The new media marketing logic behind Wang Ju's sudden popularity in "Produce 101"

Recently, Tencent Video ’s self-produced star-development variety show “Produce 101” has attracted the attention of many young groups and new Internet media people. Even if you don’t watch variety shows very often, you have at least been introduced to “Wang Ju” by someone. I hope that after reading this article, you will no longer be a “outsider”!

Come, those who don’t know the truth, let’s first understand who Wang Ju is? Why did it cause such a sensation?

Born in 1992, she is 26 years old this year. She has worked as a model agent, Internet headhunter and other jobs. She was fortunate to be selected into the show after the popular contestant sunshine's ABBY withdrew from the competition. Afterwards, she was often criticized by netizens because of her burly appearance and dark skin, and almost all members of the girl group were not optimistic about her.

When the show reached the third episode, Wang Ju became extremely popular! The previous Weibo account changed from bashing Wang Ju to picking Wang Ju, and it resonated with many passers-by. After that, she couldn't stop. Her fans began to call themselves Tao Yuanming and tried their best to use their creativity and abilities to canvass votes for Wang Ju! As a result, the name "Wang Ju" became popular all over the social network !

So while laymen watch the excitement and experts look at the details, what new media marketing logic is hidden behind Wang Ju’s popularity?

First, the strategy of differentiated product operation : the new needs of the female pop idol circle

When we are developing a new product or new feature, we will definitely study the positioning of this product and its competitors. Is this product a blue ocean or a red ocean? What is the position in the market? Obviously, in this era dominated by straight men, soft and cute girls filling the screen must be the mainstream. Looking at the girl groups in our neighboring countries, Japan and South Korea, they basically all have a pure campus style.

Ok, if a brand encounters a very serious homogeneity situation, then the only strategy is differentiation. The essence of differentiation is to provide fans with a reason to choose you instead of others.

There are countless such cases in Internet products.

Back then, when the smartphone market was booming, a series of mobile phone brands including Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo emerged almost simultaneously. When everyone's functions were similar, they were all trying their best to find their own differentiated positioning. Xiaomi focused on its self-developed MIUI mobile phone system, cost-effectiveness, and Mi fan culture; Oppo and Vivo focused on functions such as photography and music, and relied on a large number of celebrity endorsements to seize the market in a differentiated manner.

Following the same logic, among the 101 girls, how to conquer the audience through talent has become a proposition for many people.

So in the circle of female idols, what kind of women can better represent this ever-changing era? If the entire screen is filled with cute and adorable girls, you'd probably get bored of it if you saw it every day. Therefore, Wang Ju's authenticity and optimism are very different from others.

However, Wang Ju has more shining points than these. When Ma Dong was teaching the girl groups, she once again attracted the favor of many netizens with her high emotional intelligence. The independent spirit she showed afterwards also won her countless fans and made many people have a new understanding of her.

"What are the standards for a girl group? For me, I have already eaten up both the standards and the burdens."

"You hold the right to redefine China's number one girl group."

These two sentences from Wang Ju seemed to have some kind of magic, calling on countless passers-by fans to have a strong curiosity about Wang Ju, thus forming a positive circle. Passers-by fans dug deep into Wang Ju's past experiences and were attracted by her highlights again.

Independent, authentic, hardworking, and confident, who doesn’t love such a new-age idol?

Second, the self-cultivation of a good product: having both personality and strength, truly representing the spirit of a girl group

Among Internet products, good products speak for themselves. For products with built-in dissemination properties, fans will spread them spontaneously, such as Tik Tok and NetEase Cloud Music .

In the vast trend of variety shows, what kind of idol is considered a "good product"? What kind of idol can stand firm in the tide of history? One may become popular for a while by relying on good looks, but it is talent that makes an idol invincible.

JJ Lin, Jay Chou and others have maintained the spirit of craftsmanship and steadily built up their musical accomplishments and inner strength, which is why they have their current status and reputation in the Chinese music scene.

Wang Ju, at least for now, seems to have both personality and strength. Although his dancing and musical talents are not particularly outstanding, when evaluated comprehensively, he is also a strong energy.

The spirit of the girl group of "Produce 101": Live towards the sun and turn the tide against the wind. Isn’t that Wang Jubenju? From being a substitute member to being called "Auntie" by netizens, to being on the verge of elimination, and then to her current surge in popularity, Wang Ju wrote these eight words based on her own real experiences.

This is the strong counterattack of a "good product". At that time, the Douyin team had only dozens of people. Relying on diverse music styles, cool visual editing functions, personalized distribution mechanisms and a good community atmosphere, they grew from 0 to 80 million DAU in just no more than one year. This is a victory for the product and a victory for strength.

Third, the traffic fission of community and copywriting : good name brings good luck

What is traffic fission? The Tao Te Ching says:

"Tao begets one, one begets two, two begets three, and three begets all things."

This means that everything will undergo fission in some form or organization.

The organizational form of traffic fission is short videos , copywriting, pictures, and emoticons . It is the most powerful moat for any company and any product on the mobile Internet . If an enterprise is good at leveraging the power of social platforms (Weibo, WeChat , Moments , communities, QQ groups) to trigger the connection points around it and connect the network of relationships between people, then when the number of users of a product reaches a certain level, the fission effect will burst out.

Wang Ju's case is enough to illustrate the powerful power of the fission effect. Coincidentally, Wang Ju’s name “Ju” has its own point of spread. When netizens’ imaginations run wild, it is the time to harvest free traffic. Idioms and jokes such as "outsiders of chrysanthemum", "Hell is empty, Wang Ju is in Tuchuang", "Turn the tide against the wind and live towards chrysanthemum", "Be prepared for danger in times of peace", "Birds of a feather flock together", and "The labor of chrysanthemum's hands" have taken over the circle of friends and social networks. Such free traffic is beyond the reach of girl groups and the management team behind them.

Some people say that this is a carnival of subculture. I think it may have created a new paradigm for artist marketing and promotion, that is, social media fission marketing that relies on the unique personal charm of celebrities. Soon, many artist teams began to follow suit, such as changing the artists' names, making emoticons, building personalities, and conducting in-depth interviews.

Fourth, the idea of ​​looking for incremental growth from the existing number of seed users : strong support from the gay community

For a good product to flourish, it must have a group of seed users. This is the simplest truth for those working in the Internet industry, but unfortunately many artists and celebrities do not understand this.

What are the characteristics of seed users? They are bold and enthusiastic about trying new products and new ideas; they scream when they see MVP (minimum viable product); they can tolerate all defects and imperfections of the product; they will use their influence to spread new products on social media .

The fission of seed users, that is, the idea of ​​finding incremental growth from existing users, is enough to make a product popular in a certain circle. Whether it is an Apple phone, a Xiaomi phone, or other Internet software products, in the early stages of research and development, great emphasis is placed on cultivating seed users, absorbing their suggestions, and polishing themselves to become better.

In the case of Wang Ju's sudden popularity, a large part of the seed users came from the strong support from the gay circle, and then split to the entire network.

"If the popularity of girl groups is because they satisfy straight men's fantasies about goddesses, then Wang Ju, as a rising star, has filled the aesthetic gap of gay men. If Wang Ju is eliminated, there will be no more 0 to watch, and Produce 101 will only be Produce 11."

Because Wang Ju used to be an agent for black models, often hangs out in European and American circles, and likes to watch American dramas, many of her thoughts and opinions are bold and free. She advocates independence, skepticism, and rebellion. Such spiritual traits are very popular among fans in the gay circle. Although Wang Ju is not perfect, in "Creation 101", Wang Ju may be the only reason for them to keep watching. Of course, this cultural and personality connection is difficult to explain in just a few words.

Fifth, leveraging the traffic pool of large platforms: the program group needs to have topics

If we compare a large platform to a large pool of water, then the users of each product line on the platform are like drops of water, and the accumulated individuals make up the platform.

Several major platforms now have their own traffic pools. Tencent’s traffic pool includes WeChat, QQ, Tencent Games , Tencent Music, Weishi , etc.; Alibaba’s traffic pool includes Taobao , Tmall , Alipay , Youku, Xiami , etc.; Xiaomi’s traffic pool includes Xiaomi mobile phones, Xiaomi TVs , Xiaomi Music, Xiaomi Games , Xiaoai speakers, Xiaomi bracelets, etc.

Correspondingly, Tencent Video's self-produced program "Creation 101" relies on its own traffic pool for publicity and promotion , and it must issue some so-called "social currency", that is, dissemination points. This is not only the need of the program team, but also the need of the general public on the Internet.

And what kind of players have such an effect? The contestant "Wang Ju" must be a very wise choice. Wang Ju’s sudden popularity not only took social networks by storm, but also caused a sharp increase in the number of clicks on this variety show. A win-win situation was achieved for all parties. Fans were celebrating; self-media people had something to write about; program mentors re-examined the selection criteria; program producers saved a lot of publicity and promotion costs, and Wang Ju herself gained fans and popularity.

In Wang Ju's case, she made good use of the traffic from large platforms and anchored her personal IP in the public mind.

To sum up, in the marketing logic of new media, Wang Ju’s case can be said to be an example of a “ hot-selling product ” strategy.

Whether it involves "positioning theory", "product thinking", "seed user thinking" or "traffic fission", it all confirms a reality: the way the Internet is played and the creation of celebrity influencers are becoming increasingly closely linked.

The unique Wang Ju will gain more and more voice and opportunities for social fission in this society. Let us embrace this era of change and let the energy of new media give us more possibilities for hits.

The author of this article @张澳 is compiled and published by (Qinggua Media). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!

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