Analysis of iQiyi, Youku and Tencent’s competitive products: How are the three major video platforms positioned?

1. Market Analysis

1.1 Analysis of the pan-entertainment industry

As the income level of Chinese residents increases, the consumption capacity of citizens in cultural and entertainment continues to increase. At the same time, intelligent technology and communication infrastructure also promote the digital development of the cultural and entertainment industry. Users' content consumption habits are gradually formed, and the consumption potential of pan-entertainment content is gradually being released.

According to the iResearch Qianfan Report, my country's core pan-entertainment industry is expected to reach a scale of RMB 927.638 billion in 2020, with the growth rate remaining above 12%. However, due to the mismatch between the current development speed of the pan-entertainment industry's production and innovation capabilities, audiences are prone to aesthetic fatigue and the growth rate is slowing down year by year.

In the pan-entertainment market segment, the gaming, film, television and animation industries occupy the main market and are growing at a relatively fast rate. Among them, the film and television industry has a solid market foundation and has become the second largest market segment in the pan-entertainment industry, and its scale will grow rapidly in the future.

In terms of user scale, video and music have a low threshold for content acquisition and are more popular, so the user scale is larger. Although the gaming industry developed relatively late, its user base has already stabilized. As the source of the IP industry chain, text and comics play an important role.

As a strong traffic entrance, the leading comprehensive video platforms represented by iQiyi, Youku and Tencent Video have already built an ecological layout with film and television content as the core and derivative content as the auxiliary. In the pan-entertainment industry chain, on the one hand, video platforms operate by tapping into the IPs cultivated by reading/animation platforms to amplify the influence of the content; on the other hand, they monetize IPs through games, derivatives, e-commerce, etc., becoming ecological manufacturers. In terms of ecological layout, video platforms have connected multiple pan-entertainment fields including video, live broadcast, short video, and offline home entertainment hardware market, and built market competition barriers through an ecological strategic layout. In the future, competition in the online video market will be a competition between content-based ecosystems, with high-quality content as the underlying foundation, centered around user life scenarios, and meeting users' diverse entertainment needs.

1.2 Online Video Market Analysis

Since 2017, in order to eliminate the negative externalities brought about by competition in the video market, government departments in charge have frequently taken action to regulate video content from aspects such as video content value orientation and practitioners. A stronger regulatory mechanism has promoted the soundness and smooth development of the market operation mechanism.

In terms of investment in online videos, the proportion of mid- and late-stage financing cases in Round B and beyond has increased, and investment institutions have a stronger tendency to invest in cases with more mature business models and development. Online video resources are gradually concentrated, and the squeezing effect of leading platforms on small and medium-sized manufacturers is becoming increasingly obvious.

In terms of technology, various technologies such as 5G networks, algorithm distribution, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence are combined in the video field to drive innovation and commercial changes, creating more possibilities for users' entertainment experience. As the interaction between videos and users becomes more intelligent, users' entertainment lifestyle will be revolutionized.

At present, major online video platforms are building their platform’s ecological layout from upstream content production and purchase, IP ecological layout to downstream monetization channels. In terms of content base, monetization channels, user assets, technical support and ecological layout, iQiyi, Tencent Video and Youku are in a leading position. Based on technology and products, iQiyi, Youku and Tencent Video have built a pan-entertainment ecosystem with IP content as the core, connecting film and television, animation, literature and games.

2. iQIYI, Youku and Tencent Video Competitiveness Analysis and User Analysis

2.1 Competitiveness Analysis

In terms of user scale, it can be seen that iQiyi has 550 million active users and a relative active user penetration rate of 63.05%, ranking first. Tencent Video follows closely with 460 million active users and a penetration rate of 52.72%, while Youku is temporarily lagging behind. However, the penetration rates of the three have all reached over 45%, making them highly competitive.

In terms of average user behavior data, Tencent Video ranked first in terms of average launch times and average usage time, with 77.22 times and 19.01 hours respectively. It can be seen that user stickiness and activity have reached a high level.

In terms of user overlap, the user overlap rate of the three reached 17.11%. Among them, Tencent Video and iQiyi had the highest overlap rate, reaching 38.83%. The overlap between Youku, iQiyi and Tencent Video was relatively low. Among them, iQiyi has the highest number of exclusive users, reaching 180 million. Tencent Video and Youku each have 120 million.

It can be seen that the user resources of iQiyi, Youku and Tencent Video have all reached more than 400 million. Among them, iQiyi has the largest number of active users, and Tencent Video has the best per capita user data monetization. In terms of competitiveness, iQiyi is in the lead, followed by Tencent Video, and Youku is slightly behind.

2.2 User Analysis

In terms of user gender ratio, the male-to-female ratio of Tencent Video and Youku is close to 1:1, while the proportion of female users of iQiyi reaches 68.67%.

In terms of user age distribution, the main user group is between 24 and 35 years old. Among them, the proportion of Youku users aged 36 and above is about 4% higher than that of the other two platforms.

In terms of geographical distribution of users, the three are relatively similar, mainly distributed in first- and second-tier cities, with users in second-tier cities and above accounting for about 67%. In terms of consumption level, upper-middle, middle and lower-middle consumers account for a high proportion, reaching 85%.

It can be seen that except for iQiyi, which has a higher proportion of female users, the users of the other three do not differ much in terms of region and income. They are mostly concentrated in first- and second-tier cities and with middle incomes, and the ratio of men to women is relatively balanced. Since the consumption threshold of video content is low, the audience is large, and the diverse video themes and types meet the needs of different users, the three video companies have a wide user coverage.

3. Content layout analysis

Content is the foundation for the survival of video platforms, and the three major video platforms are all laying out their content matrices. in:

IQIYI positions itself as a "new idea of ​​light luxury". On the one hand, it cooperates with "Kung Fu Pictures" and "Xiaotangren". On the other hand, it relies on its internal iQIYI Literature, iQIYI Comics, and light novels to jointly promote content production and create a film and television ecological layout. By deeply tapping into big IP resources, we have expanded into areas such as TV series, movies, online movies, short videos, and animation. At the same time, it produces its own popular variety shows, such as "The Rap of China", and relies on top content to attract paying members.

Tencent Video is backed by IP content from China Literature Group, Tencent Animation and others. By incubating native IP, a closed loop of content production, broadcasting, and reaching users is achieved. In terms of copyright purchase, we will strengthen cooperation with companies such as Noon Sunshine, New Classics Media, and Tangren Film and Television, and cooperate with HBO to purchase high-quality copyrights. In terms of self-produced variety shows, we have focused on the idol industry chain and produced talent show variety shows such as "Creation 101" and "The Next Boy/Girl Group", as well as sustainable hit variety shows such as "Please Take Care of My Refrigerator" and "Tucao Conference". Attract users through multi-dimensional efforts such as "layout of top-selling products + vertical competitive products + short video ecology".

Based on Alibaba's big entertainment system, Youku has not only inherited the ecological resources of Alibaba Pictures in content production and distribution, but also continuously deepened its cooperation with international content suppliers such as Disney and NBC Universal, enhanced the competitiveness of its own content reserves, and created a "big entertainment" ecological system. In terms of content, we launched a 3+V drama strategy and a 6+V variety show matrix; in terms of scheduling, we made the scheduling more flexible in line with the rhythm of brand delivery.

In 2018, the number of membership dramas on various platforms reached 318. Among them, iQiyi ranked first with 36%. The 2018 hit drama "Story of Yanxi Palace" effectively drove the growth of iQiyi's membership, proving that popular content can effectively drive user growth.

After nearly three years of policy regulation and market reshuffle, the number of online movies launched on the website was reduced to 1,279 in 2018. Among them, iQiyi accounts for 63% of the market and is the most important distribution platform for online movies, providing opportunities for more high-quality online content.

In terms of the ecological layout of children's content, major platforms currently use children's content as the entry point and expand into multiple business formats such as children's picture books, licensed derivatives, and offline theme parks to leverage the huge business opportunities in the children's market. Among them, the number of paid works of iQiyi Qibabu accounted for 44%, ranking first.

In the field of animation, iQiyi mainly focuses on Japanese animation, while Tencent Video relies on IP layout to focus on Chinese animation production. Through the pan-dimensional user group, multiple links in the film and television industry chain have strong appeal, and the original IP is increased in value through content payment and multiple monetization methods. For example, "Four Seas Whale Riders" has obtained multiple development projects including animation, web series, games, theatrical movies and derivative products.

From the perspective of content layout, iQiyi, Youku and Tencent Video’s content layout covers film and television variety shows, short and medium videos, games, live broadcasts and reading. Taking Tencent Video as an example, it not only relies on self-produced and purchased film, television and variety content to attract users, but also has content in the form of short videos, games, live broadcasts and reading, and its content ecosystem is complete.

4. VIP System Analysis

In terms of business model, major video platforms all use "free content + commercial advertising" as their main profit model. As my country's copyright protection environment and user payment habits are still immature, my country's online video services have not yet met the conditions for full payment, but the scale of users with the willingness and ability to pay is still growing. Major video platforms continue to invest resources in procurement and develop a user-pays business model. In the future, the revenue growth and proportion of user payments contributed to the industry will further expand, and the gap with other sources of income will continue to widen.

4.1 Membership Types and Benefits

4.1.1 Tencent Video

Tencent Video’s members are divided into ordinary VIP and super movie VIP. Super movie VIP is a VIP set up for Internet TV users. VIP privileges include content privileges, audio-visual privileges, download privileges, live broadcast privileges, interactive privileges, identity privileges and entertainment privileges. Not only that, Tencent Video VIPs can apply for VIP status on other platforms at a discount, including NetEase Kaola, Vipshop, etc. in the e-commerce sector, Tencent Sports, Himalaya, etc. in the audio-visual sector, and QQ Super Membership and Qunar in the lifestyle sector. At the same time, members can exchange benefits in the member welfare club, including mall benefits, food benefits, etc.

4.1.2 iQiyi

iQiyi’s membership types include ordinary members, animation-related FUN members, and sports members. Among them, ordinary members are divided into gold VIP, student VIP and diamond VIP. Among them, student VIP is for students under 22 years old. The price is lower, but there are no benefits such as Blu-ray 1080P and co-branded card discounts. Diamond VIP is for Internet TV users and enjoys the privilege of large-screen TV. The privileges of iQiyi ordinary members include content privileges, movie-watching privileges, identity privileges and life privileges. At the same time, they can purchase co-branded memberships of Sina Weibo, JD.com, etc., or apply for co-branded credit cards of Hua Xia, Pudong Development Bank, etc. In the membership club, you can enjoy benefits such as food, offline services, travel, etc.

FUN membership is for iQiyi's animation content, and its rights and interests include content privileges, movie-watching privileges and identity privileges.

Sports membership is targeted at iQiyi’s sports channels, including content privileges, function privileges and welfare privileges. Among them, content privileges include live broadcasts of the English Championship, English League One and other competitions, and welfare privileges include face-to-face meetings with stars and other activities.

4.1.3 Youku

Youku’s membership includes film and television membership and sports membership. The benefits of film and television membership include content privileges, movie viewing privileges, identity privileges and welfare privileges. At the same time, members can enjoy the entertainment benefits and Taobao benefits of the membership welfare club. The entertainment benefits include Xiami, Taopiaopiao, Damai and Shuqi from Alibaba's large entertainment ecosystem, and the Taobao benefits include coupons from Tmall Supermarket, Koubei Hema, and other stores.

Sports membership is for Youku’s sports content, including exclusive competitions, commentary by famous commentators and many other privileges.

4.1.4 Summary

In terms of membership settings, Tencent members do not have memberships for other content. Members can enjoy content privileges for content channels such as film and television, animation, and sports. iQiyi has set up ordinary members, FUN members of the animation channel and sports members. Among the ordinary members, there is also a student VIP for college students under the age of 22. Youku has set up ordinary membership and sports membership.

In terms of membership rights, Tencent Video has the most abundant membership rights. In terms of star chasing, it has added doki live broadcast privileges and doki chart heartbeat gift packages. At the same time, members can also enjoy special barrage and the little penguin privileges of the children's channel. iQiyi’s membership is the second most extensive, but it also has parent-child privileges that allow it to filter out adult films.

In terms of rights and interests cooperation, Tencent Video members can apply for memberships of NetEase Kaola, Tencent Sports, QQ Super Membership, etc. at preferential prices, covering the widest range of types. iQiyi also cooperates with Sina Weibo, Baidu Tieba and others to launch co-branded memberships, and with Hua Xia Bank, Pudong Development Bank and others to launch co-branded credit cards. However, Youku does not have corresponding privileges on “VIP+”.

In terms of membership benefits, Tencent Video and iQiyi both offer benefits on life, travel, food, etc. Youku relies on Alibaba's big entertainment, Taobao, word-of-mouth and other resources to launch entertainment benefits and Taobao benefits.

4.2 Member/User Growth System

4.2.1 Tencent Video

Tencent Video’s membership growth system includes a level and points system. Among the membership levels, users can unlock different levels by obtaining V-power, and higher levels have more privileges. In the points system, users can obtain points by completing corresponding tasks, and can redeem points for benefits. The difference between the two is that the V-force value in the level system cannot be consumed, but the points can be consumed. After a user's VIP expires, he or she will no longer be able to enjoy the corresponding level privileges or redeem goods with points.

The growth system has 7 levels, from V1 Bronze Member to V7 King Member. Users can obtain V-power by signing in daily, activating VIP, purchasing paid movies/novels, etc. Obtaining the corresponding V-power can unlock the membership of the corresponding level. Members of different levels can enjoy different benefits, including movie/free film/novel/comic coupons, gift packages, some identity privileges, etc. At the same time, relying on the acquaintance relationship chain of QQ and WeChat, Tencent Video introduced a V-power ranking list, including the friend V-power ranking list and the world V-power ranking list, which motivates users to participate in activities to obtain V-power through the psychology of competition.

"Level V World" is a flying game in which users can fly to different places and see a larger "horizon". Users need to exchange V-force for energy to continue flying.

In the points system, users can earn points by opening a VIP membership, purchasing paid movies/novels, etc., and use the points mall to redeem merchandise vouchers.

4.2.2 iQiyi

Unlike Tencent Video, iQiyi’s membership growth system only has membership levels, and all users can participate in the points system. There are seven membership levels, from V1 to V7. Users can unlock corresponding levels when they gain a certain amount of growth value. Users can obtain it by watching videos, giving away videos, etc. Higher-level users can enjoy higher-level upgrade benefits and monthly benefits, including VIP days, on-demand coupons, VIP lounges, customer service, etc.

All users can participate in iQiyi’s points. Users can earn points by sharing movie reviews or downloading iQiyi-related apps, and can use the points to shop in the points mall, participate in lotteries, vote in topic forums, etc.

At the same time, iQiyi also has "Wonderful Paradise" - a small game about planting flowers. Users can obtain fertilizer or acceleration pages and gain points by downloading iQiyi Landlord and inviting friends.

4.2.3 Youku

Youku’s membership system and points system are similar to those of iQiyi. The points system is independent of the membership system and all users can participate. There are seven levels in the membership system, V1-V7. Users can unlock the corresponding levels by obtaining corresponding growth points. Users can obtain growth value by purchasing annual fees or continuous monthly subscriptions. Different levels of privileges include different movie tickets and Youku VIP days given on birthdays.

In the points system, users can earn points by completing daily tasks such as signing in, watching videos, posting comments, and completing novice tasks such as changing nicknames and binding Taobao accounts. At the same time, you can use your points to redeem corresponding coupons or items on platforms such as Koubei and Damai.com.

At the same time, users can obtain nutrient solution and receive gold coins in the "Orchard Wars" game by signing in daily, watching videos, and opening memberships. In Orchard Battle, users can steal red envelopes from each other, making the game more interactive.

4.2.4 Summary

The membership growth mechanisms of the three are relatively comprehensive, including membership system and points system. Among them, Tencent Video’s membership system and points system are both for VIP users, while iQiyi and Youku’s points systems are open to all users.

1. In terms of membership upgrade system, Youku has the simplest one, where growth value is obtained by purchasing annual cards and continuous monthly subscriptions. In the Tencent Video system, in addition to purchasing VIP, you can also obtain it by purchasing movies/novels and VIP+ co-branded cards. IQIYI's main membership growth tasks are concentrated on daily tasks such as watching videos, browsing member clubs, sending videos to friends, and enjoying membership benefits.

• Judging from the users’ motivations for purchasing memberships, most users purchase memberships because the platform has content they want to watch. However, since the content that users pay attention to, such as TV series and variety shows, is not continuous, users may not renew their memberships when the content they want to watch has ended. Therefore, in addition to designing membership levels to improve user stickiness, it is also very important to enhance users' awareness of membership rights. In this regard, iQiyi has browsing member clubs, watching member-exclusive programs, etc. to enhance users' perception of membership rights. However, the growth tasks in this regard are not comprehensive enough. We can add member growth tasks such as posting member-exclusive barrages, participating in celebrity rankings (members have more energy points), purchasing VIP+ membership, and purchasing paid novels/films (members can enjoy discounts for purchases, and at the same time, we should increase reminders that it is more cost-effective for users to use membership for purchases).
• From the perspective of user recommendation, you can set up methods such as "It will be more cost-effective for friends to open membership, and you can also gain growth value" to encourage users to invite friends to open iQiyi membership. At the same time, you can set up family VIP packages, couple VIP packages, etc., allowing users to encourage people around them to purchase VIP.

1. In terms of membership level benefits, Youku has the simplest offering, with only movie tickets and VIP days given on birthdays, which is not enough of an incentive for users. Tencent Video's membership level benefits are the most comprehensive, including movie/novel/comic coupons, birthday gift packages, and other benefits. It also introduces WeChat/QQ acquaintance relationship chains and rankings, which can motivate users to complete tasks to obtain V-power and unlock higher levels to a certain extent.

2. In the consumption of the points system, all three use cash back on shopping in the mall and cooperate with the services of other platforms to redeem points.

3. In terms of obtaining points in the points system,

• Tencent Video mainly encourages users to open memberships or purchase paid products by opening memberships, purchasing paid films/novels, and opening VIP+ memberships.
• iQiyi mainly obtains points by sharing film reviews and downloading other iQiyi apps, aiming to use points to stimulate platform content construction and divert traffic to other iQiyi apps.
• Youku mainly obtains users' usage time and stickiness through daily behaviors such as watching videos, posting comments, and newbie behaviors such as changing nicknames and avatars.

It can be seen from the way the three companies obtain points that their strategies are different. iQiyi hopes to do a good job in content construction and other iQiyi apps, Tencent Video hopes to guide user consumption, and Youku hopes to increase user stickiness and usage time.

4.3 Membership Prices

Each major membership system has monthly, annual and quarterly cards, and users are encouraged to extend their membership by enjoying more discounts through continuous membership. In terms of amount setting, the prices of the three companies are not much different.

4.4 Summary

According to a report by iResearch Consulting, the top three VIP membership privileges that my country's online video VIP members value most are watching VIP-exclusive movies and TV shows, removing or skipping ads, and watching some popular movie and TV content in advance. Member identity identification, privileged activities, etc. account for a relatively low proportion. It can be seen that the biggest driving force for users to apply for membership is the platform’s content and ad-free nature. Therefore, planning the platform’s content well and continuously producing popular content have become the main driving force for attracting members. In 2018, Tencent Video's phenomenal variety show "Produce 101" attracted a large number of membership applications through voting, proving the power of mass star-making to attract members.

The members' problems can be summed up into two main issues:

(1) How to attract users to apply for membership;

(2) How to attract users to continue to apply for membership.

It can be divided into the following aspects:

1. Content layout, production of hot products, and optimization of member-exclusive content and member-first-view system, to attract users to apply for membership through content. At the same time, it is also necessary to provide movie trailers to inform users which works will be available after a period of time. If they renew their membership, they can continue to watch this content, which encourages users to continue their membership.

2. Optimize the membership growth system, and encourage users to continue renewing their memberships through membership growth and corresponding benefits so that they can continue to enjoy the upgraded level privileges. Backed by the acquaintance relationship chain of WeChat and QQ, Tencent Video can also motivate users through friend rankings.

3. Cooperate with Bubble/Doki/Planet, rely on online and offline interactions between star fans, and help stars to rush to the top of the charts to attract fan groups.

4. The friend recommendation mechanism includes discounts for both parties when recommending friends to apply for membership, and "Family VIP Package" and "Couple VIP Package" to encourage users to apply together with friends.

5. Enhance users' awareness of other membership privileges and reduce the importance of platform content layout to membership management. You can offer membership experience and encourage users to sign up by offering discounts after the experience. At the same time, users can also gain points or upgrade their levels through membership benefits to increase their perception of other privileges.

6. Cover more scenarios. Current video websites mainly focus on content consumption and have fewer gameplay options. Therefore, more scenarios can be created to improve the gameplay of the platform. Currently, all major platforms are planning children's content, including iQiyi's Bibabu and Tencent Video's Little Penguin Park, which can offer "parent-child reading" and "parent-child video learning" to attract membership in parent-child scenarios.

5. Interactive community - doki/paopao

5.1 Functional Positioning and User Needs Analysis

Tencent Video's Doki and iQiyi's Bubble are star fan communities based on video platforms, bringing together star resources, drama discussions and general interest discussions. As a fan celebrity community based on a video platform, doki/Paopao can, on the one hand, rely on film and television content to attract users and form a good fan community through the fan effect of celebrities; on the other hand, it also bears the responsibility of improving user retention and activity, enriching the platform's business model, and enhancing the platform's differentiated competitiveness. At present, iQiyi’s Bubble has become an independent “Bubble” APP, but Tencent Video’s Doki has not taken corresponding action yet.

On the one hand, fan celebrity communities need to meet the fans’ needs for chasing stars, and on the other hand, they can also serve as a platform for celebrities to interact with fans, expand the celebrities’ own influence, and promote their works. The needs of both parties can be summarized as follows:

1. Fans' needs:

• Learn about your idol’s film and television works and updates. Get idol-related peripherals, posters, wallpapers, avatars, emoticons, etc.
• Interact with your idols online and offline.
• Expand the influence of your idol through your own efforts, and at the same time expand your own influence among the idol's fan circle.
• Meet fans with the same interests as you, communicate with other fans, and chase stars together.

1. Star demand

• Promote yourself and your work to expand your influence.
• Interact with fans to consolidate and expand your fan base.
• Participate in platform activities and obtain economic and other benefits.

(Since the gameplay of Youku's Planet is similar to that of Bubble and Doki, this chapter only discusses Tencent Video's Doki and iQiyi's Bubble.)

5.2 Functional Architecture

There are independent tab pages on both the Paopao and Doki platforms. Not only that, Bubble has also become an independent APP. This article only discusses Bubble in iQiyi. doki and poppao created doki and circles respectively as platforms for users who like the same stars or content to communicate.

5.2.1 doki

The functional architecture diagram of doki is as follows:

In terms of doki types, doki includes celebrity doki and film and television variety shows. Star Doki is a platform that connects fans and stars. Fans can vote for their favorite idols, publish content, and find colleagues here; stars can also interact with their favorite fans here. Film and TV variety shows are platforms for users to discuss film and TV variety content. Film and TV variety shows can also rely on this platform to interact with fans and accumulate popularity.

In terms of traffic to other pages, doki only has doki of the participating stars below the video page. At the same time, on the doki category column of the doki page, only the star doki recommended for you, the most influential, the most popular, the best newcomer and the star doki with rising artistic talents are displayed, and not all stars are displayed. Not only that, there is no corresponding entrance for film and television variety show doki, and users can only search for film and television variety show doki pages that have not been added.

In terms of page layout, the doki page includes the square and the doki that users have joined. doki's square displays videos in the form of a double-column waterfall. The doki page that the user has joined displays the content corresponding to the doki, and the user can enter by swiping right. As shown in the following figure:

The video content on the square page includes celebrity airport/film set footage, stage videos, and film and television drama video clips, interspersed with celebrity reviews and fan circle productions. Users can click below to post text, images, and video content. The length of the videos ranges from a dozen seconds to one minute. The square page displays the video header image and the author, and users can like the video on the square page. Click to enter the video page to watch the full video, comment and like it, and scroll down to view similar videos. The double columns in the square and the video header image are used to display high-quality content to users as much as possible, attract users to watch content, and focus more on content consumption. This is mainly because doki currently focuses on celebrities and film and television variety shows, so the content is mostly celebrity-related videos, so it is displayed in the form of double-column cards to attract users.

Comments and suggestions:

Currently, doki is still positioned as an interactive community for film, television, variety shows and celebrity fans. Tencent Video did not provide much exposure to doki, especially film, television and variety show doki. Therefore, the following recommendations are made:

1. Improve the exposure of doki on other pages. You can display the corresponding doki and the high-quality content corresponding to doki at the bottom of the film and television video page

2. Improve users’ perception of idols’ influence. Currently, the platform’s star influence list entrance is too deep (you need to click on the ranking on the star’s doki page to view it), and users are not sufficiently aware of the influence of their idols, making it difficult to motivate users to participate in support activities for their favorite stars. Therefore, it is recommended to add a banner page to the square page to play promotional photos of influential stars; use splash screen ads to play photos of influential stars to increase exposure; at the same time, you can also invite influential stars to hold offline/online fan meetings to let users feel that voting for their favorite stars every day can really make their idols seen by more people.

3. Improve user participation enthusiasm. It is recommended to add topics with high participation in the video content of the square page, such as "video lip syncing", "role-playing", "acting with idols remotely", etc., and at the same time place the release materials of this type of topic on the release page to increase users' enthusiasm for participating in content production.

5.2.2 Bubbles

The Bubble functional architecture diagram is as follows:

In terms of circle types, Bubble's circles not only include celebrities and film and television variety shows, but also expand to fashion, interests, entertainment, music and other fields, such as "What the hell is this", "Daily life of chasing stars", "People on the street really know how to dress", etc., becoming a comprehensive community with broad content.

On the bubble entrance of other pages, iQiyi inserted the Bubble UP list on the homepage and set up an independent bubble bar on the video page, where users can view the bubble corresponding to the video. As shown below:

In terms of page layout, the first-level pages of Paopao include highlights and idols. The highlights page is a comprehensive content page, including interesting content released by various circles. The idol page aggregates content and activities corresponding to the fan circle. These include celebrity content-related content such as "Stars Are Coming", "Popular Live Broadcast" and "Celebrity Meet-and-Greet", Pop's celebrity ranking list - Pop UP list, topic list and user participation in the form of "I Shoot", as well as Pop content and support, in various forms.

At the top of the highlights page are the circles the user has joined and the discovery circles. Below is a dynamic information flow in the form of text + pictures. Below the dynamic is the circle to which the dynamic belongs. Users can click to view comments and comment and like the dynamic. With the addition of idol pages, Kandian is positioned as a comprehensive content community, including celebrities, film and television variety shows, entertainment, interests and other aspects, with a wide range of content types. Therefore, the richness of the displayed content is more important, and the interaction between users is also the key to the healthy development of the community. The picture + text supplement format is more suitable.

The idol page aggregates content related to star chasing. Includes the following:

1. Bubble UP List: The Bubble UP List is an idol influence ranking list of the iQiyi Bubble Star fan circle, and is ranked based on the fans' votes. Stars who rank high can appear on the spotlight of the Bubble Discovery page. At the same time, the idols represented by the top three fan users in terms of monthly influence contribution will be promoted on the discovery page as a focus picture. The UP list of Bubble includes the influence list, Japanese and Korean version, new list and rising list, which includes both the most influential list and the list with the fastest growing influence. The Bubble UP List not only encourages users to rush for their favorite stars by having the stars with high celebrity influence rankings appear on the focus picture of the Bubble Discovery Page, but also by having the idols of the top three users in the monthly influence contribution ranking appear on the focus picture of the Discovery Page, which is a method with greater user control.

2. Celebrity content: Celebrity content includes celebrity arrivals, bubble live broadcasts and celebrity meet-and-greets. Among them, the celebrity arrivals include airdrops, interviews and phone calls. Airdropping means that stars enter their own bubble circle to interact with fans. The specific form is that fans post content and stars flip the cards to reply. Callers can record videos in the form of "one-on-one conversations with fans" for celebrities. Bubble Live is an online live broadcast of celebrities, and celebrity fan meetings are offline fan meetings held by Bubble, and fans can sign up to participate. It can be seen that Bubble’s celebrity content is relatively rich, including online and offline celebrity-fan interactions.

3. UGC incentives: Join me on the topic list. The topic list is placed in a prominent position on the idol page, and users can enter and post content. Wopai shoots storyboard performances and other types of videos for users based on the platform's materials. It is quite interesting and displays recommended, popular and latest items.

4. Bubble Content: Bubble Content refers to the content produced by Bubble, including Little Bubble Selections, Bubble Activities and Bubble Monthly.

5. Support: Support means fans spend money to support their idol. Users can participate in the support by spending 1 yuan at a time. When the number of supporters reaches 666, the bubble screen can be unlocked, and when the number of supporters reaches 3,000, the offline advertising screen can be unlocked. There are also activities such as new song rankings, and users can spend corresponding amounts of money to help their idols get ranked. The support function has set up a task completion sharing list, which lists the top three fans who have contributed the most support and their corresponding contribution amounts.

Comments and suggestions:

Currently, the Paopao Community is already in a mature stage, positioned as a comprehensive content community with a combination of highlights and idols and a variety of gameplay. However, as a comprehensive community, it started late and still has a certain gap compared with Weibo. The following suggestions are made:

1. Add content categories to the highlights page, including follow, recommend and popular.

2. Increase the gameplay of the content. Currently, Paopao categorizes content in the form of circles, but there are not many operational activities for the corresponding content. Therefore, you can add the following popular topics to guide user participation, such as "Tell me about the embarrassing things I have done", "My daily star-chasing life", etc.

5.2.3 Summary

It can be seen that doki focuses on star chasing and film and television variety show content, while Paopao has expanded its content scope to the general content field, becoming a comprehensive community based on celebrity content and has already launched an independent APP. The square page of doki mainly features celebrity content; while the bubble page is in the form of highlights + idols, which includes both comprehensive content and a series of content and activities around chasing stars, with more diverse forms and gameplay.

On the doki/circle page, doki puts the doki that the user has joined into the first-level page, and the user can enter by swiping right. However, iQiyi’s circles are only located at the top of the viewing page. Users need to click to enter, and the entrance is relatively deep. This is also related to the positioning of doki and circles. Doki only includes celebrities and film and television variety shows. Users will not join too many doki at one time. Therefore, as a first-level page, it will not cause too much interference to users. At the same time, it is also convenient for users to enter celebrity doki to vote for their idols. However, iQiyi has a wider range of circle types. When there are many interest circles joined, it can be used as a secondary page to reduce the information burden of users.

5.3 Doki VS. Circle

5.3.1 doki

The types of doki include celebrities and film and television variety shows. The gameplay is as shown below:

1. Doki Content

In the star doki, the content of the doki shown below includes the following parts:

• Fan Club: Star-related content posted by users. You can switch between sorting by latest comments, sorting by recommendations, sorting by latest and featured content.
• Stars Say is a real-time collection of content posted by stars on Sina Weibo by doki.
• The video is related to the star.
• The works of the star are displayed in the portfolio, including personal introduction, representative works, movies, TV series, variety shows, etc.
• The welfare club has emoticons, celebrity outfits, selected wallpapers and other content related to the star. Fans can claim benefits and upload wallpapers and emoticons.
• The event page is the event organized by doki for the star.

The cover part of the page displays the star's ranking and number of fans. Users can click on "Popularity Ranking" to view celebrity lists, including the most popular list, best newcomer list, etc. Click on the fan to view the group contribution list and group member management. Users can click to make a ranking and sign in. Users need to consume heartbeat value by placing a ranking for celebrities. Heartbeat value can be obtained by checking in, browsing content, likes and commenting on posts, and posting.

In the film and television doki, the content displayed includes videos, celebrity talks and fan clubs, and users can also view the main film and sign in.

Evaluation and suggestions:

Doki's current content is relatively rich, including content posted by fans and related content related to celebrities. But there are the following suggestions.

1. Celebrity Doki content includes 6 tab navigation, which is relatively complex and can easily cause users to lose focus on the content and lead to information overload. At the same time, doki currently holds fewer celebrity activities, but the event tab column has no corresponding content but an independent tab. Therefore, it is recommended to simplify it.

2. The page only has the "Choose" and "Check-in" buttons, but there are no more reminders to inform users that they need to obtain fan values ​​to make the rankings. At the same time, the user's current level is not clearly displayed, so users cannot be motivated to complete fan tasks. Therefore, it is recommended to add a floating window to the right side of the page to inform users of the tasks they need to complete. At the same time, the user's current level is displayed in the cover position.

2. Doki Management

Doki management is divided into the group contribution list and group member management. Among them, the group contribution list includes the Contribution Pioneer List, the Group Contribution List and the Bole List. Users can improve their ranking by raising idols, posting high-quality posts, interacting, and cleaning up water posts. The members of the group include the leader, administrator, Creator Bull and Guardian Star. The group leader needs to manage doki, and he needs to be responsible for the activity level of doki, the number of celebrities followers, the number of posts and the quality of posts. He needs his fan level to reach LV7 or above before applying. The administrator is the daily operation officer of doki. He is set up by the group leader and needs to be responsible for the management of doki. He needs to reach the LV5 level before applying. Creation Daniu is a high-quality content creator of the doki group. It is managed by the group leader and administrator. The fan level reaches LV3. If you publish no less than 5 high-quality posts, you can apply to the administrator. Guardian Star requires users to sign in for 7 consecutive days.

In terms of fan level, users can unlock the corresponding level by checking in, browsing content, like and commenting on posts, and posting. The fan level includes LV1-LV12. Users of different levels can have different levels of privileges, including obtaining heartbeat values, obtaining novels, comics and VIP coupons, prioritizing top-up scores, applying for administrators and idol meetings, etc.

The difference between film and television doki and celebrity doki is that there is no group contribution list in doki management.

Evaluation and suggestions:

In doki management, doki set up a group contribution list to encourage users to publish content, interact, and play rankings, and at the same time set up group members to manage dokis with the group leader and administrator system. In terms of fan motivation, a fan level is set and motivation is given. But there are the following suggestions: The film and television variety doki still has fan levels, but because the film and television variety general play time is limited and the user accumulation of fan levels cannot improve the influence of the film and television variety, the fan level is a bit useless. It is recommended to make film and television a pure content exchange community.

3. Users publish content and interactions within doki

Within doki, users can post posts, including text, pictures and videos, or participate in interactions through likes and comments. You can also sign in and list the stars for your favorite stars. Users need to consume heartbeat value when making a list for celebrities, which can be obtained by checking in, browsing content, likes and commenting on posts, and posting posts.

Evaluation and suggestions:

To motivate users to publish content and interact, doki sets fan levels and earns heartbeat values ​​to play the rankings. However, since celebrity doki has a small range of content published, it is recommended that the fan club add popular topics at the top of the tab column, mainly focusing on topics with strong interactiveness, such as "I co-produced videos with idols".

5.3.2 Bubble

Bubble's circle covers a wide range of types, including celebrities, film and television variety shows, animation, games, fashion, interests, etc. The specific gameplay is as follows:

1. Circle content

The content of the celebrity circle includes dynamics, celebrity dynamics, celebrity coming, videos and understanding. The dynamic page is the content about the star published by the user, and is classified according to recommendations, latest and most important points. Administrators can fine-tune and top a certain dynamic. The celebrity news collected from celebrity news on Weibo and ins. Celebrity news includes top topics - "My opponents of stars", users can shoot, as well as celebrity interviews, Bubble online/offline activities, etc. Understand the contents of TA including introductions, beautiful pictures, TV series, variety shows, formation, confession walls, etc.

In this page, the number of fans and content in the circle, the influence ranking of the star, and the user's fan rating are also displayed. At the same time, users can give the star a cheer stick to improve the star's ranking, or sign in to "protect" the star. The daily task is displayed on the right. Users can click in to complete it to play the rankings for celebrities and improve their fan levels.

In other circles, the film and television variety circles display dynamics and related aspects, and the relevant pages include relevant stars, recommended videos, related trailers, etc. Other circles show recommendations and latest.

In the celebrity circle, a distinctive point is that when entering the unfollowed star doki page, the pop-up window "The star invites you to have a video conversation" at the top of the page. Click to enter the video recorded by the star, creating an atmosphere where the star talks face to face with him.

Evaluation and suggestions:

Since the current bubbles have many types of circles, the focus of each type of circle display is different in terms of content display. The celebrity circle mainly includes celebrity-related content, user rankings and celebrity influence. The content of the film and television variety circle is mainly about the film and television variety peripheral content and related celebrity and video content. The content of other circles is mainly about the topic, divided into recommendations and latest for display. The content displayed is related to the type and form of the specific circle.

2. Circle Management

Bubble's circle management includes circle management composed of circle owners and administrators, as well as today's best fan list and influence contribution list. The circle owner and the administrator are jointly responsible for the development and order of the circle. The administrator is formulated by the circle owner. The administrator team needs to be responsible for the activity of the circle owner, the circle owner management team and the complaints from the circle friends. Today's Best Fan List and Influence Contribution List are exclusively part of the celebrity circle, which encourages users to make rankings and enhances the activity of the circle.

Except for the film and television variety circles that do not have fan levels, the celebrity circles and other circles have fan levels, and the fan levels include LV1-LV15. By obtaining fan values, users of different levels have different level privileges, including priority participation in activities, rankings for idols, deletion of comments and the nickname and color function, etc. Users can browse behaviors and publish high-quality content to obtain fan values ​​through interactions such as sign-in, rankings, likes, and comments.

Evaluation and suggestions:

Bubble's circle management achieves the healthy development of the circle through the form of joint management of the circle owner + administrator. At the same time, users are encouraged by their fan contribution list and fan levels. In terms of fan level, due to the short cycle of film and television variety shows, the corresponding circle does not have fan level set. Fan privileges mainly lie in the priority recommendations and nicknames in the circle. For other circles, since users do not contribute to their idols, they need stronger incentives. It is recommended to increase hierarchical privileges, including avatar pendants, comics, movies, and VIP coupons.

3. Users in the circle publish content and interactions

Within the circle, users can create and participate in group chats, or check in to work/off work. The interval between check-in to work and off work is the time for fans to protect their idols. Fans can play the idol list. The ranking requires the fuel stick. Users can get the fuel stick through interaction within the circle and browsing content. The content that users can publish includes pictures, texts, videos, confessions (celebrity circles), animations (other circles) and voting. Among them, the confession content has the chance to be seen by idols.

Evaluation and suggestions:

It can be seen that iQiyi’s user interaction content and content forms are relatively rich. Taking the content published as an example, the confession function captures the user's psychology of hoping that the idol can see his support for the idol, effectively motivating the user's activity. At the same time, users have a strong sense of rankings.

5.4 Summary

Compared with doki, Bubble has developed more maturely and has already made independent APPs. Its content scope is not limited to celebrities and film and television, and it has involved entertainment, fashion and other aspects, becoming a comprehensive content community dominated by celebrity interaction. More funds have been invested in celebrity interactions, and the interaction forms of celebrities are richer and interactive activities are more frequent. Doki is also gradually catching up, but because it is backed by Tencent's product matrix, it can rely on QQ, Weishi and other products for promotion and expansion of its fan community.

In the fan-star interactive community, Weibo, as a promotional and distribution site for celebrities and film and television variety shows, and a fermentation site for gossip, occupies a large number of users and celebrity resources. Weibo has also developed a super talk function to allow celebrities to interact with fans. iEu and Tencent rely on film and television comprehensive resources to develop celebrity fan interactive communities. The core needs of users is that it is difficult to pay attention to the dynamics of celebrities and film and television when watching videos. Therefore, a lot of resources are needed to acquire users and polish product functions.

In terms of user motivation, all three have introduced lists for idols and online/offline activities for celebrity users, but their presence is poor compared with Weibo topic lists. It is necessary to increase the influence of celebrities on the platform, including award ceremony for the star list, online/offline meetings for celebrities, and promotion of works and interactions with fans on the platform.

Author: Jiang Jiang

Source: Jiang Jiang