How can you become a star without money?

Chapter 236 Crossover
How to determine if a meme has gone viral.

You can take a stroll around the gates of local junior high and high schools. If even the students start saying things like "Why is your hair so bouncy?" and making fun of it, then it's definitely going to be a hit.

A typical trending topic has a lifespan of 1 to 3 weeks. The first phase is the explosive period, during which it is widely discussed within 72 hours, and then it gradually cools down as user attention shifts.

If there is additional supporting information in the second round, it will lead to a second round of dazzling dissemination.

Starting from the third round, this hot topic will basically become a 'sedimentary topic,' a qualitative piece of content or representative, and will be brought up again in a similar or recurring topic in the future.

Currently, 'duangduang' is in its second wave of explosive growth. Although it has dropped out of the top 10 on the trending topics list, the level of discussion and the foundation of the topic have been solidified. This is the best time to 'monetize' it.

During a promotional interview with Hong Kong media for the film "Dawn of Justice," Jackie Chan was asked about his views on the "Ba Wang duangduang" incident.

Cheng Long publicly stated that he has been busy filming recently and only just found out that he had become an unexpected sensation. When he filmed that advertisement, he did not expect it to become popular in this way a few years later. He confirmed that he has been using BaWang shampoo, but as for the ingredients, he said that he would need to wait for an authoritative assessment.

However, he said he was not offended by the fact that netizens in the new era made parody videos of him, and that being a celebrity is part of the job of being teased.

As long as it's not malicious slander or defamation, he's quite willing to accept new trends from young people. He even shook his head and swayed his head a couple of times to show off his 60-year-old hair.

Cheng Long's interview quickly became a trending topic on major social media platforms. His objective response to the endorsement dispute and his willingness to connect with netizens in the new era have won unanimous praise from various platforms.

This also brought the dispute between Ba and Wang to its final stage.

Netizens discovered that Ba Wang's social media account had published various arguments over the past period, including announcements regarding the safety of the ingredients and lawsuits against media outlets spreading rumors, as well as a solemn promise of "tenfold compensation for cancer."

This confidently pinned announcement quickly became a new topic of discussion among netizens, with several highly-rated and popular comments. Screenshots showed that BaWang's main image on its flagship store on e-commerce platforms had also been changed to "Cancer compensation of tenfold".

'I'm going to place an order and keep it; this might be the highest-yielding investment product I've ever encountered in my life. [doge emoji]'

"BaWang is willing to compensate, but I wouldn't dare use it. However, based on their attitude, I'll still place an order to support domestic products."

"You can easily get hit by a car while walking on the street, why are you so worried about using shampoo? Use it if you like, don't use it if you don't."

"Am I the only one who thinks BaWang is better than a certain brand? After using that brand, my scalp always feels unclean and I often have dandruff."

"I placed an order on JD.com this morning, and it was not only 5 yuan cheaper than offline, but I also received the goods this afternoon. It was a big box, and I thought the courier had sent the wrong item. But when I opened it, wow, it contained a whole 10 bottles of BaWang shampoo! Turns out it's part of their 'one-for-ten' compensation policy! [Order screenshot]"

"Let's put the cancer issue aside for now; I just want to try it out and see if it works [order screenshot]."

Why did I only see one bottle in my order? Is it a system bug? [Order screenshot]

'Order placed, waiting for the draw [order screenshot]'

Influenced by the cheerful atmosphere in the comments section, many onlookers subconsciously clicked on the link to jump to the e-commerce platform, and found that the main picture was indeed guaranteed, the price was also cheaper, and the strangest thing was that the review section was not discussing whether the shampoo was good or not.

All of them were saying, "Place an order now and wait for it to appreciate in value."

Do people really buy this as an investment product?
That's ridiculous, but I'll still place an order.

Humans have an inexplicable herd mentality, especially when it comes to things that offer extra emotional value. Most people will participate with a "what the heck" attitude.

Moreover, the more outrageous and abstract the issue, the more enthusiastic the public, especially young people, are about participating.

You might not buy a 20-yuan serving of eggs, but you definitely have to try the 200-yuan wild Ultraman egg to see if it's salty enough.

In his previous life, Wang Yao had seen many outrageous and abstract niche products, such as "Einstein's brain slices, which can increase your IQ by 1 point" with monthly sales exceeding 10,000.

'Sun Wukong's fiery eyes.'

Wild female mosquitoes are obedient, bite, and suck a lot of blood.

'Communication spray; if you spray it on your parrot, it will talk and become smarter.'

'Blueberry lutein, can it give you X-ray vision?'

The immense popularity of Ba Wang and Cheng Long this time, coupled with the added financial attributes of 'psychological comfort,' has transformed its product attributes into social attributes.

In the atmosphere of entertainment and memes, the issue of ingredients was actually deconstructed.

The online transaction volume exceeded 100,000 orders that day, which shocked Cheng Qiyuan and his wife.

Previously, BaWang's normal national shipment volume was only 10 units per day. I never expected that the online platform's daily shipment volume could be equivalent to the sales volume of hundreds of distributors. I invited them to dinner again.

"It's just the initial hype, with many people just jumping on the bandwagon. Sales won't be this high later on, but if there are major holiday discounts, online sales can be much higher," Wang Yao explained.

Now they have a direct understanding of the purchasing power of e-commerce and are completely convinced of Wang Yao's public relations skills.

It not only dispelled the crisis of trust but also directly boosted overall sales, something that traditional media can hardly achieve at present.

"Mr. Wang, heroes emerge from among the young. Putting everything else aside, I'd like to toast you." Cheng Qiyuan raised his glass with a smile.

"Mr. Cheng, you're too kind. I'm just doing my duty as a servant." Wang Yao smiled.

"I've discussed Mr. Wang's previous remarks about e-commerce brands and industrial transformation with Lao Cheng, and we think they make a lot of sense. So, I'm here today hoping to invite Mr. Wang to become an independent director of BaWang and participate in the company's operations," Wan Yu said with a smile. "Independent director? No need. I also hold BaWang stock and am very optimistic about BaWang's future development, so I bought some before the trading halt," Wang Yao said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Qiyuan's expression changed. The story of how Wang Yao swallowed up Chengtian Entertainment had long been known in the industry. Although there was a lot of fabrication involved, it was a fact that Wang Yao had a history of turning the tables on his guests.

"Oh? How much did you bet, Mr. Wang? I'll have to pay you 10% after the bet is successful," Cheng Qiyuan said, feigning composure.

“Not much, Mr. Cheng, don’t worry. I work in the internet and media industry, and I don’t have the energy to get involved in other industries, especially physical manufacturing. It’s too hard and tiring for me. I’m just optimistic about BaWang’s future development.” Wang Yao smiled slightly.

not much?

That's a lot.

Although Wang Yao seemed to be making a guarantee, Cheng Qiyuan heard it as a threat.

"Don't worry, Mr. Wang. This incident has indeed served as a wake-up call for my wife and me. We will definitely prioritize product diversification and R&D technology barriers. Since Mr. Wang is a shareholder, we are all in the same boat now. Mr. Wang, would you like to hear our thoughts?" Wan Yu nodded with a smile.

She briefly outlined her plans for the later stages of Ba Wang's career. During this period, she contacted many universities and colleagues related to traditional Chinese medicine to establish a "Hundred Herbs Project," which would allocate 1 to 2 million yuan annually to various universities for research and development, and then share the patents.

At the same time, it integrates some small and medium-sized skin care and food production lines, and lays out the pharmaceutical and beverage industry. Coincidentally, BaWang has a herbal tea patent, and the first batch of products was actually launched for testing in April.

“The direction is right, but my suggestion is that it would be a bit strange for a personal care brand to get involved in the beverage industry. For example, your BaWang herbal tea always reminds me of a herbal tea that smells like shampoo, which is a drawback from a marketing perspective,” Wang Yao said, frowning.

Currently, Qizheng and Wanglaoji already occupy more than 80% of the herbal tea market, and the entire market size is estimated to be around 200 billion yuan. Bawang's foray into this market is inherently a weak point, and the support from the parent brand will only have a negative impact on the product, so it is highly likely to fail.

If someone else had said that, Cheng Qiyuan and Wan Yu would have humbly accepted it but continued to do their own thing. But after Wang Yao said that, they did start to reflect.

"So, Mr. Wang thinks it's better to establish a new sub-brand? But wouldn't that waste the brand influence of BaWang?" Cheng Qiyuan frowned.

"Ba Wang's influence lies in the hair care and hair loss prevention field. What you two need to do is to specialize and excel in these two areas. The scalp care economy is a very promising industry. Currently, several well-known global brands have begun to utilize the scalp care field, including through soft product placement in film and television media."

For example, in Korean dramas, most dramas that include hair care product placement will prioritize shots of the male and female leads' hair, and then insert the concept that "you can tell if someone is rich by looking at their hair" into the dialogue, repeatedly emphasizing that thick, black, and smooth hair is a symbol of wealth.

"Since BaWang has this core promotional advantage, it can continue to amplify it, instead of using general traffic to cross over into other industries. Of course, herbal tea is not a bad product," Wang Yao explained.

Upon hearing this news from Wang Yao, Cheng Qiyuan's eyes widened.

Has marketing really gone this far?

“I understand. So, in the future, Ba Wang will focus on three areas: hair care, hair growth, and hair conditioning,” Wan Yu said in a deep voice.

“There is a type of minoxidil solution abroad that can be diluted into various nutrient solutions as consumables, and even some hair care devices. These are all promising product directions.”

Once your herbal research lab has enough patents in the future, each hair care-related ingredient can become a standalone product line; you just need to identify the key features of each ingredient.
"With changes in human dietary habits, scalp care will be a huge market, and it may even be possible to open a beauty salon specializing in scalp care," Wang Yao suggested.

Upon hearing this, Wan Yu's eyes lit up with a strange light. She used to think that Ba Wang's hair loss treatment had reached its limit, but now, looking at Wang Yao's ideas, she realized that they had only developed less than 5% of this market.

She transitioned from R&D to management, while Cheng Qiyuan came from a pure business operations background. Both are professionals in their respective fields, but they are indeed somewhat 'out of touch' with the macro-business landscape.

However, Wan Yu is a tech talent with a keen business sense. As soon as she heard Wang Yao mention hair care devices and scalp care salons, she knew that this was not a solution to the problem at its root, but rather a tactic to lock in users by providing emotional value to consumers.

These things may not solve the problem of hair loss, but they can solve the user's emotional problems, and that's where the real money is.

"If BaWang has the capacity in the future, it can consider opening 'BaWang Experience Centers' in major shopping malls across the country, similar to chain beauty salons, except that they provide scalp care specifically for BaWang consumers to offer advice on solving hair loss, and promote products or maintenance treatments in the process."

If you are interested, you can directly cooperate with Skyfire Cinemas. We currently have over a hundred self-operated cinemas in first- and second-tier cities throughout Southeast Asia, mostly located in large shopping malls.
"We can allocate some space for Ba Wang so that audiences can get a scalp massage or something while they wait, and maybe even pick up some products when they leave." Wang Yao was inspired by Cheng Long and Yaolai Film City.

Yao Lai follows a model of 'celebrity IP + merchandise + movie', which relies too heavily on celebrities.

However, if you replace the 'celebrity IP' with the brand IP, the risk is greatly reduced, just like how most movie theaters have massage chairs in their waiting areas and Haidilao restaurants offer manicures outside their doors.

By combining cinemas with 'brand experience centers' and using the flow of moviegoers to drive consumption of service brands and related products, not only can the operating costs of cinemas be greatly reduced, but additional revenue commissions from related products can also be obtained.

Yaolai Cinema was the top-selling cinema in Beijing last quarter, simply because it offered Bentley test drive services to its members. This extra value-added service not only increased member loyalty but also enhanced the cinema's prestige.

Wang Yao believes that if BaWang is willing to collaborate on scalp care experiences, Tianhuo Cinemas will essentially become the best-serviced cinema chain brand in the country.

After all, being able to get a 10-30 minute scalp care experience at a low price or for free before watching a movie is a great deal that will definitely attract a large number of users to become members.

The service costs for this part are all covered by third-party partners like BaWang, who also receive a commission on the products sold.

Wan Yu was greatly intrigued after hearing this. As a woman, she knew all too well the revenue value of beauty salons, but the biggest cost in this industry was customer acquisition. Although the movie theater's customer base was not the high-net-worth group that beauty salons catered to, it was more in line with Ba Wang's product line.

A movie theater has a daily foot traffic of at least several thousand people. Even with a conversion rate of only one percent, it can still cover the hard costs such as personnel every day. Moreover, the advertising effect is absolutely direct. These offline users may actually be converted into scalp care customers in the future, which would amount to tens of thousands of treatment services.

"I'm very optimistic about this collaboration, Mr. Wang. Let me go back and refine it a bit, and then we can discuss it in more detail," Wan Yu said with a smile.

"Isn't this a huge leap for beauty salons?" Cheng Qiyuan frowned, as he wasn't particularly interested in this area.

“If Ba Wang is unwilling to vote, I can vote myself,” Wan Yu said calmly.

Cheng Qiyuan was taken aback. What did this mean?
(End of this chapter)