Zibo becomes extremely popular, has the era of internet celebrity city 2.0 begun?

Zibo has become popular. This article shows the public Zibo's ability to seize opportunities through the closed-loop communication built by young people, the government, local residents and netizens across the country. However, how should the Zibo government control it during the May Day holiday? How should it develop in the future? Let's take a look!

"Zibo BBQ", a taco that is more suitable for Chinese babies

From eating to taking, who doesn’t want to have a set of Zibo barbecue glass figurines?

Life is incomplete without having eaten Zibo barbecue.

Anyone can become an Internet celebrity and get 15 seconds of attention, but Zibo's popularity has lasted beyond many people's imagination. It became popular all over the Internet in early March, and this trend has continued to this day and is expected to continue.

According to the latest data from Meituan, tourism orders in Zibo increased by 2000% year-on-year during the May Day holiday. A staff member from the Propaganda Department of the Zibo Municipal Party Committee revealed to New Weekly that the number of tourists is expected to exceed 120,000 during the May Day holiday.

Obviously, the Internet boom has already reached offline, bringing a large amount of consumer dividends to this once unknown industrial city.

Looking back on this month-long wave of communication, the Zibo barbecue three-piece set, which started with the oven-baked pancake dipping sauce, can only be regarded as a starting point at most. What is truly impressive is the Zibo government's outstanding response speed and public opinion dissemination capabilities.

"Zibo's response is too fast to be a northern industrial city," one netizen commented on the Zibo government. As a small industrial city in Shandong, it has always been envious of the halo of famous surrounding tourist cities such as Jinan and Qingdao. It has no marketing agencies, lacks popular online attractions, and even its local characteristic industries are old traditions such as "glaze", which are not cool enough and have nothing to do with youth culture.

But it was also this video that seized the hot spots of short videos and social public opinion, and with the help of two skewers of barbecue and a series of news, it severely hit the "poverty" and "travel" of young people, and completed the creation of a phenomenal communication case that started from tap water in the grassroots and flourished among college students across the Internet.

But what cannot be ignored is that the popularity also brings with it a series of pressures. Before the May Day holiday, the hospitality of tourists from all over the world has already brought considerable pressure to the city: Zibo barbecue chefs are so exhausted that they have to close their shops, the inventory of various barbecue ingredients is running out, and accommodation prices are soaring and it is difficult to find a room... The pain of becoming famous overnight has begun to emerge.

Zibo, which has already proved its ability to seize opportunities, urgently needs to get through the May Day test.

1. Zibo bowed three times to the young people

Zibo, the first "fallen star from the sky" in the tourism industry in 2023.

As the saying goes, "God's will is determined by fate." But rather than relying on fate, it is better to say that we bowed three times to the young people. The first bow was to hit the core collective emotions of contemporary Internet young people - poverty and travel. The second bow was to cultivate the first batch of seed users with beautiful stories of short trips. The third bow was that the "hospitable Zibo people" who respect college students created an inspirational turnaround story of "no one cares about studying hard, but once you become famous, the world knows you." It has all the twists and turns, beginning, middle, and end.

Let’s look at the first worship first. The so-called budget travel is precisely the universal sentiment of the public who are going crazy in the post-epidemic era.

The freedom to travel is available, but the first Qingming Festival after spring comes and flowers bloom is only a one-day holiday. Young people who haven't had enough fun have decided to use the "special forces" method of travel. They set out as soon as they get off work or school on Friday, take the overnight train or high-speed rail to their destinations, and visit four attractions in two days, only briefly exploring each one.

But financial freedom has not caught up. People who choose to travel on a budget, with 35,000 steps a day and only spending 150 yuan a place, are using fast-paced check-in travel to vent the pain and depression of being separated from the mountains, rivers and food for a long time.

The explosion of Zibo barbecue was born in the craze of "poor but crazy travel". Grilled vegetables are one yuan per skewer, and grilled meat is two yuan per skewer. It is said that the average person can eat until they are full at fifty yuan. The low price of Zibo barbecue has attracted tens of thousands of foodies. In addition, Zibo itself is a third-tier small city with very affordable accommodation and transportation prices. Therefore, the "special forces" college students who entered the Zibo barbecue restaurant in the news at the beginning brought more than 100,000 customers a day to Zibo.

But this kind of urban consumption is actually the general level of small cities outside the third tier. Under the big emotion, Zibo's cleverness lies in splitting it into small emotions for the core group.

From a geographical perspective, the concept of convenient surrounding tours has created a distinctive short-distance travel model for local tourists in Shandong who are unable to take long vacations.

According to huge data, the most interactive people in the videos about Zibo barbecue on the Douyin platform are people aged 18-40, and the top ten sources of passenger flow to Zibo on April 8 are all from Shandong Province. For residents of Shandong Province and surrounding provinces and cities, Zibo is located within a two-hour high-speed rail circle, and there are barbecue restaurants supported by the government everywhere, and the atmosphere of fireworks is everywhere. Such a travel destination is naturally exciting.

Being able to carry out a short trip plan to eat to your heart's content in a small town that is usually ignored, and also becoming one of the first wave of beach goers to catch the Internet craze, which gives you more social topics to talk about, why not? The first batch of seed population was naturally born.

Afterwards, broken down by age groups, Zibo's sincere attitude and respectful behavior just hit the hearts of contemporary college students, who are known as "the worst generation of young people", and successfully controlled the voice of the most active group of people on social platforms.

As a young group who has spent three years of their youth entangled with the epidemic, this group of young people aged 18-22 not only fits the public portrait of Generation Z - they generally value self-expression and social feedback, but they also have to suffer the impact of periodic shadows - they are more confused in their careers and face a high degree of uncertainty about their future development.

They are a flamboyant generation, but they crave stability. They are keen to speak out, but hate being taught. They want to be seen, recognized by the environment, and especially by the government. From this point of view, Zibo's series of measures have raised the banner of respect.

In order to enhance the barbecue experience of college students, Zibo has opened a special barbecue train for college students. The director of the Culture and Tourism Bureau personally delivered gifts, mailed hawthorns, and also discounted hostel accommodation prices for college students.

Even after suspected discrimination crisis among "Peking and Tsinghua University students", a long and heartfelt letter from Zibo to Shandong's quarantined college students was leaked again. The good relationships formed by the "family-like interactions" with college students during the quarantine period burst into a concentrated way, and even helped college students across the Internet feel deeply "respected" again.

As a result, the crisis quietly receded, and the twists and turns only added to the simple story of this small city. And the story that can withstand the deep eight and live up to the consumers' expectations naturally adds to Zibo's goodwill.

After the three greetings, a group of people who were sincere and devoted to the city inevitably became city supporters. It was destined that Zibo should have this red.

2. Government, locals, netizens, Zibo’s closed communication loop

After 30% is determined by fate, 70% depends on hard work. Different from the concept of invisible traders in the past, in the current era, the more proactive you are, the more you need to step to the front, so as to receive natural traffic and play well on social platforms.

Throughout the process of Zibo's popularity, the closed loop of communication built by the government, local residents and netizens across the country was particularly eye-catching.

Initially, netizens' spontaneous store visits ignited a spark. Many college students who were quarantined in Zibo during the epidemic returned to Zibo to eat barbecue after the beginning of this spring, which also led to the rise of Zibo barbecue store visit videos. Douyin blogger @B太, who has millions of fans, took an electronic scale to crack down on counterfeiting and short-weighting, but was directly "unemployed" in Zibo. None of the merchants in Zibo short-weighted or short-weighted goods, and some even gave him free things to taste. This video also made Zibo officially popular on the Internet for its cheapness and affordability, creating the first wave of communication topics.

Since then, the Zibo government has quickly taken up the torch. The full involvement of all official links, the quick response to follow the creation of hot topics and the clever use of short video platforms to create content have all become the key to dissemination.

From the Zibo government's active launch of a barbecue-only high-speed rail line on March 31, to passengers getting on the barbecue train empty-handed and getting off with pockets in their pockets on April 10, to Zibo's announcement on April 15 that it was investigating the problem of excessive hotel prices, all official-led actions have become hot topics and reported by major media outlets.

The efforts of the Zibo government are reflected in the various follow-ups to online public opinion, so it is always seen at the first time. Every news of the incident also allows Zibo BBQ and the Zibo government to further consolidate their position as the "top stream in April". Even at the end of mid-April, Zibo BBQ was still a frequent visitor to Weibo's hot searches. The occasional negative news became a propaganda position for Zibo BBQ supporters, and a few businesses that defrauded tourists were asked to "cut ties" with the name of Zibo BBQ.

At the same time, short videos have magnified the charm of Zibo barbecue and made Zibo more popular from a food perspective.

Short videos have a natural magic in promoting food - the smoke rising from the small barbecue grill in Zibo, the meat skewers starting to shrink while being roasted on the charcoal fire, the sizzling oil and the vegetables gradually becoming tender and soft. The short Douyin video of just over ten seconds makes people salivate. Then watch a video of someone taking a Zibo pancake and pulling off the meat skewers. The process of a simple barbecue becomes extremely interesting and exciting.

"All Douyin went to Zibo to eat barbecue" was on Douyin's hot list, prompting netizens to comment: "It seems that Douyin will not let me go if I don't go to Zibo to eat barbecue."

This kind of channel popularity is something that Zibo Tourism cannot miss. In January, Zibo barbecue had not yet become popular all over the country and Zibo was still an unknown small city. However, the official has already demonstrated its ability to create hot spots. The video of Xu Hongdou, a Zibo native in "Go to Where the Wind Is", "rides on the popularity" of the video and stands out from other videos with only dozens of likes, gaining thousands of likes.

Starting from the end of March and the beginning of April, the Douyin data of Zibo Culture and Tourism began to show a spurt of growth. With the hot IP of Zibo BBQ in hand, the Culture and Tourism Bureau used the traffic of Douyin short videos to repeatedly promise tourists that they would provide reliable services. It also took advantage of this wave of popularity to promote Zibo's Haidai Tower, Pu Songling's former residence, Boshan Ceramics Grand View Garden and other attractions.

At the same time, Zibo TV Station and the director of the Culture and Tourism Bureau of Zhangdian District, Zibo, also used live broadcasts to embrace all kinds of hot topics on Douyin. The correct way to eat "Zibo barbecue", "Take the high-speed rail to Lu C", and grilling and singing with diners on the spot appeared one after another. The official representatives' presence not only brought users closer, but also represented the official's encouraging attitude, making the fire of communication burn even more vigorously.

Zibo’s local celebrities, residents and shop owners have become the second torchbearers. Their natural geographical advantages make them important atomic components in communication, playing a more comprehensive and systematic role in content supplementation and value leading the trend.

Almost every Zibo citizen is involved in brand public relations. Regarding the problem of some businesses shortchanging each other, the Zibo leader once said: "We will smash whoever smashes our pots and bowls." This sentence has been widely circulated among Zibo citizens and has become a slogan for every Zibo citizen to maintain the city's image. A netizen shared that a local fruit shop couple in Zibo who used to fight in the store no longer fight because "they cannot destroy the image of Zibo."

At the same time, a large number of local store bloggers continue to post social topics and the latest tourism events in Zibo, adding social and hot attributes to barbecue. When negative news occurs, more and more locals speak up for Zibo barbecue on social platforms, proving that the service, food and consumption in Zibo are good. Some people even post special posts to praise a certain store, saying, "I can't bear such a low-key old store to be unknown."

The popularity advantage in the natural traffic field and the visible business growth have also achieved a virtuous closed loop, encouraging more and more Zibo locals to further engage in Internet content construction and guard their spiritual home in the virtual world.

Finally, the communication stick returned to the hands of the majority of netizens. In the public opinion field that has been roughly formed, more and more young people spontaneously participated and explored more topics of the city on their own, and participated in this social carnival, contributing more memes and topics.

"When other cities are banning barbecue, Zibo is...", "Zibo barbecue", tacos that are more suitable for the physique of Chinese babies, "When watching Zibo videos, you need a mobile phone that can smell the smell"... Various topics continue to ferment, and more content that can be followed up is created, allowing the Zibo government and Zibo locals to follow up and play more roles.

In such a closed-loop communication, it is difficult to say who the "operator" is. Chen Qiang, president of the Zibo Barbecue Association, once made it clear that "there is no organization operating and marketing Zibo barbecue, it's just that favorable factors have concentrated at this moment."

For Zibo BBQ, the real "operator" is the resonance with consumers' emotions, the quick-responding government agencies, and every spiritual Zibo citizen and happy netizen.

3. Zibo became popular, and then what?

But what cannot be ignored is that while tourists are praising Zibo barbecue, another voice has gradually emerged.

Recently, it was revealed that the price of the Huitong Hotel in Zibo has increased from more than 100 yuan per night to more than 500 yuan per night. The comment section of the official account of Zibo is full of tourists criticizing the Huitong Hotel and demanding that the authorities quickly rectify the situation. Some tourists also revealed that a barbecue restaurant in Zibo has problems such as forced consumption and stale dishes.

On such issues, foreign tourists have shown tolerance and support for Zibo, believing that "there are bad people everywhere" and that the abuses of power by individual businesses taking advantage of the large number of tourists to cheat and overcharge customers will not affect the overall kindness of Zibo people.

But Zibo has been popular for too long, so long that things that people don’t want to see have gradually appeared - in "Badaju", the hottest barbecue spot in Zibo, many seafood and vegetable shops are being transferred and closed to make way for the barbecue industry. Among them, there are inevitably more and more Internet celebrity shops. The reason why Badaju became popular first is precisely because it is not "Nanluoguxiang", but a place where you can share the atmosphere of life with locals.

Some tourists have developed a rebellious mentality because there are too many tourists in Zibo, and the trend of becoming an Internet celebrity has also begun to emerge. With the May Day holiday approaching, many people choose to give up. However, despite this, Zibo barbecue is still in its heyday. On April 15, the first day of the May Day holiday in Zibo, train tickets went on sale. The Beijing South-Zibo train tickets were sold out in less than a minute. From the 14th to the 15th, the increase in searches for Zibo train tickets ranked first in the country.

Although Zibo demonstrated an astonishing construction speed when it first became popular, with the renovation of Badaju East 1st Road completed in two days and the Badaju parking lot expected to be completed before May 1st, Zibo's tourism orders on May 1st increased by more than 2000% year-on-year. Such a huge passenger flow brought great challenges to Zibo's cultural and tourism infrastructure.

Zibo will be overcrowded on May Day. The Zibo government is currently planning to transform the shelters into emergency accommodation hostels. Even though the Zibo Culture and Tourism Douyin account calls on tourists to avoid peak hours in almost every video, how to accommodate the crazy influx of tourists and how to ensure the travel experience of every tourist are the imminent problems facing Zibo Culture and Tourism. The city's tourism carrying capacity is instantly filled. If Zibo cannot withstand the May Day traffic, tourists will have a bad travel experience and their good reputation will be backfired.

In particular, his popularity is based on the large number of young people who praise him. As the core group in the social opinion field, the stronger their positive energy is, the more unbearable the harm caused by the backlash will be.

Of course, the subsequent problems brought about by natural traffic are far more than just May Day. When an industrial town lacking tourism genes becomes popular because of its food, finding a second pillar to support it is destined to become a long-term proposition for Zibo.

I still remember Xi'an, the first generation of internet celebrity tourist city that emerged from TikTok in late 2017. A cup of bowl-breaking wine in a 15-second video instantly made this ancient city with a long history of culture famous all over the country. However, even as a tourist city, Xi'an also swayed in this wave. It took a long one to two years of development and adaptation to realize the transformation of urban tourism through new elements such as the tumbler in the Tang Dynasty City That Never Sleeps, the world-class cuisine in Muslim Street, and music rap on the streets.

But in contrast, Zibo's cultural tourism genes are much weaker. Barbecue, former residences, museums, and cultural festivals lack unique appeal for most tourists, and the city's industrial base has not yet found a better solution to combine with this wave of topics. So, after this wave of traffic, can Zibo still be remembered and continue to be a popular tourist city? Will the tourism infrastructure and Internet celebrity stores built for this wave be forgotten? Everything still needs to be questioned.

But no matter what, this small industrial city in the north has stood at the best opportunity in more than a decade. Zibo, which once left a strong footnote in the history of industrial development in New China, has once again seized the wave of cultural and tourism opportunities in the new era.

Let the bullets fly for a while.

Author: Guo Jian Kukuzi

Source: Doujiao TMT (ID: ylwanjia), the smell and temperature of new traffic, new technology, new gameplay, and new economy.