Text | Kaiboluocaijing, author | Jin Jiepan, Editor | Wei Jia
Nearly two months after Via disappeared due to tax evasion, a news that "Via will come back in March" came out, and at the same time, a new account called "Bee Surprise Society" was launched on Taobao, stirring up thousands of waves.
Li Ke used to be a regular visitor to Via's live broadcast room, and her first reaction when she saw the name of the new live broadcast room was, "She's back?" ”
Because the name and set are all too familiar. The name of the live broadcast room is "Bee Surprise Society", which bumps into Wei Ya's previous official public account "Wei Ya Surprise Society", and the word "bee" is the same as the fan nickname of Wei Ya's husband Dong Haifeng. The set of the live broadcast room is also highly similar to the past Via live broadcast room.
Not only that, but the people who appear on camera are all "familiar faces". 5 of the 6 anchors (Xiao Han, Hao Hao, Kaizi, Duoduo, Facai) are the secondary broadcasters and models of Wei Ya's live broadcast room in the past. "They're recognizable among fans and they're recognizable at a glance." Li Ke said.
Behind the scenes, the assistant broadcast rushed to the front desk to bring the goods, attracting fans who did not know the truth to swipe the screen in the live broadcast room, asking "Wei Ya is back?" ”
A core person of the Qianxun Group behind Wei Ya denied the news of "Wei Ya's rebroadcast" to the media, and a number of Taobao live broadcast xiao er replied to the media, saying that "there is no plan to receive Wei Ya Fang to rebroadcast". The industrial and commercial information completed the day after the premiere of the live broadcast store shows that it is not directly related to Qianxun.
However, some merchants revealed that the information they receive in private domains is different. "The Bee Surprise Club team will be in the private domain, clearly saying that it is the Via team, and the old fans and merchants have linked it to Via." A fast food merchant who has worked with Via said to Open Pineapple Finance.
3 days later, Sydney originally helped broadcast Light Light also started broadcasting on Taobao Live, and the account name was "Light is coming", which once again provoked the market nerves.
"Since Sydney and Wei Ya were banned for tax evasion in December last year, Taobao Live has not been so lively for a long time." Lin Yu, a senior practitioner of live e-commerce, sighed.
In the view of more than one industry insider, as a newcomer, the data performance of the live broadcast room between the two broadcasting groups is not bad, "fans and merchants are currently recognized", but whether the abacus behind this move can be realized, I am afraid that no one is sure.
Assistant broadcaster, two faces?
On February 13, the news that "Via is seeking a comeback, or re-broadcasting on Taobao at the latest in March this year" was deleted after a technology self-media release. A few hours ago, the "Bee Surprise Society" opened its debut on Taobao Live.
Backed by the "invisible" tree, the live performance of the Bee Surprise Society has been hanging all the way.
The first live broadcast (February 12) has a cumulative view of 1.15 million and 102,000 fans, starting from the fifth live broadcast (February 16), the cumulative viewing of a single live broadcast has entered the level of 10 million, and the number of fans has risen at a rate of 100,000 per game, and it is currently rising to 1.38 million.
"In the plate of Taobao Live Broadcast, the traffic growth and fan efficiency of Wei Ya's broadcast number are at a very high level." Yang Jing, head of e-commerce on a platform, said. For reference, according to the statistics of Aurora Big Data, the daily active users (DAUs) of Diantao were 11.23 million in September 2021.
A new number that bumps into the face of "Via's live broadcast room", it is difficult not to attract attention. What does it have to do with humility? Does it indicate that Via is coming back?
The company certified by its live broadcast room store is called Hangzhou Baifeng Culture Media Co., Ltd. According to Tianyan, the company, which was established in August 2021, has a legal person and a major shareholder, He Weihua, and there is only one affiliated company under its name. From the perspective of industry and commerce, it has nothing to do with Wei Ya and Qian Xun.
According to the "Most Talk" report, a core person of the Qianxun Group said that the new company and Weiya and the Qianxun Group behind it are not directly related, it is the internal entrepreneurship of employees, and it is not a "comeback" in disguise by Via, nor is it a stone throwing for directions.
The bee squad also unified its voice during the live broadcast, emphasizing that "it is a small team of six of us who are trying to start a business".
But the information received by many merchants and fans is a different story.
More than one merchant said that in the WeChat circle of friends, a number of Humble Seekers frequently forwarded the relevant content of the "Bee Surprise Club"; the fast food merchants who had cooperated with Wei Ya revealed that "the Bee Surprise Club team will be in the private domain, clearly saying that it is the Wei Ya team."
Source / Live Screenshot
Li Ke, a former fan of Weiya Surprise Club, also felt the familiar atmosphere in the Weibo and Taobao live broadcast rooms. "Although the account (Bee Surprise Club) did not mention Via, the comment area was full of comments that 'finally found the organization' and 'I haven't seen it for a long time, and I miss it very much.'" And I found the design of the coupons to be very similar to before. ”
If it is said that it is not too difficult to find the resources accumulated in the live broadcast industry and pick up a live broadcast room with a tens of millions of views from scratch. The other auxiliary broadcast number that was then launched was a small witch.
Three days after the launch of the Via Surprise Agency, Sydney's original assistant broadcast light was also broadcast on Taobao. The premiere of "The Light Is Coming" (February 15) has been watched by 770,200 people and has 96,000 fans, and by the time of the fifth live broadcast (February 20), it has watched 4.144 million views, and the current number of fans is 516,000.
"The relatively slow growth of fans in the light live broadcast room may also be related to the previous foundation, after all, Via and Qianxun were the top stream in the past." Cui Lili, director of the E-commerce Research Institute of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, said.
There is also speculation that "The Light Is Coming" is more like a personal choice than the "Bee Surprise Society".
In fact, like the "Bee Surprise Society", it is a group-type live broadcast room where old faces have reappeared. There are a total of 5 anchors in the live broadcast room, and in addition to the C position, there are also four sub-broadcasters, Yao Yao, Gong Jie and Xiao Bai. Light and sparkle, yao yao used to be the assistant broadcast of Sydney live broadcast room, and Gong Jie and Xiao Bai were the models at that time.
The unified caliber of this broadcasting group in the live broadcast process is also "small partners starting a business together", and there is no mention of Sydney.
"But the vast majority of the users who come to these two live broadcast rooms are former fans of Via and Sydney." Yang Jing said. In recent days, these diaspora fans are being "brought" to the Taobao live broadcast room from Channels such as Weibo and WeChat public accounts.
Merchants, do you still recognize?
Auxiliary broadcaster, does the merchant still recognize?
"The two major supporting groups debuted again, while 'hinting' and denying, but the relationship is inextricably linked." Lin Yu analyzed that now it seems that everything is still running according to the expected trajectory, including on the merchant side, and has not encountered much resistance.
A number of merchants have revealed that the relationship between bee surprise society and Qianxun is not self-explanatory, and the investment team is also hinting at the close relationship. But they all agreed that the right to speak on the anchor side must be inferior to Via.
Before the tax evasion storm, Via usually had to charge a 20% commission and a certain amount of pit fees for carrying goods, and it was difficult to find one. Chen Tan, a practitioner in the live e-commerce industry, revealed that there is no charge for the Bee Surprise Club at present, and a large number of products are pure maid live broadcast investment, which is extremely friendly to merchants.
The same is true of "The Light is Coming" on the other side. The relevant person in charge of a health care brand told Kai Pineapple Finance that the company has signed a pure commission with the Guangguang team to cooperate with the annual frame of pure commission, and the commission ratio is 30%.
In terms of product discounts, "in addition to the second sale, among the normal sales of goods, the prices of several models I pay attention to are not as competitive as in the past 'Via era'." Li Ke said. At present, in the number of live broadcasts, the two live broadcast rooms have a certain number of welfare seconds for the purpose of drainage, and the price is generally 0.01 yuan.
What kind of merchant will pay for the broadcast group without Via?
Yang Jing said that with a humble investment team and supply chain capabilities as a "guarantee", the vast majority of domestic brands that Weiya has cooperated with in the past have a high probability of being willing to cooperate with the live broadcast, but it is difficult to cooperate with some big-name beauty and overseas brands.
According to the opening of pineapple financial observation, in the past 9 live broadcasts of the Bee Surprise Society, there are almost no international big names, and they are basically dominated by domestic brands. There are some Yuze and Baijiling that have cooperated with Weiya Live in the past, and there are also some new brands that have just arrived, and even many brands with low visibility have appeared.
Combined with the statements of many merchants, the current cooperative brands of Bee Surprise Society are mainly two categories.
One is the merchant who trusts Via's team and renews the frontier.
Zhang Xue summed up the experience of working with Wei Ya in the past with Pineapple Finance, "It is very painful, but it is also more reassuring."
"Their team will bargain and communicate countless times until they get the lowest price, and some merchants will be held liable for breach of contract for giving lower prices to other live broadcast rooms." The experience of our team is that the selection of The Weiya team is more rigorous than most companies on the market, and the price of the pit fee is more conscientious, as long as you can get on, it will basically not let you lose. Zhang Xue said.
A number of merchants, including Zhang Xue, revealed that the cooperation with the broadcasting group was actively found by the other party's investment team, because there was a trust basis for previous cooperation, "I plan to cooperate first." Some merchants even said bluntly, "I don't care about the gains and losses of one or two games."
The other is the new type of business that couldn't get in before and now finally seized the opportunity. This is in line with Cui Lili's view, "There will be some new brands that take advantage of this more 'right time' to cut into the humble partnership." ”
Chen Tan analyzed from the perspective of merchants, at this stage to find anchors with goods of the brand, the pursuit of either ROI (return on investment) or sales scale.
For businesses pursuing ROI, the sub-broadcast group is a good choice. "Because the cost is cheap, even if a sale of 50,000 goods, the ROI is higher than a live broadcast room with a pit fee of 100,000 yuan but a sale of 300,000 goods."
As for the pursuit of scale of businesses, the most ideal partner is the head anchor, so that it is possible to alleviate the pressure on inventory or cash flow. But helplessly, head resources are really tight.
"Now, the TOP-level MCN institutions in the Taobao live broadcast system are still Qianxun, Meijian, Junmeng (which has Lie'er Baby), Yuyou (which has Chen Jiekiki). Chen Tan said. Yang Jing added that judging from the current market situation, it is difficult to see the head again.
Whether it is an old partner or a new friend, the most important thing is always The invisible Wei Ya.
"The smart merchants didn't interrupt their connection with Via's team." Chen Tan said that a large proportion of merchants believe that even if Wei Ya cannot make a comeback in the live broadcast room, she is optimistic about the sales ability of the team behind it, and in a short period of time, the sub-broadcast group can be used as an alternative.
"What the merchants are optimistic about is that Wei Ya has a certain number of hardcore fans, and is looking for the appeal to end consumers on Taobao live broadcast, the allocation of platform resources, and the application of relevant rules." Cui Lili said.
Testing the market, or collecting traffic?
It has not yet been broadcast 10 times, and the data of the Bee Surprise Society has begun to decline.
In the past nine games, 3 of the cumulative viewing data broke 10 million, and the highest record remained at 11.66 million, but on the 9th live broadcast on the evening of February 20, the viewing data fell back to about 5 million.
"Is this rhythm OK?" In this live broadcast, the anchor of the Bee Surprise Club will still turn his head and ask colleagues rhythm questions, and will also communicate with the audience in the live broadcast, "Do you think this rhythm is OK?" "I'm sorry, I'm a little nervous..."
Just two months after Via was banned, the experienced broadcasting group did not have Via to sit in the lineup, or it seemed a little panicked.
"The supporting broadcast group and Wei Ya have been running together for many years, nothing more than talking more and less talking before, the experience of carrying goods, the theory of live control field, they also understand, let them be alone, there will not be too much problem." Yang Jing said that there is a gap between the assistant broadcaster and the anchor after all, and it is obviously unrealistic to expect people to be eye-catching.
In the eyes of many industry insiders, the data of the broadcast group with goods is a blockbuster, more because Wei Ya's influence is still there.
Chen Tan said that facing fans, stained with The light of Via, because Via has always relied on the "supermarket design", she herself represents the low price and the richness of the product; in the face of the merchant, it is "borrowed the light of via via the effect of the goods in the past".
The logic of fans is, "Because the goods are good, I believe in the anchor, because I believe in the anchor, so I think the goods are good." But Chen Tan believes that this positive cycle is difficult to transform into other anchors of humble search, ordinary consumers do not pay attention to who is which institution, nor do they recognize Qianxun, only recognize Wei Ya. "Therefore, the advantage of the Bee Surprise Club in the early stage is exposure and popularity, but the establishment of trust with fans in the later stage still depends on the goods."
Lin Yu predicted that there will be a slippery slope in the data of the live broadcast room in the later stage, and the merchants recognize sales. Therefore, whether it is a fan joining a fan group or a merchant "betting" on the broadcast group, whether Via can come back is the key.
In the view of Cao Wei, a senior partner at Bank of China (Nanjing) Law Firm in Beijing, Wei Ya's comeback is not small, mainly to overcome the two major difficulties of policy and public opinion.
"At present, there are no laws or regulations prohibiting tax evasion and tax evasion related personnel or companies from engaging in live e-commerce business. From the policy level, the normative documents or opinions issued by the competent authorities will have a significant impact on the rules formulated by the e-commerce platform or the measures taken, and there is a certain difficulty in Weiya's comeback. ”
Cao Wei added an analysis that Wei Ya's comeback still has to pass the public opinion barrier. Some public opinion believes that if Via makes a comeback, it will be unfair to the artists and anchors who have been heavily fined for tax-related issues.
There are even live e-commerce practitioners who express the view that "the debut of the bee is a move for the Via team to test the market".
"Either the market does not allow it, or public opinion does not allow it, and Via cannot come back immediately, so let the supporting broadcast group come out." In Chen Tan's view, the core intention of the bee surprise club is to "test the market reaction to assess the possibility of Wei Ya's comeback in the future."
For the "Rebroadcast of Via", a core person of the Qianxun Group recently told "The Most Talking", "Pure fiction, there is no such thing at all".
Chen Tan believes that another function of bees is to "collect Wei ya fan traffic". Before the account was banned, Weiya Taobao had 92.27 million fans, just one step away from 100 million.
"Via's influence is still there, the humble supply chain is still there, it is impossible to wait for these to disappear." Wei Ya was sealed, the company lacked the core source of income, then let the assistant broadcast absorb Wei Ya's previous fan traffic as much as possible, recover as much loss as possible, and also let Qian Xun return to the normal rhythm of live broadcasting as soon as possible. Yang Jing said that as for absorbing new fans, don't think about it in a short period of time.
"There is only one Via, and the merchants, including Qianxun, are gambling." Lin Yu said.
*At the request of the interviewees, Li Ke, Lin Yu, Zhang Xue, and Chen Tan are pseudonyms.