This summer, a group of students from USC Annenberg paid a visit to Beijing to get a deeper understanding of the development of the influencer industry in China. The students visited the short video platform Kwai and a couple of multi-channel networks. They also had an opportunity to interview executives in the production company, HuanYu Entertainment and the big data research company, Qingbo.

Chinese actor Aaron Kwok

At Kwai, the vice president of its marketing department, Mike Xu gave the students a speech on how Kwai has developed during the past three years. He then introduced a recent event held by Kwai influencer Simba and the Chinese actor Aaron Kwok where they sold 165,000 bottles of high-end shampoo in just five seconds on the Kwai platform.  With the success of e-commerce business, more brands and celebrities are starting to use Kwai as a promotional channel for their products or work. Some companies even set up a traffic test service for their clients to help them gain more viewership and “likes” on the platform. With a conversion rate of almost 50% in some cases, Kwai is considered to be one of the most profitable platforms for users in China.

The Story of Yanxi Palace

HuanYu was founded by the screenwriter YU Zheng who is well-known to the Chinese audience. The company’s latest hit is The Story of Yanxi Palace, a period drama series telling the story of the growth of a maid and her romantic relationship with Qianlong Emperor. The series was streamed more than 15 billion times on Chinese platforms and was distributed in more than 70 markets worldwide. It has been listed on the world’s most Googled TV show.

Huanyu’s Official YouTube Channel

Experiencing the success of overseas distribution, HuanYu is now interested in cooperating with international studios to co-produce and promote their future work. In the interview, they talked with Annenberg students about the US entertainment industry and revealed their plan to make a connection with agencies and streaming platforms in the US. In addition to the TV drama industry, HuanYu is also trying to expand its business into the influencer market.  As a production company, HuanYu receives numerous applications from performers who want to join a series. However, the number of roles available are always limited and most of the applicants have to be rejected. To fully develop their strength in the casting process, HuanYu hopes to provide potential performers more exposure online.

Erka’s makeup influencer Dangerous Sweetness

Erka’s filming studio

HuanYu’s appeal is well recognized by the multi-channel network, Erka Media, one of the companies Annenberg students have visited several times. Erka focuses on influencer cultivation and platform relationship management. Growing with the whole industry, they moved to a new building recently and launched their filming studios. Erka is looking for opportunities to let its influencers participate in long form entertainment like series and movies. According to both companies, HuanYu and Erka are likely to collaborate and achieve their aims together.

Qingbo‘s research on 2018-2019 internet and new media trending in China

Qingbo, as mentioned above, is a big data research company. Founded by a Tsinghua professor, Qingbo pays more attention to the technical skills of collecting and analyzing data, but needs more assistance on how to promote and sell their data product worldwide. Qingbo’s data can cover all Chinese social media platforms including WeChat, Weibo, TikTok, Kwai and more. By inputting keywords and arranging the search range, users can get a report of any content published on Chinese social media. Since the influencer industry is booming in this country, the main influencer platforms are all carefully counted into Qingbo’s algorithm. With more experts and researchers outside China trying to learn China’s influencer economy, Qingbo hopes its product can be widely known and used globally. They are now building the English operation interface and developing their analysis method on international social media.