One fall can cost you hundreds of millions! Why are wealth-showing challenges so popular on social media?

The majority of poor netizens expressed their dissatisfaction, so a wave of "self-deprecating and showing off wealth" came up with new creative ideas, such as fat house throw, milk tea throw, health throw, and postgraduate entrance examination throw.

Later, various corporate brand Blue Vs also joined in the carnival of showing off wealth, professional wrestling and brand wrestling, which brought the show of wealth to a new height.

As of today, the Weibo topic #炫富挑战# has been read over 1.4 billion times.

How did the sudden show-off wealth challenge become so popular? Why has wrestling suddenly become a way to show off wealth?

It should be said that the origin of #showwealthchallenge# is the #FallingStarsChallenge, a topic that became popular on Instagram.

On July 30, a Russian DJ, @djsmash, posted a photo of himself "accidentally" falling to the ground after getting off a private plane, and @ several friends to follow up.

Two Russian models, @lenaperminova and @natashapoly, were the first to show their support. They also "simplely" "dropped" the private plane, which quickly led to imitations in the Russian fashion circle. Various hot (rich) girls (women) with graceful figures dropped their luxury cars and luxury goods. Then it became popular among the entire fighting nation.

△The "failed" DJ and the model @natashapoly

This creative image of falling is similar to the photographic work IN EXTREMIS that Italian photographer Sandro Giordano started shooting five years ago.

The photographer uses black humor to warn everyone not to forget their own safety for the sake of material things, satirizing modern people's obsession with the material world.

Although the format is similar, the initiator of #Falling Stars Challenge @djsmash posted a message saying that there is no profound meaning behind his fall, "it's just a fun thing in the summer." Inner thoughts: Just showing off wealth. ?‍♀️

Simply showing off wealth is not enough to make things bigger. The key lies in the celebrity effect, the chain mechanism and the secondary creation of netizens (giving different value points to #showwealthchallenge#).

Does this gameplay on social platforms feel familiar to you?

Remember the #IceBucketChallenge in 2014? Ultimately, the Ice Bucket Challenge raised $115 million for ALS patients and became one of the biggest viral topics in Facebook history.

So is the reason why #showwealthchallenge# became so popular so quickly this time the same as the #ice bucket challenge# back then?

What are the special features among them that are worth learning from?

Based on the topic challenges that have become popular in the past, let’s analyze the key factors that trigger topics.

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Just like the #Ice Bucket Challenge,

#Show off your wealth challenge# can be seen as a successful viral marketing campaign , which reveals the principle of fission propagation .

But the essence of social currency is the key to winning hot topics in the era of self-media .

TOP1: Evolving viral marketing

Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, a famous American e-commerce consultant, believes that viral marketing encourages users to spread marketing information to others and creates potential growth momentum for the exposure and influence of information, causing it to grow exponentially.

Viral marketing consists of three elements: pathogens, susceptible populations, and modes of transmission.

The pathogen is the product or thing being promoted . It relies on analyzing the interests, hobbies, and information reception methods of the target group to create a selling point to attract attention.

Susceptible populations are those who are likely to receive information and pass it on.

The mode of communication refers to the means and channels of communication.

When the #Ice Bucket Challenge# was launched, the participation of influential and susceptible people was one of the keys to its success.

Now, for the #show-off-wealth-challenge#, the participation of common and susceptible groups of people is one of the keys to its success.

The popularity of these two topics has spread from foreign social platforms to domestic social platforms.

The Ice Bucket Challenge is a challenge that combines Internet fanaticism and charity . This is also the origin of the #IceBucketChallenge# movement. It is aimed at charity, hoping to draw public attention to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and raise funds.

Its pathogen was not deliberately designed and manufactured, but its spread undoubtedly took advantage of the favorable charitable environment and people's attention to charity.

In addition to Bill Gates , Mark Zuckerberg , Kobe , Lei Jun , Zhou Hongyi, Andy Lau... global leaders in politics, business, entertainment and other fields have been named to participate. The right to speak and the attention they have are themselves a huge form of communication power.

The pathogen of #show-off-wealth-challenge# lies in “showing off wealth”.

The susceptible group originally targeted by "showing off wealth" should be rich people, and "showing off wealth" is a sensitive topic that makes people hate it, but the most interesting thing about #showingoffwealthchallenge# is that netizens' participation, in a self-deprecating way, has effectively resolved this sensitivity.

Compared with airplanes, luxury cars and yachts, falling among a pile of delicious food, dumbbells and figurines seems so "poor", but this is exactly how netizens show off their personal hobbies.

Some other netizens with unique ideas have only tea eggs to throw; postgraduate students and primary school students throw exercise books all over the floor; post-90s people throw wolfberry health tea and long Huabei bills, and of course all kinds of Internet celebrity milk tea and spicy noodles.

Star fans threw out posters and autographed photos of their idols; new mothers threw out milk powder, bottles and diapers; some toyed babies threw out diapers and toys; and pet owners threw out cats and dogs...

These self-entertainment videos can make you laugh in just one second. Maybe there is a hint of bitterness in the smile.

#Show off your wealth challenge# Whether it is Instagram or Weibo, there are not many people who seriously "show off their wealth" on social networks .

From the moment the susceptible population to the pathogen of "showing off wealth" became common, the nature of this game of showing off wealth has undergone a subtle change, slowly becoming a high-level proposition of "how do you define yourself".

This is also the key reason why the topic of #show off wealth challenge# has become popular and continued.

When the #Ice Bucket Challenge# took place, the design of the communication methods and rules was the core of its success.

Now, for #show-off-wealth-challenge#, the way of communication and inspiring UGC among the whole people are the core of success.

In "Social Dividends", Tencent employee Xu Zhibin summarized Tencent's success in the social field as "letting information flow in the relationship chain." The viral spread of the “Ice Bucket Challenge” leveraged this relationship resource.

Naming others in the name of charity puts the participants on a moral high ground, forcing those named to "have to" respond. The rule of responding to the chain within 24 hours is full of participation and urgency in terms of time limit, and is a tool for quickly cultivating the "virus".

#Ice Bucket Challenge# allows the public to see the "embarrassing" moments when celebrities who are usually well-dressed get wet, satisfying netizens' desire to watch and wonder about celebrities in the Internet age, and has become a hot topic that is popular and can be easily discussed.

In the joy shared by everyone, charity has changed from its previous warm and sentimental and tear-jerking style, which is refreshing.

#Show off your wealth challenge# first spread rapidly on Instagram in this way of naming people. Fashion circle celebrities are participating for the first time .

The initiator of #Falling Stars Challenge @djsmash himself has more than 300,000 fans. The two Russian models who first responded to him have more than 900,000 and 1.8 million fans respectively.

A large number of fans are looking forward to seeing what the supermodels and wealthy people who usually appear glamorous and have an exquisite and elegant life on social networks will look like when they fall embarrassingly. This eye-catching contrast effect attracted a large number of onlookers.

At the same time, these celebrities are willing to participate, and even when they fall and make fun of themselves, they are still showing off their wealth. The curvy figure and luxury goods worth tens of millions make the scene of the fall a pleasing sight.

Show off wealth in a humorous way, be creative and not draw any stares. Meet the demand for alternative self-expression in the era of self-media.

Low participation quickly stimulated UGC among the entire population.

“It’s just falling down, I can do it too.” Hence, we have the new heights of falling reached by the great players as seen above. As long as you have a big enough imagination, you can pretend to fall down at home, in the office, in your own old car, or anywhere else.

In addition, influencers and brand blue Vs also took advantage of the marketing opportunity ! It is a good way to expose and attract new products.

TOP2: Fission-like propagation of social attributes

Whether it is Instagram, Facebook or Weibo, the Internet platform provides an efficient communication channel for fission-style dissemination.

The links between people have been expanded three-dimensionally, and the transmission of information has grown exponentially. You can send a message to a completely unexpected person.

△ Fission propagation level (see watermark for image source)

The above picture clearly shows the logic of understanding fission-type communication, but most marketing activities only reach the third level, and the fission level dies. After being forwarded by employees, friends, loyal fans, and cooperative channels, it was not shared again in their respective friend circles , the dissemination chain was interrupted, and it became a small circle of self-entertainment.

If a communication activity successfully passes through the fission layer and reaches D, E, F... the more levels it passes through, the greater the number of fission users brought by each seed user , and the better the fission effect.

This requires that the activity must be social, which is the essence of social currency: "If others have it, I have it, and I cannot fall behind."

For example, this summer, more than 1.8 million people participated in the #Kiki Challenge on Instagram. People aged 8 to 80 opened their car doors while driving and danced to Drake's brainwashing new song "In My Feelings". The effect was novel and interesting, and it swept social media .

The challenge was dangerous and resulted in many accidents. But netizens still flocked to follow suit.

The report analysis believes that when social networks are all addicted to the same game, we are easily infected by the crowds and excitement of our peers.

And every like and repost afterwards is like recognition from friends, and can even bring a sense of belonging and self-confidence.

In the social age, too many people suffer from the fear of missing out (FOMO), worrying about missing out on any activities that are conducive to interpersonal relationships. Only by liking, commenting and gaining attention can this anxious mood be relieved. How can we make people restrain themselves and not participate?

TOP3: Self-expression is the driving force in the era of self-media

Wired magazine wrote a report in August exploring why this type of viral transmission is addictive.

Angela Dobele, associate professor of marketing at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, believes that what really makes them grow is people's desire for group belonging and self-identity.

Essentially, people want to feel part of a group. By sharing, people shape their online image, hoping to connect with people around them, to be accepted, and to become one of the most popular and coolest people.

#Show off wealth challenge# From the initial simple showing of wealth to the various UGCs of netizens later, what runs through it all is a form of self-expression.

Recalling the hot topics on domestic social media: putting coins on the collarbone, raising goldfish; 4A waist, I6 legs, touching the belly button with the back of the hand; seaweed dance; Haidilao's fancy eating methods and "social person" Peppa Pig, their paths to fame are all the same.

A topic activity that uses viral marketing methods and focuses on fission-like dissemination needs to introduce social mechanisms, allow the public to participate in the design of dissemination routes, let users speak for you, and resonate with users in order to achieve the best dissemination effect.

I would also like to say one more thing about the #show off wealth challenge# on Weibo, and the secondary creation of netizens and corporate Blue Vs: let the challenge go beyond showing off wealth, and let showing off wealth go beyond the material level.

"My career is something I can show off, and my active lifestyle is something I can show off."

△Barber & Programmer

△ Honor and responsibility are the "wealth", and what is "showed off" is the position and skills

It gives new value to the topic in a positive and entertaining way. The final effect of expression and value orientation are an important factor that makes a topic that originally has no profound meaning become popular in China.

Each type of people, different media, different countries, and various social circles have differences in interpreting a topic. The initiators and those who leverage the trend do not necessarily have to match each other in their initiating thinking. The consistency of behavioral results and participation methods can trigger a group effect.

Hot spots emerge one after another, and the methods and highlights are different each time. There is no one-size-fits-all routine.

When the heat fades, we hope that marketers can think more about some screen-sweeping cases and events, and the process and logic of the detonation, so as to have a clearer understanding of the value orientation of the overall communication environment, user psychology and communication behavior, and constantly update marketing ideas.

Source: ALLUL