From the sudden popularity of Zibo barbecue to the branding of internet celebrity cities by short video/live streaming experts!

Zibo barbecue has become popular on social media. What exactly caused this phenomenon? Barbecue can be found all over the country, so why has Zibo become an Internet celebrity city because of barbecue? The author explains from the perspectives of Zibo local government, businesses, citizens, and new media publicity. Let's take a look at the article!

Do you still remember Hongyadong in Chongqing and the bowl-breaking wine in Xi'an? These cities, which were made popular by live-streaming or short-video masters, have welcomed countless tourists and brought unlimited business opportunities to the local tourism economy.

Zibo barbecue has become a hot topic on social media, with related topics such as "College students go to Zibo to eat barbecue in groups", "Zibo barbecue shop owner earnestly persuades customers in line to leave", and "The owner of a Zibo barbecue shop grills skewers 1v1 for a young man who wants to catch the high-speed train" frequently appearing on hot searches.

For a time, consumers from all over the country flocked to Zibo just to taste the authentic Zibo barbecue. So much so that some netizens joked that "the last time Zibo was so lively was when Qi Huan held the Five Hegemons Summit during the Warring States Period". On multiple video platforms, the short video playback volume of the topic "Zibo barbecue" reached 2.81 billion times; on shopping platforms, searches related to "Zibo barbecue" also made it to the hot search list.

What exactly is the reason for this phenomenon? Barbecue is common all over the country, so why has Zibo become an Internet celebrity city because of barbecue?

The typical barbecue in Zibo is the "three-piece set of barbecue soul", which specifically refers to "grill + small pancake + green onion". Zibo barbecue is one of the few cities that has retained independent small stove barbecue. Before serving the skewers, each table first sets up a small stove with red-hot charcoal in it. When the skewers are served, the diners grill them by themselves and control the taste by themselves.

When it’s baked to your satisfaction, spread out the pancake with your left hand, coat it with the dipping sauce, take two skewers of sizzling meat, remove the skewers, and add some young green onions, a specialty of Shandong. You will immediately have the atmosphere of “rolling everything with the pancake, rolling up all the troubles in the world”.

A local netizen replied that there is no special trick for Zibo barbecue. I have been eating it since I was a child, and the quality and taste are consistently ordinary home-cooked. But after such a large number of netizens’ tastings, the reputation has been getting better and better, so there must be something special about it.

The reason why Zibo barbecue is so popular is not only because it is economical, affordable and delicious, but more importantly, it has something beyond barbecue.

1. Wherever I am is Shandong University, and when you come, this is home

During the 2022 epidemic, in order to relieve the quarantine pressure in Jinan, some Shandong University students were sent to Zibo for quarantine. Because they were quarantined suddenly, everyone thought of tension and disordered management. However, the local government of Zibo welcomed the incoming college students with a warm welcome letter.

Since ancient times, hardships are all passing, and the sun will shine after the clouds. Working together, we will surely dispel the haze of the epidemic and wait for the clouds to clear and the moon to shine. Lockdown does not block love, and isolation does not separate hearts. The city of Zibo has always been affectionate, righteous, loving, and bright. As long as it is what everyone needs and what Zibo can do, we will do our best to provide service guarantees with our heart and soul, and always stand shoulder to shoulder with our students, heart to heart, and work together to win the battle against the epidemic.

Wherever I am, it is Shandong University; when you come, it is home. We are fighting the epidemic together, and we look forward to empowering and achieving each other with you, and moving towards the future together!

The hospitable people of Zibo kept their promises and did not let the children suffer or eat worse than at home. Therefore, these college students were taken care of very well in Zibo. There were five or six different breakfasts, and a barbecue was arranged after the quarantine . It can be said that the affectionate, righteous, loving and bright people of Zibo planted the seeds of kindness and gratitude in these college students. When the quarantine ended, the college students agreed with the medical staff who took care of them to return to Zibo for a barbecue when the spring came and the flowers bloomed.

This year, college students can go freely, and they flock to Zibo as agreed. In addition, the Zibo Municipal Youth League Committee invited more than 260 chemistry students from eight universities in Shandong Province to "come to Zibo for the experience." Finally, word of mouth spread, leading to the phenomenon of "college students going to Zibo to eat barbecue in groups", which attracted the attention of some video bloggers and gradually fermented and became a hot search.

2. Merchants operate with integrity and do not skimp on quality, and citizens spontaneously organize to fight for honor

Since Zibo became popular, the local government has taken a series of measures to provide better services to tourists coming to Zibo.

As early as March 10, the Zibo Municipal Government held a press conference to establish the "Golden Furnace Award" for Zibo's famous barbecue restaurants, set up a barbecue association, announced the holding of the Zibo Barbecue Festival on May 1, and directly distributed 250,000 barbecue consumption coupons.

In order to facilitate tourists to go to the "barbecue field", the railway department has specially opened a "barbecue train" between Jinan and Zibo. The "top leader" of the Zibo Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism led the "spokespersons" of the city's cultural and tourism system to promote it; Zibo City has also added 21 "Zibo BBQ" bus lines, providing tourists with a guide to "checking in at popular barbecue restaurants".

Zibo BBQ Bus Line

The day after netizens suggested that it was unsafe for girls to eat skewers at night, the official immediately released a video with the caption "The 185cm tall handsome guy from Zibo is ready, just eat the skewers and don't worry about the rest."

Some netizens even said: As a Zibo native, I dare not change lanes when driving during the day, for fear of cutting off the car of friends from other places. I dare not go out for barbecue at night, for fear of taking the seat of friends from other places. An enthusiastic aunt in Zibo even gave a bag of soup dumplings to each customer in line to fill their stomachs.

Merchants in Zibo operate with integrity and do not skimp on weight or weight; citizens spontaneously give up their weekend dining seats to tourists from afar; local government departments such as the Bureau of Commerce, Bureau of Culture and Tourism, and Public Security strive to provide tourists with more satisfactory services. It can be said that the "fire" of Zibo barbecue is the result of the concerted efforts of the entire city of Zibo, which has jointly created the business card of "Zibo BBQ".

"Zibo BBQ" has taught all the popular food a lesson with sincerity: it may be fancy publicity that attracts tourists, but it is the real quality that keeps tourists. The small skewers, small cakes and small dipping sauces with real ingredients and a few dozen yuan per person are used to return the tourists' excitement with the real ingredients of good quality and low price, and in return, the tourists return with satisfaction, turning the traffic into word of mouth.

What is popular in Zibo is not the barbecue skewers, but the city management and folk atmosphere that can withstand the test of storms, and the courage and kindness in the face of danger and interests. What Zibo sells is not barbecue, but the human touch, the smell of fireworks, and the love and righteousness of our Zibo, which makes people truly understand what it means to be grateful and repay kindness, and the feeling that customers are God.

Zibo has become so popular today, not just because of one or two barbecue restaurants, but because the whole city exudes hospitality. Every citizen and every vendor in Zibo is fighting for the honor of their city.

3. New media promotion is crucial behind the popularity of Zibo barbecue

As practitioners in the live streaming and short video industry, we can see that behind the popularity of Zibo barbecue, there are various reasons such as the right time, the right place, and the right people. However, we must also realize that Zibo’s publicity and promotion on major new media platforms is crucial, and these publicity and promotions have been laid in the early stages, and strong potential energy has been accumulated in the past. It is not something that suddenly became popular overnight.

Let’s analyze a few of the more representative ones.

The first one is more representative, which started with the documentary "A String of Life " released by Station B in 2021. A large number of netizens were attracted to it at this time. The video "A String of Life" shows the tender and crispy "scallions" grilled in Zibo, served with small cakes fermented with old dough and sizzling pork belly. The three are rolled into a barrel shape, and the iron skewers are pulled off domineeringly and eaten in one bite. It is really tempting.

The second is the check-in video of food blogger Wu La La. On March 13, Wu La La, a Douyin food influencer who has visited Zibo many times to check in for barbecue, also posted a short video reviewing Zibo barbecue. As of press time, the short video has received 530,000 likes and 51,000 comments. This also triggered many netizens to follow suit and everyone became tap water, shooting videos promoting Zibo on the Internet.

The third representative “anti-counterfeiting” food portion blogger is Mrs. B.

On April 8, Douyin "anti-counterfeiting" food portion blogger B Tai took an electronic scale to conduct a survey of 10 barbecue stalls in Zibo and found that no store was short of weight. The owner who was weighed in front of him was not angry, but gave him a box of special sauce; the big brother who fried pancakes also offered to give him the secret recipe for free; some stores even "gave him more", which once again pushed Zibo barbecue to a high level of popularity. It can be said that this evaluation directly gave Zibo a full impression.

As Zibo barbecue became popular, it quickly spread on platforms including Douyin, Kuaishou, Video Number, Xiaohongshu, etc. The local government launched a series of preferential subsidy policies related to culture and tourism, and Zibo became the latest Internet top stream. Subsequently, #Zibo barbecue restaurant closed for three days because of exhaustion#, #Zibo police dispatched police in 48 seconds to take away the troublemaker#, etc. became hot topics, continuously bringing in traffic and making Zibo's popularity continue to rise.

From the perspective of city marketing, videos/live broadcasts on various platforms have accelerated the rapid popularity of Zibo. Recently, there is a similar video on the short video platform, "wearing Hanfu to appreciate peonies". Luoyang has become another popular city for "special forces tourism for college students".

With the continued economic recovery, the cultural and tourism industry has felt it very clearly. As long as we seize the opportunity, I believe that more and more Internet celebrity cities will emerge, and short videos/live broadcasts will become another boost to economic development.

Author: Liu Bugong

Source: WeChat public account "Audio-visual Observation (ID: shitinggc)"