Why Is Produce 101 So Popular? An In-Depth Analysis of the Reasons

By: DaDa

The Chinese version of a variety show, Produce 101, which became a global sensation this summer, must have been watched by everyone, haha. Today, I have gathered an article about this show for you, mainly from a marketing and operations perspective, comprehensively interpreting the rules behind the popularity of Produce 101.

Let me do a little promotion first, hehe. I really like Xu Jingyun Angela. Below is her photo. She is a powerful vocalist and I love her so much. If you like her too, hurry to Tencent Video and PICK her. Wish her success in debuting in the group, thank you.

Now to the main topic

Starting from March

Produce 101 became

one of the central topics on social media

In April it dominated screens across the board

Now, two months later, it still dominates

the trending topic lists

Weibo trending topic list on June 21

How exactly is this high level of popularity maintained?

What inspiration does this offer to brands?

Below we try, from a marketing and operations perspective

to interpret the rules behind the popularity of Produce 101

1

Make marketing become the hot topic

No matter which brand, if it wants to become the center of conversation, the best way is to create a hot topic, and the essence of a hot topic is super traffic. Whoever can gather a large amount of traffic in a short time can create a hot topic.

The approach of Produce 101 is not only to create hot topics, but also to make itself the hot topic. The benefit of becoming a hot topic is not only winning a large amount of attention; more importantly, a hot topic comes with its own viral attributes and has a snowball effect. More and more people follow it, and it spreads wider and wider, repeating this cycle until the popularity returns to zero.

Next, let's take a look at how Produce 101 specifically played the game.

3

Tencent's "Big Premiere Day" resource integration fully awakens the power of youth both online and offline

In order to fully ignite Produce 101, before the premiere, Tencent Video launched the "Big Premiere Day" brand IP that releases only premium content, premiering Produce 101, and with the theme "Youth's dreams are finished in youth," created a series of material and gameplay that resonates with young people;

Online, through Tencent Video, QQ Music, WeChat and other high-traffic platforms as content outlets, it comprehensively connected hundreds of millions of traffic, while offline it created the "101 Late-Night Dream Tram," taking every dreamer home, achieving three-dimensional and precise reach to the city's youth targets, and then online dissemination formed a second round of traffic import.

6

High-quality program content keeps traffic from leaving

Just like doing business, no matter how good the shop's location is and how much foot traffic there is, if the quality of the goods in the shop is no good, there still won't be business. The same is true for building a brand.

The reason Produce 101 could become popular ultimately comes down to the excellence of its content. Its excellence is specifically reflected in three aspects:

1. A luxurious production lineup. The director comes from the core team of Hunan Satellite TV's "Singer," and the sound, editing, cinematography, and post-production all come from first-tier teams. The venue design planning and stage design are all large-scale productions. 2. The cruel and intense competition system. The A~F class design, multiple themed assessments, ever-changing class assignment outcomes, the contest for seats in Class A, the unknown fate of contestants with unbalanced skills, authentic expression, the moving and regrettable weekly eliminations, and so on, constantly stir the audience's interest.

3. The diversity and possibilities of the contestants. Among the 101 contestants, each has different strengths and characteristics. Until the very last moment, it is truly hard to determine who will ultimately break through. For example, in Episode 4, Yang Chaoyue, as a contestant whose current strength was not particularly strong, became third place, simply because many people liked her silly and cute personality. Another example is Wang Ju, who later made a comeback, and so on.

Inspiration:

In the internet era, first-tier brands create hot topics, while the rest chase hot topics. To become a successful brand, becoming the hot topic is the ultimate goal, because a hot topic means traffic, traffic means commercial value, and combined with high-quality products, there is then the opportunity to become a great brand.

2

Operations: Find every way to get fans moving

With fans and traffic, you can only create a short-term hot topic. To dominate screens in the long term, one more important step is needed, and that is operations. Only by activating fans and traffic can you give the hot topic nutrients.

This is like a public account with 200,000 followers. If you do not maintain an appropriate connection with them, it is very likely that in the end the public account's open rate will be only 3%, which is equivalent to having only 6,000 effective followers.

So what needs to be done is to activate the remaining fans through operations. Produce 101 indeed played new tricks in this regard.

3

Thirty-day check-in cultivation plan

It is said that a habit can be formed in 21 days. Through the form of daily check-ins, the stickiness and activity of fans are cultivated.

The specific gameplay is: one question each day. The fan whose comment gets the most likes will have more exciting behind-the-scenes clips unlocked for them based on their answer. The implication is, if there is a girl you like, come unlock her and let more people see her.

6

Customize #Produce101# topics for mentors and girl groups

Exclusive #XX Produce101# topics were created for almost every mentor and girl group. Clicking in, the read count for each ranges from at least several million to over a hundred million.

At the same time, there are other topics related to Produce 101. Each one has fans' popularity contributions, each one is a fan group, and when all are linked together, that is the wealth of Produce 101.

7. Daily behind-the-scenes gossip and photo drops

Regular daily updates on the stories happening in Produce 101 and behind-the-scenes tidbits, the girl group members' regular care and interaction with fans, with freshness every day, fully satisfying fans' curiosity.

Inspiration:

Zombie followers have no value, and lurkers cannot generate new traffic connections, offering mediocre value. Only active fans are where a brand's true value lies; and the key to operations lies with the fans. Grasp the psychology and behavior of fans, formulate corresponding solutions for them, and you will obtain the secret to lasting success.