Dialogue with the "Chongqing Internet Celebrity" Buqi Dance Troupe: After 5 years in the short video industry, how to iterate content?

What is the core of short video operation and innovation at this stage? How to operate a good account for a long time? This article uses the Douyin account of Buqi Dance Troupe as an example to deeply analyze the secrets of top Internet celebrities to take root in short video content iteration. It is recommended for those who are interested in short video operation and content operation.

How can a dance short video account still produce hit videos after a five-year cycle?

In 2017, they became famous for their cover dances of many popular dances, and now have more than 20 million fans on the Internet. Their biggest feature is that they dance in front of Chongqing landmarks, such as Hongyadong, the Grand Theater, Jiefangbei, and the Cathay Arts Center.

They are what netizens call "Chongqing's famous dance troupe" - the Buqi Dance Troupe.

Recently, two "cross-dressing + dance" videos of the Buqi Dance Troupe received millions of likes and ranked second on the hot topic list.

After more than five years in the short video industry, Buqi Dance Company has maintained its leading position in the dance short video track. How do they maintain their ability to produce content and how do they iterate with the ups and downs of the industry?

Xinbochang interviewed Qi Hangyu, partner and content director of Changsuoyuyan, the MCN agency behind the Buqi Dance Company, and got a glimpse into the story and creative experience of this tens of millions-level account.

01 "Dress-up + Dance" video received millions of likes

Cross-dressing + dancing, handsome guy turning into uncle... Can dance short videos be shot like this?

In a community park in Chongqing, five stylishly dressed and handsome young boys are dancing. They dance in a cheerful way, and the video style is lively and sunny, which is very pleasing to the eye.

But at this moment, the camera turned, and the boys suddenly turned into "greasy" middle-aged uncles - not only were they wearing old man's shirts and red slippers, but they also had the standard key chain for middle-aged uncles hanging around their waists.

The contrasting images, coupled with the magical brainwashing background music, made netizens couldn't help but joke: "Five handsome guys suddenly turned into those five men", "How did you convince the uncles to come out and dance?"...

This video was posted on November 7. The source of the meme in the video is the "接化发# dress-up challenge" which was popular on Douyin in November. This dance video by the Buqi Dance Troupe received 1.222 million likes and 209,000 reposts on Douyin, making it the second most popular work in the #接化发# topic.

On November 14, the Buqi Dance Troupe released another video combining "cross-dressing + dancing". This time, the joke they used was "World Shake". They shook their heads in the video and inserted cross-dressing scenes in the middle, which made people laugh. The number of likes for this video also exceeded one million, becoming another popular video of theirs recently.

Qi Hangyu told Xinbochang that the popularity of the two videos was within their expectations.

In his opinion, short video creation is inseparable from several points: creativity, contrast, uniqueness, and refinement. The creation of dance content focuses on the use of popular music and the contrast of dance. Only by combining popularity and contrast can the content be more interesting and more likely to be liked by users.

"Today's audience is no longer like they were in the beginning, where they would find everything interesting. Everyone's tastes have become more sophisticated, and they will only like something if you do better to suit their tastes," said Qi Hangyu.

The popularity of these two videos is due to the extreme use of popularity and contrast while maintaining the style of the account.

02 The Development of a Dance IP with Millions of Fans

This year marks the fifth year that the Buqi Dance Company has entered the short video field.

When asked why they chose the name "Buqi Dance Troupe", Qi Hangyu said that it was because there were too many people in the group and they were always dancing out of sync. So when they created the account, they decided to just call it "Buqi Dance Troupe", which was also a kind of "self-mockery".

The original members of the Buqi Dance Troupe were 5 people, including the team leader Cai Zhuangnan, and team members Qiu, Secretary, Twenty, and Xiaomao. All 5 members of the team were trained as dancers, and, except for the secretary, the remaining 4 had experience as dance teachers. Before the team was formed, everyone was connected by dance and were very good friends in private. The birth of the Buqi Dance Troupe was due to the free speech of the MCN organization behind it and the team leader Cai Zhuangnan.

In 2017, street dance variety shows such as "This is Street Dance" were very popular, and short videos also entered a period of vigorous development. At that time, various types of creators emerged on major platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou, including many talented and good-looking people.

However, there are not many dance talents and IPs mainly in groups, so Changsuoyuyan decided to be the first to try it out. "At that time, our company thought that dance would also become a popular project, and dance can be displayed in a wide range of areas, so we wanted to create a dance IP," said Qi Hangyu.

At that time, a colleague in the company happened to know Cai Zhuangnan. After initial communication, the two sides thought that this was something worth trying. So Cai Zhuangnan gathered members and formed the current men's dance group - Buqi Dance Troupe.

Because the members have different characteristics and personalities, the company quickly opened individual accounts for the members after the team was successfully formed. Although the content is still mainly dance performances, each has different labels and positioning, which can better show the characteristics of each member and help them attract more fans.

Today, the Buqi Dance Troupe has 12.53 million followers on Douyin and 3.59 million followers on Kuaishou, with a total of over 20 million followers online. Team leader Cai Zhuangnan’s personal Douyin account has also reached 7.51 million followers.

The Buqi Dance Company did not become famous overnight.

On November 29, 2017, the Buqi Dance Troupe released its first work, which was the dance "Runaway Baby" and used a horizontal screen video. The video was recorded at the Jiefangbei Monument in Chongqing and received 350,000 likes.

After that, they would gain hundreds of thousands of fans almost every time they updated a new work.

Until August 2019, the Buqi Dance Troupe gained 1 million fans due to a dance called "Mang Zhong", increasing from 9 million fans to 10 million fans in just two years. According to Qi Hangyu, the video has been played 100 million times.

In less than two years, Buqi Dance Company achieved over 10 million fans on a single platform, becoming the top account in the dance short video track. To this day, they still maintain their leading position in terms of account fan numbers and content influence.

03 “No one can thrive forever”

Since the beginning of shooting short videos, the content of Buqi Dance Troupe has also changed: from the initial professionalism to more fun and entertainment. They will choreograph dances based on recent online hot spots or funny memes.

Sometimes the selected video topic cannot even be called a dance, it may just be a popular piece of music or joke. The team leader and the team will work together to combine these contents with dance, and finally choreograph wonderful dance content. In order to make the video perfect, sometimes a video of more than 10 seconds will take 3-4 hours to shoot.

In terms of creation, the company gives the Buqi Dance Troupe enough room to play. Members can put forward their own opinions on the post-production of the video, and the final decision lies with the captain.

With the decrease of professionalism and the increase of entertainment, there are also doubts. The most common one is that they are not professional in dancing.

In response to online doubts, Qi Hangyu said: "The original purpose of our dance troupe was to 'dance in all the squares in the world' and spread positive energy. Moreover, our IP itself did not intend to make itself an idol or a handsome guy group. It just wanted to be based on a few guys who love dancing. We hope that the content can be more down-to-earth and not distance itself from the audience."

In short, Buqi Dance Troupe does not intend to be a professional dance troupe account, but to share life and create interesting content through dance, ultimately achieving the effect of bringing joy to users and even making them fall in love with dance.

Figure: The official Weibo of the Buqi Dance Troupe released by Dance Storm

Unlike the usual filming in dance studios with elaborate props and lighting, the videos of Buqi Dance Troupe are mainly shot outdoors. From Jiefangbei to Hongyadong, from main roads to underground parking lots, each video of Buqi Dance Troupe is shot in different locations and scenic spots to show users the beauty of Chongqing.

In addition, in order to better showcase the beautiful night view of Chongqing, the Buqi Dance Company often shoots at night.

For example, during this year's National Day, the Buqi Dance Troupe released a video titled "Blessing the Motherland". In the video, the Buqi Dance Troupe wore uniform black costumes, waved red fans and danced, with "Beautiful China" playing in the background. Behind them were the iconic buildings of Chongqing shining with lights.

Netizens lamented: "I have to say that every corner of China is festive." Some netizens were curious about where the Buqi Dance Company was filming, and said that "they will definitely come to Chongqing to check in in the future."

In early 2018, the Buqi Dance Company first created a Douyin dance in Chongqing Hongyadong, promoting Hongyadong tourism by taking the lead and gaining coverage from media outlets including Xinhuanet, Voice of China and China Daily Overseas Edition.

Today, they dance in front of Chongqing's iconic buildings, conveying Chongqing's urban culture to global audiences and boosting Chongqing tourism. They hope to create a new dance force for the Z generation, set off a global street dance craze, and aim to become the most influential domestic dance group IP.

In terms of account monetization, the current monetization method of the Buqi Dance Troupe is advertising, mainly for the promotion of fast-moving consumer goods, automobiles, trendy brands, and tourist attractions, etc. It is committed to using young men + explosive creative ideas to help various brands gain deeper recognition among the Z generation public.

Previously, the monetization methods of its account also included offline commercial performances, but currently due to the influence of the overall environment, many commercial performance activities have been forced to shelve.

Qi Hangyu admitted that in terms of profitability, content with stronger vertical categories such as beauty, food, maternal and child care are indeed more favored by advertisers and have stronger monetization capabilities.

But from the user level, plot, funny jokes, and even appearance, cross-dressing and other tracks are more likely to be loved by users. However, since this type of content is not vertical enough, its monetization ability is relatively weaker.

In the future, the Buqi Dance Company still hopes to delve deeper into content and seek new breakthroughs.

At the beginning of this year, the Buqi Dance Troupe welcomed a new member "Yixuan", who is not only a professional dancer, but also a dance teacher for "Creation Camp 2021". Qi Hangyu said that the Buqi Dance Troupe will continue to develop as a group and will continue to recruit new members and absorb fresh blood.

As Qi Hangyu said: "No one can thrive forever, content iteration is essential. The Internet is fair. If you can't do better than others, you will gradually lose attention."

Author: Xiaolongguo; Art editor: Eleven; Source public account: New Broadcasting Field (ID: New_bc)

Original link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/dUbm_teJLRYysZppc59lQw