Who is behind the "big red and purple" of online celebrities?

At present, more than 90% network celebrities have signed up for MCN institutions.

According to the statistics of the Ministry of Commerce, in the first quarter of this year, China's e-commerce live broadcast exceeded 4 million. Live broadcast products are growing like weeds, and the sales figures of super network celebrities are not uncommon. Live broadcast experts have become "walking shelves", and MCN institutions with many network celebrity resources are sought after by capital. At the same time, disputes between network celebrities and MCN institutions frequently occur, and MCN institutions are repeatedly exposed to uneven levels, and there are many "pits" in internal water depth.

Is the network celebrity economy booming or a flash in the pan? How many bubbles are there behind a hot mass? How can participants avoid the "pit" to get out of trouble?

Selling aquatic products is not as good as raising online celebrities and organizing individuals to run the market.

The epidemic has had a great impact on the film and television industry, and many companies have transformed into MCN. A large number of institutions and individuals run into the stadium, which is related to the low threshold for various live broadcast platforms to apply for entry.

The MCN organization signed by Chen Xin is located in Shenzhen, established on 20 17, with a registered capital of only several hundred thousand.

According to the survey data of Tianyan, there are currently more than 1.7 million online celebrity live broadcast related enterprises in China. In terms of geographical distribution, Zhejiang ranks first, followed by Liaoning, Guangdong and Jiangsu.

The COVID-19 epidemic went to the next level, a popular live broadcast industry. More and more entrepreneurs have discovered the hidden business opportunities and want to seize the limelight by running the market.

Statistics show that since March, the monthly registration of live broadcast-related enterprises has hit record highs. In May alone, it reached 2877, an increase of 684% compared with 20 19.

"We originally planned to do little seafood, and the factory decoration has been completed by 90%. Now I am going to tear it all down and change it to a media company. " Speaking of his own road to transformation, Brother Cen is particularly proud. The first floor of the factory is still storing cold storage and shipping aquatic products, and the upstairs has all been transformed into the office area of the media operation team.

Cenge's trading company was established in 2008, and caught the wind of e-commerce, with sales exceeding 20 million yuan that year. But he believes that the bigger the traditional business, the faster it will die.

"20 1 1 year, I distribute high-grade seafood, and the inventory accounts for 50 million, of which 20 million is still a loan, so I need to prepare enough goods for the whole year in one fishing season. In the event of a' black swan' incident, it will flash by. " Seeing that his peers have closed down under the epidemic, Brother Cen has a lingering fear. "It's still a good turn for light asset project ships."

One person, one mobile phone, and ultra-low cost have made countless people dream of becoming online celebrities, and using these dreams to realize business realization is the new direction of Senior Brother Cen. He has begun to claim that he is the owner of the MCN organization with "more than10 million fans".

Brother Cen's transformation has affected a friend who used to do car modification. After the Spring Festival this year, this friend also formed a new media team with a matrix of more than a dozen accounts.

Among the institutions that are transforming to MCN, film and television companies are particularly eye-catching. The epidemic has had a huge impact on the film and television industry, and many companies have tried to save themselves, including transforming into MCN. In addition, industry leaders such as Huayi Brothers and Wanda Media have also increased their MCN business.

Li Xiang is a post-80s film and television industry practitioner. He didn't start work in the first four months of this year. A video released in May became popular and attracted an advertising order of 60,000 yuan for him. He said, "Many companies and film and television bases can't start work this year. In contrast, MCN's business is more stable. " For film and television companies, MCN is more like an extension of business, and has accumulated in content production and artist training.

In addition to the film and television industry, a large number of educational institutions have been transformed into MCN. Different from games, chatting and other strong entertainment projects, the core value of educational content lies in the effect. High-quality content will establish a strong trust relationship with fans and further realize the realization of C-side business. As early as 20 17, Weibo Education, a subsidiary of Sina, launched the MCN cooperation plan, with nearly 100 cooperative institutions covering postgraduate entrance examination, CET-4 and CET-6, civil servants, department examination, study abroad and other fields.

Since the beginning of this year, Yu, the chairman of New Oriental Education Technology Group, has also given many live lectures on platforms such as car fast-moving and so on. According to the statistics of iResearch, the total turnover of educational products traded through short video platforms is 20 1 175 billion yuan.

At present, platforms such as Aauto Quicker, Tik Tok and Bi Li have launched cooperation plans with educational institutions. In June last year, 5438+065438+ 10, Aauto faster announced that it would provide 6.66 billion flows to help start the education account. In February this year, Tik Tok Byte Short Video Joint Education and Training Institutions and public schools launched the "Homework" project; In February of this year, the "continuous learning" course was launched to provide traffic support and cash rewards for UP owners.

People from all walks of life swarmed in. According to the data of Sky Eye Survey, as of July 6, according to the industrial and commercial registration, there were 9,284 new live broadcast related enterprises nationwide this year, which has exceeded the number of such enterprises in the whole year of 20 19.

A large number of institutions and individuals run into the stadium, which is related to the low threshold for various live broadcast platforms to apply for entry. If you want to become a MCN resident of Aauto faster, you only need to submit three original signing authors, one of whom has more than 2,000 fans, and the author has updated more than three works within two months; To become the MCN organization of Tik Tok, it only needs to sign five live broadcast experts under the company, and the total number of fans will exceed 10000.

Batch incubation becomes easy, but it is more and more difficult to realize.

The Matthew effect of the industry is becoming more and more obvious. All kinds of resources are tilted towards several large companies, and it is increasingly difficult for small and medium-sized institutions to make money. "The market that looks like' blue ocean' is actually' red and black'."

"The so-called online celebrity, to put it bluntly, is one thing." The employee of MCN in Beijing, Kaige, bluntly said, "If you want to create' personal design', you have to be different from ordinary people. Netizens like to watch different content."

In the fast-paced era, a short video of 15 seconds, if the first 3 seconds are not attractive enough, users will take it away. "We are talking about the law of' 3 seconds determines life and death, and 7 seconds must turn'. What we want is a contrast of strong visual impact. Pursuit makes people involuntarily sigh' I am gone'! " Brother Kay said.

He takes Chen Yufu, an online celebrity who shows off his wealth, as an example. Every day, he goes out wearing 26 kilograms of gold. Under a big gold chain with a diameter comparable to that of walnuts, a gold medal the size of a brick hangs, shining from head to toe. Such a high-profile and luxurious dress caught Chen Yufu's attention and even led to a police investigation. In fact, the gold worn by Chen Yufu is fake.

"The words and deeds that are out of place are really eye-catching, but it is easy to overturn if you don't grasp them well." Brother Kai knows network celebrities and was founded by an elite. He rented a mansion of hundreds of millions of yuan to shoot videos. The netizens with keen results found that this house has appeared in many people's videos.

Sensory stimulation is the primary way to absorb powder, and the platform also knows this. For example, if you register as a new user in Tik Tok or Aauto faster, the system will automatically push eye-catching content. First, catch the users who stay on the platform, and then push the content according to the user's viewing habits.

"Big data will not deceive people. What do you like to watch? It is clearer than your mother. " Kaige said half jokingly: "There is an indicator called' broadcast completion rate'. Even if the user doesn't comment, like or collect, but a video is not finished, it can't be faked. When the platform algorithm knows that you love watching such videos, it will be easier for you to brush the same type of works. "

Faced with a large number of choices, netizens are prone to aesthetic fatigue. Therefore, if you want to capture users for a long time, you have to rely on excellent content.

Kaige said that before incubating online celebrities, they should first examine their personalities to avoid the collapse caused by too much negative news; Secondly, look at the external and internal advantages or characteristics. External things, such as height and face value, can people remember them instantly? Internally refers to knowledge and experience, or whether they have mastered a skill. "Don't force it inside and outside, just have your own skills."

Do a good job of positioning and shooting a good video, but what if it still doesn't work? There is still a way.

"20,000 plays+150 live praises +30 reposts+15 live comments, just 28 yuan!" The reporter contacted WeChat merchants, a promoter of Tik Tok, randomly selected a short video with Tik Tok, and bought this 28 yuan package online. Sure enough, the promised effect was fulfilled within the scheduled time.

This WeChat service also accepts "live room popularity" services: "five real people interact for one hour" charges 50 yuan, and "10 robot brushes for three hours" charges 40 yuan?

298 yuan is the quotation of the brushing system he recommended to reporters. "It only needs a mobile phone to run, and then you can take orders yourself, or you can sell the system and continue to recruit agents." The WeChat business also revealed that many organizations are also using this system, "saving money for personal use and helping others to make money."

There is also a video mass production system, one person can manage hundreds of accounts, but the cost is high: the system supporting 32 mobile phones needs 19200, the system supporting 96 mobile phones needs 38,400, and the maintenance fee of 3,000 yuan per year is needed in the later period. This is only the software part, and the hardware mobile phone and SIM card have to be purchased by yourself.

After in-depth study of platform algorithm, user psychology and powder-increasing channels, mass production of online celebrities is no longer difficult. The reporter interviewed a number of MCN institutions, without exception, the office area has two walls. One wall is covered with photos of its network celebrities, which is called "network celebrity matrix", which is convenient for merchants who come to negotiate business to choose; One wall is covered with mobile phones to show the power of the brush system.

At present, there are three ways to change network celebrities: advertising, bringing goods and rewarding. The specific division depends on the contract, and different people have different bargaining power. The most common thing is to open the three-seven, and the institution takes seven.

Some people envy online celebrities for getting "hundreds of millions of sound waves" in one night's live broadcast. According to the rules, it is tens of millions of yuan. "But none of the hundreds of millions of sound waves are brushed up in bits and pieces, and there are institutions behind them. It is impossible for all the money to go to the anchor, but if the anchor ranks well, it can improve the bargaining power. " Brother Kai borrowed a line from the movie to describe it, "The gentry's money is returned in full, and the people's money is divided into 37 parts."

According to the reporter's investigation, a standard team of online celebrities must have at least six people: 1 clothing director, 1 designer, 1 assistant, 1 makeup, 1 camera, 1 new media operation. After one year, at least one million yuan will be invested, which may not be realized. Therefore, the current MCN institutions should be much more cautious when incubating online celebrities.

In addition, the Matthew effect of this industry is becoming more and more obvious, and various resources are tilted towards network celebrities and heads of several large companies, making it more and more difficult for many small and medium-sized institutions to make money. Brother Kai thinks that the market that looks like a "blue ocean" is actually "red and black".

"Juicer scam", bragging cost is a PPT.

"It is very common to cast a net to hoard the author by drawing a pie with empty gloves. Not only pheasant MCN company is possible, but also large and medium-sized MCN, but the probability of the former is higher. "

At present, most MCN organizations adopt the strategy of "casting a wide net" to find "Xiaobai" who has certain creative ability and a small number of fans but has growth potential. They tried their best to sign up for their company and take as much as they could.

After the confession, it is basically free-range, and it depends on nature whether it can be red or not. If you are red, you will earn, if you are not red, you will lose.

When signing "Xiaobai", the organization will brag about how it has channels, how it has strength, how it has a matrix, and how many online celebrities it has hatched. After all, it is not easy to verify, and the cost of bragging is a PPT.

This is the case with the MCN organization that Chen Xin met with. "At that time, several institutions wanted to sign a contract with me, but this institution was more active and spoke very well."

He signed the contract without a field trip. "This institution is in Shenzhen, and the contract was signed directly online. Now I'm going to court. I haven't even seen their faces. "

Chen Xin recalled that after signing the contract in April last year, the other party seemed to disappear. All his videos are planned, scripted, copied, filmed, edited and subtitled by himself. Just as he rose to 654.38+00,000, the boss of this organization suddenly appeared in the WeChat group chat and began to evaluate Chen Xin's unprofessional video production. Then he turned the topic to the business list, and asked Chen Xin to advertise and implant, and the commission was divided into 37 parts.

During the epidemic this year, it is very risky to go out and run around. The company didn't provide any protective measures, only said "You should pay attention to safety", which made Chen Xin feel very chilling. On the other hand, if he makes money from this blog, he thinks it is tantamount to "eating steamed bread with human blood", which is the reason why he really resists.

Faced with Chen Xin's refusal, the company took out the contract at that time. To put it bluntly, it means "the liquidated damages cannot be less, and the maximum value is 3 million."

A little desperate, Chen Xin even thought about giving up making short videos. After calming down, he wanted to find a job or go back to school, and dragged the matter to the epidemic with the word "drag", which was also rejected by the company.

There are not a few people like Chen Xin. Ling Zhou, a 90-year-old Shanghai designer, is going to fight for three years. Her father took on the work for her. "It is particularly distressing to see my father in his fifties driving from Shanghai to Hangzhou with his luggage again and again."

For many network celebrities or bloggers, if they want to take the road of commercialization, MCN is almost inevitable. Like Chen Xin, he only has experience in producing content, but he knows nothing about business cooperation and signing contracts, so he needs the assistance of MCN.

"It is very common to draw cakes with empty gloves, not only in pheasant MCN company, but also in large and medium-sized MCN, but the former is more likely." Brother Kay is not surprised by this situation.

Another slightly experienced owner, Han Huang, is much more cautious about this contract. He described this to reporters as a "juicer scam". In April this year, Han Huang was invited to talk with MCN, which wanted to sign him. "In a Zhongchuang Industrial Park, the scale is very small, that is, renting two offices."

According to the basic content of the contract, Han Huang has no salary, and he is responsible for making the video and bearing the video expenses, earning 37 points, and the video copyright belongs to the company.

Instead of giving nothing, the organization will give a so-called operation teacher, who is responsible for "monitoring and analyzing data and observing the trends of network hotspots". To put it bluntly, look at the background data and then brush hot search every day.

"This kind of operation teachers are generally female college students who have just graduated, and they are not one-on-one. At least twenty or thirty bloggers will be teachers. " Looking at these terms, Han Huang felt that if he signed them, he would send himself into the juicer and give them to others respectfully.

What content creators need most is traffic, which is also the biggest help that organizations can give. When Han Huang asked what resources were available, the head of the agency began to talk about him, his vision and the future, but not resources.

Then the person in charge of the organization also talked about the reward mechanism: once signing the contract, Han Huang can introduce other bloggers to sign the contract, and he can get 15% from the income of bloggers. Among the bloggers who introduced the contract later, Han Huang can get 15%.

As an adult, he rationally controlled his emotions, but he just exclaimed: "Wow, you can introduce the concept of pyramid selling into MCN format, which is also an innovation!"

"bonus hunter gave our sheep to other sheep. What about you?" Since then, Han Huang has not considered cooperating with MCN institutions.

The training courses for online celebrities are hot, and there is no shortage of leeks and knives.

Inspired by getting rich overnight, many people flocked to this outlet. Because incubating online celebrities consumes energy and money, some people in the industry are eyeing online celebrity training courses.

Any industry is hot. When cutting leeks, the sickle is the sharpest.

The first wave of leek cutting: earning tuition.

Inspired by all kinds of grassroots who got rich overnight, many people poured into this outlet. However, because incubating online celebrities consumes energy and money, some people in the industry are eyeing the training courses in online celebrities.

"Ten years ago, you missed Taobao. Five years ago, you missed the WeChat business. The 2020 myopia band must not be missed. If you want to realize myopia products, please contact us to provide you with one-stop professional services. Zero foundation, zero fans, no traffic, no supply, no team, can you be a courier? "

The reporter left contact information behind this short video. The next day, he received a phone call from Shenzhen MCN organization, saying that adding WeChat can learn short video creation.

After the reporter added the WeChat of the course consultant, he can receive the link of the live course at 3 pm and 8 pm every day. The speaker is either the dean or the founder. The opening remarks always say that he is usually busy. "That is, I have time to give you lectures today, and all the students who come to attend classes today have earned it!"

The content of the course is all kinds of cases of becoming popular and getting rich. This account has realized 65,438+million in three months, and that account has 500,000 fans a month. From time to time, use the voice of chicken blood to "stimulate" the audience: "All resources are for you. Can you make money? Can students help me type the word' can' on the screen! "

An hour and a half of the course, the last half hour began to get down to business, urging: "Only five apprentices are accepted today!" These five people can accept my personal guidance and enjoy the preferential price of 3980 yuan today. After today, even with the help of ordinary teachers, the price will return to 5980 yuan. There is still the last half hour, and there are not many places! "

At the same time, the course consultant will keep urging, "What are you hesitating about? Such an opportunity is only available today. " Many netizens reported that they didn't respond when they paid the money, and they vowed to collect the money and turned their heads silently.

The second wave of cutting leeks: earning kickbacks.

There is also an organization that promises to "take you to fly", which seems to be more reliable. For example, it promises to build a personal account to 65438+ 10,000 fans within one month. If it doesn't meet the standard, it will be refunded in full, and with the items transferred by the company, it seems that the credibility has increased a lot.

However, after the establishment of personnel, the contractor will be provided with various talented teachers and training courses on the grounds of upgrading skills. The expenses are borne by individuals, and institutions are busy earning kickbacks and commissions. There are also organizations that love signing female anchors. After signing, they said that "an organ on your face is not harmonious and needs plastic surgery", and then recommended a cooperative beauty agency, and the operation expenses were borne by themselves.

The third wave of cutting leeks: earning spreads.

Some MCN organizations use the "shell" of signing contracts with goods to do "interest-free storage" business. The merchant signed a contract with MCN, paid a service fee of 300,000 yuan, and signed a three-month contract. MCN promises that if it fails to meet the expectations within three months, it will be fully refunded without commission. When the merchant heard that it was "very cost-effective", by the time the contract was fulfilled for one month, the goods were not sold at all. The merchant wants a refund, but the contract has not expired yet, so he can only wait. At the expiration of three months, MCN will definitely return the money to the merchant, and during this period, he will not sell any goods.

According to industry analysts, this MCN organization may have signed dozens or hundreds of similar contracts. According to the calculation of 10, this fund deposit is 3 million yuan. He won't really bring you goods, but will only use the money of the merchants to invest and earn interest. If the money he invested hasn't come back in three months, he will use the re-signed contract to pay back the money of the previous 10 family.

Recently, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security officially released nine new positions, including "network marketer" and "field salesman". For those who want to enter the business, Brother Kai suggested thinking clearly about two questions: "First, who am I and what does the other party want to package me?" Second, who they are, what qualifications they have and why they have the ability to package me. "And be sure to choose a reputable big company to cooperate with, and don't sign a contract by imagination.

Since February this year, many local officials, academicians, university professors, etc. Once organized a delegation to Pinduoduo platform to carry out "live broadcast to help farmers" activities. Mao Yufeng, who is in charge of docking activities, told the reporter that in the poverty alleviation mode of live consumption in Pinduoduo, there is no MCN agency as a middleman, and these cargo groups are also "voluntary labor", with no "pit fees" and no commission. This is a relatively simple model among several platforms.

Due to the complexity of the industrial chain, network anchors, content publishing platforms, product suppliers and other related participants lack clear management standards and supervision mechanisms. Faced with the irregular phenomenon in the early stage of industry development, China Business Federation issued a notice asking its media shopping professional committee to take the lead in drafting and formulating two standards, namely, Basic Standards for Online Shopping Operation Service and Evaluation Guide for Online Shopping Credit Service System. This will be the first national standard in the industry.

The formulation and implementation of the two standards will help guide and standardize the development direction of China's live shopping and online shopping industry, put an end to the chaos in the live broadcasting industry, reshape the industry ecology, improve the technical management level of the new retail industry and safeguard the interests of consumers.

Hu Xianzhi, doctoral supervisor of the Public Administration Department of the Central Party School (National School of Administration), suggested that the regulatory authorities should gradually improve the compliance requirements for the industry and help the industry develop healthily. MCN institutions should actively respond to the requirements of national laws and government regulatory agencies in terms of qualification filing, content compliance, live broadcast compliance, and intellectual property compliance, so as to achieve healthy and long-term development.