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Ride the fan wave to riches

2014-08-20 11:29 Global Times Web Editor: Qin Dexing
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Could cultivating a following be the key to financial success?

In a surprise, South Korean actor Kim Soo-hyun made an appearance at the opening ceremony of the Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games on Saturday, singing the event's theme song.

Kim has gained incredible popularity in the country after Chinese viewers discovered the South Korean drama You Who Came from the Stars online earlier this year, in which Kim played an alien-turned-professor named Do Min-joon.

With Professor Do becoming a household name, many Chinese people now find themselves surrounded by the tidal wave of publicity about Kim, who can be found virtually everywhere from billboards to live performances.

China Central Television (CCTV) also posted a set of graphics investigating the power of the spell that South Korean pop culture, currently spearheaded by Kim, has cast over its Chinese fans.

Loving the alien

Kim has signed a number of advertising contracts with Chinese companies including Tencent Holdings, Zhejiang Aokang Shoes Co and Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co, according to Sunday's post on CCTV News' official Sina Weibo account.

He has filmed a total of 35 commercials for the Chinese market so far, said recent media reports, citing data tracked by the country's Web users.

Kim's fee for these commercials is not yet known. But the graphics offer some clues about how the South Korean economy could benefit from Chinese fans of South Korean dramas.

South Korea saw 1.07 million Chinese tourists in 2007, and the figure had grown more than fourfold, with 4.33 million visiting in 2013, CCTV said.

For Chinese visitors, whose desire to visit South Korea created 247,000 jobs in the nation in 2013, restaurants and other places that had appeared in popular television series were among the hottest attractions.

The popularity of South Korean dramas is also believed to have been a factor in a land-buying spree in Jeju Island, known as a filming site for many South Korean dramas, by Chinese investors.

As of the first quarter of 2014, the area of land on the island owned by Chinese investors totaled 3.2 million square meters, about one-third of the total foreign land ownership, up from 457 square meters in 2005, Korea Bizwire reported on July 26, citing South Korean government data.

The fan economy sizzles...

The hype created by Kim, the most recent icon of the so-called South Korean wave, is a good example of how the economic power of fandom has flexed its muscles in China.

It is the clout of the Internet that has served as the catalyst for the expansion of the fan economy, analysts say.

"The idea of the fan economy isn't something new, but only with the Internet has it become ubiquitous. Nowadays it could generate massive profits, if handled well," Zhang Yi, CEO of Shenzhen-based market research firm iiMedia Research, told the Global Times on Monday.

By the end of June, China's online population, the world's largest, had risen to 632 million, according to data the China Internet Network Information Center released in July. The data also showed that the number of people using mobile Internet totaled 527 million as of the end of June.

While there remains a lack of relevant statistics that measure profits that are sourced directly from fans, some Internet-based companies have suggested it could be a sizable chunk of the economy.

Beijing-based handset maker Xiaomi Inc is one of the most frequently quoted examples when it comes to the fan economy.

The Chinese phone vendor, which only started selling smartphones three years ago, came close to unseating Samsung Electronics' top spot in the mainland market in the second quarter, measured by shipments, and is now in second place with a 13.5 percent market share versus Samsung's 15.4 percent, according to the latest figures from Analysys International.

Behind Xiaomi's rise, there are many fans of Xiaomi products like Tina Zhang, a 27-year-old resident of Shenyang, in Northeast China's Liaoning Province, who has vowed loyalty to the brand despite media reports earlier this month about users' privacy fears over a free cloud messaging service on Xiaomi phones.

But "instead of relying on fans' spontaneous love for either the person or the product, those trying to make money from the 'fan effect' are generally good at employing moves to sustain the effect," noted Zhang at iiMedia Research.

Taking Xiaomi as an example, Lei Jun, its founder and CEO, continually updates his Weibo account to reach out to fans of the up-and-coming local brand.

Luo Yonghao, a former English teacher known for his maverick teaching and humor, is another entrepreneur who has benefitted from keeping his fans happy.

The English teacher turned pioneer of phone-manufacturing unveiled the Smartisan T1 in May at an event in Beijing, which appeared simply to be a talk show hosted by Luo.

The initial number of buyers of the new phones, prices of which start at 3,000 yuan ($487.66), is reportedly largely made up of fans of Luo.

And sometimes fizzles

The rule that having lots of fans equals financial success, however, doesn't always apply.

The most recent case was a recent box office flop about Super Boy, Hunan TV's popular singing contest.

While the singing show has been hugely popular since it began to air on Hunan TV and many online sites last summer, the film shot by E-E Media, the producer of Super Boy, didn't quite hit the same high notes at the box office.

The film, which arrived in theaters on July 25, disappeared in less than a fortnight and was purported to have taken only 6.7 million yuan at the box office.

"Although I am a fan of the singing contest, a film about it doesn't really interest me," 25-year-old Shirley Yang, who works in Beijing, told the Global Times on Monday.

As Zhang points out, just because you're a fan doesn't mean you'll necessarily fork out any cash. Getting your fans to hand over their money is the difference between those who sizzle and those who fizzle.

It is possible that the effect of the fan economy could be fleeting, as the flavor of the day could easily fade away when another emerges.

Kim, the South Korean star, may be at risk of a backlash following his ubiquity.

A netizen with the handle Herohee said on her Weibo Monday that the advertisements of Kim everywhere have left her fed up, spoiling her love of him.

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