

But in the second half, the staff member just leaned over and said a few words, and Lu Jincheng disappeared backstage and never sat back with everyone.

Only the name with a slightly higher volume remained in the memories of Liu Yingying, Gong Guanyu and others.

"Boss Lu."

That’s right, when he appeared again, Lu Jincheng standing on the stage seemed to be getting further and further away from the approachable junior Lu.

Mr. Lu, dressed in a suit and with an exquisite hairstyle, has left a deep impression on people.

"All the best! Cheers!"

On the other side, in a private club in Star City, the atmosphere was lively.

This is the celebration party for the "Goddess 101" program team.

With real-time data feedback, all practitioners present knew the situation clearly.

After years of copying, imitation and introduction, China's idol manufacturing system has finally undergone a fundamental qualitative change.

But under the influence of the Big Bang, how many people can avoid becoming obsolete overnight, and how many media companies can survive?

This is a problem that needs to be answered more and is more difficult to answer than star creation itself.

"The fact that our program is what it is today is really in line with the slogan - turn the tide against the wind and grow towards the sun."

Sun Li, the chief director of "Goddess 101", raised her glass with a smile and toasted everyone at the table.

This is not just a slogan in the current popular variety show.

The scene of the youthful girl, the successful economic company boss, and all the members of the program team shouting this sentence is like a collective cry of the Chinese idol-making system after years of exploration and practice.

"According to statistics from Maoyan Professional Edition, the cumulative number of views of "Goddess 101" since its launch has exceeded one billion times, and the number of Weibo topic discussions has reached 3874.6 million!"

"Unprecedented, unprecedented!"

China's local talent show variety shows have gained unprecedented exposure.

The origin of such women's talent shows can be traced back to the "Super Girl" era more than ten years ago.

In this star-making campaign, whether it is the program attributes, the company's participation and monetization methods, the idol composition and exposure methods, or the fan organization and participation forms, they are all much stronger than they were a few years ago.

There is no doubt that this is a huge explosion resulting from the combined efforts of capital, platforms, channels and markets.

On one hand, there is the secret struggle among the brokerage companies. Startups such as Dianjin Media, Tianxing Entertainment, and Banana Entertainment are coming in with great momentum. Guoran Tiankong and Qi Gu Culture, both owned by iQiyi and Kugou, are also gathering force.

On one side, thousands of contestants are coming one after another to join this carnival where the chances of winning are as high as winning the lottery.

"Xiao Lu, I want to ask you, how did you come up with this idea?"

As the chief director who personally brought this program to fruition, Sun Li was not initially enthusiastic about the ideas proposed by Douyu.

But Douyu insisted again and again, and the top leader Mr. Chen visited in person and claimed that the young girls "need a chance."

Mr. Chen had high praise for Miao Keyan, the leading actress of Douyu.

[In Miao Keyan, I see the new commercial value of idols in the new era.]

[Believe me, "Goddess 101" can definitely do it! ]

Mr. Chen copied the words that Lu Jincheng used to persuade him and told them to Sun Li again exactly as they were.

In fact, the evidence that convinced Sun Li was indeed Miao Keyan’s unique ability to monetize.

In the opinion of industry insiders, the traditional assembly line method of creating idols has reached its singularity.

The unlimited extension of the tentacles of various tools such as Weibo and live streaming have broadened the boundaries of celebrity influence and changed the public's lifestyle.

In addition, content platforms such as Douyu, iQiyi, and Huya need some differentiated content such as PGC to maintain their competitive advantage.

The combined efforts of various parties have boosted the explosion of China's idol manufacturing system.

"Because I understand one thing."

Lu Jincheng smiled and raised his glass, looking polite and humble.

There were two tables at the celebration banquet. The main table was occupied by core members of the program team including the organizer, agency, sponsors, partners, etc.

At another table sat the ten members who were receiving great praise and making their glorious debut tonight.

"In this era, experience fades, arrogance is ineffective, and whoever wins the fans wins the world."

“So how do you gather fans?”

“We need a brand new talent show that can bring topics discussed in niche circles to the public, allowing [audiences] to become [users], participate in content production and even the promotion process, and even decide the lineup of the debut group.”

"Therefore, it means that they have a more direct channel to gain fans than Weibo and live broadcast platforms."

At this point, Lu Jincheng paused and pointed to another table of young ladies drinking together.

"Of course, I think the greater significance of this program is that it can serve as a vehicle for fans to interact with idol content."

"For example, in addition to the weekly program episodes of Goddess 101, there are nearly 200 short videos of contestants every day, which are pushed out through platforms such as Miaoyin, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu to reach fans and continuously attract traffic."

"For the platform, the artists, and the management companies, the show is like opening a hole in the dam of the idol market, and a huge traffic effect is gradually emerging."

“It’s good for everyone to make the existing pie bigger.”

"Why not do it?"

The man smiled, raised his chin, and drank it all in one gulp.

"Well said! You are worthy of being the youngest boss here!"

Mr. Chen from Douyu drank up the wine without saying a word, put down his glass, and started to applaud.

"Xiao Lu, now I understand why you are able to make Dianjin Media so successful at such a young age."

Sun Li first took a big sip of wine, thought for a few seconds, and then couldn't help but sigh.

“You have a very deep understanding of this era.”

This hot young man's casual remark hits the core of idol management.

——A 2B2C business.

For idol management companies, B-side monetization is dominant.

If an artist is influential enough, B-side film and television dramas, variety shows, advertisements, etc. will come to him/her actively.

If your popularity does not reach a certain level, you must focus on the C-end.

Simply put, it is to manage a fan system and form a competitive barrier with the stickiness of a large number of C-end fans.

Dianjin Media, a fast-rising dark horse in the industry, has adopted exactly this development philosophy.

Prioritize fan operations. In order to satisfy fans, Dianjin Media has built a variety of content systems.

For example, they update daily videos for the contracted influencers, create graphic content, establish official fan groups, and even launch a dedicated short video app.

With fans, they are like popular anchors on major live streaming platforms, with supporters who send them "sports cars" and "yachts" every day.

Commercial monetization has become a matter of "having a source of fresh water".

"Don't say anything, Sister Sun. You're pretty quick to react. In fact, it was only after I saw the success of the show that I realized that times have changed."

Ma Yankun, the boss of Tianxing Media, interrupted and joked with a smile.

"Although it was an artist from Xiao Lu's company who won the championship, she is both beautiful and talented. Ultimately, I don't think it's that surprising."

"But a complete amateur like Sun Xin was able to squeeze into the debut position and even surpass our Xu Jie. I really don't understand this."

"The most amazing thing is that Dianjin Media signed Sun Xin before she even gained popularity!"

Ma Yankun shook his head, shook off the alcohol in his head, and looked at Lu Jincheng with a smile.

After being in this circle for nearly twenty years, his inherent cognition is gradually disintegrating.

Under the traditional idol-making model, if you want to become a star, you need to gain the recognition of the vast majority of fans.

Just as Ma Yankun himself said: "The girl group must be popular and must be a popular idol, so it must be recognized by the music circle, dance circle, fashion circle and other circles."

However, when the young people’s circle of friends was quickly flooded with posts about Sun Xin.

[The situation is not good, I need your vote! 】

[If you work hard and I work hard, Xinxin can create miracles! ]

Sun Xin once became a phenomenal artist who was popular on social media.

In fact, Sun Xin is not a "typical" idol, she is an amateur who is still studying.

She is a novice in singing and dancing, has almost no professional ability, has a round face, is less than 1.7 meters tall, and her appearance does not conform to the public's aesthetic of white, tall and thin girls in girl groups.

But by chance, she ended up living in the same dormitory with Miao Keyan, who also has a lot of traffic.

During the live broadcast, she quickly became the topic of the show and a topic of conversation among the public with her authentic Xingcheng dialect, sweet and lovely appearance, bold and sassy personality, and her admiration for the independent female spirit.

In the eyes of some observers, "Goddess 101" is not a singing and dancing variety show in the conventional sense, but a social experiment with highly concentrated space and time, and a microcosm of real society.

The pyramid-shaped program logo and contestant seating arrangement have strong metaphorical implications.

101 young girls from various backgrounds were gathered in closed accommodation and competed continuously on a month-by-month basis. Some made leaps and some fell, but in the end only 10 people stood on the top of the pyramid and debuted as a group.

The singing and dancing performance on stage is only a small part of the entire competition.

The survival status of people in extreme environments is what really arouses the interest of the audience in this show.

Based on this principle, almost everything the girls do is recorded by the camera, even sleeping.

"I'm a rather vulgar person, and I didn't think much of anything else. I just thought she had a good personality. If she didn't have a chance to debut, she could still make money as a streamer."

Lu Jincheng grinned and spoke openly.

"I also have an impression of this child. I even discussed it with my colleagues at the time."

Sun Li took over the conversation.

"Goddess 101" examined nearly contestants in total, including countless beautiful girls.

When director Sun Li met Sun Xin, what struck her was her "simple temperament".

After she returned, she told her colleagues that the child was pretty, but she couldn't open her mouth because the smell of plastic was too strong.

After repeated discussions, the casting team felt that this was exactly her highlight.

“Who says you have to speak Mandarin to be a star?”

As early as when the program was scheduled, the selection criteria for "Goddess 101" contestants had been made clear: to break through the boundaries of a pure singing and dancing variety show.

To "break out of the circle".

It’s not just about singing and dancing skills, but about allowing people from all walks of life to find objects to project their emotions onto in the program.

Judging from the data, the program has indeed achieved this.

In addition to Sun Xin, there is also Miao Keyan, who almost harvested most of the program's traffic, quickly became popular with her sincerity, and became a household name overnight.

"Goddess 101" has also successfully stepped out of the core circle of online variety shows and become a true hit.

It seems that idols have changed from role models to a label.

Labeled idol creation further segments fans.

"Boss Ma, don't underestimate yourself. You guys at Tianxing Media have gained a lot this time, right?"

Someone stood up and raised his glass to Ma Yankun.

"It's okay, thanks to the production team."

Ma Yankun's face was full of smiles.

Just as Lu Jincheng said just now, the success of this program has really made the "cake" bigger.

So much so that a small-time unknown star who was originally not well-known has the opportunity to gain fans and generate commercial value after participating in "Goddess 101".

According to Ma Yankun's original plan, Tianxing Media's trainee Xu Jie should train for a while before officially debuting.

But faced with the opportunity he had longed for, he had little choice.

"There is definitely a difference between practicing for two years and practicing for five years, but the industry is developing too fast and people simply can't wait for those extra years."

In other words, there are too many fans and not enough idols.

After such a long time in business, Tianxing Media Company achieved positive income for the first time in March this year.

This is the first month after the launch of "Goddess 101".

Taking advantage of the momentum brought by Xu Jie, Tianxing Media launched new singles for its trainees.

The constant brand promotion from the B-end gave Ma Yankun a glimpse of spring.

The idol agency market seems to be experiencing a full-scale explosion of brand cooperation.

The show has not ended yet. When the popularity rankings were announced for the last time, Sephora officially announced that Xu Jie became its brand friend.

The little-known Sun Xin became the regional spokesperson for Innisfree, and the I Do perfume she endorsed was sold out on the day the link was posted.

There are long queues for endorsements for the top five debut positions.

Not to mention, Miao Keyan who has a chance to win the championship
At present, in the domestic idol industry ecosystem chain, the consumer end has gradually matured, which can be seen from the brand endorsement capabilities and the consumption power of the "fan circle".

In the next stage, the public ticket price for the "Goddess 101" fan meeting will be 2098 yuan in the middle range, which is even higher than the concert prices of many first-line singers.

In order to enter the top ten of the popularity list, many fans are also using real money to exchange for votes.

Everything looks prosperous.

The reality is that most domestic idol brokerage companies were only established in the past two years, and their talent selection and training still lack the test of time.

Faced with the market's desire for newcomers, talent reserve has become a difficult problem facing idol economy companies.

Returning to the essence of the industry, this business about "people" is likely to fail due to lack of successors.

But there is no doubt that in this "large-scale survival experiment" of the local idol group, every path is new.

(End of this chapter)