The number of fans increased by 4 million in 10 days, and "Kaifeng Wangpo" stopped selling goods

Internet celebrity Wang Po became very popular, and traffic poured in, but she refused to sell goods through live streaming. Let's read this article to understand what happened.

"I can't afford to worship in the Temple of Wealth, and I can't pay attention to the Temple of Marriage."

Young people who "only seek wealth and fame" on the Internet have recently traveled thousands of miles and crowded into Kaifeng, Henan, to boldly display themselves and courageously pursue love on the stage of "Wang Po Matchmaking".

As the first phenomenal internet celebrity to break the circle in 2024, Wang Po is somewhat different from other internet celebrities who suddenly became popular: she has been an actor in the Song Dynasty Martial Arts City in Wansui Mountain, Kaifeng, Henan for six or seven years. Recently, she became popular for playing the matchmaker "Wang Po" in "Water Margin" with her humorous hosting style and live blind date mode. Young people call her "godmother", squeeze into the blind date stage hosted by her, or spontaneously "go on a blind date" in the comment section of Douyin.

The male and female guests who filled the "Kaifeng Wangpo" comment area

In the past 10 days, the Douyin account of "Kaifeng Wang Po" has gained more than 4 million followers, and a large number of anchors have emerged who rely on live broadcasts of Wang Po's blind date stage to attract traffic. Even Kaifeng, Henan, has benefited from a wave of cultural and tourism traffic due to Wang Po's popularity, and welcomed a large number of foreign tourists.

The emergence of the new top-tier star made many netizens joke that "the next step will be not to start live streaming to sell goods", but faced with the surging traffic, Wang Po, who used to sell goods on her daily live streaming account, suspended the live streaming and issued a statement saying that she would not engage in commercial activities related to fans.

When internet celebrities and culture and tourism are combined, the end of traffic may no longer be live streaming sales.

1. The number of fans increased by more than 3.6 million in 10 days, and "Wang Po" became popular

"They keep saying long live single life, but then they secretly turn on the navigation system and go to Kaifeng."

The first phenomenal internet celebrity of 2024 appeared in Kaifeng, Henan. In the scenic area of ​​Dasong Wuxia City in Wansui Mountain, Kaifeng, Henan, the "Kaifeng Wang Po" wore a red and green ancient costume and a big red flower. She randomly selected interested audience members to come on stage amid the shouts of young people, asked them about their mate needs, and then matched various "heart-thrilling guests" on the spot. Then she made a series of witty remarks to promote couples.

The popular "Kaifeng Wang Po", whose real name is Zhao Mei, is 61 years old and has been an actress in the Great Song Wuxia City in Wansui Mountain, Kaifeng for six or seven years. Wang Po in "Water Margin" is considered a negative character in the original novel, but the "Kaifeng Wang Po" played by Zhao Mei is affectionately called "godmother" and "the top sales champion under Yue Lao" by young people.

In February this year, Wang Po attracted a lot of attention on the Internet.

On February 23, "Kaifeng Wang Po" released a video in which "Uncle Zhou, who is a lifestyle blogger with 14.55 million followers on Douyin, came to Wansui Mountain Wuxia City. Instead of looking for a favorite guest, he "held hands" with Wang Po, which attracted enthusiastic feedback from the audience. Subsequently, the anti-counterfeiting blogger B Tai, who has 24.86 million followers, released a Kaifeng travel video on February 24, also interacting with "Kaifeng Wang Po". Wang Po's teasing of B Tai, "So handsome, and a little cute, let me see if you have three abdominal muscles," attracted a lot of attention.

Wang Po's interaction with two Internet celebrities

If these short videos like those of internet celebrities visiting stores are more about "riding on" other people's popularity, then the subsequent popularity is that "Wang Po of Kaifeng" gradually became an IP and started to generate traffic on her own.

In March, "Wang Po's Matchmaking" became popular thanks to two guests, one was a sweet-looking 19-year-old freshman girl, and the other was a graduate student who was shy and flexed his muscles.

The two "wild spokespeople" helped Wang Po to be seen by more people. With a good atmosphere at the blind date, humorous "matchmakers", and the promotion of Internet traffic and algorithms, more and more people began to join the Kaifeng "If You Are the One" event.

Two high-value guests of "Wang Po Matchmaking"

In the past month, the Douyin account of "Kaifeng Wang Po" has gained more than 4.2 million followers, and in the past 10 days, it has gained more than 4 million followers. Another Douyin account certified by her, named "Little White Pigeon Joy Club (Kaifeng Wang Po)", has also gained more than 400,000 followers in the past 10 days. There are more than 40 accounts on Douyin that are live-broadcasting "Wang Po Talking Matchmaking".

After becoming famous, the sincere and enthusiastic Wang Po also said frankly that "there is no script" and declined some Internet celebrities who wanted to "take advantage of the traffic". Young people who boldly pursued love on stage created countless hot topics, making "Wang Po's Matchmaking" a hot topic on the Internet and the account of "Kaifeng Wang Po" gradually breaking the circle. "It's not that matchmaking agencies are unaffordable, but Wang Po's Matchmaking is more cost-effective." Some people left messages in the live broadcast room of "Wang Po's Matchmaking" asking for blind dates, some hung banners and drove thousands of miles to Kaifeng to bravely pursue love, and countless people posted their photos and information in the comment area of ​​"Kaifeng Wang Po" to ask for "marriage".

2. After becoming an internet celebrity, no live streaming to sell goods?

Last year, Mr. Huang, who became famous for “Wah Wa”, started live streaming to sell goods after he became famous; going further back in time, Ms. Zheng, who became famous for 1818 Golden Eyes, entered the live streaming room of Kaadas smart door locks and started selling goods.

The phrase "the end of traffic is live streaming with goods" has been remembered by countless netizens. Once an internet celebrity suddenly becomes popular, "whether he can sell goods through live streaming" becomes the next focus of netizens' attention.

However, Wang Po, who has been popular for nearly a month, did the opposite.

The account "Little White Dove Joy Club (Kaifeng Wang Po)" certified by Wang Po herself is Wang Po's daily live broadcast account. In this account, she takes off her Wang Po costume, shoots funny videos with her daughter and husband, and also conducts many live broadcasts to sell goods.

According to the data from Chan Mama, "Little White Dove Joy Club (Kaifeng Wang Po)" has broadcast 106 shows in the past 90 days, including 79 shows with sales, with total sales of 250,000 to 500,000 yuan. The main brands sold are various foods and beverages and fresh fruits and vegetables. It is worth noting that the Three Squirrels flagship store has also set up a special live broadcast link "Exclusive to Ganniang Wang".

Click on the product display window of "Little White Dove Joy Club (Wang Po of Kaifeng)", and currently there are 30,000 people following the purchase, and more than 70,000 items have been sold. On the homepage of "Little White Dove Joy Club (Wang Po of Kaifeng)", there is also a group purchase recommendation link related to the tourism products of Wansui Mountain Martial Arts City: Driven by Wang Po's traffic, Wansui Mountain Martial Arts City in Kaifeng, Henan, also ushered in a surge in traffic.

Tourists driving to Kaifeng with banners hanging

Meituan data shows that as of March 26, the number of ticket orders for scenic spots in Kaifeng has increased by more than 3 times week-on-week. In the Kaifeng Meituan Fun List, Wansui Mountain Wuxia City ranks first in the "Must-Play Popularity List". Tongcheng Travel data shows that as of March 26, the popularity of tourism searches for Wansui Mountain Wuxia City Scenic Spot has increased by more than 7 times week-on-week, and the number of nearby hotel bookings has increased by 44% compared with the same period last year.

However, Wang Po, who should have seized the opportunity to monetize the traffic, has suspended live streaming to sell goods. According to Chan Mama data, the most recent live streaming of "Little White Pigeon Joy Club (Kaifeng Wang Po)" was on March 19. The live streaming lasted nearly two hours and had a total of 746,000 viewers, but only 9 products were put on the shelves, with sales ranging from 10,000 to 25,000 yuan.

Wang Po herself solemnly issued a statement on her "Kaifeng Wang Po" account on March 25, saying that "Godmother will not engage in commercial activities with any fans." Then on March 28, during a live broadcast with Tu Lei, the number of viewers in Wang Po's live broadcast room reached 15.911 million, but she turned off the gift reward function shortly after the broadcast began.

3. Traffic is a double-edged sword

Wang Po, why don’t you sell goods through live streaming anymore?

On the one hand, with the Internet's traffic inclination and algorithm recommendations, Wang Po's traffic is getting bigger and bigger. This wave of traffic is not just online traffic, but also includes a lot of offline traffic. Young people from all over the country travel to Kaifeng just to get a chance to be "matched by Wang Po" or to experience the warm blind date atmosphere in the local area.

On March 21, Hebei Youth Daily's "Qingdou News" reported that staff at the Wansui Mountain Wuxia City scenic area said that "Wang Po Matchmaking" was originally only a 10-minute performance, but because of its recent popularity, Wang Po took the initiative to increase the duration. Some tourists who participated in the "Wang Po Matchmaking" event also said that the blind date event, which started at 15:25 in the afternoon, would end at 5 or 6 o'clock. In addition to offline work, the popular Wang Po also has to accept various interviews and many work-related matters.

It can be seen from Wang Po’s previous live streaming sales that she does not have a professional sales team behind her. Wang Po, who is now 61 years old, may no longer have the energy to operate live streaming sales outside of work.

On the other hand, traffic is a double-edged sword. As a staff member of Kaifeng Culture and Tourism in Henan Province, Wang Po's actions also represent the image of Kaifeng Culture and Tourism to a certain extent. In order to carry on Wang Po's popularity, Wansuishan Wuxia City has expanded its stage, and Kaifeng Culture and Tourism has opened a "matchmaking bus line" and upgraded the 5G signal at the "Wang Po Matchmaking" site.

Kaifeng Tourism opens a dating hotline and upgrades 5G signals

The surging traffic has brought Wang Po the possibility of monetization and brought popularity to Henan Kaifeng tourism, but it may also bring them negative impact at any time. Wang Po herself said in a video released on March 25 that someone stole the name of "Wang Po Matchmaker" to organize online blind dates, and someone pretended to be an assistant and charged for blind dates. Live streaming is an internet celebrity economy and a trust economy. It considers not only the ability to sell goods, but also the service capabilities such as quality control, after-sales and price. If you are not careful, it will "turn over".

Wang Po, who stopped live streaming to sell goods, may have also considered this.

A more intuitive example may be seen from the two people, Duck Head Boy from Zibo and Zuoyou Brother from Harbin.

In 2023, Zibo barbecue became popular, bringing a number of Internet celebrities to the fore. The handsome "Duck Head Brother" was one of them. Two months after becoming popular, Duck Head Brother started live streaming on Douyin, quickly realizing traffic monetization, but also received a lot of criticism for "personality collapse" and gradually lost fans. Now, many of Duck Head Brother's recent videos have received 1,000-2,000 likes, and the average sales of live streaming sales is only 1,000-2,500 yuan.

Last winter, the "Ice City Left and Right Brother" who took tourists to disco became popular with the Harbin craze. Before becoming famous, "Ice City Left and Right Brother" was actually doing live streaming to sell goods, but as Harbin became popular, he also gave up live streaming to sell goods and focused on promoting Harbin's cultural tourism. This "reverse" operation actually won him the favor of many netizens. Even though Harbin's traffic has stabilized, "Ice City Left and Right Brother" still has a lot of attention.

Duck Head Brother and Ice City Left and Right Brother

In the Internet age, the chemical reaction produced by the combination of network traffic and hot events has made one city after another become the next "Zibo", "Harbin" or "Tianshui".

As internet celebrities who, in a sense, represent the local cultural and tourism image, when faced with surging traffic, how can they do a good job of taking over, allowing netizens to continue to maintain their good impressions, and turning "traffic" into "retention"? Perhaps Wang Po and Zuoyou Ge have already given an answer: In the Internet age, whoever can win word of mouth and attention online, and do a good job of taking over and providing services offline, will have the possibility of becoming the next city to gain "enormous wealth" and continue to gain the favor of tourists.

Author: Wang Zhan

Source: WeChat public account "E-commerce Online (ID: dianshangmj)"