Are all corporate CEOs becoming internet celebrities? It makes people cry and feel sad

This article mainly discusses the phenomenon of corporate CEOs serving as Internet celebrities and the problems involved. The author reminds companies that they need to think carefully when considering this strategy and weigh the potential traffic it brings and the resulting public opinion risks.

Recently there has been a wave of corporate CEOs becoming internet celebrities.

It has something to do with the fact that "Lei Buss" led Xiaomi Auto to successfully enter the market and quickly deliver 10,000 units and has already secured orders for 100,000 units. It is also related to the "Red-Dressed Leader"'s words and deeds that made him popular again before and after the Beijing Auto Show. Both the CEOs of Chinese brands and the CEOs of joint venture brands are ready to go.

So, is it really the antidote for a company’s traffic for its CEO to become an internet celebrity?

I think that a CEO who successfully becomes an internet celebrity is the antidote to corporate traffic, but as for CEOs who want to become internet celebrities, I advise you to think twice before you act. Don’t be dazzled by the beauty of others, and don’t be fooled by bad suppliers.

1. The Inequality Between the Internet Celebrity Effect and Becoming an Internet Celebrity

Nowadays, the reason why corporate CEOs are flocking to become Internet celebrities is, without exception, they want to grab huge traffic for the company while saving a lot of marketing costs, thereby driving attention and sales.

But the fact is, becoming an internet celebrity CEO is not an overnight job, and quarreling with others or selling things sharply may bring in traffic, but it does not bring much effective retention, and may even fail.

The result is that the CEO opens a bunch of social media accounts and hands them over to the agency to manage them step by step. The imagined response may turn out to be fake. Of course, you can also follow the MCN path to become an Internet celebrity, but no matter what, it is impossible to save marketing costs.

All the corporate CEO internet celebrities we are familiar with have been active on the Internet for a long time. If a corporate CEO wants to become an internet celebrity, he or she must be prepared for the long term, rather than just focusing on the internet celebrity effect without asking about the effort and process of becoming an internet celebrity.

2. The incompatibility between the internet celebrity genes and the leadership physique

Not everyone can become an internet celebrity. Just look at the top internet celebrities in various industries and you will know that all of them are "experts" in their fields or "geniuses" in entertainment. So, in an era when there are so many internet celebrities, how can a company CEO become an internet celebrity?

Relying on the investment of the enterprise? The endorsement of the enterprise? Or relying on the enthusiasm of employees and suppliers? Or is it just one's own intermittent "madness"? In any case, the identity of the CEO, the environment in which he lives, and the system behind him do not support the physique of most "working-type" CEOs, and it also makes it difficult to maintain the status of an Internet celebrity.

The reason is that the CEO represents the interests of all parties and faces more users rather than C-end users, while Internet celebrities are just the opposite and have to please a large number of users.

A "boss-style" CEO does have certain qualities to become an internet celebrity, but it depends on how he or she plays to his or her strengths and taps into his or her own personality. The reality may be that a boss with qualities to become an internet celebrity should already be an internet celebrity.

3. Asymmetry between effective traffic and public opinion risk

We know that internet celebrities all want to monetize, whether it's promoting products, selling courses or taking advertisements. They all have their own routines but also their own ways. At the same time, they also have to endure all kinds of praise and complaints from fans. If the complaints are controllable, they will continue to be internet celebrities. If the complaints are out of control, they will collapse. Those who are capable will change their identities and continue to debut.

When a corporate CEO becomes an Internet celebrity, he is definitely not doing charity work, and what he wants to pursue is obvious. However, when you put the CEO who represents a huge company under the spotlight of the Internet, you are not only managing other people's views of you, but also managing netizens' views of the company. The latter is undoubtedly the core motivation for the CEO to make his debut.

However, we are all familiar with the power of Internet public opinion. It is diverse and extreme, there is no right or wrong, it does not care about truth or falsehood, and it is dominated by emotions. If you handle it well, it can be a sword to slay dragons, but if you are not careful, you will burn yourself. How resistant are companies to Internet public opinion? Which is more important, the traffic you want or the risk? This is what the CEO of a company should think clearly before making his debut.

CEOs of companies should all become internet celebrities, just like companies should embrace AIGC. There is nothing wrong with it, but the medicine and prescription still depend on whether you have the disease and what the disease is, instead of just taking the medicine because it works, right?

Author: Little Monk Kunkun, WeChat Official Account: Marketing Zen Meditation Center