How the annual drama is made

How the annual divine drama is made

In 2015, the effect of "magical drama" such as "A Thousand Bones of Flowers", "Langya Bang", and "The Pretender" caused a wave of At the end of the year, "The Legend of Miyue" broke the ratings record. "The Princess's Promotion", which spanned 2015 and 2016, was a small peak in self-produced dramas. It almost went against all previous marketing common sense. From IP adaptation to production, procurement, marketing, commercial operations, and post-product development, every video website subverts the achievements of previous works. At the same time, new production and business models are formed in the process of subversion, and new production and business models are formed in the process of subversion. It can be used as a reference for future generations.

The earliest divine dramas in the consciousness of the Chinese people were TV series such as "Desire" that sold out the crowds. For a long time, it would take several years for a divine drama to appear in China, and the business model was single. Audience options are also very small. The Internet era has changed the way we watch dramas, from a single TV screen to now watching three screens at the same time. From synchronizing with TV stations at the beginning, to independently filming self-made dramas, although the content is becoming more and more abundant, the competition is also more fierce. . It was not until "Flower Thousand Bones" had more than 20 billion online views that a new drama model gradually took shape.

What are the conditions for a divine drama?

1: The ability to turn viewers from passers-by into fans

Becoming a "phenomenal" TV series requires a process of getting the public to recognize, accept, and pursue it. To complete this leap, not only selling points are needed - such as super IP, super team (writers, directors, stars), etc., but also careful planning and all-round precise positioning marketing.

In the promotion of "The Legend of Miyue", LeTV used several models to promote it on multiple terminal platforms. On the one hand, LeTV had started promoting "The Legend of Mi Yue" long before it was aired. Behind-the-scenes footage, trailers, theme song MV and other video content have already earned nearly 200 million full-screen views on LeTV.com, LeTV Super Mobile, LeTV Super TV and other channels. The number of views has increased, and it has used its own product line to surround users in all scenarios. The offline event of "Mi Yue Enters the Campus—Campus Beauty Hanfu Competition" also directly entered the user group. In addition, the barrage function of LeTV also played a huge role in the broadcast of "The Legend of Miyue".

The same is true for another divine drama "Nirvana in Fire". Although the original IP has a certain degree of popularity, this group of people is far from being able to make this drama a divine drama. Since the previous cast of "The Pretender" was from the original cast, the audience was slow to get into the show at the beginning, and was even criticized by many fans of "The Pretender". The ratings have been hovering around 0.5, only ranking 10th in the rankings. As the plot continued to deepen, the "tap water" acted by the audience began to actively promote it. The number of views on iQiyi alone has exceeded 1.9 billion, and the total number of views on the entire network has exceeded 6 billion.

2: Occupying the market of all ages

The criterion for distinguishing whether a drama is a hit drama or a "phenomenon" depends on whether it is loved by a niche audience or by mainstream audiences. sought after.

For example, "A Thousand Bones of Flowers", "Nirvana in Fire", etc., these TV series have attracted a lot of attention and topic among audiences of all ages. In terms of audience distribution, they have won the Most people's market, then it is a drama. If it only occupied the young market or the middle-aged and elderly market, then it would be considered a hit drama at best.

3: Definition and role model for a genre

"Phenomenal" drama kings have the significance of being a trend vane. For example, the palace battle drama trend set off by "The Legend of Zhen Huan" has been around for a long time. Both have made the audience look forward to this type of drama. Therefore, after "The Legend of Miyue" appeared, everyone still maintained a high level of attention.

4: Conscience is more important than cost

High costs may not create phenomenal works, but everyone can feel the sincerity. Although "The Princess" has been complained about in various ways, it is a typical conscientious production. As netizens summarized: "Although our looks are low, our looks are good! Although our props are poor, our photography is beautiful! Although our plot is Lei, we are good at acting!" Similar comments also appeared in reviews of old Hong Kong dramas such as the 1983 version of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" that year. The production details of "Nirvana in Fire" or "The Legend of Mi Yue" can be seen in the increasingly serious attitude of domestic dramas. This is an extremely powerful correction to the shoddy production of Chinese TV dramas in the past.

5: Appearance is still the "secret of attracting attention"

No matter how popular the IP is, how clever the story is, how high the production cost is, and how dedicated the team is, what the audience still sees is " "People", appearance is like the cover of a book. No matter how beautiful your content is, it must make the audience want to open it first. Therefore, "Nirvana in Fire" used good-looking young actors like Hu Ge and Wang Kai; "Princess" used a large number of young handsome men and beauties... Only stars whose appearance is as good as their acting skills can create phenomenal dramas. .

6: Derivatives are standard

Traffic brings advertising revenue, pulls members, and promotes derivatives. For example, the popularity of "The Legend of Mi Yue" has boosted the sales of the "Mi wine" embedded in the drama, as well as the subsequent mobile games. LeTV estimates that these combined will be close to 2 billion yuan.

The investment-output ratio of the game "Flower Thousand Bones" is six times. The game's revenue in the first month was 250 million yuan. In addition to the web game and mobile game, more than 40 million yuan was invested in promotion fees, and the revenue was as high as 250 million yuan. Mobile games + reading materials + souvenirs, these back-end market developments have almost become standard features of a drama.

In the final analysis, the core value of all resources is user value. Therefore, only by grasping the needs of users from all aspects can a drama be successfully promoted to a "phenomenal level".