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Original title: Zhou Zhennan’s parents were exposed to hundreds of millions in debt When did “draft idols” become the brand’s biggest “public opinion crisis”?
In recent days, topics related to “Zhou Zhennan’s parents have more than 100 million debts” continue to dominate hot searches on Weibo, with more than 100 million views. On the 26th, Zhou Zhennan responded to this matter for the first time, saying bluntly that he did not know before, but that he would definitely help his parents overcome difficulties and help all related people who were harmed by this to recoup their losses .
On the 25th, a netizen broke the news that Zhou Zhennan’s parents were included in the list of dishonest people liable to execution and had hundreds of millions of debts. The community invested and developed by his father Zhou Yong is reported to have violated many regulations, and more than 200 homeowners paid loans on time in 1978 but never obtained the real estate certificate. Since Zhou Zhennan’s debut in 2017, he has always used “Rich Second Generation” as an important label. The program group “Son of Tomorrow” has also traveled to their hometown villa to film.
This incident caused discontent among many netizens. Some people mentioned Zhou Zhennan’s endorsement brand and resisted spending money on Lao Lai, and others went to their endorsement brand’s official flagship store to protest.
Currently, the official Reebok and L’Oreal Tmall flagship stores have removed all baby links with the words “R1SE Same Model” and “Zhou Zhennan Same Model”; WonderLab canceled the live delivery event originally scheduled for the 26th; and It is reported that the images of Zhou Zhennan in “Sister’s Philharmonic Journey” were cut. The program will launch on the 30th. The specific situation is not yet known.
The storm of the debts of Zhou Zhennan’s parents from the “burning” of Zhou Zhennan to business cooperation. Employing spokespersons for talent idols has become a matter of value and risk. Is there a risk of method scale once and for all in this “gambling game”?
Idol draft turned into “gold sale”
Although negative public opinion related to Zhou Zhennan is still fermenting recently, some business cooperation related to Zhou Zhennan is also temporarily avoiding the limelight. However, we found that in some brands’ Weibo superchats, a large number of fans still support Zhou Zhennan to spend, and are practicing to “rectify the name” of their idols. The “gold selling” brand of draft idols is still “really fragrant.”
According to the statistics from the “September New Celebrity Endorsements Popularity List” released by CBNData, in September this year, the top four categories of “beauty and personal care”, “food and beverage”, “shoes and bags apparel “and” everyday chemicals “Among the top 40 popular stars, 26 are draft idols and nearly dominate the top three in every category. This is a fan carnival, but also a brand party.
In fact, since 2018, brand owners have smelled business opportunities in the increasingly popular draft market. Promote support, outdoor advertising, buy video members, buy hot search products, buy sponsor products. . . Already before the debut as an idol, the fans showed great purchasing power. This “fan mother” never used prostitutes.
This type of fan group that “watches the kids grow up” with real money naturally “loves more than gold” for idols. The brand transfers this emotional connection to tangible products in the form of endorsements. Fans love the house and Wu, and although they are willing to consume, they do not forget to praise the brand. Especially when idol officially announced the cooperation with top international brands, fans will line up in the Weibo comment area to thank “brand dad” for the recognition of his idols.
For fans, if there are no representative works, the commercial value of their idols will also decrease after the variety show ends. In order to help idols establish themselves firmly, fans do the data for themselves. As long as the purchasing power is strong, subsequent business and labor resources can keep up.
(List of debut sponsorships for R1SE, UNINE, NINE PERCEN, Rocket Girl 101 by the entertainment industry)
In fact, “debut is the peak” is something that fans and the brand have said tacitly. Brands use commercial endorsements in exchange for a large amount of traffic exposure in a short period of time, earning a wave of quick money; fans use brand awareness to enhance the business value of their idols, so that more brands and producers can see the idol’s appeal in the marketplace and make sure they don’t. It was quickly eliminated. Both sides are ready to fight and suffer.
The “pot” falls from the sky, high risks and high returns coexist
While the brand joins the idol of traffic, it also means you have to take more risks for it. Even when the artist’s personal design collapsed, it was impossible to bring the merchandise, but instead brought a “pot”, putting the brand in a public relations crisis.
In fact, endorsement crises caused by the spokesperson ‘s personal negative public opinion are very common, and the most common type is negative public opinion caused by the spokesperson’ bad faith. For example, not so long ago, R1SE member Ren Hao was exposed to unfaithful love affairs and was beaten for “withdrawing from the group.” Later, Ren Hao was fined to stop all personal and group activities within 60 days, which is nothing to him personally, but the marketing and signing expenses of business partners have been “wasted”.
The second category is a crisis of confidence caused by the failure or injury of the spokesperson in the workplace, which occurs most often in sports stars. For example, Sun Yang was banned for eight years, which was a severe blow to the brand that signed with him at the time. The last category is the crisis of social public opinion that involves the illegal behavior of the spokesperson, and his personal career will come to an abrupt halt. For example, Fan Bingbing had to suspend the contract due to tax issues involving the change of the movie “Big Bombing” and the withdrawal of the movie “Juji 2”.
Negative public opinion will not only cause direct economic losses to the brand, but will also test the brand’s crisis public relations capabilities. Once handled carelessly, it can cause long-term damage to your own image. Generally speaking, brands tend to receive negative information at the same time as the public. In the absence of unclear incident and emergency plans, most brands choose to be silent first time to cut down on hype and reduce their sense of presence.
As the incident gradually clears up, the brand must convey its clear attitude, position and future actions in time, and stop being an ostrich. The last is to replace the spokesperson, increase publicity, divert public attention, and ensure negative events are not deliberately mentioned. After Luo Zhixiang publicly apologized, “Creation Camp 2020” quickly removed all Weibo interacting with Luo and asked Da Zhangwei to take the place of his tutor to participate in the pre-recording, to draw a clear line on this matter. and minimize the impact on yourself.
Can “gambling style gambling” avoid risks?
In this “gambling-style gambling game,” as the brand struggles to get ahead, it is also asking for a way to avoid risk once and for all.
Brand strategy expert Li Guangdou said in an interview with “Daily Economic News” that when companies sign endorsement deals with celebrities, “there must be binding clauses.” “The stars must have higher requirements than ordinary people. During the endorsement period, their behavior must conform to public order and good customs, and they must not do things that violate social morals.” Li Guangdou said: “The backup fee is paid to you. If you have a problem, there should be restrictions on whether to withdraw or what to do.”
At the beginning of the 20th century, Hollywood film and television companies used this type of moral restriction clause to restrict stars. If the unethical behavior of the spokesperson damages the image of the company’s products or services, the company has the right to terminate the contract accordingly. Today, it is even more necessary for us to extend some special binding clauses to prevent negative public opinion from spreading from “Hammer Star” to “Hammer Brand”.
Additionally, the traffic stars represented by draft idols have too much instability in their personal, professional and fan literacy. To avoid big losses, many brands have started turning to short-term contracts to quickly complete the realization of the fan economy. Enabling multiple spokespersons and multiple versions of advertising is also one of the common strategies of many large brands. Once one of the spokespersons has a problem, the brand can quickly change the spokesperson and ad space.
What is most remarkable is that in the last two years, more and more virtual idol spokespeople have entered our field of vision: Hatsune Miku & LV, Toyota, Sony, Xiaomi; Luo Tianyi & Chest Ling, Tide; “Jiang Ziya” & Mengniu. . . To some extent, virtual idols and draft idols also represent aesthetic trends and the current state of youth and specialized circles. The difference is that the first is more controllable than the second.
In general, the latest idols in the draft have been affected by negative public opinion one after another, making us increasingly aware that traffic becomes not just a sales “talisman” but a “big bet.”
Based on business logic with traffic at the core, it is unrealistic to expect brands to spend a lot of time assessing spokespersons’ recognition and reputation and reducing risks. How should brands choose spokespersons in the future? How to make emergency plans for a possible backup crisis? It will become a topic worthy of repeated discussion.
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