Why does Jack Ma, who is so awesome, still need a TV station during Singles’ Day?

1. The show begins

On the evening of November 10, 2016, Tmall’s Double Eleven Carnival Night opened on time again.

Last year, the first Tmall Double 11 Gala was hosted by Hunan Satellite TV, and this year the organizer returned to the provincial satellite TV. It seems that Alibaba has gradually become a standard for attracting traffic on various platforms and then igniting the carnival on the eve of Double 11 with the satellite TV gala.

2. The sky is about to change

On November 10, Jack Ma was interviewed by CCTV Finance. When asked about whether e-commerce has reached its ceiling, Jack Ma responded that e-commerce only accounts for 10% of China's retail sales so far, and there is still a lot of room for growth in the future, but pure e-commerce or pure offline operations will not be sustainable.

Alibaba Group released its financial report for the second quarter of fiscal year 2017 (July 1 to September 30, 2016) on the evening of November 2, showing that the core e-commerce business revenue increased by 41% year-on-year, far less than the 130% growth rate of Alibaba Cloud. "E-commerce will continue to develop rapidly in the next few years. However, pure e-commerce will not last long without offline cooperation; offline businesses will not go far if they do not embrace the Internet."

Jack Ma reiterated the concept of new retail: pure e-commerce no longer exists, but e-commerce continues to develop. "What is e-commerce? It means that we have mastered the technology, thinking and operation methods of the Internet and created a new business model. I believe that a new retail form will be born in the future, with a perfect combination of online, offline, logistics, technology and data." The impact of new retail has also expanded from online to a wider field. Finally, Jack Ma concluded: "I must remind everyone that the world will change quickly."

3. TV people should not exaggerate their own importance

The cooperation between Internet celebrities and TV stations may once again inspire the self-confidence of traditional media: It turns out that we are still so valuable! In fact, this kind of story of being used to show the presence of others is not the first time, and it will certainly not be the last.

Why did Tencent and Alibaba both choose to use TV stations to launch their success in the Internet+ era? Ma Huateng cooperated with CCTV to launch WeChat Pay during the Spring Festival, and Jack Ma cooperated with Hunan Satellite TV on Double Eleven in 2015, and in 2016, he grabbed the Spring Festival Gala Shake app. Is this a comparison or a coincidence? Do great minds think alike or are they forced to do so? Since the WeChat Shake app was launched during the Spring Festival Gala, some media people have been discussing whether this phenomenon is worth it. Is the gain greater than the loss, or is it a small loss for the big? Now, with the Double Eleven Carnival being staged again, some people may ask, will this become another Spring Festival Gala? Another Christmas Eve?

At this point, I think traditional media people are a bit too narcissistic. Although the satellite TV carnival was launched on the eve of Double 11, before that, Alibaba was attracting traffic in various fields and channels. From various versions of browsers, from opening word documents, and opening various apps, you can see the sound and shadow of Alibaba's Double 11 traffic-attracting ads. Not only did the popular satellite TV get a share here, but all the big names in different industries got a share. It depends on whether you can really become a traffic entrance. Alibaba plays a full traffic entrance strategy. You think TV traffic has made a great contribution, just because you are a TV person.

In fact, whether you are here or not, whether you come or not, Internet celebrities are there. For TV celebrities who have become the entrance of traffic, cooperation is of course a more profitable thing. Because his existence cannot be rejected, since it cannot be changed, it is better to enjoy it happily.

At the same time, some people will question the traffic bottleneck of Internet companies, and some people will doubt that Alibaba has run out of tricks and has reached the end... Facing the traffic bottleneck and competition dilemma, is this the last glitter? Before, he did not spend tens of millions or hundreds of millions to attract traffic for his platform. Since last year, Jack Ma has done so. His smile is from the heart, but it is still very embarrassing!

I think he would feel sorry for the money he spent, after all, it was so much, but the biggest purpose of his doing so was to maintain his leadership and business structure and build a very high firewall. For a large international company, this is a kind of compulsion and a necessity.

4. It is not important to care about the number or whether it is true or false.

There must be people who are concerned about Tmall's Double Eleven sales and whether the sales are inflated. There must be people who are concerned about the problem of fake orders, the problem of returns, and the problem of logistics...

When I wrote the article, Double Eleven had not yet started, but I can say with certainty that Tmall's overall sales this year will exceed that of last year, and a portion of the sales must be inflated.

Taobao's ranking algorithm will make some merchants research black technology. There will definitely be merchants who will fake orders for ranking. The temptation of Double Eleven is too great. Even if they face the risk of subsequent store closures, some people will definitely do this.

Long before Double 11, some companies had already introduced black search and explosive order-brushing techniques in the early hours of Double 11. In fact, these people were challenging the strength of Alibaba's anti-cheating system. Alibaba, a company with a large number of algorithmic technology, cannot underestimate the power of its system. What is important is the time difference and when to settle accounts, and the severity of Alibaba's punishment for order-brushing for its own stock price and other interests. Merchants must have sales in order to follow the ranking rules, and Alibaba must also have sales to be accountable to the stock market. So this may be an interesting game and a relatively rational choice for both parties. Therefore, the traffic refreshed that night must be watered down.

However, all this will pass and it really doesn’t matter. What matters is the new business model and the new normal.

5. Alibaba is pursuing a new normal

Build a tall firewall for competitors, and at the same time, the new normal is what everyone is pursuing.

Alibaba is operating this project at such a high cost, in fact, it is more to maintain the brand gap and raise the threshold for others to enter the Double Eleven marketing. What Alibaba wants is influence and overall traffic, not a high profit margin. As long as it can strangle its opponents and prevent others from entering easily, it will be a victory.

If you ask those who stayed up all night during last year's Tmall Shopping Carnival, will they do so again this year? You will find that many people actually won't do so anymore. So why does Alibaba still do this?

Those who no longer keep watch may have developed consumer habits and have become frequent online shoppers. For them, online shopping is just a new habit to facilitate their lives. They know that the prices in wholesale markets are cheap, but in order to get the goods more conveniently and worry-free, they still hope that the express delivery will deliver them to their door. In addition, Taobao customers and various discounted online shopping websites can provide many discount opportunities in normal times. Consumers who know the business are no longer particularly rare for the discounts on Double Eleven, and online shopping experts do not necessarily have to wait until Double Eleven to go shopping, because online shopping is a normal part of their lives.

For those who have formed the habit of online shopping, the weakening of the significance of Double Eleven is also good news for merchants, because they will not have too much sales gap due to the warehouse explosion on Double Eleven and the coldness on other days. In fact, for traffic, small and medium-sized sellers usually work hard. There are many platforms that sell at a loss, and the cost of this kind of traffic is huge.

Such traffic patterns are actually good news for Alibaba and the entire e-commerce industry.

Those who are sensitive to price will be attracted by this network and may become new regular online shoppers. It is this kind of traffic that Alibaba spends huge costs to purchase.

In an era where e-commerce is no longer a rarity, and the difference between the e-commerce industry and physical stores is getting smaller and smaller, Alibaba's carnival and physical store shopping festivals are actually becoming more and more similar, which is a good thing for the media industry and the real economy. There is nothing rare about it. Is there no one-yuan purchase in the promotional methods of physical stores?

As business becomes more and more community-based and socialized, there is actually not much difference between online stores, physical stores and community micro-markets, because transactions will only take place among the group of people in your circle, and the importance of Double Eleven has become very weak.

For Alibaba, the practical effect of the Double Eleven event will become increasingly weak, while the brand value and symbolic significance will become greater and greater. The bigger it becomes, the deeper the barrier and firewall it will become to block competitors, making it difficult for competitors to surpass it quickly.

6. For TV stations, the rules of the game are: Become the first, become the traffic entrance, and then you will have the ticket to cooperate with the strongest.

1. Being the best in your field does not mean being the best in all fields! Therefore, the strong love competition, but are more willing to cooperate.

Why is it that everyone is so shrewd, but this is the most suitable decision for both parties? Why does Jack Ma need a TV station that ranks at least in the top five? Because in the world of the Internet, Alibaba can be called big, but the world is not just about the Internet. Only by cooperating with a communication channel that dominates another field can the Internet be better detonated.

Last year, Alibaba and Hunan TV collaborated and both sides benefited from it. Alibaba increased the sense of participation and the acquisition cost per user was only 0.5 yuan.

From the perspective of Hunan Satellite TV, it is not a loss. In addition to earning Jack Ma's CASH, Hunan Satellite TV also promoted the "Mango TV" APP better through this incident. I don't know if those who use the TV boxes noticed that half an hour before the live broadcast started last year, the source of almost all TV boxes was changed to "Zhong Kui Fu Mo". It was not until about an hour after the broadcast that it was changed to the correct source. If this kind of weird change is part of the plan, then Hunan Satellite TV's "Mango TV" APP will indeed receive a lot of new users.

Moreover, Xiangshi also held a Mango Car sale at Hunan Economic TV, which was held within the group, to squeeze out all the surplus value that could be squeezed out. "Are flowers hidden under leaves? How many times have I stepped on snow in my dreams?" Xiangshi's planning and ability to find any opportunity to strike hard are worth learning for all planners.

This year, in addition to receiving red envelopes from Alibaba, Zhejiang TV has also gained a lot of benefits in advertising operations and channel promotion.

However, if Zhejiang Television was not in the first camp, this result would not be possible.

2. Traditional communication channels should not be underestimated. Only by doing well can you have partners and the world.

Different identities and different sizes have different speeds, capabilities and energies in acquiring users, and their methods and requirements are different.

For most people, spending 40,000 yuan on a wedding show is considered extravagant, but if Huang Xiaoming doesn't spend more than 10 million yuan on his wedding, it's not really a wedding. What will the annual Double Eleven event look like? It's worth looking forward to, but it's also normal.

In the normal situation, who can you find? Who can find you? We will wait and see.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.