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Tencent video “Happiness Trio” promotional poster
Curious about the public figures behind the screen
From “The Longing for Life” to “Avenging Life”, these variety shows all try to show the star off the role or set the halo, and show the “star” behind the screen through the lens as realistic as possible . In the slow variety show, there is no complicated brain-consuming game link like the fast variety show, and there are no deliberate contradictions and conflicts. Participants do not have to play a certain role in order to cater to a certain effect of the show, just by being the most authentic themselves To impress the audience.
In the observation-oriented slow variety show, the production team mainly undertakes the function of the recorder, intervenes as little as possible in the plot direction, does not set links and tasks, and gives full play to the autonomy of the guests in a specific real environment. This form undoubtedly satisfies the curiosity and desire of the audience behind the screen. Through the screen, the audience can have a more comprehensive understanding of the daily life of the participants and shorten the distance with the guests.
The rebellious psychology of competitive fast variety shows
In psychology, there is a social psychological phenomenon called rebellious psychology, which specifically refers to a strong rebellious mentality produced by the subject when the requirements of the objective environment do not meet the needs of the subject.
Under the fast-paced background, the audience is tired of competition and longs for a slow-paced, highly satisfying life. The confrontation, competition and other link settings in the competitive fast variety show are more attractive to the audience at the beginning and can refresh the audience. But over time, the sense of competition in the program will give people a sense of fatigue. With the increase of the same type of programs, the audience’s rebellious psychology will become stronger and it is easy to lose interest in it.
The change of narrative function under slow pace
Russian literary and artist Rakimir Yakovlevich Prop once proposed the concept of “narrative function”. He believed that in Russian folk tales, the behavior of characters is unchanged. “Function” is understood to mean that a certain designated role performs a function that can only complete a specific task. [3] In the slow variety show, this kind of narrative function is broken. This innovation of the usual narrative function will refresh the audience, so that the audience can also get a healing experience while watching the program. [4]
Different from the fast-paced variety show’s labelled and well-designed guests, such as Li Chen in “Run” and Huang Lei in “Extreme Challenge” in the narrative scene of slow variety shows , The guest isMore three-dimensional. After a long time of program recording, the flow, dialogue and daily life of different guests have allowed them to present themselves from multiple angles. This is not only to dig out the story of the guests themselves, but can even extend to everyone participating in the show and every little thing, so as to get rid of the single narrative of fast-paced variety shows and attract the audience.
However, if there is no change in the image of the resident guests of the Slow Variety Show for several consecutive seasons, then the character style in the Slow Variety Show may actually be fixed, and eventually fall into the “narrative function”.
How to build competitiveness in the fierce slow variety show market?
In recent years, the domestic variety show market has continued to expand, from 13.3 billion yuan in 2014 to 33.1 billion yuan in 2018. [5] According to public data, the scale of China’s variety show advertising market in the first half of 2019 was close to 22 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.1%. [6] At the same time, the production of slow variety shows has shown a “blowout” growth state, market competition has intensified, and the trend of involution is obvious. The audience is again on the verge of fatigue. How to stand out is the current examination question in front of major platforms.
Clearly locate the vertical variety show
The positioning theory of well-known American marketing experts Al Ries and Jack Trout believes that positioning is not what you want to do with products, but positioning is what you want to do with potential customers. Through a good positioning, to ensure that the product occupies a truly valuable position in the minds of potential customers.
So, it’s very important to have a clear positioning in the audience. In the current diversification of variety shows, the regular market has become saturated. Therefore, accurate audience positioning and the development of a segmented market with specific needs have become one of the options to ensure economic benefits. The core principle of positioning theory, “the first law”, is to form barriers to competition in the minds of customers, become the number one in a certain field, and lead the industry.
Success can be achieved by achieving the ultimate in segmentation. A high-quality slow variety show needs to carefully study the audience’s aesthetic and acceptance habits, and propose a new program model based on its positioning and a narrative method that is more suitable for the audience to accept, so as to be “slow” and tasteful.
Just like “A Life of Adventure” with a score of 8.9 on Douban. Although this variety show is small in size, few stars, and slow in pace, the main travels and stories of the show are slightly flat. The large amount of blank sound and pictures and interaction make the whole film reveal a bitterness, heaviness and loneliness. But in Douban, a literary and artistic community that focuses on independent thinking, this program has hit a hit, and its positioning is highly consistent with the accuracy of the target audience. It is enough to see that the deep cultivation of the circle culture formed by the audience orientation can also create a circle of good reputation and benefits.
Tencent video “Adventure in Life” promotional poster
Focus on originality and return to the content itself
If you want to be a hit, you must respect the content. In a sense, slow variety shows are imported products, and the absorption and reuse of foreign products into original boutiques is an indispensable link in the development of slow variety shows.
Throughout the current slow variety show market, the originality of content still needs to be improved. There is almost a rule in the production and operation of some TV programs in our country: the first foreign initiative-domestic transplantation-eventually compete to imitate. [7] In this model, completely original content production becomes especially valuable.
A good content structure can support the long-lasting variety show. Too homogeneous content production and single emotional rendering will only make the audience tired and lose interest in slow variety shows. At present, although the number of operating slow variety shows far surpasses other forms, original slow variety shows such as “Seeing Words Like Noodles” and “Lang Reader” with a mixture of culture can also occupy a place in the market and have a good reputation. This can explain some problems.
Continue to learn from and learn from experience, optimize the content production mode of variety show itself, in order to achieve a virtuous cycle of production-broadcasting, and reopen the dimension of slow variety show thinking. Don’t slow down for the sake of slowness, but let the audience feel the beauty and harmony Relax, so as to ensure continuous contact with the audience, and then win the market.
Grasp the speed and balance the entertainment and emotions
From the standpoint of the program producer, the survival of slow variety shows is naturally indispensable for traffic and hot spots. However, due to the limitation of the subject matter of the slow variety show, the hot spots can only be obtained in long-term records, and there is a certain coincidence. To solve this problem, you can only learn from fast variety shows and adjust the rhythm of slow variety shows.
The soothing and relaxed rhythm of slow variety shows is one of the fundamental factors that are welcomed by the audience, and it is also the key to balance in the improvement process. Under the same program theme and content, appropriate addition of fast-paced links can add color to slow variety shows and increase the appreciation and interest of the program.
But be aware that excessive additions can be counterproductive. For example, the second season of “Dear Inn” has a luxurious guest lineup, but the response is mediocre. The subject of “management” was still used, and only a competitive KPI assessment system was added, but the result was completely different. The business trip that should have been relaxed has become a second workplace, and the tense program atmosphere runs counter to the fundamental motivation for the audience to watch slow variety shows. On the other hand, in the first season, the program is based on the daily operation of the inn.Set up appropriate activities, such as room service competitions, planning marriage proposals, etc., have enriched the content of the program to a certain extent. Appropriate “fast” is to add color to “slow” without overwhelming the guest.
The demand is still there, and the innovation in form is looking forward to
2017 is called the “first year of slow variety show” in China. Since then, more and more giants on the slow variety track will enter the game, and the track will become more crowded.
For now, the audience’s enthusiasm for slow variety shows is still high, and the program format is still favored. Some time ago, some domestic netizens called for the introduction of the Korean slow variety show “We Are Divorced”. On the day when the broadcast began, the hot search on Weibo came up with related topics on Weibo. The second issue of the program was broadcast, and the topic of airborne hot search first. The number of topic readings has reached 920 million, and the discussion has reached 88,000. And this is actually just a foreign program.
Korea slow variety show “We Divorced” promotional poster
When will the next hot and slow variety show appear? Which slow variety form can capture the audience’s attention? We don’t know. However, it is foreseeable that the slow variety show track will become more and more crowded, the threshold will be higher and higher, and the audience will become more and more critical. Under the new traffic anxiety, how can creators maintain their original intentions and “heal” In the end, it is also a test. Having said that, making colorful slow variety shows is actually more difficult than making popular fast variety shows.
Reference link:
1. Guo Qingguang “Communication Course”
2. Zhaopin Recruitment “2019 Workplace People Mid-year Inventory Report”
3. Ladimir Yakovlevich Prop “Prop’s Narrative Function”
4. Wang Ning. “The Enlightenment and Thinking of Slow Variety Art Creation-Taking
5. Jiuhe Data “White Paper on Advertising Marketing of Chinese Variety Shows in the First Half of 2019”
https://www.sohu.com/a/331168434_663268
6. China Industry Information Network “2019 China’s variety show industry market supply and demand situation, market competition pattern and main factors affecting industry developmentFactor Analysis”
https://www.chyxx.com/industry/202006/873362.html
7. Wei Bei Ni. “A Thirty Years Leap of Chinese Entertainment Programs”