Youku’s mission is not just to rely on content to achieve membership growth, it also needs to play a role in assisting other Ali economies.
文|高海博
On August 12th, “Chang’an Twelve Hours” (hereinafter referred to as “Twelve Hours”) completed all updates, and the longest twelve o’clock was finally over.
“Benchmark”, “Leading Big Brother”, this is the evaluation of “Twelve Hours” by Alibaba Group Vice President, Alibaba CTO and Youku COO Zhuang Zhuoran. With “12 o’clock” and “this! It is the performance of Street Dance. The average daily DAU and member growth of Youku Summer is a record high, and members have tripled compared with the same period last year.
“Twelve o’clock” broke the record of Youku’s membership and new content since 2018, and it has also become the holder of the new record. In addition to such a record series, it has brought growth to Youku, and more importantly, it has allowed Youku to integrate the “Ali economy” further and become a visible model.
This is the difference between Youku and iQiyi, Tencent Video. It is a video site, but its more important identity is part of the Ali economy.
Twelve o’clock quenches thirst
Youku needs “twelve hours”.
Alibaba has been in a whirlpool from the end of last year to the first half of this year. One of the big reasons is that Youku’s own business is not eye-catching. Although still in the first echelon, the number of DAUs and members who are important in measuring video sites are already behind Aiqiyi and Tencent.
plus the original president Yang Weidong was investigated for economic problems, can be said that Youku has been in a passive state. “Twelve o’clock” is playing the role of almost life-saving straw in this context. In fact, in the case of limited costume drama, it is not easy to get on the line.
Since the broadcast of “White Nights”, Youku has not appeared in the series for two years, and the drama is the biggest new category for members. Youku looks forward to using “12 o’clock.” “Play a turn over.”
The copyright of “Twelve Hours” is the film and entertainment culture. In the beginning of development in 2016, it was sought after by many platforms. According to Lin Ning, CEO of Entertainment Culture, he later recalled, “Youku chose us, not we chose Youku.” At that time, Youku’s choice of content was radical.
This is how Yang Weidong manages Youku. In fact, “12 o’clock” and “this! It is the street dance, which is a project negotiated by Yang Weidong, but the broadcast has been delayed.
The show’s broadcast plan has also changed. Originally planned for three seasons, 60 episodes, network broadcast, but eventually turned into a season, 48 episodes, the network is broadcast alone. Exclusive broadcast means the need to buy full copyright for TV and new media channels at a higher cost. The idea of all-media copyright is not only reflected in this drama. In 2017, Youku’s “Spring Breeze is not as good as you” also purchased the full copyright, which was broadcasted by Youku and distributed to TV stations.
This kind of broadcast strategy shows that Youku hopes to use this drama to drive the platform to be active, and it has a great risk.
The appearance of an explosion can re-energize a somewhat silent platform, which is the role of Zhuang Zhuoran’s “leading big brother”. Although near the end, “Chang’an 12 o’clock” Douban score has declined, but the final score is also 8.5 points, this year’s rare high score drama. In the plot, some viewers will complain that the medium-term content is not as fast-paced as the beginning, and the information density begins to decline. These are easier to understand in industrial thinking.
According to media reports, the production cost of this drama is close to 600 million yuan. If it is made into a compact 24 episodes according to the American TV series “24 hours”, the revenue is completely uncontrollable. The costume dramas on the market basically started in 50 episodes. There are 87 episodes in Ru Ru Chuan. This is mainly because the cost of costume drama is higher and the need for service is more complicated.
In such a high amount of investment, doing a small number means that the cost cannot be recovered. The broadcast platform relies on the business model of membership and advertising. If a drama has a one-month broadcast cycle, for the platform side, both advertising and membership may reduce revenue by nearly half. Ensuring a two-month broadcast cycle allows users to pay for at least two months, while not over-stretching the front, leaving the audience tired. It is this kind of industrial structure and payment structure that ultimately affects the previous investment and production.
From the final effect, “12 o’clock” exceeded the broadcast expectations. Producer Liang Chao revealed that director Cao Dun and author Ma Boyan wanted to expand the story of “He Jiacun” in the play. During the filming, Cao Dun conceived a new story, which will be used as a “12 o’clock”.
Members, not just members
“Twelve o’clock” is like a glass of water, which solves the thirst of Youku, but from a longer-term perspective, Youku needs to reserve more cups of water. Explosions often take advantage of time and place, and there are many uncertainties. Zhuang Zhuoran said: It is necessary to use a stable structure to deal with the uncertainty of a single project.
The “stable structure” in Zhuang Zhuoran’s mouth is in addition to what the video site needs to do, and there is another part that is integrated into the Ali economy.
Whether it is the logic of the video website or the path of integrating into Ali, the core of Youku is the ability to continuously produce high-quality content, and the high-density “12 o’clock” can be achieved.The goal of the Greater Ali Business System Impact.
Ali also consciously emphasized the “12 o’clock” to the whole Ali system in the propaganda direction: the number of original e-book readers of the book flag data increased by 818% on a daily basis; hungry, the growth of the basin and mutton in Beijing increased. 133%; Xi’an Tourism Week’s scheduled volume in the flying pig data increased by 27% year-on-year, and all kinds of data presented are showing Youku’s contribution to the Ali economy.
“Hungry, operate outsourcing, Taobao operates goods, Youku is operating content, operating users.” Zhuang Zhuoran likes the position of Youku in the Ali economy.
A typical example is that 90% of the users who purchase Alibaba 88 members have opened the membership of Youku, ranking first in all economic interests. The content is very attractive to users, which requires Youku to be able to attract users, whether it is in the membership system of the video website or the 88 member system, instead of becoming a motivation for users to purchase 88 members. .
Youku is also actively engaging in joint activities with other Ali economies, including joint members and 88VIP members who are hungry. Previously, Youku as a content platform did not have a strong presence in this system. It was the leader of 88 members. Now, Youku’s new mission also includes the need to be a highlight among 88 members. Real guide.
Although, Ali tried the “buy and buy” model after the acquisition of Youku, but the immersive scenes and purchases are difficult to get through. To some extent, the process of integrating Youku into the Ali economy can be regarded as “side”. A variant of the “buy and buy” model, which needs to play a role in the entire economy.
In the design of Fan Luyuan, president of the Ali Entertainment Group, a variety of food and beverage variety shows can be done together with Youku and Box Horse. “All the ingredients in this program are related to Box Horse. The sales revenue of Box Horse has been improved.”
(Image courtesy of respondents)