It's true that I earn you money, but it's also true that I send you warmth.
Song Dandan and Zhao Benshan's sketch "White Clouds and Black Earth" has such a classic bridge section, when Cui Yongyuan asked about the dreams of the two, the old lady of Baiyun shouted, "I very much want to see Zhao Zhongxiang!" Uncle Black Earth immediately retaliated, "Ni Ping is my dream lover!" I have to say that since Teacher Zhao Zhongxiang has already gone to xian in 2020, Baiyun's dream may not be realized. But if it is in the United States, Uncle Black Earth is very likely to spend thousands of eight hundred yuan, and Ni Ping, a former well-known CCTV host and actor, "nagged ten yuan".
Because there is a website called Cameo in the United States, idols clearly mark the price of online orders, from actors, YouTube influencers, to basketball players, record birthday greeting videos, call, help send gifts. Cameo alone makes millions of dollars a year.
Cameo itself is the meaning of a cameo and a small supporting role. After all, the first-line big names will not reduce their own price to "online meals", at first it found some small-name stars, although it was established in 2017, until last year Cameo ushered in a real outbreak.
Cameo CEO Steven Galanis later concluded that "the most popular celebrities on Cameo tend to have 'real, powerful personalities.'" For example, Tom Felton , the "Young Master Malfoy" in Harry Potter (cameo costs $599 for one), and many actors in the epic masterpiece "Game of Thrones". Whether it's NBA star Tim Hardaway, hip-hop mogul Snoop Dogg, or Larry Hankin, who plays Mr. Huck in Friends... Maybe you can really find the one you like.
The 2020 "sales champion" was Brian Baumgartner, who starred as The Office, second by Brett Farfer, known as the "legendary quarterback" football player, and in sixth place was Carol Baskin, who was famous for the Netflix documentary "Raising a Tiger.". In the words of the American media VICE, "This is the gig economy created for niche stars."
Celebrities record videos for fans at almost no cost, according to the copywriting written when fans place orders, easily divided into three-quarters. In addition to recording videos, Cameo also offers fans a call feature with idol Zoom. In addition to that, Cameo is testing other features: online chat with celebrities, one-on-one video calls.
"Cameo's mission is to create the most personalized and authentic fan relationships." Galanis said.
I don't know if it was inspired by Cameo, Bloomberg reported that Facebook is also developing an app that can let fans and idols interact, called Super. "Super enables creators, entrepreneurs and celebrities to host online video events. Viewers can tip or pay to appear with celebrities, and creators can sell merchandise on live streams." Bloomberg wrote. At first glance, Super is a bit like a "video version of the clubhouse" that can be streamed live.
From 2017 to 2020, Cameo revenue increased by an order of magnitude per year. At the end of 2018, Medium said cameo had 5,500 celebrities, and now that number is more than 40,000. Cameo didn't break new ground, but its success was not only to make it easy for idols to make money, but also to build a new type of social relationship platform using celebrity effects.
However, Cameo is not limited to a "rice circle application".
Traditional celebrity endorsements go through the layers of brands, brokerage companies, and lawyers, and in addition to endorsement fees, these costs add up to a lot of money. In fact, there are some brands and merchants, such as an auto repair chain mom-and-pop shop can also find Cameo celebrities to promote, Cameo simplified the celebrity order process, took on the role of a "traditional brokerage company".
It has a wide range of celebrities, actors, politicians and even investors, such as popular investor Kevin O'Leary, who says that 99% of the people who let him record videos are entrepreneurs, businesses, who post videos as endorsements on social media. "The cool thing about Cameo is that it's for everyone, it's democratic."
There is no shortage of idols directly fishing for gold on Cameo, and the platform has never shyed away from talking about this. But there are still many celebrities and fans who are grateful that the platform has brought the two sides closer.
"Not only did the fans see the people they loved, we saw the fans. I'm talking to you, I'm talking to someone important in your life, and that connection is very powerful and important." Musician Michael Franti said, "The advent of social media allows us to communicate with thousands of fans at once, but Cameo brings us back to one-on-one communication, which is valuable to the artists themselves and allows me to thank the people who support my music one-on-one, so I am very careful in making each Cameo."
To put it bluntly, it's true that I earn you money, but it's also true that I send you warmth.
In the past, the so-called "star chasing" meant that fans looked up to idols. But Cameo created a place of relatively equal dialogue where celebrities could unload their "idol baggage." For example, Tom Felton (Malfoy actor) is not carefully dressed up in each video, and sometimes appears in the camera wearing a flowery "pajamas", which is very "close to the people". On the contrary, fans can score and evaluate the idol, and netizens can clearly see whether the idol is worth "placing an order".
Therefore, both celebrities and fans are willing to take the initiative to post videos to the network to bring new growth to Cameo.
In fact, there are similar products in China, such as WishR, and one of the biggest differences is "expensive". Open WishR, slightly famous stars need tens of thousands of yuan, compared to Cameo is really many, although celebrity prices range from $10 to $2500, but more than $1,000 celebrities are only single digits.
Cameo has made a clear classification, such as price range, a few stars of praise, how many reviews, reply time, and on WishR, the number of orders placed by individuals is very small, mostly promotional videos recorded by celebrities for business brands, so you will not feel a strong "human touch" on it.
Unlike Cameo's last comment about Brett Farfer, "I still cry every time I see it, and at the end of my tough 29th year, Brett gave me the best gift." I am very grateful that every time I can see the happiness and hope that is conveyed from his eyes. You've made a huge difference in the life of someone who respects you from the beginning."
Other so-called "rice circle Apps" still operate fan communities, announce celebrity dynamics, fans brush data to "hit the list", and buy idol peripheral derivatives to kryptonite. In these apps, fans still "serve" their idols, while on Cameo, users have a feeling that they are unique and that idols are creating value for themselves.
In the end, it has to do with the cultural and social environment. Why do people sometimes think that domestic stars make too much money? "In fact, in the past few years, China's star market has had such a problem, everyone's offer is too ridiculous, and the proportion of star remuneration in film and television drama investment may exceed half." Because the whole market does not have a price comparison mechanism. The U.S. film market is actually particularly open and transparent, and each star's remuneration has a basic number." Lei Tao, the founder of WishR, once said in an interview.
"If a business endorsement is the upper limit of a celebrity's commercial value, then the record ID may be a lower limit of the commercial value of a celebrity."
However, in foreign countries, there is also a tradition of inviting celebrities to private parties to "show their faces". Users' preferences may be more diverse, not that you quote a higher price, which proves that you are more famous, on the contrary, no one may come to you to record videos. In cameo comments, it is whether the video is interesting or not, and whether the star is careful or not, which is the focus of the user's attention. The Cameo model may be difficult to navigate domestically, because every product carries the uniqueness of social environment and culture, and successful products must be "grown" from social culture.
On Cameo, if users feel that recording videos is still expensive, it doesn't matter, they can also spend $2.99 online chat, and the platform will weaken the star aura as much as possible, so that fans have the feeling that they can be "treated specially" for spending money. This is almost impossible to achieve at home.
This article is written by Shen Zhihan
Editor-in-Charge: Jing Yu
Caption image source: Cameo
This article was originally released by Geek Park GeekPark, please add Geek Jun WeChat geekparker.