Top anchors turn to short dramas to create the myth of selling goods again?

Hansu achieved sales growth through short drama marketing, and leading anchors and institutions have entered the short drama track.

In 2024, the top anchors collectively set their sights on the short drama track. The latest players to enter the market are Wei Ya and her husband. On the eve of 618, Qianxun's Qianmeng Culture released official posters for three short dramas, and Dong Haifeng (Weiya's husband) appeared in the poster as one of the producers of the three short dramas. The poster shows that the new drama will start filming in mid-to-late June, and the finished film will be launched on platforms such as Douyin.

Before Qianxun and Wei Ya entered the short drama track, Crazy Little Yangge, Simba, and the top MCN agencies Yaowang and Wuyou had already completed the short drama test and layout. Crazy Little Yangge has the highest volume. In April, the Douyin official account of "Three Sheep Theater" was officially launched, and the behind-the-scenes clips of the first short drama "Master Fu, Your Substitute Bride is a Boss" were exposed. In early June, the short drama was officially launched. Although the first short drama was taken down less than a month after it was launched, the investment of Three Sheep in short dramas did not stop.

Simba's company Xinxuan launched its first short drama "She is as Bright as a Pearl" at the end of May. This short drama is customized for the OSM brand. Yaowang and Wuyou started making short dramas a year ago. According to Tech Planet, the two companies have shot about 30 short dramas each.

It is not difficult to understand the intention of the top anchors to collectively enter the short drama track. The bonus of live streaming sales is gradually disappearing. On the first day of the pre-sale of "618" this year, the GMV of Tmall's top anchor Li Jiaqi's beauty live broadcast was about 2.7 billion yuan, a 46% decrease from nearly 5 billion yuan in the same period last year. Feigua data shows that on June 16, the transaction volume of Douyin's top anchors Guangdong couple was 61.14 million yuan, down 86.4% from the same period in 2023. Other top anchors also experienced GMV shrinkage to varying degrees.

Broadcasters and organizations need new stories, and performance growth requires new breakthroughs, but live streaming and short dramas belong to two different tracks. Can the successful experience of live streaming be replicated in the short drama industry? Who can reap the benefits of short dramas?

1. Top anchors step into the same river

Qianxun seems to be very determined to plan a short drama.

Before the official announcement of the filming of the three short dramas "Substitute Boyfriend", "A Male Nanny Comes to My House" and "Don't Fall in Love with Your Brother", Qianxun's account Bee Surprise Club had already tried the "live broadcast + short drama" gameplay, sharing the sales mechanism and welfare policy of the live broadcast special with users in the form of short dramas.

In May, Bee Surprise Club released several short videos with short drama plots, including "The 100 Million Storm of the Real and Fake Boss", "The Daughter of the Boss", and "The Real Favor is worse than the Fight for Favor". The actors in the videos are all the regular anchors of Bee Surprise Club, such as Kaizi, Wukong, and Xuexue. A Qianxun employee said that the main focus is to shoot the live broadcast preview in the form of a short drama.

Qianxun also established Qianmeng Culture, a short drama production company, in May, and worked with Mengyang Culture, one of Qianmeng Culture's shareholders, to produce short dramas. It is worth mentioning that Zong Shuai, the founder and chairman of Mengyang Culture, was once the co-general manager of Huayi Brothers Brokerage. Mengyang Culture has signed many celebrity artists, including Jiang Shuying, Cai Wenjing, Mao Zijun, Zhai Zilu, etc. The two companies working together may be able to play their respective advantages and differentiate themselves from other companies in brand-customized dramas.

Unlike the paid short dramas on mini programs, Qianxun's short dramas are more like an extension of the live broadcast business. Qianxun's relevant person in charge previously explained that unlike the popular paid short dramas that use "cool points" as a selling point, Qianxun's short drama exploration is centered on serving consumers and brands.

However, from the perspective of communication effect, the number of likes and comments on Qianxun's short drama trailer, whether on Taobao or Douyin, is not significantly different from other video trailers. The feasibility of the short drama in Qianxun has yet to be verified.

The progress of Qianxun's short dramas also needs to be accelerated. It was previously reported that the three short dramas would start shooting in mid-to-late June, but a staff member of Mengyang Culture Company revealed that the short dramas have not yet started shooting.

In addition to Wei Ya Qianxun Company, Simba's company Xinxuan has launched a short drama, but it seems that they are not prepared to increase investment in short dramas. People familiar with Xinxuan said that so far, Xinxuan has not established a special short drama business department, and it was just explored before. Whether there are plans for other short dramas in the future is unknown.

Judging from the determination and investment, among the top companies, Wuyou and Yaowang, two top MCN agencies, have gone further in short dramas. Wuyou entered the short drama market last year, and industry insiders revealed that Wuyou has launched more than 20 short dramas this year.

Wuyou's short dramas follow a dual-track approach: brand-customized dramas + game-interactive dramas. Among them, brand-customized dramas account for the highest proportion, and there is only one game-interactive drama at present. A producer who participated in Wuyou's game-interactive drama revealed that Wuyou's first interactive short drama "Love Single Choice Questions" is similar to the previously popular interactive game "It's Over! I'm Surrounded by Beauties", and the production cost is as high as 10 million.

In addition, Wuyou also launched the "Wuyou Theater". As of now, the number of followers of this Douyin account is 1.61 million.

Another MCN agency, Yaowang, also entered the short drama market last year. Yaowang Technology stated on the investor interaction platform on January 3 that the short drama mini program operated by the company has been launched in December 2023. According to statistics, Yaowang short dramas are currently leading in quantity. The Yaowang short drama mini program platform "Yaowang Drama Cost-effective" shows that the platform currently has 35 short dramas, of which 34 are labeled "male frequency" and one is "female frequency".

2. Make money: brand customization and paid membership

The short dramas produced by top anchors and top institutions are not aimed at becoming hits, but perhaps at branding.

Live streaming has accumulated rich brand resources for anchors and institutions. Take Qianxun and Yaowang as examples. As of now, Qianxun has served more than 39,000 live broadcasts, guided more than 900 million orders, and established cooperative relations with more than 80,000 high-quality domestic and foreign brands. According to data disclosed by Yaowang Cloud, as of now, it has served more than 25,000 live broadcasts and more than 40 million orders.

To some extent, brand demand directly affects the business direction of live streaming organizations.

In 2023, as short dramas became the industry trend, brands shifted part of their marketing budgets to short dramas, and some brands even achieved sales growth through short dramas.

Hansu, a Chinese cosmetics brand, is one of the representative brands. Data shows that in the first quarter of 2024, Hansu's sales on Douyin soared to the top of the cosmetics category, with sales of 1 billion to 2.5 billion yuan, a month-on-month increase of 29.87%, far ahead of international brands such as L'Oreal, Estee Lauder, and La Mer. Hansu attributed its amazing performance to its short drama delivery strategy in the past year.

Influenced by Hansu, countless brands began to shift their budgets to short dramas. The short drama business of top anchors and institutions naturally came into being. In essence, their short dramas are brand advertisements, and their main value lies in brand realization. Xinxuan customized the short drama "She is as Bright as a Pearl", and the brand is Oshiman. Crazy Xiao Yangge's short drama was produced by Jiaorunquan, a brand he often cooperates with. Wuyou's short dramas "Call Me Boss" and "Money Uncle" are sponsored by brands such as Sanjiu Weitai and Anmuxi.

Data shows that there are roughly three mainstream ways for brands to launch short dramas: product placement, customized short dramas, and collaboration with influencers. Among them, customized short dramas account for more than 70% of all brand short dramas in 2023.

There are two main types of short dramas: brand-customized dramas and paid mini-program dramas.

At present, Yaowang has relatively few customized dramas. An employee of Yaowang revealed that there are currently three customized short dramas being filmed, sponsored by Oshiman, Huaxizi, and Juese. Yaowang has both celebrities and talents. If a brand wants to find a celebrity to shoot, the price may be a bit more expensive, between 1.5 million and 2 million, and the price for top artists is even higher. The price for talents to shoot short dramas is around 400,000 to 500,000, with 6 to 12 episodes and 2 to 3 minutes per episode.

Beauty brands are particularly fond of short drama marketing. Yaowang employees told Tech Planet that the three brand-customized dramas of Yaowang are all beauty brands. Among them, Juese is a white-label product with a certain degree of popularity in Shanghai. Their advertisements can be seen in subways, airports and other channels.

Yaowang's first quarter financial report for 2024 shows that the short drama business has a turnover of approximately 81 million. At present, it seems that more of it comes from paid mini-program short dramas.

Yaowang employees told Tech Planet that among the more than 30 short dramas launched by Yaowang, three or four have reached the standard of being a hit. One of them has a recharge amount of more than 10 million yuan, with an investment cost of 300,000 yuan; the recharge amount of another short drama is more than 6 million yuan.

Yaowang short dramas not only monetize through paid membership, but also increase revenue through secondary copyright transfer. On the "Yaowang Drama Cost-effective" applet, you can "buy short dramas" or "sell short dramas." The price of buying Yaowang's self-made short dramas is usually around 10,000 yuan, and the buyout price is 15,000 yuan.

3. Apart from live streaming, short dramas are unlikely to drive growth

The top anchors have entered the short drama track, but the appeal of short dramas to brands has been greatly reduced. Although Hansu has reaped the marketing dividends of short dramas, it is now consciously withdrawing. Hansu founder Lv Yixiong said bluntly in the circle of friends not long ago, "The supply of short dramas has increased 20 times, the price has doubled, and the audience is measured, that is, the effect of short dramas has declined 40 times. All brands that have entered the short drama since August last year have been making leeks, and there is no successful case. After November 2023, Hansu will basically stop making short dramas."

At a recent exchange meeting, PROYA management also mentioned the benefits of Hanshu's short dramas, saying that Hanshu rose through short dramas and achieved sales of 480 million yuan in the traditional off-season, which caused a stir in the industry. PROYA once wanted to follow Hanshu's marketing strategy.

But after careful study, PROYA finally gave up the short drama marketing strategy. The short drama traffic declined, and the popularity of the short dramas of the talent Jiang Shiqi declined significantly. PROYA management mentioned that the single episodes of Jiang Shiqi's first two implanted dramas received more than 2 million likes, but in today's short drama live broadcasts, more than 100,000 likes are already very good. Secondly, the cost is rising, the publicity effect is declining, and the brand is not profitable. From a profit perspective, it is unsustainable.

With the increase in the number of short drama players, the value of brand marketing has been greatly reduced, and brands have begun to disenchant with short drama marketing.

On the supply side, it has become inevitable for short drama production companies to compete for brands, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to get brand-customized dramas.

A senior person in the industry told Tech Planet that the market is becoming more and more competitive, and brands are increasingly demanding and demanding higher quality for short drama production. Last year, the success of Hansu gave the industry some opportunities, so more people are flocking in to try. However, brands usually select influencers first, and after confirming the cooperation, they will develop the content of the script in combination with the brand characteristics.

But this year, the order has changed, and the market is paying more and more attention to the quality of the script. Now when it comes to customized dramas, brands usually require the script to be finalized first, and then the corresponding talents are matched according to the script. The difficulty for the producers has increased dramatically. Giving the brand a satisfactory short drama script first means that the advantages of past short drama experience and talent resources have been greatly weakened. Brands recognize scripts, not talents or popular teams.

Brand budgets are limited. In addition to competing for brands, top anchors are also trying to expand other sources of income from short dramas.

Although the first short drama of the Three Sheep Company behind the anchor "Crazy Little Brother Yang" suffered a setback, it did not give up on this track. The person in charge of the Three Sheep cooperation company said that the Three Sheep Company is currently shooting and preparing about 10 short dramas. The first short drama was taken down after 20 days of being released. The reason for the removal was that it aggravated the conflict between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law, but it also returned 300,000 to 400,000 yuan, basically breaking even. If it had not been taken down, it would have made a profit.

The Three Sheep Company has also released its investment share for short dramas. The person in charge of the Three Sheep cooperating company said that the Three Sheep is quite strong and will not release investment shares for every drama. Currently, for the short drama projects that are recruiting co-producers, generally each drama is calculated as 400,000 100% share, and the outside can invest half of the share, that is, 200,000. The advantage of this is that the risk is shared among investors.

In comparison, Wuyou has achieved profitability in its short drama business. Although Yaowang’s short drama business has a turnover of more than 80 million, the company has lost 2 billion in three years. The more revenue it has, the greater its loss. Only 4 of the 35 short dramas have become hits, which is not a particularly ideal rate. Qianxun’s short drama has just started, and it is difficult to judge whether it can carry the company’s growth banner. The Three Sheep short drama, the model of selling shares is easily criticized by the outside world as "cutting leeks."

After live streaming sales, top anchors hope to achieve performance growth through short dramas, which may be even more difficult than live streaming sales itself.

Author: Zhai Yuanyuan

Source: WeChat public account: "Tech Planet (ID: tech618)"