Not long ago, a media organization made a special topic: What will celebrities do after they lose their jobs?

Angelababy blurted out: "Go sell steamed buns."

(TFBOYS member) Wang Yuan is from Chongqing and likes hot pot the most. He said, "If I don't become an artist, I will open a hot pot restaurant." "When you open a hotpot restaurant, you can not only eat what you want, but also have a private room to enjoy when your friends come."

Wang Junkai’s answer was very pragmatic, saying that he wanted to open a clothing store and be the owner.

Mao Buyi said that he wanted to be a landlord, because a landlord does not have to work and sleep, and he has an income after sleeping.

Yue Yunpeng said that he wanted to be a Taobao store owner and sell special underwear.

......

Do you think these A-list celebrities are joking?

2019 data shows that nearly 2,000 film and television companies closed down in a year, and 65% of actors did not have any film or television dramas broadcast.

Dilraba Dilraba said on a variety show in August: "I haven't filmed for 8 months this year." Similarly, the idol of the previous generation, Huo Jianhua, also laughed at himself, "I have been unemployed for a long time." . When Ming Dao participated in "Actors Please Take Your Place", he revealed that he had not acted for more than half a year.

There are many reasons why first-line stars are losing their jobs: some are older and are replaced by newcomers; some have scandals that hurt their characters and affect the status of the protagonist; some are not from a professional background and have average acting skills; Because the salary expectations are too high, we wait and see; there are former child stars who are gradually being forgotten...

However, the most common saying this year is that "Internet celebrities beat celebrities." Is this the truth?

01. Celebrities are losing their “traffic dividend” and Internet celebrities are winning “category dividends”

Internet celebrities have accelerated their “starification”, and Li Jiaqi’s “carrying goods” traffic far exceeds that of the first-line Celebrities, Taobao anchor Wei Ya and "Douyin Singer" Liu Yuning are also active in popular variety shows.

On the contrary, stars in the "unemployment wave" are constantly looking for new ways out, such as actively entering the field of live streaming to bring goods, but their business energy is not as good as that of some TOP Internet celebrities.

Are celebrities really defeated by Internet celebrities? This is not the point. There is no need for you and me to follow the crowd, "I would rather be treated as a pig than to be in the spotlight."

I believe that celebrity artists are losing their "traffic dividend", while Internet celebrities and KOL (opinion leaders) are winning "Category Dividend".

What is "traffic dividend"? Traffic, that is, user time.

Official data shows that the number of Internet users in mainland China exceeds 1 billion, and the average daily online time is close to 6 hours (traffic peaks).

Movies, TV series, and celebrity gossip are no longer where users spend the most time. Nowadays, the average daily online time of domestic users is 6 hours, about 1.5-2 hours of social chatting, and 1 hour of browsing information. Short videos and Internet celebrity live broadcasts account for 1.5-2 hours, leaving only 1.5-2 hours for celebrities and artists. There is a little time left.

What is "category dividend"? Internet celebrities and KOLs in emerging categories are constantly being discovered and become new traffic centers.

In the past, KOLs were mainly popular Internet celebrities, many of whom were slender-faced, fair, and beautiful. They were good at improvisational performances and their speeches were particularly fun. In recent years, Internet celebrities have evolved from the original public Internet celebrities to food, maternal and infant, Beauty, sports and other subdivisions are expanding. For example, KOL marketing has become a mainstream method in beauty, maternal and infant and other industries; in the past year or two, such as Internet celebrity customer service, Internet celebrity shopping guide, Internet celebrity chef, Internet celebrity teacher, etc. When it became a highlight, the "career" of 360 Lines gradually became an Internet celebrity. Li Jiaqi once started as an Internet celebrity shopping guide and gradually became a public Internet celebrity.

The traffic dividend is passing, but the category dividend is still continuing. The content output of Internet celebrities and KOLs is becoming more and more informative and closer to commercial realization needs.

At present, there are millions of people in China who have become “professional Internet celebrities” and have become real beneficiaries of category dividends.

Relevant data shows that the number of online live broadcast users in China in 2019 is close to 500 million, and professional anchors over 20 years old earn more than 10,000 yuan a month.

Data from Kuaishou's e-commerce companies show that the transaction volume of Kuaishou anchors with more than 1 million fans increased nine times last year, while the transaction volume of Kuaishou anchors with more than 200,000 fans increased 34 times during the same period.

There is a famous saying in "Advertising": Where the public pays attention, that is the source of wealth.

KOLs at all levels are rapidly rising with the help of new economy and new media means, and continue to explore category dividends, and quickly and accurately empower the network traffic they stimulate to consumer brands. They form an inescapable part of modern business. center of attention.

Those Internet celebrities and KOL (opinion leaders) are more fun, more approachable and infectious, and are more adaptable to the social business changes of this era. They have gradually defeated traditional film and television stars and won "potential energy" The advantage on the Internet is like a black hole, sucking in all resources and becoming an overwhelming winner.

02. Celebrities are CPUs, Internet celebrities are special chips

The point is not who will win between celebrities and Internet celebrities, but where do new category dividends come from?

Suppose the cost of incubating Lin Chiling (a first-line star) is used to incubate Internet celebrities, what will be the effect?

Lin Chiling cannot always be noble and intellectual, but also needs to be down-to-earth and close to the people. A star must take into account the feelings of different fan groups, just like a general-purpose chip (CPU), which is powerful but expensive.

If this price is used to incubate Internet celebrities, KOLs at all levels can be cultivated for different subdivided fan groups, that is, to achieve large-area, multi-category coverage, which is equivalent to dismantling the functions of a CPU. It becomes multiple special-purpose chips, and each special-purpose chip (for each segmented fan group, covering this demand category) can play its own role - category bonus.

Traditional film and television stars may need talent scouts or auditions, and must be packaged and created by TV media.

Internet celebrity V is decentralized and does not require professional packaging. You can see them in street photos, interact with them in nightclub performances, and even buy clothes designed by Internet celebrities. It is a zero-distance contact with temperature.

Celebrities do not represent nobility, and Internet celebrities do not represent rurality.

Luxury brands that used to be noble and glamorous in European and American countries are increasingly inclined to seek endorsements from Internet celebrities and KOLs. The income of top-tier fashionistas in Europe and the United States has reached millions of dollars. If you have fans with high spending power, you can earn thousands to tens of thousands of dollars by uploading a photo of yourself wearing branded clothing on Instagram.

03. Celebrities should learn marketing from internet celebrities

Early attempts by celebrities to sell goods were when Han Han (literary star) and Xu Jinglei (film and television star) opened Taobao stores. As a result, the two It is well-known and has annual sales of less than 10,000 yuan.

Recently, some celebrity CEOs and investors also wanted to try their ability to bring goods, but as a result, sales were negligible.

From this point of view, those KOLs who bring goods must have their own uniqueness. So, what things can internet celebrities do that celebrities can’t?

(1) Internet celebrities win in appeal and marketing power

Celebrities are mainly engaged in exposure, personality and acting positioning. What they aim at is people’s imagination. location among them. In contrast, many live streaming influencers are very practical, aiming at e-commerce monetization and focusing on their appeal and marketing power.

For example, Li Jiaqi’s highest daily sales are 1 billion, but he does not rely on machine intelligence. Instead, he selects products from 12 noon to 5 pm every day, and broadcasts live from 7 pm to 1 am the next morning. Makeup removal, late-night snacks, summaries, reviews, reading various beauty information, going to bed at 4 a.m., those achievements are all achieved with sincerity and physical strength.

Online appeal can rely on faces, expressions, and actions, and offline marketing must also be done specifically.

Someone did a user survey and asked users why they chose the products sold by the lipstick male anchor instead of buying them directly on Tmall and JD.com?

The first answer is "Everyone around me is talking", the second answer is "Most people are watching", and the third answer is "Everyone around me is buying"... .This is the advantage of potential energy, which cannot be obtained by any amount of advertising.

(2) Celebrities are suitable for brand endorsements

Film and television stars endorse some brands, not mainly to drive sales, but to define the brand's tone. Internet celebrities are completely different. Many of them directly control goods and prices.

Price control:?

TOP influencers who bring goods can often bring the biggest discounts to users - because of the large quantity, they can get more discounts and benefits, the same one Branded products sold by others may not have the economies of scale and discounts.

Control goods:

In the 2019 Tmall "Double 11 Seller King Competition", Kuaishou's "number one anchor" Simba still leads the way , and behind it are four own companies. The towels, toothpaste, facial masks and even humidifiers sold on the live broadcast are all produced by themselves. The most powerful thing about women’s clothing internet celebrity Anna is that in order to solve the inherent problem of “slow delivery” of internet celebrity stores, she built her own factory with more than 400 people and cooperated with 6 factories at the same time. This provides a way to quickly replenish orders after pre-sales. Lots of support.

04. Internet celebrities should learn from celebrities to build their personalities

Today, the commercial operations of Internet celebrities and KOLs are beginning to approach the critical point of high costs. Incubating TOP Internet celebrities and creating Celebrities are almost as expensive.

Is content production becoming more and more expensive?

Now the cost of producing an excellent short video is no less than shooting an online movie. It is very difficult to win, not impossible, but your Investment is much higher than in the past.

Is fan service becoming more and more expensive?

A year or two ago, an Internet celebrity anchor’s impromptu performance could easily attract a lot of attention, but now it requires the efforts of a whole team. support.

However, I believe that the category dividends of the Internet celebrity economy are still continuing. The general trend of the world is to become more and more homogeneous, and yesterday's style may be today's standard. The point is, how to discover the characteristics of new Internet celebrities.

Why are fan users willing to pursue their favorite Internet celebrities and KOLs for a long time? There is only one reason - the characteristics of these Internet celebrities are more like themselves.

Chasing Internet celebrities means identifying with oneself. Internet celebrities and KOLs must be the taste spokespersons and ideological spokespersons of this group of fans.

I am reminded of a scene in "Wuthering Heights" where Catherine's fiancé was a perfect man - young, handsome, lively, rich and well-educated, but she chose a servant. Catherine confided to her nurse: "I love him not for anything else, but because he is more myself than I am. No matter what material our souls are made of, his and mine are the same material."

Understand, you are more like your fans than they are. This is a major prerequisite for exploring category dividends. So, how to discover new online celebrity categories? We must stick to our own values ??and learn from celebrities in our methods.

(1) Internet celebrities ultimately rely on values ??to win

In the era of social network 1.0, the "class filter" is valued.

MySpace, Facebook's main rival in the early days of its rise, far surpassed Facebook in terms of practicality and number of users. When Facebook was just an on-campus social networking tool, MySpace had already begun to expand overseas markets. However, for a long time, Facebook set a rule for new users: users must be Harvard students and register using a campus email address. Later, in the promotion process, they also prioritized Ivy League colleges. Note: Facebook was first an "elite filter" and then gradually became a "class filter" for the world.

In the era of social network 2.0, "value filters" are important.

Why are the new social network empires represented by Instagram, Snapchat, and Tik Tok rising rapidly? Why did Douyin and Kuaishou quickly launch counterattacks on Weibo and WeChat? It’s not that users like the new and hate the old.

TikTok, Toutiao, and Kuaishou all give priority to algorithms. Even if you have followed a big V, if you don’t click deliberately next time, you will not be able to see the content updates of this big V. Later users will It’s easier to get ahead with quality content.

As a kind of social currency, high-quality content acts as a "values ??filter".

In contrast, celebrity artists have little value as social assets. If you like Stephen Chow or Wang Baoqiang, it is almost impossible to tell who you are with. Do you have similar tastes and similar smells?

Celebrities can tell tricks because they face everyone; Internet celebrities must be themselves because they only face people who have similar tastes.

Exploring new internet celebrity categories is actually about conveying your own values. Kuaishou CEO Su Hua once said: "What is the Internet celebrity algorithm? It is to automate your values."

(2) How to learn from stars

The third method of incubating top stars One rule: if a star wants to reach the top, he must cultivate the temperament of a villain.

In reality, all living beings are used to being well-behaved, but there will always be irrepressible rebellion in their inner world. OK, this kind of rebellion needs to be expressed. Celebrities and Internet celebrities are the channels to express this kind of rebellion from fans.

Once, I heard this point of view from a knowledgeable person. Look at Gao Yuanyuan, she is perfect, there is almost no fault to be found. She is a benchmark goddess in the traditional sense, but it is difficult to be a super idol. Super idols such as Li Yuchun, Shu Qi, and Yao Chen were all villains when they debuted.

For example, in "Wulin Gaiden", Yao Chen appears as a crazy woman and a loser. Li Yuchun was born as a super girl. When she debuted, the entire Internet was trolling her, saying things like "Brother Xinchun didn't fail the exam", "Brother Chun is a pure man", etc. People gradually discovered that Li Yuchun really has a personality and is cool.

Look, which Internet celebrity V is serious? Even the science Internet celebrity teacher Li Yongle also labeled himself: "If you are ugly, you should study more." Gao Xiaosong is so popular, Ma Yun is also surprised, because He is a first-rate master of self-deception (villain temperament).

The second law of hatching top stars: Mix polar elements together to create a strong chemical reaction.

For example, Charlie's Angels mixes a particularly sexy element with a particularly combative element. This superposition can increase their overall charm many times.

For example, TFBOYS’s main fan base is unmarried women born in the 1980s. They are cute and good-looking, which inspires the maternal nature of female fans. They regard TFBOYS as their own children and will say “I What happened to my son?"

For example, Li Ziqi, a fast-rising "international" Internet celebrity, can be called fashionable. She straddles both Chinese and Western cultures. However, Li Ziqi has discovered a new content category of "good life in the countryside".

05. Summary

Today, cutting-edge technologies such as AI, blockchain, and 5G are gradually being promoted commercially. The next step must be around personal social assets and personal numbers. Assets belong to managers and consumption scenarios.

Continuing to discover new Internet celebrity "category dividends" actually responds to the need to build new business scenarios.

No matter how influential a celebrity artist is, they only present a certain temperament and a certain tone. In terms of commercial realization, they have only touched the skin of the market.

The Internet celebrity community directly explores and expands more actual needs of users, and touches the capillaries of the market in terms of commercial realization.

Thoreau said in "Walden": "Some people walk differently because they hear the drums in the distance."

Celebrities and Internet celebrities have become famous. Internet celebrities have become celebrities, and the boundaries between the two are gradually merging.

The current competitive pressure placed on celebrities by the rise of internet celebrities is mainly due to the fact that internet celebrities and KOLs have created more content categories and fan categories. In future category innovation, celebrities and Internet celebrities will inevitably integrate.