Celebrities sit and chat in variety shows, why are there always brands to invest money?

"Mao Xuewang" returned on time this spring.

Since its launch at the end of 2021, this show, which features Mao Buyi and Li Xueqin inviting friends to come to the house as guests, has accompanied the audience through four seasons and achieved the original annual goal.

But this period of time is precisely the time when the domestic entertainment variety show ushered in an inflection point and a cold winter full of difficulties.

The epidemic, the economy, coupled with the impact of relevant policies, there is more than one mountain for the variety show industry to challenge. Among them, the most difficult to overcome is undoubtedly the reality that the upstream of the variety show industry chain - advertisers - marketing budgets have been greatly reduced. So some programs died in the project establishment stage, and some programs only ran for one season and disappeared,

Under the big waves of sand, "Mao Xuewang", which has a simple mode and a small size, has been alive until now, and has got rid of the embarrassing situation of "running naked" broadcast.

"Mao Xuewang", Li Xueqin, Guo Qilin, Mao Buyi

Fast forward to this year, Tencent Video continued to increase its code and launched a new variety show "Unfold Talk", which is also a guest at home, the same chat, and the same customer sponsorship.

When the platform S-level projects are difficult to break the circle, or even unable to pull sponsorship, where did the "Mao Xuewang" who just invite people to nag win?

Someone first? Or is there a show first?

Generally speaking, the establishment of a variety show always discusses the basic mode first, and then invites the guests you like. The "Mao Xuewang" did the opposite, first having guests (the main MC) and then discussing what to do around them.

The birth of "Mao Xuewang" originated from the sofa in Mao Buyi's home that was often full of friends, and Li Xueqin was also on it, which is their real life state, so they had the idea of turning it into a variety show.

"Expand and Talk" is Yang naïve's "initiative to ask for help". One night, while chatting with Qiu Yue, deputy general manager of Tencent's online video program content production department, she asked: "There are a few girls around me, if we get together, can we do a show?"

For video platforms, this "guest first" approach has many hidden benefits.

First of all, the real original relationship between the guests is always better than the friendship in temporary disguise, and it can also be more sincere when shooting, showing the warmth and companionship of friendship through natural details of getting along. Just imagine, if it weren't for chatting with Mao Buyi and Li Xueqin, would Guo Qilin still ridicule the performance of acquaintances on the Spring Festival Gala without scruples?

"Mao Xuewang", Li Xueqin, Guo Qilin, Mao Buyi

In addition, the mentality of the guests who want to take the initiative to save the game will make the show more stable, and there will be few changes in the middle of the substitution, and the so-called "original intention of production" is not easy to change. According to Qiu Yue, the reason why "Mao Xuewang" can be an adult fan is largely because Mao Buyi and Li Xueqin cooperate very well, no matter what work arrangements there are, they have to make way for the recording time of "Mao Xuewang".

In fact, in the overseas variety show market, it has become a new trend to create variety shows around specific guests, and many overseas artists are operating their own personal variety shows. Coupled with the rapid development of online channels, the production threshold of such programs has been further reduced, but the communication influence can catch up with conventional TV variety shows, so that more head artists can participate in it.

For example, the online variety show "Although I Didn't Prepare Any Dishes" by South Korean female singer Lee Yongzhi as the MC, focuses on a lightweight variety show in which Li Yongzhi and the guest eat while drinking and chatting. ALTHOUGH THE MODE IS SIMPLE AND NOT LONG, THE SHOW HAS NO SHORTAGE OF K-POP HEAD IDOLS, AND MEMBERS OF BULLETPROOF BOY GROUP WERE INVITED AT THE END OF THE SECOND SEASON, AND IT IS REPORTED THAT THE FIRST GUEST OF THE THIRD SEASON IS FROM BLACKPINK.

"Although I didn't prepare any dishes"

Looking back at the results of "Mao Xuewang", it is also remarkable. Since the official announcement of the spring season that has just been launched, more than 10 topics have appeared on Weibo hot search. Qiu Yue has repeatedly emphasized that the previous broadcast volume of "Mao Xuewang" even exceeded many S-grade programs on the platform.

More importantly, this kind of annual program that tends to stabilize output and is smaller in size gives the platform the opportunity to solve the problem of user stickiness.

Previously, when the drafts were still fighting on the same stage, the overall traffic of the platform and the new members were increased within a limited time, and Youaiteng had a problem - how to convert the loyalty of paying users to the program into platform loyalty. In other words, after the end of the draft, how to keep these influx of show fans to continue to consume other content?

In fact, this may be a problem that seasonal shows are destined to face, and no platform implements an effective solution for mobility. More importantly, in the era of fragmented content consumption, even if similar programs are launched in the future, the cost of user recall on the platform is still very high.

In this case, "Mao Xuewang", which only stops and keeps changing, has achieved a kind of user cultivation.

"Mao Xuewang", Li Xueqin, Mao Buyi

According to Entertainment Studio, the overall UV (visiting users) and VV (number of plays) of "Mao Xuewang" are now no less than a long video program inside Tencent Video, and its cost is much lower than that of a seasoned long video program.

Are advertisers still "S-theoretical"?

When it comes to cost, the cost of "Mao Xuewang" can be distinguished by the naked eye.

Tencent Video's official positioning is "scene-based reality show variety show", the so-called "scene" is the "Mao Xuewang House", in other words, this is an indoor recording variety show, which does not involve large-scale scene scheduling and outdoor shooting, which saves a large part of the cost.

Secondly, as mentioned above, the origin of the birth of the show lies in the guests themselves, and the invited guests are mostly from everyone's "circle of friends", or artists who have publicity tasks in the same period, and the overall variety show salary will be more controllable.

The filming process of the show is not complicated, after determining the flight guests and chat themes in the early stage, the filming of the day is the whole process of being a guest, entering the door - chatting - eating + chatting - taking pictures and leaving. Entertainment Studio learned that the filming time of each episode of "Mao Xuewang" is about 3-4 hours, and there will be no late recording at all, and the time cost and labor cost have also been greatly reduced.

"Mao Xuewang", Li Xueqin, Guo Qilin, Mao Buyi

Looking at the "later work" "Unfolding Story", many parts are very similar to the situation of "Mao Xuewang". According to a report by "Entertainment Capital" in August 2022, "Mao Xuewang" has covered its production costs with membership income alone, while "Expand Talk" also continues the VIP member exclusive model.

"Unfold Talk", Fu Seoul, Yi Lijing, Wu Mochou, Yang Tianzhen, Yang Li

Interestingly, while reducing costs, the commercial benefits of the show have increased. "Mao Xuewang" has been stable at 2 sponsorships from the naked broadcast to the end of last year; As a brand new program, "Unfold Talk" has a total title when it starts broadcasting. In a way, this seems to be out of line with the common sense that advertisers prefer head items.

Entertainment Studio pointed out in "The Variety Show Industry Is Poor, Letting Go of the Star, Poor to Every Worker" that when brand customers have been accustomed to watching variety show investment plans with first-line big coffee for many years, investment thinking has also been formed.

Sang Jie, a variety show producer who has been in the industry for many years, once said: "Many customers have to report layer by layer when placing orders, and many big leaders do not have time to perceive which of the current variety shows is good and which has a reputation, and he has to vote for big stars, which is known to the whole people, and he can see it." Now to educate customers to change this thinking, the cost of communication is too high. ”

However, compared with large-scale head projects, "Mao Xuewang" has the advantage of short and fast movement, and can flexibly match the marketing nodes of various brands.

"Mao Xuewang", Li Xueqin, Mao Buyi, Hu Lan, Xu Zhisheng

Just last year, a platform S-level project was forced to change due to policy factors, and the launch time changed from hot summer to cold winter, and the title merchant originally wanted to take advantage of the situation to market its summer goods, and the final effect can be imagined. It can be seen that "Mao Xuewang", which runs through spring, summer, autumn and winter, avoids similar problems.

Program producer Zhao Jianzhong said that advertisers will now look more at some relatively large node marketing and carry out accurate time slots, such as Women's Day, 618 Shopping Festival, Double 11 and so on.

"At these nodes, advertisers want to pick a show that is more in line with the brand's tonality, and sometimes they can't. Often at this time, "Mao Xuewang" can undertake many customer needs. This year, the program will also try to launch special planning and special live broadcast to adapt to the diverse needs of different customers. ”

Because of this, "Unfold Talk" also aims at a sense of continuity and companionship. According to Qiu Yue, "Unfold Talk" is already preparing for the next season.

epilogue

Simply put, when a thing is beneficial to both the platform and advertisers, it will only become more process-oriented and industrialized. Entertainment Studio believes that there will be more "Mao Xuewang" in the variety show market in the future.

It's just that for the audience, not all "Mao Xuewang" can become "electronic squeezed vegetables".

Compared with the fun and lightness of "Mao Xuewang", "Unfold and Talk", which focuses more on the topic itself, did not achieve the expected effect, Yang Tianzhen took Yang Li, Fu Seoul and Yi Lijing to do the show together, and there was a kind of "1+1+1+1."

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In the final analysis, the organization of chat variety shows seems simple and cost-effective, but in fact, it relies more on the continuous output of fixed guests, and the output can be a real friendship in the entertainment industry, the real side of stars, or some real issues that inspire public resonance. If you can't be real and chatty, even if it's real, it's destined to become tasteless.

"Mao Xuewang", Peng Yuchang, Zhang Jiajia, Li Xueqin, Mao Buyi

More importantly, do viewers really need so many nagging shows?

In the early years, Taiwanese variety shows tasted the sweetness of talk shows, and gradually developed to the point that which variety shows are talking, the number is even more than 30, but in the end, there is only one show "Kangxi is coming" that can be chased down.

Once the degree of homogenization passes the critical point and the new program cannot provide a surprise beyond the "previous work", the entire track is bound to shrink and narrow, and the audience will quickly fatigue aesthetic fatigue and turn away, which is not conducive to the healthy development of the variety show market in the long run.

When the market has not really recovered, it is good that the platform can find a content model to fight the winter. It's just that after meeting the needs of the platform itself and the needs of advertisers, remember to listen to the voice of the audience.

"Kangxi is coming", Xu Xidi, Cai Kangyong