Media reference guide: Although MCN, film and television, online text, and advertising companies have successively entered the game, micro-short dramas have opened the era of gods and gods, but most traditional film and television institutions are still waiting. With the inclusion of micro-short dramas in radio and television supervision, micro-short dramas will also enter the stage of mainstreaming, high-quality and mature, and after the big wave of sand, the micro-short drama industry has become more and more centralized. For micro-short dramas, mature industrial production models and diversified profit models are still the lifeblood, and whether they can run through the business model and achieve large-scale production in 2021 is still the key to the development of micro-short dramas.
Source: Media Internal Reference - Editor-in-Chief Wen Jing
Text/Tang Ruifeng
Instant noodle dramas, hot pot dramas, vertical short dramas... With the "short video becomes longer, long video becomes shorter", the video platform user competition is about to erupt, micro-short drama is becoming a new track in the entertainment industry, in the context of long and short video continues to increase, the micro-short drama that is heavy on the outlet is ushering in a real outbreak of the first year.
Although MCN, film and television, online text, and advertising companies have successively entered the game, and micro-short dramas have opened the era of gods and gods, most traditional film and television institutions are still waiting. With the inclusion of micro-short dramas in radio and television supervision, micro-short dramas will also enter the stage of mainstreaming, high-quality and mature, and after the big wave of sand, the micro-short drama industry has become more and more centralized. For micro-short dramas, mature industrial production models and diversified profit models are still the lifeblood, and whether they can run through the business model and achieve large-scale production in 2021 is still the key to the development of micro-short dramas.
Short videos ignite the micro-short drama market
"Youai Tengmang" and "Jitter Fast Micro" differentiated competition
Whether it is the downward compatibility of long video platforms to the transformation of integrated communities for content occupation, or the short video platform in the context of the gradual saturation of the market to the upstream of film and television production, micro-short drama is becoming the middle ground of long and short video competition. In a certain sense, in the micro-short drama track, the logic of long and short videos entering the game is not the same, and "Youai Tengmang" and "Jitter Fast Micro" are not horse racing relationships, they are only in the transformation to achieve the content service upgrade of their respective users.
Micro-short dramas originate on long video platforms. The long video platform represented by "Youai Tengmang" has also taken the lead in laying out in the micro-short drama market, and has continuously improved the micro-short drama accounting model and support policies. iQIYI once launched the "Vertical Screen Control Theater", which is the first vertical screen theater launched by the domestic long video platform in the station. iQIYI pays attention to the original capacity building of micro-short dramas, exerts efforts to short video works that are popular with the public and have plot advancement, and shares revenue with partners in the sub-account model of "member paid advertising and paid investment".
Tencent Video has released incentive rules and cooperation methods for promoting the new category of short video "hot pot dramas" through traffic subsidies. At the Tencent Video Ecosystem Conference, Tencent Video announced for the first time the observation and layout of the China Video Track. Tencent Video divides China Video into two categories: drama and non-drama. The drama category includes micro-dramas, micro-animations and other types; non-drama categories, including micro-variety shows, micro-documentaries, MVs and other types of short programs.
In March 2020, Youku announced the rules for the sub-account of short dramas, providing two cooperation models of membership + advertising sub-accounts and traffic sub-accounts, while opening up investment cooperation and customization models, and increasing investment in high-quality short dramas. In order to further strengthen its market leadership, Youku's short drama business has completed structural restructuring and formed a three-in-one business model of copyright, operation and middle office convergence, providing more professional and efficient cooperation services for filmmakers.
Since 2019, Mango TV has officially entered the short video field, and the "DaMang Plan" came into being. Based on the content ecological concept of "KOL+IP", IP content has gradually formed a content matrix in the form of short videos and micro-dramas, and micro-short dramas are one of the important categories, and the "Next Meal Theater" under the Dawei Plan for the transition of micro-short dramas has begun to take shape.
For long videos, in the process of the collective transformation of "Ai you Tengmang" to comprehensive video, micro-short dramas are an important entry point, but due to the overall lack of quantity, poor quality, and lack of quality, the prosperity of micro-short dramas is only a flash in the pan, a large number of micro-short drama works are relatively low in recognition, drowned in short video works, in this round of war, micro-short dramas have not yet formed their own moat, and have not formed a sound and stable circle audience.
As short videos become the new infrastructure of all walks of life, short videos are igniting the micro-short drama market and becoming the best carrier for the playback of micro-short drama content. The rise of short video platforms has promoted the development of the drama market in the direction of lightweight, short drama and fragmentation, and with the acceleration of short video platforms such as Douyin, Kuaishou, and Weishi, micro-short dramas have ushered in a second rise.
Douyin firmly implements the "strong production strategy" in order to achieve high-quality content output. For example, Douyin will continue to cooperate with the industry's leading production companies and brokerage companies such as ZhenleDao Culture, Huayi Chuangxing, Wow Wow Wow, Lehua and other industry leaders to create more high-quality drama content, and it is expected that in 2021, it will successively produce and launch 30 +micro-short dramas with various themes.
On the road to monetization of "Nettext IP + short video", Kuaishou is also actively exploring the layout. Kuaishou has reached cooperation with platforms such as Mi-Reading, Chinese Online, and Phoenix Linkage to create a micro-short drama ecology from copyright content, users, platforms to the IP value chain. In addition, Kuaishou divides the small theater into vertical content and carries out theatrical operation, which has also become a feature of Kuaishou in the micro-short drama market that distinguishes it from other platforms.
The biggest advantage of micro-tv drama is the ecological resources of IP. Weishi will open up the IP resources of platforms such as Reading Text and Tencent Animation, and regularly open and publicize in batches, and register in a unified manner, and creators can use Tencent's IP as themes and materials for creation. Previously, Tencent Weishi announced that it will work closely with Reading Group, Tencent Animation and Tencent Games to open up Tencent's content ecology and lay out a multi-dimensional micro-drama content phalanx.
Different from the early addition of micro-short dramas on long video platforms, there is relatively little tilt in production and resource advantages, and the layout of short video platforms for micro-short dramas is louder. With the landing of the short video platform micro-short drama strategy, the short video platform has also achieved a great leap forward in the dimension of high-quality and professional layout of micro-short drama.
After the chaos of the gods, they will face the big waves
Most traditional film and television institutions are still waiting
Because of the characteristics of small investment, low risk, fast pace and short cycle, short dramas are attracting more and more players to join, including MCN institutions that are deeply involved in the field of short video and live broadcasting, as well as online platforms that open up "new battlefields" for micro-short dramas and seek video transformation, and a number of new forces that have cut into the micro-short drama track in the early days have emerged, attracting established film and television media companies that try to share a piece of the micro-short drama track.
From the perspective of the platform side, in addition to the long and short video platform represented by "Aiyou Tengmang + Jitter Fast Micro", Didi, Zhihu, and Quick Watch TV have also entered the game. From the perspective of institutional companies, in addition to MCN institutions, online text platforms and established film and television companies, artist brokerage companies and advertising and marketing companies also have layouts in the field of micro-short dramas, and the "micro-short drama" market is opening the era of god chaos.
On the short video platform, Internet celebrities and MCN institutions are becoming the main creators of micro-short dramas. Compared with film and television companies, although Internet celebrities and MCN institutions lack the corresponding experience in the production of film and television works, they are well versed in the operation rules of short videos, and some of the micro-short dramas they produce are also deeply loved by users. In addition, as the development of live e-commerce enters a bottleneck period, the use of script-based, story-based micro-short dramas for marketing promotion has also become an important direction for MCN institutions to seek transformation and build a diversified operating model.
For example, the short video MCN agency Onion Group has created the first cooperation project with Mango TV in the field of micro-drama - "Ruyi Wedding Dress Shop", and The Onion Group has a number of well-known short drama IP such as "Happy Sugar Water Shop" and "10:30 Romantic Store"; Founded in 2017, Chunfeng Picture is the only subsidiary of Haohan Entertainment, which is controlled by Huayi Brothers Media Co., Ltd., and has created many micro-short drama works such as "Life Has Dealt with Me", "Life Has Done To Me 2", "Director Has Started to Me" and so on Elephant Pictures is the first to enter the mini-drama and vertical screen market of new media video content production company, since 2015 began to produce food mini-drama "Emotional Cuisine" and other series of micro-short dramas; Worry-free Media specially equipped with a team to help people do micro-dramas, etc., from 2017 began to produce micro-short dramas "Wait for You Understand Me", about ten episodes per season.
"In fact, many brokerage companies and MCN institutions enter the micro-short drama not to achieve revenue through micro-short drama, but to use the micro-short drama as an important track for incubating new people and cultivating artists." The person in charge of a micro-short drama on a platform said.
At present, the amount of investment ranging from 200,000 to 2 million has become the standard for micro-short dramas, many film and television production, artist agency companies will set their sights on micro-short dramas, it is precisely because of its low production investment costs, for example, Douyin will cooperate with zhenledao culture, Huayi Chuangxing, Wow Wow, Lehua and other industry head production companies, brokerage companies to create more high-quality drama content; Kuaishou has introduced high-quality short drama partners such as Happy Twist, Wow Wow, Gravity Media, Sunac Culture, etc. Changxin Media, Tang Ren Film and Television, Shaanxi Wentou and other film and television institutions have successively entered the game, and the content categories of micro-short dramas will become more and more abundant.
For example, Happy Twist has already written a number of micro-short dramas such as "Dear, I Didn't Expect It", "Brother, Offended", "Today's Menu Really Wants to Be Together", "Luminous Uncle", etc.; Changxin Media will also carry out a series of micro-short drama development and batch creation of micro-dramas within 10 minutes; the micro-short drama "Dream" produced by the professional film company Zhenledao Culture, which is supported by the douyin & Didi dual platform and produced by the professional film company Zhenledao Culture! "Jingjing" has ended; Tang Dynasty Film and Television has filed a 30-episode micro-short drama "The Moment of Star Movement", Shaanxi Wentou's Yida Culture has filed "Datang Snack Goods", Huayi Brothers' Chuangxing Entertainment has filed "Heartbeat Again", "Love Straight Fist", "Downstairs Herbivore Man" and "Don't Be Afraid, Fall in Love!" 4 micro-short dramas.
The person in charge of a platform micro-short drama told the author, "The production fee base of the short drama is low and the profit is extremely thin, and its business model needs to be explored as a whole, only by making the business model healthier and healthier, can there be more capital and resource parties on a large scale influx, at present, most traditional film and television institutions are still waiting on the sidelines, and the track of micro-short drama may rise some small and micro emerging teams, but it is difficult to become the main business of traditional film and television companies." ”
As the source of the film and television content industry chain, the online text platform has the most core reserve IP, which is the basis for the content industry to further realize iterative upgrading and cross-border cooperation, and the rich network text resources also continue to empower the development of the micro-short drama industry, and the micro-short drama has also become a track for the network text platform to continuously improve the layout of the IP industry chain. For example, since February 2020, Mi-reading has begun to explore the short drama incubation model of online IP, signed a "Strategic Cooperation Agreement" with Kuaishou Chinese Online, palm reading technology announced a strategic investment in an idle content engine such as a micro-short drama production company, and Ta-reading Literature further excavated more possibilities for IP development.
At present, the development of comprehensive online text platforms has encountered bottlenecks, and micro-short dramas are becoming an important export for the video transformation of online text platforms. The layout of micro-short dramas on the online text platform can not only shorten the IP incubation time, but also test the tastes of consumers at a low-risk cost, and can also enhance the exposure of the novel IP to divert the flow of the network text platform.
Micro-short dramas have entered the stage of high-quality and mature
But 2021 is the key to development
Compared with long dramas, micro-short dramas are 2-5 minutes per episode, and a short drama has a single episode of 16-30 episodes, most of which are vertical screen dramas, because the audience of micro-short dramas is mainly women, and the theme of micro-short dramas is also concentrated in sweet pets, ancient styles, cities, etc. Compared with long dramas, the production cycle of micro-short dramas is short, the overall operation speed is fast, and the investment is relatively small, but micro-short dramas are essentially dramas, whether it is script selection, story construction, character relationships, value expression or post-production, micro-short dramas need to be produced in accordance with the mode and process of long dramas.
In the view of Ye Xiaonan, producer of "Quietly Like You", the core of micro-short dramas is dramas, and in order to achieve high-quality products, it is necessary to use the production process of long episodes, because micro-short dramas are often unfolded in iek, fragmented, and accompanying scenes, and need to present the most wonderful content to the audience in the shortest time, constantly creating "cool points" for users, and then poking at the pain points of the audience's needs, which requires micro-short dramas to pay more attention to the inheritance and transition in creation.
Different from MCN institutions, Happy Twist produces micro-short dramas according to the standards of traditional film and television projects, focusing on the color and quality of micro-short dramas, the degree of matching with platform needs, internal resource integration and input-output ratio. Happy Twist is out of the existing comfort zone, subverting the traditional film and television production model, and adapting to the rhythm of short video "short and fast flat", but also does not lose the content production level of micro-short dramas.
Lei Ailin, director of content marketing of Mi-reading, told the media internal reference that the standard requirements of Mi-read short dramas mainly focus on costumes, styling and scene layout, and Mi-read requires the production team to ensure that each short drama is a high-quality production, at the same time, Mi-reading will continue to try and innovate on the theme of short dramas, such as integrating elements such as the Republic of China and suspense to create more unique content types.
Sheng Chu, director of Fanku Culture Chu Dasheng Studio, said, "Short videos need to ensure the freshness of the work through 'magic' editing, and also maintain a close rhythm and a large amount of information, so that the audience can eagerly want to know the follow-up plot when watching; on the other hand, it is necessary to ensure that the picture is exquisite, the costume is suitable, and people do not play and do not jump." ”
In September 2020, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television added the category of "network micro-short dramas" to the filing of key online film and television dramas, which means that micro-short dramas will gradually move towards high-quality and standardized. As the competent authorities strengthen supervision, micro-short dramas have begun to move towards systematization, refinement, standardization and specialization.
"Under the background of the continuous improvement of video platforms and the continuous improvement of micro-short drama regulatory rules, in 2021, the micro-short drama industry will enter the stage of high-quality production content, and after the big wave, the market will take the initiative to eliminate some immature players, and the industry will become more centralized." The micro-short dramas of mi reading are generally about 2 minutes per episode, and each short drama is 16-20 episodes, mainly vertical screen dramas, including horizontal screen dramas. Ray Aerene said.
"From the perspective of creation, the micro-short drama is a few minutes long, and the entry threshold for story creation is relatively low. Although the number of works in micro-short dramas continues to rise, the high-quality blockbuster works are relatively small, and there has not yet been a real sense of out-of-the-loop works. Chen Xiufeng, chief producer of Fanku Culture, believes that "the new filing of the General Administration proves that this market has taken shape on the one hand; on the other hand, some themes and contents may be subject to certain restrictions." As a content creator, when considering market factors, you should consider the small, positive and large creative concepts, and carry forward the positive energy values of truth, goodness and beauty, so that the content will have more vitality and more development prospects. ”
In the view of Wang Yaou, general manager of Happy Twist Marketing and head of micro-short drama, the development speed of micro-short drama is very fast, and it can even be described as the development of the speed of light, so that the production standards and evaluation system of micro-short dramas are constantly updated and iterated in monthly units, which also poses a huge challenge to the producer. With the admission of professional institutions, directors and actors, the capital aggregation, gold content and professionalism of micro-short dramas will also be higher. According to the development law of the content industry, micro-short dramas are likely to enter a mature stage in the next year, but 2021 is the key to development.
The business model is not yet mature
A diversified profit model is the lifeblood
There are three main ways to monetize micro-short dramas: platform procurement, paid sub-accounts (mainstream) and plot advertising implantation, with the addition of short video platforms, the profit model of micro-short dramas is also constantly innovating, which is conducive to the formation of a relatively long-lasting production model of micro-short dramas.
"Without a sustained and healthy profit model, the new category of micro-dramas is likely to remain short-lived, just as it was when it first emerged in 2018." In the interview and research, there are first-line micro-short drama practitioners who said. Under the support and encouragement of major platforms, the market for micro-short dramas is in full swing, and it seems that a new round of outbreaks is emerging. However, behind the prosperous surface of micro-short dramas, there is a fatal point - the micro-short drama market is still in its infancy, and it still lacks stable and sustained and complete business model support.
"The monetization model of long episodes mainly relies on advertising and payment, unlike long episodes, the C-end target audience of micro-short dramas is not yet clear, users have not yet developed the habit of paying for micro-short dramas, the shorter content of micro-short dramas is not attractive enough for users, and the C-end payment model of micro-short dramas still needs longer to explore and cultivate." As micro-short dramas develop towards genre and subdivision, forming a more stable user circle, the payment model is likely to form. The person in charge of a micro-short drama on a certain platform told the author.
Relatively long dramas, advertisers also lack a certain understanding of the marketing method of micro-short dramas, and the business model of micro-short dramas is not yet mature. Taking advertising implantation as an example, how to balance the relationship between content and advertising has also become a problem that micro-short dramas need to focus on solving. It has been reported that the company's current fee for micro-short drama implantation advertisements is about 200,000 yuan per episode, and each episode of micro-short drama control implantation advertising brands does not exceed two to ensure the quality of video content. This price is only equivalent to a fraction of the single pit fee of the head anchor, or the income of three or four live broadcasts of ordinary Internet celebrity anchors, which can be described as "good quality and low price".
A certain line of micro-short drama practitioners said that on the one hand, the policy of the platform is uncertain. At present, the layout of major platforms in the field of micro-short dramas is more of a position, and it is not excluded that there will be corresponding adjustments in the follow-up; on the other hand, if the producer relies too much on the platform, it will definitely limit the producer's right to speak, and when the platform party's right to speak is too large, it is not conducive to the benign development of the entire micro-short drama market. In addition, from the perspective of video form, micro-short dramas belong to medium and short videos, which means that they compete in the same track with UGC content such as UP masters, talents and satin hands in the business model.
With the addition of short video platforms, the profit model of micro-short dramas is also constantly innovating, and it is becoming an important attempt to replace the traditional brand TVC with series stories and realize the in-depth implantation of drama. For example, Happy Twist and Kuaishou jointly produced the Mengniu custom drama "Today's Menu Really Want to Be Together" to play a good role in the advantages of the drama level, deeply integrating the brand milk and the love story; the "Milk Cake Into Fine Archive Society" known as the "big production" pet UP owner of the B station; the short drama titled "Master of Dream Control" launched in October 2020 also quietly implanted the publicity of Dyson vacuum cleaner.
In addition, the short and interactive production cycle of the micro-short drama may make it the best choice for the live broadcast upgrade mode. "Rebirth is only for the pursuit of the emperor" and the brand jointly launched the broadcast mode of "broadcasting while selling" to guide the audience to complete consumption while watching the drama, which is a good attempt for both the brand and the producer; the live micro-drama "Shangtou Sisters" jointly created by Tencent Weishi and Star Media innovatively turns the live broadcast plot of the play into a real real-time live broadcast with goods, and the actor Chen Pinru, who plays Pinru, becomes the anchor, which greatly improves the audience's interactivity and stickiness.
Regarding the profit model of micro-short dramas in the future, Li Haiying, founder of Tianhai Media, expressed three conjectures based on market insights: "It is impossible for short drama production companies to rely on the long drama model to earn the difference between production costs and platform purchases, because the production fee base of short dramas is low and the profits are extremely thin. The short drama production cycle is short and interactive, or it can become the best choice for the live broadcast upgrade model; brand customization, replacing the traditional brand TVC with a series of stories is also a direction that can be seen at present; drawing on the forms of variety show titles and praise, trying to launch a themed series of short drama theaters. ”
In Wang Yaou's view, some MCN institutions have seized the dividends of short videos, with private domain traffic that can be precipitated and converted, and can try the payment model, but for film and television institutions, when private domain traffic has not yet been precipitated and retained, co-creation with platforms and brands may be the main profit model in the future. Compared with the payment model of TO C-end users, the profit model of TO B drama implantation and e-commerce with goods may be more suitable for professional production institutions, but this profit model needs to consider the balance between user experience and customer needs.
"The duration of micro-short dramas is shorter, advertising has an impact on content quality, so the test of advertising monetization is larger, in terms of payment, micro-short dramas cannot use the business model of long videos, short drama production companies cannot rely on the model of long dramas to earn the difference between production costs and platform purchases, and the diversified profit model is the lifeblood of micro-short dramas."
The person in charge of a platform micro-short drama said that this requires the micro-short drama to actively try the monetization model of short videos from the beginning, including brand investment, business implantation, live streaming with goods, IP incubation, artist creation and traffic distribution and other profit models. At present, micro-short dramas still have not formed a self-consistent and stable revenue model, and micro-short dramas still need complete business model support to ensure the long-term and benign content production of the industry.
Although the industry standard of micro-short drama has not yet finally taken shape, with the entry of many entrants, micro-short dramas have begun to approach the direction of systematization, refinement, standardization and specialization, and at the moment when the linkage between the film and television industry and short videos is more frequent, a change that belongs to micro-short dramas seems to have just begun.