Where will they go.
Editor’s note: This article is from the WeChat public account “Little Antlers Music Marketing” (ID: MusicMarketingBank), author : Sima,Edit: Muzi.
“SNH! Forty-eight!”
With the sound of loud slogans, the first-term students of SNH48 finally ushered in their graduation performance.
October 8th, meaning that the first phase of the large domestic female idol group SNH48 officially broke away from the parent group’s “One Phase One Meeting” commemorative concert, offline theater and NetEase Cloud Music“Cloud LIVE” was staged at the same time.
At the concert, classic works such as “The Rise of the Battle”, “MUTE”, “Endless Revolving” and new songs were sung in succession, and the fans were enthusiastic. In terms of popularity, the concert not only reached the top of the NetEase Cloud Music LOOK live broadcast “hour list” after 20 minutes of live broadcast, but also related topics also gained two that night Weibo hot search.
This concert is of great significance to SNH48 first-term students and their fans, even Siba Media.
The reason is that this is not only the real last theater performance of the SNH48 first-term students. After the concert, they will truly welcome the future development in their personal capacity. At the same time, it has witnessed SNH48’s 0 to 1 path and the members. Years of growth and persistence.
For eight years, due to various reasons, many people chose to leave the team midway. Of the 26 first-term students, 12 are still in the team, and 12 members finally made different choices when the contract expired.
Dai Meng, Kong Xiaoyin, Mo Han, Qian Beiting, Wu Zhehan, Xu Jiaqi, Zhang Yuge will be signed artists of Siba Media. Xu Chenchen will sign a contract to become a SNH48 vocal teacher and stay in the group to accompany the younger generation to grow up. The four members of Chen Guanhui, Chen Si, Li Yuqi and Qiu Xinyi will work tirelessly on the new path they have chosen. The members have different directions, but they have all stayed in the circle to develop, and all have found satisfactory jobs.
Japanese producer Yasushi Akimoto called AKB48 “a big school”. After the members joined the team, studied, explored, and found their own development direction, they graduated from the team and developed solo. Joining a large group of 48 series is not the permanent end of the idols’ personal development, but a “passing point.”
Now, with the graduation of the first-term students, compared with the current thinking of “taking the team as the goal” and “continuously emphasizing the common development of the team” to create a men’s and women’s team, the operation of SNH48 has once again aroused our attention. attention.
“Cross the River”
——SNH48 development ideas change
2012-2015: Japanese idol model settled in China
SNH48 was established in 2012. After the recruitment of the first-term students, it officially debuted in January 2013 with its first concert “Give Me Power!”. In the early days, as a sister group of AKB48, SNH48 completely copied the Japanese idol operation strategy and continued the theater performance and handshake.Meetings, general elections, single selection, team setting, own variety shows and other modes.
At this time, the development of SNH48 was more difficult-insufficient external awareness and lack of internal operating experience.
The first fans who paid attention to SNH48 were mostly from AKB fans in the Japanese circle, which still belong to the niche category. Therefore, voting, performances and other behaviors have become “self-heavy in the circle”. Highly popular top members have difficulty getting out of the “river” (fans nickname SNH “the Seine”). Internally, based on the interview data of the early members, there was no dance teacher when the group was first established, and the members could only compare the video chop dance by themselves; the songs sung by SNH48 in the early days were mostly purchased from AKB48, and the Chinese version of the cover was somewhat strange, lacking unique features. Original song.
But SNH48 has also ushered in some achievements.
The first and second general elections were successfully held and intensively promoted offline in Shanghai. In 2014, Ju Jingyi was selected by the Japanese media as the “Beautiful Girl Once in Four Thousand Years”, and more passersby learned about SNH48.
2016-2017: The Road to Regional Theater Replication
After several years of accumulation, and the brand name of AKB48, SNH48 has completed from 0 to 1. It quickly completed four rounds of financing between 2014 and 2017 and began to replicate successful experiences.
In 2016, SNH48 Group established GNZ48 (Guangzhou) and BEJ48 (Beijing) subgroups. In the following year, CKG48 (Chongqing) and SHY48 (Shenyang) were established to occupy the southwest and northeast markets respectively. These sub-groups operate independently locally in the form of franchise, but the annual general elections are held in unison with Shanghai.
This model originated from the regional idol road of AKB48. The AKB department has established branches in Japan, Akihabara (AKB48), Osaka Namba (NMB48), Nagoya (SKE48), overseas Indonesia (JKT 48), and Taiwan (AKB48 Team TP). Different regions have their own exclusive groups and theaters, and groups strengthen their geographical penetration through theater performances and handshake meetings.
But the expansion of this form of joining seems to have caused dissatisfaction on AKB.
In 2016, AKB’s official website deleted SNH48-related information and issued a statement stating that SNH48’s establishment of a sub-group (BEJ GNZ) violated regulations. Douban Netizens found that AKB was not ignorant before, and even agreed to open branches in Beijing and Guangzhou, but in the end Due to AKB’s internal equity disputes, they gave up and completely parted ways with SNH48.
2018-2019: Transforming the Internet
2018 is of great significance to the Chinese idol industry.
The hits of online entertainment shows such as “Idol Trainee” and “Creation 101” not only send a steady stream of high-popular newcomers to the idol circle, but also fans will move the star-chaser position online, and also attract more capital attention When it comes to the idol market, idol groups have finally stepped into the eyes of more people. 2018 is even called the first year of the Chinese idol market.
But for SNH48 Group, which has always relied heavily on offline theaters, it has brought an impact.
First of all, it reflects the hindrance of the process of offline geographical penetration.
In 2019, in order to adapt to the ever-expanding and fiercely competitive domestic idol entertainment market and to face the acceleration of industry iteration, SNH48 Group had to reorganize. Except for the three major cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, the offline consumption capacity of other cities is not high and the audience is relatively small when the “home economy” is not developed. Therefore, it had to disband CKG48 Team C, K and SHY48 Team SIII, HIII, some members moved to other SNH48 Group teams, and Chongqing and Shenyang theaters were closed.
Secondly, there has been no financing for a long time, and cost issues have become increasingly apparent.
It should be noted that Siba Media’s last financing was in May 2017. The restructuring in 2019, the reduction of offline scale, and the gradual emphasis on online are all adjustments made actively or passively under the constantly changing market conditions.
However, the exploration of the online development path did not happen overnight.
Although the voting income of the 2018 SNH48 general election is much higher than that of “Idol Trainees” and “Creation 101”, the public’s attention to the general election on Weibo is less than that of several draft variety shows. It should also be noted that the “screen party” fans who have never visited the SNH theater account for a considerable part, and SNH’s existing business model cannot fully mobilize the purchasing power of these fans.
Later, from the premiere of SNH48 GROUP’s exclusive variety show “SNHello Star Dream Academy Season 2” on Tencent Video, to the broadcast of the group complex and documentary of the team 7SENSES and BLUEV at station b, and the small variety show “Seine Micro Interview” -“Nine Wen Da Ming”, and then to the SNH 48 Group Games, which borrowed from the Korean idol games, SNH 48 related online videos gradually gained considerable viewership.
2020 to present: “Go out!”
In 2020, SNH48 has truly entered the public eye.
Siba tried to “go out” from the beginning of 2020 and sent a total of 17 people to participate in the competition outside the “river”, and the final result was good. Xu Jiaqi debuted in third place in “Youth Have You 2” and became a member of THE 9. Zhao Yue became the second place in the group and joined Hard Candy Girl 303.
“Chinese, Japanese and Korean Combination Boxing”
——Analysis of SNH48 Operational Ideas
The above review of the development path of SNH48 since its establishment, from unacceptable to the improvement, we summarized the operation idea of SNH48-combining the operation strategy of local, Japanese and Korean idols.
Japan-Theater, Handshake & Cultivation Department
Japan has a profound theater culture, and theater exists as an entrance to traffic, bringing exposure to newcomers. The theater ticket price is much lower than the concert. Fans will go to the theater as a daily social activity, just like watching Livehouse and Bengdi, they will meet with three or five friends. The theater has a wide audience. When performing songs in the theater, there will be member MC sessions, and being an MC is one of the important ways for SNH48 members to attract fans.
However, Chinese consumers have not established theater watching habits, and the theater itself has a low profit margin. Most companies can only use theater cafes,Profitable by peripheral sales etc. Therefore, many local girl groups that tried to develop the theater model were frustrated. 1931, Bee Girls, IDOLSCHOOL and other theater girl groups did not go smoothly.
In addition, the handshake will mean that fans will purchase Buy a singing film to get a complimentary handshake meeting ticket, Came to the scene to briefly shake hands and communicate with idols. “Idol who can face to face” is a big selling point. With the blessing of the theater and handshake meeting, the distance between idols and fans has been greatly reduced. Fans do not look up with a mentality of “appreciation and admiration” as they do for Hallyu stars who are generally superior and well-dressed; they are more likely to be cultivated idols with good personality, gratitude, integrity and fun like making friends. attract.
Medium——O2O&Internet: E-commerce girl group, domestic talent show
On the basis of Japanese operations, Siba has added local Chinese elements.
SNH48’s official website calls itself the “O2O Idol Creator”, and it will link online and offline. SNH48 also took the initiative to send members of the 7SENSES squad to participate in the audition variety show to increase exposure, all of which are in line with the trend of the Internet era.
In addition, this year Siba also launched a subgroup of SNH48 Group-Langcai Girl AfterWaves9. This is known as the world’s first professional e-commerce girl group. Ms. Tao Ying, CEO of Siba Media Group, said: “We have been deeply involved in the operation of women’s groups for more than 8 years. During this process, we have accumulated a lot of experience in fan operation, content production, and traffic monetization, which has a certain relationship with operating e-commerce economy. We have created our AW9 girl group for Langcai girls.” Langcai girls have their own live broadcast room. In addition to Taobao, they will also be stationed in Xiaohongshu produce high-quality UGC grass content and build an e-commerce KOL matrix.
Korean—Small but sophisticated group & costumes and singing and dancing style
Halyu idols have always been popular among Chinese young people, and are closer to the mainstream preferences than Japanese idols. In 2017, 7SENSES was established as the first international team of SNH48. The team consists of seven members: Zhao Yue, Xu Jiaqi, Dai Meng, Kong Xiaoyin, Zhang Yuge, Xu Yangyuzhuo, and Chen Lin. This team is involved in the KPop group style, with few but fine members, superior strength, strong stage performance, more complex dance, and girl crush style.
The development of the team is very good. The following year of their debut, they were invited to attend the 2018 SORIBADA BEST K-MUSIC AWARDS held in Seoul, South Korea, and won The Global Entertainer Awards (New Hallyu Overseas Artist Award). There is a small team of Zhuyu in front, and more Korean choreography elements appeared in the SNH48 theater performance.
Summary
In fact, although some fans have been dissatisfied with the operation of SNH48 (because the changes are too frequent), we can’t deny that SNH48 Group is one of the few domestic idols that have succeeded in making the “group” popular. group.
SNH48 Group, which entered the market with the AKB48 name in the early days, and later entered the public’s vision with localization and innovation, gradually gained a firm foothold in the idol industry.
However, the problem still exists-it is difficult to win a celebrity group. The member of SNH48 who has broken the most circle so far is the artist Ju Jingyi who established a personal studio in 2017. She has broadcasts of hot dramas such as “The Legend of Yun Xi” and “The Legend of the New White Lady”, as well as the experience of participating in the Spring Festival Gala. She also released a single as a singer.
But not everyone can become “Ju Jingyi”. If SNH48 cannot continue to produce top artists in the future, it will obviously not be conducive to continuing to attract high-quality players to join the group.
Now that the first-term students of SNH48 have graduated, and Xu Jiaqi and other popular members, who continue to renew their contracts with the company, can they usher in a better development in the future? How will SNH48, who have gone through nearly a decade, become a Korean idol In the context of the large-scale influence of the group on the Chinese market, we can only continue to maintain a unique operation method, and we can only give time to prove.