Original production of China Times Finance.
Author: Di Ruifang Editor: Zhou Xuesong Drafting: Qiao Hanyun
At 7 p.m. on January 9, 2024, Dong Yuhui once again became the spotlight, and his personal studio official account "Walking with Hui" Douyin account ushered in the first live broadcast.
According to Feigua data, two hours after the live broadcast started, the sales volume has exceeded 100 million. The whole live broadcast lasted for nearly 4 hours, with more than 54 million people, and the peak popularity reached 1.71 million. As of press time, "Walking with Hui" has more than 9 million Douyin followers.
On the second day of the live broadcast, Oriental Selection (01797.)HK) shares opened at 30HK$3, **29HK$8, compared with the previous trading day**102%。
Regarding the relevant content of the new studio, Dongfang Selection told China Economic Times and China Times Finance, "We will not accept interviews for the time being, please give us some time to adjust." ”
This "adjustment" is quite meaningful, perhaps not only for the adjustment of "walking with Hui", but also for the company's business form to develop for the long term and carry out all-round optimization.
Dongfang selects the live broadcast room to explore new business
The content of the first two sessions of "Walking with Hui" is similar to that of Oriental Selection, covering agricultural products, cleaning supplies, household appliances, etc. Dong Yuhui revealed in the live broadcast that he plans to conduct live broadcasts about 5 days a week before the Spring Festival, mainly focusing on the promotion and sales of agricultural products.
Dong Yuhui summarized the new live broadcast room as "the live broadcast room of Oriental Selection to explore new businesses". He once said in a promotional video that the business of "Walking with Hui" will include special agricultural products, various books, natural scenery, celebrity interviews, cultural tourism and other aspects in the future, "as always, do not forget the original intention".
Despite the wide range of areas, the specific deployment plan is not detailed, which may be related to the hasty formation of the team.
When Yu Minhong appeared in the live broadcast room of "Walking with Hui", he said that the team formation speed of "Walking with Hui" exceeded expectations. Although the completion of team formation in a short period of time is a manifestation of the team's ability, it may also mean that there is still room for improvement in terms of novelty.
For example, most of the members of the anchor team were incubated by Dongfang Selection, and according to the live broadcast content, the new team currently has a total of 71 people, including Peng Peng, Xiaoxiao and other former anchors of Dongfang Selection, as well as members of Dongfang Selection's parent company after sorting out the team.
In terms of products, by comparing the two live broadcast rooms of "Walking with Hui" and Dongfang Selection, China Economic Times and China Times Finance found that there is a lot of overlap in the categories of the two live broadcast rooms, but among similar products, there are great differences in the brands promoted.
Dongfang Selection's official Douyin account posted on January 8 that the two live broadcast rooms will remain consistent for a long time. If you encounter a problem with the difference in the product, contact customer service as soon as possible to refund the difference.
According to the Tianyancha app, the registered capital of Youhui Walk (Beijing) Technology is 10 million yuan, Dong Yuhui is the legal representative, executive director and manager, and Yu Minhong is the supervisor. Equity penetration shows that New Oriental Xuncheng Network Technology, with Sun Dongxu as the legal representative, is 100% controlled by Hui Peer, and the actual controller of Hui Peer (Beijing) Technology is still Yu Minhong.
Dong Yuhui also said in the live broadcast that his personal studio is 100% controlled by Dongfang Selection, and the total amount of commodity transactions of the new account will be included in Dongfang Selection's financial report.
On the whole, "Walking with Hui" and Dongfang Selection are still inextricably linked, and they are not "completely independent" as the outside world says. Song Xiangqing, vice president of the China Business Economics Association and founder of Huadebang, said that the reason why Yu Minhong called it an "independent personal studio" is that Dong Yuhui already has an independent personal brand and influence, and has the ability to operate independently in the field of live streaming.
In addition, Song Xiangqing believes that the downplaying of Dong Yuhui's influence on Dongfang's selection may be to avoid over-reliance on individual figures and reduce potential risks in the future. By highlighting Dong Yuhui's independence, Yu Minhong sought to give more flexibility and plasticity to projects such as "Walking with Hui".
Seeking staying power in development
Whether it is the promotion of the "small essay incident" or the public's high recognition of Dong Yuhui personally, "Walking with Hui" has already filled people's expectations before the broadcast, so it is not surprising that consumers poured in as soon as the broadcast started.
Song Xiangqing believes that on the one hand, the long-awaited fans and netizens are eager to get a glimpse of the true appearance of "Walking with Hui", which is the main reason why it jumped to the first place in the first hour of the broadcast, and it is also the first weapon for "Walking with Hui" to attract traffic. On the other hand, "Walking with Hui" has done its homework in terms of market positioning, product positioning and anchor role positioning, etc., retaining many fans and gaining a lot of fans.
On the day of the live broadcast of "Walking with Hui", the Oriental Selection account also started the live broadcast at the same time. However, what is surprising is that an hour after the start of the broadcast, Dongfang Selection's overall list of goods was ranked 25th.
This shows that success is not only about explosiveness, but also about staying power. After all, although live streaming can quickly expand the scale and performance of fans through online platforms, it also faces the hidden worry that the freshness of fans will come and go quickly.
In the early stage of competition, Dongfang Selection has achieved gradually expanding performance by focusing on the "people" in the three elements of "people, goods and yards". However, Song Xiangqing believes that due to the slow progress of Dongfang Selection's product structure, team members and scene interpretation, coupled with the impact of previous adverse public opinion events, its performance has entered a downward stage. In order to stop the decline and rise, the key is to innovate scenarios, iterate products, refine the anchor's line expression and behavior, and introduce trendy categories with tension.
Therefore, in the long run, Song Xiangqing believes that if "walking with Hui" wants to go far, the key lies in three factors: first, the product quality must be excellent; secondly, the image of the main anchor should be constantly refreshed; Finally, you need to consider the degree and strength of your competitors' counterattacks. He emphasized that the key to the competition in live streaming lies in innovation, which is a high-intensity mental work, and it is necessary to continuously innovate and present roles, products, and scenarios.
It is not only the problem of how far Dongfang Selection and "Walking with Hui" are facing, but also whether the company's overall business model is sustainable and how to maintain stability, which are all topics worthy of in-depth study. Is relying on anchors to bring goods a feasible way to achieve long-term development? Is New Oriental feeling the pressure of transformation again?
If the focus is zoomed in to the entire New Oriental enterprise, Song Xiangqing pointed out three key problems for its sustainable development: lack of innovation ability, difficulty in self-control of finance, capital and payment and settlement systems, and lack of professionalism of team members.
Song Xiangqing further said that it is the right choice to deepen the strategic layout of using the network platform as the business carrier, but the commodity business is not the orthodox expansion routine in Yu Minhong's bones, and cultural communication, artistic expression and vocational education are more in line with the "Yu style" style. Therefore, it is recommended to gradually reduce the dependence on live streaming business and transform into fields such as culture, art and vocational education.
Rational, objective and uniqueDirector丨Wang Hui
Producer丨Li Piguang, Wang Yu, Liu WeiminChief Planner丨Wang SongcaiEditor-in-Chief丨Zhou Xuesong Deputy Editor-in-Chief丨Zhang Limin