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interface news reporter | she xiaochen

interface news editor | wen shuqi

while major anchors are frequently involved in controversies, the development of the mcn organization "behind the internet celebrities" has entered a new stage of development.

at the shanghai international mcn conference held from september 26 to september 27, the "china mcn industry development report" (hereinafter referred to as the "report") written by the school of management of fudan university was officially released. the data disclosed in the report show thatthe number of registered mcn institutions in my country has reached nearly 30,000.

butamong these institutions, only 243 have more than 5 million fans, accounting for about 0.81% of the total number of institutions. at the same time, the total number of fans of these institutional experts accounts for nearly 71% of the total number of fans in the market.

a large number means that the market is fragmented, and more mcns appear in new first-tier cities. statistics from the report indicate thatmcn institutions are mainly concentrated in cities or regions with complete internet infrastructure, rich human resources, and strong policy support, such as first-tier cities such as beijing, shanghai, guangzhou, and shenzhen, and new first-tier cities such as hangzhou, chengdu, changsha, and zhengzhou.these cities not only attracted a large number of mcn institutions to settle in, but also formed a complete industrial chain and ecosystem.

it is worth noting that some first-tier cities have seen a decline in the number of companies. the "report" shows that the number of mcn institutions in beijing has dropped from 4,840 in 2021 to 2,134 in 2023, and the number of mcn institutions in shanghai has also declined.

however, from the perspective of live broadcast retail sales in shanghai, mcn still plays a significant role in the consumer market. according to data from the consumer market big data laboratory of fudan university, live broadcast retail sales in shanghai will reach 437.1 billion yuan in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 20.9%.

this has also prompted local governments to pay more attention to mcn.

not long ago, the shanghai municipal commerce commission, the municipal party committee propaganda department, the municipal party committee cyberspace affairs office and other departments jointly issued the "shanghai three-year action plan to promote the high-quality development of the live broadcasting economy (2024-2026)". the plan points out that by 2026, shanghai's live broadcast economic development will continue to maintain its leading position in the world, and live broadcast e-commerce retail sales will strive to reach 600 billion yuan, forming 10 nationally leading and internationally competitive leading live broadcast platforms, and cultivating a number of large-scale live broadcast platforms. a large, influential and domestically influential anchor service organization.

a closer look at the statistical data in the report shows that behind the concentration of fans is the increasingly significant head effect in the mcn industry. the report points out that entering 2024, mcn will gradually form an echelon structure with distinct layers and characteristics.

one reason is that as more bloggers who have signed contracts with institutions devote themselves to live streaming, mcn needs to improve its capabilities in supply chain, brand services and other aspects. it is difficult for small and medium-sized companies to invest huge costs and manpower in these areas. however, this change has prompted mcn to get rid of a single logic of content incubation and traffic operation.

vision future was founded in 2018 when live streaming e-commerce was just emerging. ceo guan minghe pointed out that before 2016, mcn organizations began to explore various profit models such as advertising, e-commerce, and payment, but the overall situation was in a stage of barbaric growth and extensive management. he believes that the ultimate direction of mcn's future development is to showcase its own superior services and learn from each other's strengths to better serve brands. for example, establish a platform that can unite all mcn institutions and experts to provide packaged services for merchants.

the more obvious trend is that leading mcns are beginning to explore new business models.

many participating mcns said that in addition to incubating anchor accounts, short dramas, brand marketing and even supply chain platforms have become the "second curve" for institutions. unlike other internet companies, mcn does not have a fixed organizational paradigm. many companies have transformed from anchor or internet celebrity teams, and now they are also exploring new job models.

li jiaqi, the head anchor and partner of meizhi (shanghai) network technology co., ltd., mentioned in his speech at the conference that taking the clothing category as an example, the company has innovatively set up a full-time position of "clothing mixer", who is responsible for diversified matching of clothing items. taste.

in fact, the concentration of traffic is also an important factor that highlights the effectiveness of mcn institutions.

the data surveyed in the report show that douyin is one of the main business platforms of mcn institutions and has a leading position; xiaohongshu has an important position in the field of lifestyle and consumer recommendations; kuaishou has significant advantages in the sinking market; bilibili is in tools for specific groups of people and specific fieldshave unique influence.

among these platforms, in addition to douyin, which has nearly 1 billion users, xiaohongshu, kuaishou and bilibili are in the second echelon. among them, xiaohongshu has grown rapidly in the past year. as of june 2024, the platform's monthly active users have exceeded 300 million, a year-on-year increase of 30%.