What did Tongcheng Travel see in its 123 million yuan sponsorship of iQiyi's "Running Man 4"?

"1 2 3, GO!" Hearing this slogan, I believe that many netizens have rekindled their expectations for a certain team. Yes, it is the Running Man team who recently collectively cosplayed the photo of Song Zhongji in the special forces uniform of the popular Korean drama "Descendants of the Sun" on Weibo. It is said that the style is so handsome that it is amazing! On this coincidental day of March 21, the press conference for the fourth season of "Running Man" was officially held. As the online broadcasting platform of "Running Man 4", iQiyi also announced on this day that Tongcheng Travel won the title sponsorship of the program for 123 million yuan.

Most people may not have a very intuitive feeling about "100 million yuan". Figuratively speaking, if all this money is converted into 100-yuan bills, it would be as high as a thirty-story building and weigh about the same as an Audi A6. It is indeed a "heavy sum of money". However, whether from the perspective of horizontal price comparison or vertical value expansion, this is a "good deal".

Internet VS TV: Same coverage, lower price

Next month, the fourth season of "Running Man" will officially meet the audience. The new season's lineup will maintain the original cast of the previous season, with Deng Chao, Angelababy, Li Chen, Chen He, Zheng Kai, Wang Zulan and Lu Han all present. It can be foreseen that the charm of this super IP will sweep the 2016 Q2 variety show list, and many businesses have been coveting it for a long time.

On the satellite TV side, Yili bid 500 million yuan for the exclusive title rights of "Running Man 4", while Tongcheng Travel's "friendly competitor" Tuniu.com spent 148.5 million yuan just to get the special cooperation rights of the program. Judging from the broadcast effect of "Running Man 3", the performance of iQiyi platform is not inferior to that of TV platform.

When the last season of the show was broadcast, the number of people covered by the TV platform was basically the same as that of the iQiyi platform. However, in the age group of 19 to 35, which is considered the most valuable by advertisers, the iQiyi platform covers 308 million people, about three times that of the TV platform. In addition to the lower sponsorship price, advertisers' spending per thousand people on this most valuable group through the Internet is about five times that of the TV platform.

Industry insiders predict that as video websites become more and more recognized, in the future, the price of sponsorship for the same IP will catch up with or even exceed that of TV. It can be seen that Tongcheng Travel's move at this time was to seize the time difference.

Super IP + high-quality platform: deep accumulation and strong operation

For "Running Man", iQiyi is definitely the most influential online platform. As the only online platform in the industry that has broadcast "Running Man" for four consecutive seasons, iQiyi has accumulated a large number of deep users. Data shows that iQiyi has more than 500 million monthly independent users, with an average of more than 150 million independent users visiting iQiyi every day, and the total playback volume of the three seasons exceeds 5 billion.

This is due to iQiyi's rich experience in operating variety show IPs. In order to find the corresponding promotion points for each season's program positioning, iQiyi has adopted an operation model of full platform linkage and multi-channel joint efforts. In addition to the appeal of the special page, iQiyi will also integrate online and offline resources to help spread the program. Through derivative programs such as "Seven Deadly Sins of Running Man", "Running Man is Different", "Everyone Talks about Running Man", and "Running Man is Tired of Cutting Wood", the highlights and slots of each episode are reviewed to satisfy the audience's enthusiasm for behind-the-scenes footage and news of the program.

In addition, iQiyi has greatly increased the attention of the program by planning offline activities such as "iQiyi Running Man Fan Base Camp". The flexibility of the online platform allows the value of IP to be more comprehensively explored on the iQiyi platform. It is believed that Tongcheng Travel's brand image will also become more popular with the popularity of "Running Man 4".

It is reported that iQIYI will continue to launch more than 20 A+ copyright dramas and many strong variety shows. iQIYI's self-produced web dramas such as "The Best of Us" and "Old Mystic Nine" will also meet the audience one after another. With its strong resource integration capabilities constantly bursting out, iQIYI has become the preferred broadcast, promotion, and publicity platform for phenomenal content, and continues to create a new position for online video in the phenomenal content landscape.

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.