“Internet celebrity cities” take turns to become popular, who will represent local life?

Recently, many "Internet celebrity cities" have emerged. Through the creation of their own images, each has its own characteristics. The city image is becoming more and more diversified. It is indeed to seize the gap in consumers' urgent tourism needs after the epidemic. The author analyzes the different cities' "eight immortals crossing the sea, each showing their magical powers" to stand out from the circle. Those who are interested, come and take a look!

Today's social media is no longer a public channel where celebrities and internet celebrities monopolize traffic.

From Zibo barbecue, Guizhou "village super" to Tianjin diving, a "net celebrity city" appears on the Internet almost every once in a while. Not long ago, Chengdu quickly topped the hot search list because of hosting the Universiade. After the Universiade closed, it remained popular and attracted thousands of tourists to check in.

How did the Internet celebrity cities come into being? Who benefits from them? Behind the "Internet celebrity cities" that attract college students to check in and become popular tourist destinations, Jingzhe Research Institute has seen the business secrets of businesses that quickly drive the growth of offline real economy through online traffic operations.

1. N ways for cities to go viral

In the traditional cultural tourism market, cities’ popularity mainly depends on their well-known attractions or cultural IPs. For example, the Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an, known as the “eighth wonder”, or the Broken Bridge in West Lake, Hangzhou, which is famous for the TV series “The Legend of the White Snake”. But today’s “Internet celebrity cities” have a new and extraordinary way to go out of the circle. In March this year, Zibo staged a phenomenal popularity with its “small pancake oven plus dipping sauce” soul barbecue three-piece set. According to the Beijing News, this prefecture-level city, which does not even have a 5A-level scenic spot, received more than 4.8 million tourists in March alone, a year-on-year increase of 134%, and tourism revenue increased by 60%.

The reason why Zibo has become popular is not just because of barbecue.

Professor Cai Shangwei, director of the Cultural Industry Research Center of Sichuan University and doctoral supervisor, analyzed the phenomenon of Zibo barbecue going viral and said that the scene of thousands of people eating barbecue and singing together at the Zibo barbecue scene produced a scale effect, so it was very easy to infect people. When this scene was spread in the form of short videos, it became a new type of experience that everyone yearned for, releasing people's sense of happiness, forming a spectacle effect, and even becoming a kind of urban consciousness.

Guizhou, which became popular with "Village BA" and "Village Super", focuses on the sense of contrast.

In the open-air competition venue, villagers spontaneously formed teams to participate in the competition, and used lively poultry and livestock as prizes for the winning team. Compared with professional competitions, these configurations can only be described as simple, but the competition atmosphere surrounded by spectators inside and outside is no less than that of the NBA and FIBA ​​finals. Various down-to-earth elements all emphasize the unique temperament of Guizhou, and also show netizens the unique lifestyle of Guizhou, attracting foreign tourists to experience it.

As for Tianjin, it all depends on the personal charm of the diving masters in "Gendu".

Although his diving moves are not as good as those of national-level athletes in the Olympics, and he doesn't care whether he needs to suppress the splash when entering the water, "I am not a Tianjin uncle, I am Tianjin goodbye." "Survive for one minute, be happy for 60 seconds!" These Tianjin accents with their own crosstalk temperament, as well as humorous pre-jump speeches, are enough to make Tianjin diving uncles become top-tier overnight and dominate the Internet hot search list. Going to the Lion Grove Bridge in Tianjin to watch a diving uncle has become a must-check-in item for foreign tourists to visit Tianjin, just like listening to crosstalk. From the experience of Zibo, Guizhou and Tianjin going out of the circle, we can see that the current "Internet celebrity cities" are not popular on the Internet because of "innate" resources, but because of differentiated memory points with local characteristics. As a long-established "Internet celebrity city", Chengdu is also becoming a new top-tier city by relying on the "dopamine" gene developed after birth.

2. It is a local life and also a password to go viral

In the past, when most people mentioned Chengdu, words like "Land of Abundance" and "Bashi" would always come to mind. For foreign tourists who have never been to Chengdu, it may be difficult to feel the local life atmosphere behind these words, which is unique to Chengdu, just by literal association. However, with the rise of short videos and live broadcasts, people's understanding of Chengdu is becoming more comprehensive, and there are more and more reasons to attract foreign tourists to check in Chengdu.

For example, in the teahouses with local characteristics, people feel the most vivid expression of the word "comfort". Through short videos and live broadcasts, Douyin users saw Chen Jin Tea Shop located on Tiexiang Temple Water Street in Chengdu: old-fashioned bamboo chairs and covered tea bowls were placed between the stage, camphor trees and small bridges and flowing water. Not only is it full of charm, but it also allows people who are tortured by the busy city life to return to tranquility and nature in an instant. The two words "The rest of life is long, why panic" hanging on both sides of the stage reflect the leisurely atmosphere of Chengdu. If you want to plan a relaxing trip, Chengdu's teahouse is undoubtedly one of the most representative projects worth experiencing.

Image source: Chenjin Tea Shop Douyin Store

Chengdu's symbolism is inseparable from delicious hot pot, and you may not need to visit the site in person to be attracted by Chengdu hot pot. On the Douyin platform, there are nearly 100 accounts certified as stores related to the Chengdu chain hot pot brand Dalongyi. Whether it is a live broadcast of a celebrity visiting a store or a group purchase of goods, the delicious food that can be seen through the screen has become a necessary and sufficient condition for foreign tourists to visit the offline experience and check in.

Chengdu's charm is not limited to food and drink. As the "fashion center" of the southwest region, Chengdu's fashion street shots, big-name new product releases, and various art exhibitions can be seen everywhere on the Douyin platform. In particular, COSMO, a comprehensive commercial complex positioned as a "youth magnet" and located just one street away from Chengdu's fashion landmark Chunxi Road, occasionally releases trendy art exhibitions and fashion brand flash events through its official Douyin account, continuously attracting young consumers to check in and continuously conveying the fashion trend of Chengdu.

The leisurely atmosphere of the teahouse, the delicious hotpot, and the trendy and fashionable sense of the commercial landmark, these concrete local life elements on the Douyin platform make Chengdu not only have conceptual labels such as "Land of Abundance" and "Bashi", but also have a more diverse and rich city image. This has also brought more income to local businesses and promoted new consumption in the entire city.

The Jingzhe Research Institute found that Chen Jin Teahouse's Douyin store has become "the most popular teahouse in Wuhou District, Chengdu". Bao Jing, the store manager of Chen Jin Teahouse, told the Jingzhe Research Institute that as more netizens from other places learned about Chen Jin Teahouse through visits to the store and live broadcasts, the customer flow of the teahouse is 20%-30% higher than before the epidemic. "When it's busy, I can't even keep my feet off the ground and I don't even have time to boil water."

Dalongyi, which opened its official Douyin account in 2017, has also successfully built its own private traffic pool and achieved sales conversion through long-term content operations. According to Ren Jun, the brand manager of Dalongyi, during the special live broadcast of the brand's tenth anniversary held in the official Douyin live broadcast room not long ago, it took only two days to complete 16 million GMV, driving 110 stores across the country to participate, and also bringing brand-effect integration to franchise stores.

Although COSMO's official Douyin account was only officially updated at the end of last year, the continuous investment in online content has also allowed COSMO to top the Douyin food, drink and entertainment list in Chengdu. In April this year, the person in charge of COSMO's business investment revealed in an interview with the media that COSMO's average daily passenger flow during the week reached about 15,000, and the average daily passenger flow on weekends and holidays was twice that of the week.

It can be seen that short videos, live broadcasts and other rich content are not only an important way for people to understand a city, but also a marketing tool for businesses to establish their own private traffic pools and gradually build IPs, realizing the transformation from brand volume to market sales. In other words, the content on the Douyin platform that records the local lifestyle is the code for the city to go viral, and it is also the code for the wealth of businesses.

3. Discover the new cultural trend of the “Heart-beating City”

Looking back at the development of social media, we can find that the changes in media often change the way people observe life. From the initial text to later pictures and videos, the form of media has become more and more concrete, and people's perspectives on cities have become richer and richer.

The Jingzhe Research Institute previously mentioned in an article titled "Tourism Industry Recovers, Ushering in an Era of Atmosphere" that tourism consumption has entered an era of atmosphere. People are beginning to desire to find freshness and relaxation in unfamiliar environments in order to achieve physical and mental relaxation. "Internet celebrity cities" have also stood out under this industry trend.

Compared with the stereotyped "big and comprehensive" city promotional videos, more and more people are beginning to get to know a city through concrete methods such as short videos and live broadcasts, which has also brought a new way to open up the local life commercial market.

In June this year, the annual city marketing campaign "Heart-beating City" initiated by Douyin Life Service landed in Nanjing. During the two-week campaign, Douyin discovered 10 heart-beating spots such as Nanjing Dapaidang, Nanjing Confucius Temple-Qinhuai Scenic Belt, and Hongshan Forest Zoo to form the Heart-beating Nanjing Route, leveraging the platform's dual advantages of both content and transaction attributes to create new links between more local users and non-local users.

Merchants launched online challenges to call on users to shop in stores. Douyin users searched for "Heartbeat City" and placed orders with Douyin life service group purchase coupons and entered the store. They also had the opportunity to participate in offline draws, unlock limited packages or benefits. "Heartbeat City" integrates online content channels with offline business scenarios, allowing foreign users to get to know the "humanistic, trendy, and diverse" new Nanjing, and also brought offline traffic to local merchants.

The "Heartbeat City" that landed in Chengdu in early September has combined the unique temperament of Chengdu to create a variety of games. Douyin Life Service launched "Dopamine Food Molecules" and "Chengdu Rap Inspiration Double Pressure" and other unique Sichuan-style games. With the natural traffic of Kuanzhai Alley, it cooperated with high-quality merchants to create a new landmark of Chengdu, "Three-Color Road Dopamine Market", which attracted the attention of the crowd, improved the public's awareness of the "Chengdu Dopamine Gene", and stimulated more people's desire to consume and check in.

In addition, Douyin Life Service has also cooperated with famous local attractions and businesses in Chengdu, such as Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Chenjin Tea Shop, COSMO, Erma Tavern (Taikoo Li Store), and Dalongyi Hotpot (Taikoo Li HOYO Store), to create dopamine check-in points, and has joined forces with more than 40 high-quality local merchants in Chengdu to create a "Heart-beating Dopamine Map". Both local users and foreign tourists can become "dopamine hunters" and follow the "Heart-beating Dopamine Map" to unlock a "new Chengdu" full of happiness.

Official data shows that so far, the "Heartbeat City" event has been held in nine cities, including Sanya, Chongqing, Qingdao, Nanjing, and Chengdu, with tens of thousands of local businesses actively cooperating and tens of millions of users participating. The widespread "Heartbeat City" not only reflects the diversified content and the trend of social media videoization, and its impact on audiences and businesses, but also reflects the unique advantages of Douyin in the field of local life business as a social platform with both content scenarios and transaction functions.

In April this year, when Zhu Shiyu, president of Douyin Life Service, announced the four major business themes of Douyin Life Service in 2023, he mentioned that "(Life service) is far from the stage of existing competition... Because of the emergence of Douyin, this market has become larger, user needs have increased, and many people have become a life explorer who explores food and discovers the beauty around them." The landing of Heart-beating City is also developing in this direction.

On Douyin, popular content can condense into the temperament and style of a city, making the image of the city more diverse with the innovation of local lifestyles. And more people will encounter their own "heart-beating city" on Douyin. Douyin's life service is creating new life consumption scenarios in a visible way, promoting new urban consumption, bringing vitality to the city, providing users with a wonderful life, and creating a new humanistic trend belonging to every city.

Author: Bai Lu

WeChat public account: Jingzhe Research Institute (jingzheyanjiusuo)