CHINESE INTERNET CELEBRITIES OR WHO ARE WANG HONG?
The market for Internet celebrities in China is experiencing another boom. Digital space today has became one of the key channels for the income of advertisers and celebrities who use social networks as a tool to promote their personal brand and make their work popular. Millions of subscribers and tens of millions of views of published content are basic indicators for advertisers who chase after influencers and opinion leaders with proposals for cooperation and product placement.
Common name in China for Internet celebrities is Wang Hong (网红, translation, 网 - Internet, 红 - red). Wang Hong are Internet bloggers and media people who are extremely popular on Chinese social networks. The industry is growing every year, and if the wanghong economy accounted for approximately $8 billion in 2016, it reached $15 billion in 2017 (CBNData). A successful Wang Hong can make over $150,000 dollars per month.
The main driving force of such rapid growth has been the emergence of new Internet-based services that offer the greatest audience reach, as well as the overall growth of Chinese Internet celebrities who attract subscribers thanks to unique and interesting content. If in the past, WeChat, WeiBo and Youku were the main communication channels for bloggers in China, with the advent of streaming services, TikTok (translation, 抖音 Douyin) became widely known in the West - a streaming service for short videos to help Internet celebrities make money on advertising during their online broadcasts.
2.3М
Subscribers
3.3М
Subscribers
1.3М
Subscribers
6.2М
Subscribers
6.7М
Subscribers
The many-sided nature of the Internet celebrity industry has contributed to the emergence of various related services, such as production centers and blogger MCN-agencies (MCN - Multi-Channel Network) specializing in promoting their clients in social networks. Some MCN’s are responsible for digital distribution, others - for creative content and finding the right approach to the target audience. Approximately 90% of bloggers with a subscriber audience of over 100,000 people collaborate with local MCN agencies, which today number over 2,000 throughout China.
PROMOTION OF FOREIGN INTERNET CELEBRITIES IN CHINA
Actually, the most popular foreign celebrities in China are not so foreign. As a rule, it is actually foreign ex-pats living for many years in China who attract a lot of interest thanks to their perfect knowledge of the Chinese language, and their entertaining ability to sing in Chinese or dance. They perform at talent shows, are invited to television broadcasts and cooperate with Chinese Internet bloggers. The number of subscribers to foreign Internet celebrities’ channels can reach several million people.
Due to censorship in the Chinese Internet space, many Internet services we are used to are blocked. Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and other most popular Internet platforms for foreign celebrities are unavailable to residents of mainland China. To promote yourself and your creativity, foreign musical performers, artists and bloggers should at least learn to work (and to understand the mechanisms of promotion) with the largest local Internet services in China, many of which are available for registration only to Chinese users. Such services include virtually all social networks, including WeChat, WeiBo, Douban and the largest video hosting and streaming services - Youku, Tudou, Douyin, Bilibili, Miaopai, etc. In addition, any published material must be localized into Chinese and adapted to the Chinese audience.
The only real celebrities who can boast of their popularity on the Chinese Internet are world-renowned stars produced by the biggest music labels that organize concert activities for them on Asian tours, as well as foreign actors of Chinese films and other cultural figures who have successfully made the transition from “offline” to “online”. And even in this case, most of the "official" foreign celebrity profiles in social networks are administered by their Chinese fans who make money on their favorite artists without the knowledge of the above.
WHY DO WE WRITE ABOUT THIS? EVERYTHING IS VERY SIMPLE
If you are popular and successfully advance in social networks, for example, you are an Internet celebrity and you make money on your unique and interesting content, then we can offer you a multiple increase of your target audience, and we can help you attract Chinese advertisers by promoting your personal brand across the Internet space in China.
Today, in order to earn on your popularity, you just have to have an “online presence”. High-quality interactive content adapted to the Chinese audience will help people learn about you and draw attention to you. We design unique and innovative solutions that allow you to monetize your creativity by attracting advertisers, sponsors and partners who want to learn more about you and invite you to China.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
We develop individual strategies and integrated PR campaigns aimed at promoting and strengthening your brand throughout the online space in China. We follow the trends and hype - we monitor social networks and media resources, monitor challenges and flashmobs and utilize them in our promotional campaigns. Thus, we increase your overall media performance and consumer brand recognition that helps you achieve your goals.
