Volume 3: Taking Roots 2016 Chapter 621: Riding on My Own Popularity
Zhou Dongsheng frowned slightly and couldn't help but sigh secretly. Even though he had warned Yang Luyu many times, the temptation of live streaming was still irresistible to him and he resolutely chose to wade forward.
It has to be said that in 2016, which is known as the first year of live streaming, most Internet companies found it difficult to withstand this huge traffic port.
Faced with the temptation of the trend of the times where “everything can be live-streamed,” everyone is trying their best to sharpen their heads and try every possible means to get into this trend, trying to make themselves the trendsetters of the times.
Only Zhou Dongsheng, a veteran, knows that for short video social platforms, the live broadcast function can only be regarded as a icing on the cake, although it has spawned the crazy wealth-making trend of live broadcast e-commerce...
However, the latter's glory is still based on the massive traffic foundation laid by short video social networking. Only when the predecessors plant trees can the future generations enjoy the shade. The live broadcast ecosystem has not played a decisive role.
Even the Today Group launched the live streaming function only after a year and a half of consolidating its foundation, and only regarded it as one of the functions to supplement its own ecosystem, which is exactly the same as the strategy adopted by Kuaishou.
Of course, this is just Zhou Dongsheng's rough opinion. Looking at the problem with the attitude of hindsight does not necessarily allow us to see the overall situation. There will always be certain omissions.
What's more, the live broadcast function is always indispensable. If we open this traffic port first, who knows, maybe there will be some unexpected surprises.
After all, the times have already undergone some unpredictable changes, and even Zhou Dongsheng cannot guarantee that the future he knows will definitely be the "future".
As less and less information is known about the future, Zhou Dongsheng will eventually "degenerate" step by step and eventually become an ordinary person who knows nothing about the future.
This day will come sooner or later, but whether it will come earlier and how soon it will come is obviously an unknown.
Zhou Dongsheng stopped thinking and congratulated Yang Luyu on the other end of the phone, "That is indeed good news worth celebrating. After all, with the development and improvement of live broadcasting, this function has gradually become one of the indispensable functions of major manufacturers..."
"But I still want to share my personal opinion. Mr. Yang, listen to both sides and you will understand. After all, I am just an investor. It is Mr. Yang who has to lead the company's development and move it towards glory."
Zhou Dongsheng said after thinking for a while.
"Hey, Mr. Zhou, you are too polite and distant. You are also a strategic investor of the company. Mr. Zhou deserves at least half of the credit for the success of Douyin. Without Mr. Zhou's recommendation, we would not have won the investment from the pig factory."
"The strong alliance between Zhuchang Cloud Music and us is extremely important for the development of our music short videos. With the resources of Zhuchang Cloud Music Library, we have made up for the biggest shortcoming in our development..."
On the other end of the phone, Yang Luyu talked incessantly and praised Zhou Dongsheng's contributions generously. It must be said that Zhou Dongsheng was particularly pleased with his words.
Although my role essentially seems to be no different from that of a pimp, it is true that this is the case, and it is a process of resource exchange.
It’s just that the chips on the table are heavier.
“Although I made my fortune in the live broadcast media business and am very optimistic about the future of live broadcasting, I still feel that the foundation of short video social networking is still short video content…”
"Only by always attaching importance to the value of content can we have the most important anchor in the field of short videos. The only thing that can make us successful is content!"
Zhou Dongsheng emphasized very sincerely, fearing that Yang Luyu would rush into the live broadcast field and vigorously develop live broadcast without paying attention to the main purpose...
In this case, even if Li Dai Tao Jiang uses the name of Douyin, with the entry of Today Group, it is possible that this "Li Kui" may be easily driven off the stage of history and replaced by someone else.
After all, the advantages of Today’s Group are not just reflected in the name.
“I understand the logic, but the live broadcast function is also a great tool for content production. I think this function should be enough to guide users to produce more content for the platform…”
Yang Luyu didn't think so. Instead, he was very optimistic about the future of live streaming. After all, this big ready-made cake was a temptation in front of everyone, and everyone wanted to take a bite of it.
It is not easy to catch up with pioneers such as Kuaishou and Meipai by relying solely on the development of short video content. What's more, competitors have launched live streaming functions one after another, so it is understandable that they choose to follow suit, right?
Zhou Dongsheng could only sigh to the sky, but he seemed to have thought of something. "That's true, but we still have to grasp the degree of primary and secondary. Just like Kuaishou only regards it as an auxiliary function and does not put it on the main page..."
"This is something we should learn from. As for the production of short video content, I think there is a direction that is likely to become the future, that is the short drama format, or more accurately, micro short drama."
Zhou Dongsheng could only throw out the few things in his arsenal and further supplement them to attract Yang Luyu's attention.
Short scripts are a type of dramatic literature that occupies a place on the world cultural stage. Moreover, this form has long been developed in China and has a stable scale and audience group.
Such works as "I Love My Family" and the famous "Wulin Waijiao" are the culmination of short play forms. There is also "Seventy-two Tenants", which is well-known to everyone in the eastern Guangdong region and has been watched from childhood to adulthood.
However, the existence of the latter has turned the short play format into a large-scale super-long serial, which can be regarded as an alternative wonder among short plays.
It is not difficult to see that the so-called short drama is a single episode with a duration of less than 25 minutes. The script is concise, which fully demonstrates the concept of "concentration is the essence".
Due to the limitation of length, it is undoubtedly an extremely challenging genre for creators, but there are still a steady stream of outstanding works being produced at home and abroad, and branches such as sitcoms have also been spawned.
The emergence and rise of short dramas undoubtedly caters to the fast-paced needs of the times. Audiences are gradually losing patience and are unable to finish watching a long TV series, especially those long and boring scenes and clichéd and bloody plots, which always easily cause aesthetic fatigue.
The speed of development of the times is like a train that moves forward and keeps speeding up. The faster the speed, the faster the pace of life.
It is so fast that even a 25-minute short drama is too long for the audience. This "high-speed" demand once again deconstructs and reshapes the so-called dramatic structure and precise logic.
Micro-short dramas, the product of the combination of speed and content, have emerged and have further advanced film and television content from the era when short dramas were measured in "minutes" to the era when they are calculated in "seconds".
Zhou Dongsheng is also one of the passengers on this train of the times. He does not have the ability to control the direction of the train. The only thing he has more than others is perhaps that he has an extra "accelerator" under his position.
Whether you step on it or not, the train will speed up sooner or later...
"Oh? Short drama? I have to say that Mr. Zhou, you always have a unique vision in content production. You always think of some ideas and directions that others have not touched upon. I am convinced by this!"
"But what is the format of this short play?" Yang Luyu was immediately attracted by the novel concept and asked humbly.
"To put it simply and crudely, it means a quicker plot introduction and straightforward character relationships. It doesn't need to be profound or mysterious. It just tells a story in a simple way..."
“To be honest, I am still in the exploratory stage in this direction, but there is no doubt that the micro-short drama format has huge potential. It is short and concise enough, and can accommodate a variety of themes. The most important point is that the threshold is undoubtedly very low, and everyone can try it!
And I have asked my two major media companies to join forces to create a short drama with me as the protagonist..."
"When the time comes, I will upload it directly on the TikTok short video platform. Let me be the brick that inspires others to do more."
Zhou Dongsheng's understatement actually dropped a bombshell into Yang Luyu's heart.
The fact that Zhou Dongsheng, a strategic investor, chose to take charge personally and bet on this topic is enough to fully demonstrate the importance he attaches to this direction.
After all, when you reach a certain level, sometimes you value face more than anything else. This made Yang Luyu feel like a kitten scratching his heart, and he was extremely curious.
"After hearing what Mr. Zhou said, I couldn't resist the urge to be the first audience. I will definitely take a good look at Mr. Zhou's short play..."
"Okay, okay. I'm planning to compete for the Best Actor award at our Golden Second Awards, or the Best of the Year award. Of course, I'll do it in an aboveboard way. I don't like to play tricks behind the scenes..."
Zhou Dongsheng laughed and said, is this a disguised way of saying "the referee is warming up"? Is it okay for the organizer to personally participate in the competition?
"Of course, but when it comes to popularity and popularity, our President Zhou is now one of the most famous people on the Douyin platform. Even if there is no shady manipulation, it is not difficult for President Zhou to win the award openly with his popularity..."
"Especially after what happened today, Mr. Zhou might not have paid attention to it yet? The speed at which your account is gaining followers is almost setting a record on the platform..."
As Yang Luyu spoke, his tone gradually became teasing, and he sounded a bit like someone who was just trying to watch the fun.
"Is there such a good thing? Wouldn't that mean I can gather a lot of popularity for my short drama which hasn't been released yet? That's great. I can even invite Ni Ni to play a guest role. The effect might be even better this way!"
Zhou Dongsheng spoke very frankly, and mentioned the matter without any hesitation, and began to conceive the content of the short play with great interest.
It's true, since the general public likes to be spectators, why don't we cater to their tastes and treat this matter as the first episode of the show.
Although Zhou Dongsheng obviously wanted to learn from the future Zhu Yici, apart from knowing that the iconic music was from the interlude of the movie From Beijing with Love, and that one line was plain and boring...
Most of the content has long disappeared from Zhou Dongsheng's mind and been forgotten by him. The only memory anchor is the music and classic lines.
Therefore, in addition to drawing on this structure, in terms of content improvement, the company can only let the team of its two major media companies tailor the script for itself.
Just relying on this backbone of classic music and classic lines, plus itself as the biggest gimmick, even if the quality of the content is not high enough, it will surely easily achieve a stunning effect.
After all, Zhou Dongsheng is well aware of the curiosity of the general public. Of course, the novelty is only temporary. If you want to maintain a series, you can only rely on high-quality content as a support.
This can . Content is king.
However, the content can be polished slowly, but once the popularity is over, it is really gone, so it is natural to take advantage of the popularity as soon as possible, even if the popularity is your own...
Thinking of this, Zhou Dongsheng immediately made up his mind that there was no time to lose and he had to do it right away. Such an interesting thing had to be done right away.
Even Zhou Dongsheng himself was a little curious about what the effect would be...
Before Yang Luyu on the other end of the phone could say anything, Zhou Dongsheng said hastily, "President Yang, let's not talk about this for now. I have to hurry up and make this idea come true. If everything goes well, I'll have the subject matter for my first video!"
After saying that, Zhou Dongsheng hung up the phone and quickly contacted his team of screenwriters.
After all, it was the boss who gave the order personally, so the two major media outlets naturally dared not neglect it. Even if it was just for fun, they had to let the boss have fun and feel comfortable.
Therefore, both media outlets actively deployed their personnel and formed a team of experienced screenwriters. When Jiang Yilei heard that the boss wanted to play a role, he volunteered to take charge and act as the number one screenwriter.
As for Xiaorenwu Media, Han Fei is naturally the leader, assisting Jiang Yilei in polishing the script.
After all, many hands make light work. When trying out a new subject, no one knows who will make the biggest difference, so brainstorming is obviously the most efficient option.
This temporarily put together team of Zhou Dongsheng's screenwriters basically communicate through group chats because everyone is from all over the world.
As the boss and the protagonist, Zhou Dongsheng is naturally also in this group chat, and the name of the group chat is "Zhou Dongsheng's Boring Life".
Within the content framework set by Zhou Dongsheng, they brainstormed and sparked inspiration among each other in the group.
However, it is still in the running-in stage, and Zhou Dongsheng naturally habitually blocks the group chat, and occasionally takes time to take a look at everyone's brainstorming process.
Opening the group chat, Zhou Dongsheng, as the only party A, directly spoke on the microphone: "Ahem, everyone has paid attention to today's news, right?"
"Why don't we start the first episode of our column with this as the material? I think the effect will definitely be great!"
It would be a waste not to take advantage of your own popularity!
