The casting format "Produce 101" has turned an artificially constructed girl group into superstars in China and triggered a media hype. Why does this show characterize the Chinese mentality? What can German entrepreneurs learn from it?
"Burn my Calories" - Burn my calories! A song with this title recently won the Chinese Music Award for the best music video, and it has millions of views on YouTube. The song is sung by the "Rocket Girls," a girl group created by the casting format "Produce 101. For several months, the two-hour Korean-style show was broadcast on the streaming portal Tencent Video.
Learning effect for German companies
How can we explain the hype surrounding the casting show, in which 101 young Chinese women, barracked into a high-rise building, fought for weeks to be accepted into a girl group?
The most important success factor was the active participation of the audience, which was consistently referred to as the girls' producer and had far-reaching influence on the selection process. The collective shapes and creates the superstars, and the commitment to their own favorites is huge - and expensive.
Underlying the enthusiasm is an almost limitless belief in optimization and development - with diligence, willpower and a good workout, anyone can achieve anything, according to the Chinese conviction. It is a deep longing to overcome social boundaries and rise to higher social strata.
German casting shows are usually about discovering potential, uncovering individualistic genius - the judges hope to strike a gold mine. In contrast, China focuses on the "raw material human being," which can be processed and improved in an astonishing way. In China, the symbol of this is the jade stone, which only becomes a true treasure when it is artistically carved. "Produce 101" has now taken the belief in development to the extreme, with the collective creating a new group according to its own ideas.
The hype surrounding the casting show can be explained by the fact that fans become creators and part of a media collective and thus also part of the success. The belief in development is not only a strong driver in terms of technical development, but also holds huge opportunities for brands - if they know how to use the underlying principle. While brands in Germany have to pay a lot of attention to preserving their brand core, in China the focus is on the dynamic development capability of the brand; German brands still have some catching up to do here.
For Germans, brands are more about differentiation and individuality, whereas the Chinese wanted to express that they are part of a large dynamic whole by displaying popular brands. Once brands are popular and successful in China, they can count on far-reaching active support and identification from their fans.
(Co-) development opportunities
Produce 101" also reflects this logic in the media. To be sure that their trainee would stay in the game, viewers had to sacrifice time and money for their favorites. Every day, the "producers" were allowed to cast eleven votes for their trainee. In addition, they could also buy 121 votes - for a fee. In online communities on Wechat and Weibo, money was collected with built-in mobile payment functions to keep the favorites in the competition with purchased votes. The theme song of "Produce 101" sums up the relationship between viewers and trainees, and also between customers and brands: "The more you like me, the more lovable I become." Brands in China do not function as immovable identity founders. Rather, they are accessible companions.
Stephan Urlings, a psychologist, is Managing Partner and Head of International Research. His work focuses on market and impact analyses in the areas of consumer electronics, online media, energy and finance.
Phone: +49 221-466 828 0
E-mail: urlings@rheingold-online.de
Wutao Wen, project manager at rheingold, grew up in China, studied market and media research in France and Germany, and specialized in Chinese youth and media development.
Phone: +49 221-466 828 0
E-mail: wen@rheingold-online.de
