The 7-episode short drama has been viewed over 100 million times, and the third generation of the rich has made the family business famous

The short drama "Towel Empire" became popular. The rich second-generation Shi Zhancheng wrote and performed the drama himself to help the younger generation of the Jieliya brand, showing a new path for the "second generation" of Internet celebrities, attracting young audiences through contrasting plots, driving the brand back into the public eye and achieving sales growth.

“I was squeezed out of the company by my second uncle and exiled to Xinjiang for three years… Now, three years have passed and I’m back.” This slightly awkward-sounding “boss literature” comes from the second episode of the short drama “Towel Empire” which has been popular on TikTok recently. It is a simple introduction of the male protagonist Shi Zhancheng to his current situation.

Unlike other actors in the skit, Shi Zhancheng is a real "rich second generation". His grandfather Shi Changjia is the founder of the Jieliya brand, his father Shi Lei is the current chairman of the Jieliya Group, and his second uncle who also appears in the skit is Shi Jing, the president of the Jieliya Group.

So far, the cumulative number of views of "Towel Empire", written, directed and performed by Jieliya Shaoye, has exceeded 100 million, and the highest number of likes for a single short video is as high as 1.43 million. It once ranked first on Douyin's hot search. As a short drama, such data is undoubtedly quite excellent, but what is more noteworthy is that with the popularity of "Towel Empire", "Jieliya", an old domestic brand that has been forgotten by many people, has once again entered the public eye. According to the report of the Operation Research Society, in the past three months, the number of consumers who searched for brand words to enter Jieliya's Tmall store increased by about 30%-50%, and the store's daily sales increased by 100% year-on-year. During the 618 period, it even ranked first in the Tmall home textile industry.

In fact, since the rise of online e-commerce, many old brands have gradually "fallen behind" because they failed to keep up with this "trend" in time. Especially since the popularity of short videos, many old brands have found it increasingly difficult to keep up with the pace of young consumers. During this period, although we have also seen many cases of brands reforming and innovating and struggling to survive, most brands are still limited by their "outdated" brand image and cannot meet the trendy needs of current consumers.

How to achieve "brand rejuvenation" has become the primary problem faced by many old brands. Can the emergence of "Towel Empire" provide them with a new solution? Can the "second generation" who start to make TikTok shoulder the "hope of the whole village"?

1. The third generation of entrepreneurs bravely venture into Douyin

"A busy grandfather, an award-winning father, a villain uncle and an idle me." This is Shi Zhancheng's concise summary of some family members in the play. There may be some artistic exaggeration for humorous reasons, but to some extent, it also reveals the fact that he has not yet played an important role in the family business at this stage.

In an interview with Jiupai Finance, he once shared that his father and second uncle did not want him to return to the company too early and take on too much pressure, so he not only studied film and television performance according to his own wishes in college, but also formed a four-person entrepreneurial team after graduation to sell textile products through live broadcasts, and "refused" to go home to take over.

Unfortunately, this entrepreneurial venture was not successful, and left him with two post-00s members. In order to solve their work problems, Shi Zhancheng took them back to Jieliya and started the account @巾少爷.

According to Kas's observation, the earliest video on the account can be traced back to August 2022. This work caters to the hot topic of #post-00s rectifying the workplace. It tells a story about a boss who asks a post-00s employee to go downstairs to get takeout for him. The employee directly "hard-resisted" with a series of combination punches such as "I'm busy and don't have time", "Why do you ask me to get takeout for you", "I really can't stand the faces of you capitalists", "I tell you that I fired you today", etc., but in the end he "slid to his knees" under the temptation of 100 yuan in cash.

@Towel Master Tik Tok screenshot

Although such workplace jokes have certain humor and appeal, the content lacks uniqueness and does not have any major highlights. Therefore, the data performance is also very mediocre, failing to make @手工少爷 stand out from the fiercely competitive plot track.

It was not until the release of "Young Master's Wandering" in 2023 that the account had its first hit. The content of this video is actually not complicated. It just records Shi Zhancheng's complaints and complaints about his father "sending him to the frontier" and gives himself the title of "disdainful descendant".

Although the content is just a simple record, this video shows users a "family story" from a real company, the Jieliya Group. The "young master" in it lives a very "miserable" life, which is in sharp contrast to the image everyone imagines. As a result, it has gained the interest and love of many users. The comment with the most likes in the comment section is "It turns out that the rich second generation also has to sit in economy class. I feel balanced."

@Towel Master Tik Tok screenshot

The "explosive" nature of this work may have become one of the inspirations for the later "Towel Empire". Earlier this year, Shi Zhancheng fictionalized a story of "uncle-nephew infighting" based on his real family experience, and used real family members as actors to present Jie Liya's "family secrets" to netizens in the form of a refreshing short play.

The entire "Towel Empire" series consists of only 7 episodes. It starts with the "useless young master" Shi Zhancheng who failed in two business ventures and had to take over the family business. It tells the story of how he was demoted to the grassroots level in Xinjiang for three years by his handsome second uncle who returned from the UK. After the training, he returned to the headquarters and decided to start a fierce power struggle with his second uncle. However, as the plot progresses, Shi Zhancheng gradually realizes that he is not a domineering power contender in the eyes of the elders, but more like a "mascot" in the family that serves as a contrast.

@Towel Master Tik Tok screenshot

Overall, this self-written and self-acted "internal fighting drama" has many elements to become popular.

First of all, in terms of topic selection, contemporary young audiences have a strong interest in stories about wealthy families, power struggles and other themes. In particular, since Jieliya is a real company with a market value of tens of billions, the stories derived from this basis will naturally receive higher attention.

Secondly, the vivid and contrasting characters created in the short drama left a deep impression on the audience: Shi Zhancheng, the third-generation rich man with "mediocre abilities", and the "villain" handsome second uncle who helped Jieliya to quickly transform, both have strong personal charm, and the collision and confrontation between the two are full of the meaning of a cool novel. After being accustomed to the glamour of the general third-generation rich, seeing Shi Zhancheng's "being humiliated everywhere" brings users a sense of freshness and fun with an extremely strong contrast.

2. Why do the “second generation” flock to become “Internet celebrities”?

After the launch of "Towel Empire", it triggered widespread discussion on social platforms and quickly went viral. Many netizens expressed their interest and love for the series. Currently, the number of fans of @手工少爷's account has exceeded 1 million, and Shi Zhancheng and Shi Jing have become the new generation of "Internet husbands" in the eyes of fans.

What is more noteworthy is that, thanks to the proper placement of the Jieliya brand and its products in the plot, this drama has become a very good promotional material. Shi Lei, chairman of Jieliya, once said in an interview, "Professionals say that in terms of value conversion, you may not be able to achieve this effect even if you invest tens of millions in the past."

After becoming popular, the two "leading actors" also took advantage of the opportunity to enter the live broadcast room and tried to sell goods through live broadcast. This live broadcast was named "The Story of the Towel Young Master's Ascension to Power", which innovatively integrated plot performances into regular live broadcasts and used short plays to attract the audience's attention. During the live broadcast, the anchors were still playing roles, swearing at each other, and performing various plots of domineering TV dramas in the live broadcast room; the next second they could return to their duties and diligently explain the many products in the small yellow car to the audience.

Image source network

The "beautiful" mental state made the audience laugh, and their love for the two was directly reflected in the sales results. Data showed that the live broadcast lasted for 4 hours, with a total of 2.43 million viewers, and sales of 5-7.5 million yuan. When it was most popular, it ranked first in the sales ranking, far exceeding the daily sales data of Jieliya's official account.

Kas also observed that five days ago, the account launched the second season of Towel Empire - "Time Flies in Towel Empire". Judging from the content that has been released, compared with the first season, the second season has an epic enhancement in terms of plot, setting and actors' acting skills. It also includes a variety of popular elements such as time travel, love, and counterattack. It seems that it has cooperated with a professional team to customize the short play. From the current situation, the IP and short play attributes of "Towel Empire" may further expand the brand voice of Jieliya.

@Towel Master Tik Tok screenshot

In fact, in the past two years, the storm of founders and second-generation entrepreneurs making IPs has been getting stronger and stronger. Among them, there are many "big guys" who are already familiar to the public, such as Zhou Hongyi and Lei Jun, but there are also many entrepreneurs who were less recognized by ordinary people in the past, especially a group of "second-generation" who have just started to take over the company. They have gradually emerged through self-media and ridden the wind and waves. For example, Luo Cheng, the second son of Holiland, has attracted more than 3 million fans on Douyin with the persona of "socially fearful boss"; Ding Jiamin, the princess of Xtep, started with the "Half Sugar" series and led Xtep's trendy transformation; and Zhao Zelong, the second generation of Qumei Home Furnishing, self-deprecatingly calls himself a "negative second generation" and needs to start his business with the 4.8 billion debt left by his father.

@Boss Luo Cheng @Ding Jiamin Annie @Zelong Z Tik Tok screenshot

It is not difficult to understand why the "second generation" has stepped into the spotlight. On the one hand, short videos and live broadcasts have long become important channels for brand sales. If old brands want to achieve sustained business growth, they must make achievements in online e-commerce. Take Jieliya as an example. According to public reports, its online channel sales currently account for about 50% of the total.

On the other hand, with the change of consumer generations and consumption behavior, young consumers have gradually grown into the main force in the market, and brand rejuvenation is also a necessary means for many companies to adapt to market changes. The content produced by the "second generation" can not only use the influence of short videos to revitalize old brands, but also bind their personal image, values ​​and growth stories with the brand, becoming an important part of brand recognition and enhancing consumers' cognition and memory of the brand.

Li Hao, founder of Kas Consulting, has repeatedly emphasized the value of founder IP, saying that in the current business environment, to achieve an ideal ROI, one must either leverage brand power or content, and founder IP is undoubtedly the solution to effectively combine the two. A good founder IP is equivalent to "a sales team of 100 people + at least tens of millions of advertising fees," Li Hao said.

In addition, brand rejuvenation can effectively extend the brand's life cycle. Through innovative product design, marketing methods and communication channels, the brand may attract more attention from consumers outside its original circle, ensuring that it maintains a long-term competitive advantage in the market.

Therefore, there is a saying circulating on TikTok: When old brands start to transform into younger ones, don’t doubt that it is the second generation that is starting to regroup. In Kas’s opinion, whether it is “Towel Empire” or “Zelong Debt Repayment Diary”, whether it is short dramas or live broadcasts, for the “second generation”, thinking clearly about the ultimate purpose of IP and conceiving a good conversion path from popularity to sales may be the most important issue to consider before joining the self-media.

Author: Jiangbei

Source: WeChat public account: "CaasData (ID: caasdata6)"