Debts of hundreds of millions? The Internet celebrity boss behind the "Ice Cream Assassin" pays off his debts through live streaming

Zhong Xue Gao's high prices, marketing methods and product quality disputes have caused consumers to lose patience with it. Although Lin Sheng's live broadcast of debt repayment was sincere, he was affected by previous negative public opinion and failed to convince consumers. Let's read the article to understand what happened.

"Someone has to pay back their debts." "Yes, they will be paid back one day." "I agree with this, it is only natural to pay back debts."

On June 1, in a video of Zhong Xue Gao founder Lin Sheng, the Zhong Xue Gao employees who chose to stay participated in product selection in the live broadcast room while answering the question "Why doesn't Lao Lin 'lie down'?"

On May 27, Lin Sheng held his first live broadcast on Taobao. The day after the live broadcast ended, "Sweet Potato Assassin" became a hot search on Weibo. Countless netizens complained that he was selling sweet potatoes at 8 yuan per pound, questioning whether he was "cheating leeks" through live broadcast.

On May 31, Lin Sheng appeared in the live broadcast room again despite the controversy. While live streaming, he explained that there were three kinds of sweet potatoes in the live broadcast room, one of which was 2 yuan per catty, but it seemed that only the one at 8 yuan per catty attracted attention. Lin Sheng is not the first person to pay off debts or save himself through live broadcast.

Luo Yonghao, who once praised Zhong Xuegao in the live broadcast room, Yu Minhong, who suffered a Waterloo in his live broadcast debut, and Tianya Community, who live broadcasted for seven days and seven nights to save themselves, were all members of the self-rescue in the live broadcast room. The endings of the live broadcast self-rescue are different, but it is undeniable that the live broadcast self-rescue is a story that is eye-catching enough.

Lin Sheng, who walked into the live broadcast room amid controversy, has enough stories. He was once a marketing expert who created the "Hermes of the ice cream industry". Now he is doing live broadcast to pay off his debts. Lin Sheng himself "has prepared to be scolded in the first two months of the live broadcast."

But judging from the two live broadcasts so far, Lin Sheng’s previous storytelling ability cannot be completely transferred to the live broadcast room. How to communicate with current consumers is also an issue he needs to consider urgently.

1. Internet celebrity boss, is live streaming still an “assassin”?

Lin Sheng's live broadcast debut was not smooth.

The live broadcast lasted nearly 5 hours, with 840,000 viewers. The account of "Zhong Xue Gao Lao Lin" gained 1,839 followers. The popular Zhong Xue Gao ice cream box, once known as the "Hermes of ice cream" on social platforms, only sold more than 100 units. The sweet potato, which attracted much attention, had three models, with a total of more than 400 units sold. The sales were not good, and the discussion and popularity were mostly negative.

On the second day after Lin Sheng's first broadcast, the "Kangsha Naruto Kintoki Sweet Potato 5-jin Pack" sold at 42.9 yuan in the live broadcast room became a hot search and was given the title of "Sweet Potato Assassin", which corresponds to the name of "Ice Cream Assassin" that was previously used to criticize Zhong Xuegao.

In the second live broadcast on May 31, Lin Sheng responded somewhat helplessly that there were three types of sweet potatoes in the first live broadcast room, and the most expensive one was not put on the shelf, but was used as a welfare lottery. The two types of sweet potatoes sold in the live broadcast room were 2 yuan per catty and 8 yuan per catty. "They are worth their own prices" and "I think sweet potatoes are unfair." Just after responding and reflecting, Lin Sheng started selling sweet potato chips priced at 9.9 yuan and focused on promoting the products.

Reflection is an inevitable topic in Lin Sheng’s live broadcast room.

Since the first broadcast, Lin Sheng has been reflecting on his mistakes. "Zhong Xue Gao has not been operating well in the past year. It is mainly my fault, which has led to a very tight cash flow. There are a large number of employees' salaries, compensation and reimbursements that we have not paid in a timely manner. No matter what method we use, whether we continue to sell Zhong Xue Gao or do live broadcasts, we hope to restore the company to a normal operating state as much as possible and pay off the debts."

During the first broadcast, there was a striking number "729" on the background board of the live broadcast room, representing 729 employees and former employees who were owed wages and compensation by Zhong Xue Gao. Lin Sheng used this number to motivate himself to pay off the debt little by little, and in the second live broadcast, the number became 726. Lin Sheng did not disclose the specific amount of debt, but a report in "People" in April this year mentioned that Zhong Xue Gao had never made a profit and the scale of debt was "close to 900 million yuan."

Lin Sheng had already decided to reduce this number bit by bit, not to "lie down" and pay off the debt.

In April this year, Sina Finance CEO Deng Qingxu posted a Weibo post saying that Zhong Xue Gao founder Lin Sheng was restricted in height, but he took a green train overnight to Beijing to meet him, "even if he has to sell sweet potatoes to pay off his debts." He then added that Lin Sheng bluntly said that he "will not run away, blame others, or be a coward."

Lin Sheng, who entered the Taobao live broadcast room, also operates other platforms.

On platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Douyin, the account "Zhong Xuegao Lao Lin" posted five consecutive videos from May 29 to June 2 titled "Why Zhong Xuegao hasn't gone bankrupt yet", bluntly stating that Zhong Xuegao and the staff behind it are still insisting on repaying their debts, portraying the image of a group of tenacious entrepreneurs.

However, netizens did not seem to buy it. Some netizens complained about Zhong Xuegao, saying that "the assassin was assassinated by himself", while others believed that they were "self-touching". Lin Sheng, who stepped into the live broadcast room to pay off his debts, obviously still has a long way to go.

2. The "Waterloo" of the story master Lin Sheng, who was sincere and determined to repay his debts, failed to convince many consumers.

This is more because of Lin Sheng’s previous experience. Lin Sheng, who once created Madiel and Zhongjie 1946, used the same techniques and stories to create Zhong Xue Gao.

Zhong Xue Gao’s most famous online celebrity product is the Ecuadorian Pink Diamond. The raw material is pink cocoa which is “as rare as white tigers”. Only five tons of the raw material were imported into China, of which three tons were bought by Zhong Xue Gao. It was paired with Japanese lemon pomelo which costs one million yuan per ton. The final price was 66 yuan per piece, and it is called the “Hermes of the ice cream world”.

In the past, Lin Sheng was best at telling expensive marketing stories. These stories were eye-catching enough to be used as "Internet celebrity" cases, and he accurately grasped the consumers in the wave of consumption upgrade. Born in advertising consulting, Lin Sheng also summarized his experience in creating Internet celebrity ice cream, saying that in the field of ice cream, "what everyone competes is the problem of communication ability."

But in 2022, the news that Zhong Xue Gao "could not be melted by fire" made people begin to disenchant with this internet celebrity product. Later, Lin Sheng angrily criticized in his circle of friends that this was the opponent's "black public relations" and "obvious water army", which instead aroused the rebellious psychology of many netizens. News such as "Ice cream assassin", "stabbing consumers" and "driving up ice cream prices" made consumers lose patience with Zhong Xue Gao.

Later, netizens found out that Zhong Xue Gao had been fined twice for false advertising, both times for false advertising on raw materials. The slogan of "not adding a drop of water" was also exposed by the "water" in the ingredient list on the back of the packaging bag.

During the storm, a screenshot frequently appeared in hot searches and comment areas related to Zhong Xue Gao, and is still quoted by many netizens.

In the screenshot, Lin Sheng has a cold expression, and the caption is "It's that price, whether you want it or not", which makes countless netizens question his "too arrogant" - in fact, this screenshot comes from an interview with "Ask People". Lin Sheng said at the time that the raw material of Japanese pomelo used in ice cream costs 1.2 million yuan per ton, and the attitude of the raw material supplier is "It (pomelo) is that price, whether you want it or not (the company purchases it)". The "sweet potato assassin" that swept the screen was also due to Lin Sheng's remarks in the live broadcast room. When introducing the sweet potatoes that cost 8 yuan per catty in the live broadcast room, he said, "Most people think that ordinary things should be cheap, but in fact, the expensive things in the world are pure air, sunshine and clean water, and the people around you who treat you well silently. But this is easy for us to overlook. Behind a delicious sweet potato are the farmers' hard work, and we need to cherish it especially."

It is difficult for netizens to pay for such a "chicken soup" commentary in today's consumer awakening era. Even if someone said on social media that they had paid the same price for the same variety of sweet potatoes before, it would be difficult for Lin Sheng to get rid of the comment of "sweet potato assassin". In Lin Sheng's second live broadcast, there was a barrage saying "If the sweet potatoes are not sold at 68 yuan per catty, it would be unfair to your proud expression at the beginning."

Lin Sheng, who once created numerous Internet celebrity products by telling stories, needs to change his communication style with consumers in the live broadcast room. In today's consumer awakening, consumers prefer to know stories that are truly "cost-effective" rather than empty "chicken soup". Even if Lin Sheng is "prepared to be scolded in the first two months of live broadcast", he must first understand that consumers in the live broadcast room are no longer willing to pay for expensive stories.

3. The “Road to Survival” in the Live Broadcast Room

During the premiere, Lin Sheng said frankly, "Doing live streaming is a particularly entangled thing for me, because I never had this option before, but I finally decided to do it." For Lin Sheng now, live streaming may be the most "cost-effective" way to save himself, and it is also a way that may allow him to pay off his debts. There are more than one entrepreneurs and platforms who enter the live broadcast room to survive. Luo Yonghao, who once survived Zhong Xuegao in the live broadcast room, entered the live broadcast room in 2020 because of his failed entrepreneurship. Not only did he become the top live streaming influencer on Douyin with the slogan "make friends", he also opened many matrix accounts and announced his "quit the Internet" on June 13, 2022-at that time, although Luo Yonghao's 600 million debt had not been paid off, it was nearing the end, and he announced that he would start a business again.

When the K12 education and training industry was in crisis, Yu Minhong also led his team into the live broadcast room. Although the first broadcast was not very successful, half a year later, Dong Yuhui, the "bilingual salesperson", became an overnight sensation and successively created two major live broadcast IPs, Oriental Selection and Yuhui Xingxing.

But not every business or entrepreneur can be so successful.

In order to raise 3 million yuan to pay off its debts, Tianya Community launched a seven-day and seven-night charity sale, with many Internet celebrities participating. However, in the end, only 300,000 yuan worth of goods were sold, far from the fundraising goal.

Subsequently, Tianya also planned to launch IPs such as "Tianya Selection", but it has never been successful. The latest news is that Tianya Community wants to sell its domain names as a final attempt to save itself.

Success or failure depends on the three major e-commerce factors: people, goods, and place.

When Yu Minhong made his live broadcast debut, Dong Yuhui was not yet famous. Looking at Oriental Selection and "Make Friends", both of them have their own unique personal IP. On one side is Luo Yonghao, the protagonist of "True Return" who has been a popular internet celebrity for many years, laughing and cursing in the live broadcast room to maximize the live broadcast effect. On the other side, Dong Yuhui, who has rich cultural reserves, tells stories based on local customs and practices.

In contrast, Tianya does not have a clear personal IP. In terms of "goods", "Make Friends" and Dongfang Zhenxuan have been exploring the supply chain early on. Dongfang Zhenxuan has been focusing on the supply chain of agricultural and sideline products since the beginning of live streaming, and has cooperated with factories to create its own brand products. Tianya's live streaming products are mostly from the public selection pool or funded by some merchants, and do not have any advantages.

On the "field", Dongfang Zhenxuan and "Make Friends" formed a team and had their own live broadcast venues, while Tianya was more like a "grassroots team". During the live broadcast, some fans who couldn't stand it came to help.

The same logic can also be applied to Lin Sheng’s live streaming sales.

Lin Sheng has the IP of "Internet celebrity boss" and has enough controversy and highlights to bring start-up traffic to the live broadcast room, but in terms of "goods" and "place", Lin Sheng is quite insufficient: the products sold in the live broadcast do not have many highlights, and there is no price advantage. The Taobao hosting model adopted by the live broadcast room cannot be regarded as an independent team.

Lin Sheng, who adopted a humble attitude, understood that today's consumers will no longer pay for the stories that were once expensive. Prepared to be scolded for two months, he may continue to look for new directions in the live broadcast room and find stories that today's consumers want to hear more.

Author: Wang Zhan

Source public account: E-commerce Online (ID: 1089127)