New Economic Figures of 2020
Li Jiaqi: The midfield battle of "Lipstick One"
China News Weekly reporter/Yang Zhijie
Published in the 976th issue of China News Weekly on December 14, 2020
Li Jiaqi has fewer live broadcasts this year.
He estimated in an interview recently that to complete this year's sales target, at least 280 live broadcasts will be required.
In the past few years, he has been recognized as a model worker in the live broadcast industry.
When he worked hardest, 365 days a year, he broadcasted 389 live broadcasts, from 7 pm to 1 am.
He has a strong sense of crisis and dare not take a break. He once confessed to the media, "If you are lazy and don't live broadcast for a day, fans will not come to see you the next day."
Now, he sits firmly on Taobao's head anchor position, and doesn't need to be like a hummingbird, constantly flapping his wings to stay behind others.
This is his fifth year in the live broadcast industry, and many changes have taken place in the field of e-commerce live broadcast.
The epidemic has stimulated the development of e-commerce live broadcast. Platforms such as Douyin, Kuaishou, JD.com, and Suning have successively expanded the e-commerce live broadcast territory. Internet celebrity entrepreneurs and various stars have entered the live broadcast room one after another.
The track is full of unprecedented competitors, but the card position match of the head anchor has basically settled.
After a live broadcast ended in late November, Li Jiaqi accepted an interview with China News Weekly, but he appeared relaxed and not anxious.
When the huge amount of traffic converges into a torrent, Li Jiaqi is considered a "phenomenal internet celebrity", and he will always encounter rapids.
But Li Jiaqi has become accustomed to walking through the rapids and looking for directions more calmly.
The epidemic has changed e-commerce live broadcasts and also changed Li Jiaqi's mentality.
Out of confusion
On May 6 this year, Li Jiaqi's live studio moved from the living room at home to the company.
The team installed it for nearly a month, and the background board continued the lipstick wall that was broadcast live at home.
After broadcasting for a while, Li Jiaqi was dissatisfied and asked to re-decorate, "This is not what I imagined, and all the experience cannot be a solid color. I think this is a live broadcast room without temperature."
He personally participated in the design. The original lipstick wall was replaced with a display rack equipped with the "Li Jiaqi Live Studio", LED screens, revolving doors, and different angles of camera switching were added, and it was put into use again on August 8.
The partner has also changed.
In the live broadcast on May 6, Li Jiaqi suddenly officially announced that "little assistant" Fu Peng would become a partner of the company and no longer serve as an assistant.
On June 1, 2017, the two came to Shanghai from Nanchang to live live together with a suitcase.
Fu Peng recalled that they started broadcasting for the first time in 2017 and only 79 people watched it.
In the past three years, the two people have cooperated in the live broadcast room and joked while selling goods.
The two have complementary personalities, Li Jiaqi is enthusiastic, and Fu Peng is calm. He helps Li Jiaqi round the scene from time to time, and has achieved the order of tens of millions of fans in the live broadcast room.
After half a year, Li Jiaqi confessed to China News Weekly: "The little assistant leaves, and my former sense of comfort is completely gone." He and the new assistant Wangwang spent some time running in.
At first, Li Jiaqi tried lipstick and couldn't speak. Wangwang had no experience and didn't know how to interact. During several cold sessions, Li Jiaqi "sucked a cold breath."
The rules of the live broadcast room are becoming more and more strict.
The external norms are gradually increasing, and the head anchor is even more concerned by the public with a magnifying glass.
When introducing products, we must follow the "Advertising Law". The anchor can't say radical words, "To sell a whitening essence, it must get the'Whitening Special Certificate' issued by the National Medical Products Administration in order to say that it can whiten. "Li Jiaqi said.
During a live broadcast, he suddenly saw a row of words, "Short girl is wrong, Li Jiaqi, please repeat it again." A few seconds ago, he quickly introduced a piece of clothing and mentioned "Short girl ".
In the comments, some people quickly resisted this wording.
The director team felt inappropriate and reminded Li Jiaqi on the TV screen.
Recalling this scene, Li Jiaqi explained that he did not intend to offend, but was just a habitual expression in life, and sometimes he might attack some people.
Gradually, he formed a new set of live speaking skills. When describing certain groups or states, he tried to use some euphemistic words that everyone can accept.
Li Jiaqi went through a period of confusion.
"I was at a loss at the time, because I had been trying to figure out what kind of state my live room upgrade should become." He told China News Weekly.
There were also voices questioning Li Jiaqi.
In early June, media reports questioned that Li Jiaqi was lagging behind, the number of live broadcasts was declining, and the intensification of external competition also diverted Li Jiaqi's traffic to a certain extent.
After reading these statements, Li Jiaqi felt that there was no such thing as a "left behind" theory. From a numerical point of view, "GMV is growing."
But Li Jiaqi inevitably had unhappy emotions. He did not break out, but waited secretly.
"When I was controversial, I kept telling myself that when we wait for Double Eleven, there will always be some people who will see what we are doing."
On August 8, the upgraded live broadcast room opened. Li Jiaqi invited comedian Jin Jing as the first guest.
Li Jiaqi regards this live broadcast as an important node in the transformation of the live broadcast room. This is a ceremonial scene and can tell all the girls that the live broadcast room has been decorated.
More importantly, "After that live broadcast, we seem to have a more sense of direction."
In Li Jiaqi's view, Jin Jing brought her performance to the live broadcast room, and integrated well with the live broadcast.
He is not satisfied with simply selling goods, and hopes that the upgraded live room will provide fans with more interesting content.
"Double Eleven" is the annual finals of e-commerce anchors.
At 18:30 on October 20 this year, the pre-sale on the first day of "Double Eleven" is about to begin. It is expected that the live broadcast will be 8 and a half hours, and Li Jiaqi is still worried.
This is the most important e-commerce promotion festival of the year. For this live broadcast, he has been meeting with brand vendors since May, worrying that overseas supply will be affected due to the epidemic, so he has ordered enough products in advance.
This is the fourth year that Li Jiaqi has participated in "Double Eleven".
In the first year, he didn't understand the rules at all, and he didn't know how to prepare, and it passed before he could react.
In the second year, he and Jack Ma won PK selling lipsticks, selling 15,000 pieces in 15 minutes and becoming famous in the first battle.
In the third year, also the first day of the pre-sale, more than 31 million people watched his live broadcast. For more than 5 hours, 39 products were sold out within 5 minutes after the link was uploaded, causing a consumer frenzy.
Li Jiaqi included the "Double Eleven" in 2018 and 2019 as an important node in his live broadcast career. His professional ability was recognized and he stepped out of the circle.
"When the second or third year is sold out, I will be shocked, I can sell so much!" Li Jiaqi said, but now his mentality is gradually changing.
The live broadcast on October 20th had the highest number of online viewers exceeding 162 million, breaking the record of live broadcast.
The broadcast went smoothly at two o'clock in the morning, and colleagues around me couldn't help but cheer.
Li Jiaqi recalled that he was rather calm, "like finishing an assignment."
City fireworks in the live room
At the beginning of 2020, after 11 days of rare suspension of broadcasting, Li Jiaqi and his team decided to resume broadcasting on February 5th to make hoarding products for consumers.
Before the start of the broadcast, the team had concerns about the seriousness of the epidemic. Will it cause controversy if the live broadcast of goods sold too early?
But the live broadcast response was surprisingly good.
On this day, the number of viewers in Li Jiaqi's live broadcast room reached 14.82 million, and 20 products were quickly killed.
Zhang Ziyi left a message on Li Jiaqi's Weibo to ask "how to buy", further pushing Li Jiaqi's live broadcast room to the hot search.
After the broadcast, Li Jiaqi tweeted his Weibo comments. A fan’s message impressed him: “Maybe only Jiaqi’s voice can pull us back as if nothing happened after being shrouded by the epidemic for so long. In the city’s passing fireworks."
In the past few years, his live broadcast room has been in the living room of his home.
Mei ONE’s deputy general manager Wei Yinghui described it as an ordinary table with lipstick and some odds and ends piled on the back. Li Jiaqi has a few pet dogs in the house, which appear in the mirror from time to time.
During the live broadcast, in addition to the bickering between Li Jiaqi and his assistant Fu Peng, fans could also hear the aunt's cooking, or a scream-which colleague's foot was stepped on.
Fans referred to the unique atmosphere of Li Jiaqi's live broadcast as "worldly fireworks."
This comment touched Li Jiaqi a lot, perhaps because of the epidemic. For the first time, he truly felt a strong emotional need from fans.
He told China News Weekly that from that moment on, “I don’t think it doesn’t matter how much you sell, because the income of the epidemic may not be as good as before. I will do more and better content, and do more forms of companionship and care. ."
Li Jiaqi defines himself as "sales", and this year has a more formal name, "Internet marketer".
He is actually an atypical salesperson. He tried lipstick and perfume in the live broadcast room. If he felt that it was not good enough, he would directly point out the shortcomings of the product and persuade everyone to pull the grass.
Some people describe, "Tucao is ferocious, Chanel fell in his live broadcast room."
The comments echoed, "Li Jiaqi said what everyone wanted to say but did not say."
He recommended two lipsticks worth 50 yuan in the live broadcast room, and also recommended lipsticks worth thousands of yuan each, but he emphasized to fans not to blindly pursue big names, "You have to control lipstick, not let this lipstick control you ".
He did the same before doing the live broadcast.
Li Jiaqi used to be an offline shopping guide for L'Oreal in Nanchang. A girl wanted to buy eyebrow pencils, "Our eyebrow pencils are not so easy to use, so I told her that eyebrow pencils are not suitable for you. Would you like to try blush?" Hong, after buying the order with satisfaction, he realized that he was here to buy the eyebrow pencil.
Li Jiaqi insisted on telling her that buying a blush is enough, and the eyebrow pencil is not suitable for you.
Since then, this girl has become a frequent visitor to Li Jiaqi's counter.
"There is no need to make a hammer sale. I want to turn you into my potential customer and always follow me to buy. You must treat customers as friends and you will not introduce bad things to your friends." Li Jiaqi told China News Weekly During that time, he achieved the L'Oreal national sales champion.
This is a sales talent that Li Jiaqi calls "kindness."
He admitted that his mother was a teacher and had a great influence on the development of his character.
He is extremely sensitive to other people's emotional changes and puts others' feelings first. This is his quality.
If a dinner is cold, he will be the one who actively embraces the atmosphere.
In addition to the live broadcast, Li Jiaqi frequently rushed to the hot search.
#李佳琦+某明星#, #李佳琦 as special talents settled in Shanghai#, and host Zhu Guangquan formed #小朱佩琦#, "Double Eleven" pre-sale night knocked the gong to become #第一一个叫我不睡的男#, even Li Jiaqi's pet dog Never fights will be hotly discussed by everyone.
Li Jiaqi is not so happy to be overly concerned.
He even disliked that the hot search only had the six words "Li Jiaqi Live Room" because "there was no content."
After becoming popular, people often find Li Jiaqi and ask him to make movies, TV shows or receive commercials.
Li Jiaqi rebuffed a lot, "Sorry, that's not my profession. It will hold you back and I will have the opportunity to cooperate again in the future." This year's National Day movie "Get Home at One Point", Li Jiaqi was only a guest star in it. "Anchor Li Jiaqi".
He did not refuse the variety show invitation, but there is a clear standard, that is, "it is reasonable for me to go."
"Product Manager" Li Jiaqi
Some people describe that Li Jiaqi was born in the live broadcast.
Zhao Yuanyuan, the former head of Taobao’s live broadcast operation, once described that Li Jiaqi was the first Taobao live broadcaster to kill and get back the large traffic outside the station, letting the public know: "Taobao actually has a live broadcast" "There are actually a group of very powerful people in it." Host".
Today, e-commerce live broadcast enters the second half, and new entrants on the live broadcast track are working hard to prove their ability to carry goods.
The number of MCN organizations that incubate anchors has also skyrocketed. According to iiMedia Consulting, the number of MCN organizations will reach 28,000 in 2020, a growth rate of 100%.
But Li Jiaqi did not fight head-on.
Wei Yinghui explained that the US ONE company where Li Jiaqi works is no longer an MCN organization, not an incubator company, but similar to a super IP company.
In 2018, the company executives noticed that Li Jiaqi has potential, humility, and passion for live broadcasting. He stripped dozens of other anchors and focused on Li Jiaqi, hoping to cultivate him into a "towering tree."
Li Jiaqi is this super IP. At present, the company has more than 200 employees, almost all around him.
Around this IP, more content is being derived.
He is not satisfied with just selling goods in the live broadcast room, and designed a fixed section "new product show": the team spontaneously purchases the latest beauty products in the quarter without charging any brand fees. He will share his experience in the live broadcast room and tell everyone whether it is worth it. worth buying.
In the live broadcast for more than 4 years, he tried more than 100,000 beauty products, "probably the one who tried the most products in China".
During the live broadcast, he was also collecting feedback from girls on the product, “I took out a product and asked how it was doing, and they said it looked good, and I thought it was too ugly or the color was too bright, so I would remember the difference in my mind "These data have given Li Jiaqi a better understanding of what products most consumers prefer.
He knows "all girls" best. In the eyes of brand merchants, Li Jiaqi is "the beauty spokesperson for thousands of women, and the embodiment of female public aesthetics."
The head of the Huaxizi brand brought a team of more than a dozen people to ONE to discuss the annual brand upgrade project.
They took out a lipstick with a concentric lock shape, Li Jiaqi held it in his hand and looked through it carefully.
After listening to all the explanation from the other party, he paused for a while and pointed out with a serious expression that the lipstick has no feel when pressed, the color of the concentric lock is too new, and the color of the beads on the tassel is too light and too cheap.
After listening to them, the other party adopted them all, and said to the colleague in charge of the production line, "make some more samples for Jiaqi to take a look."
Before this year, it was mainly some heads of domestic brands who came to Li Jiaqi.
After the epidemic, some international big names also came to the company to listen to Li Jiaqi's opinions on the brand.
He once told the media that in the past six months, almost all first-line beauty brands have been there. Basically, brand meetings are held every day. Before mass production of new products, ask the Jiaqi team if it is feasible.
During the meeting, the brand first spent half an hour explaining the product, and then "product manager" Li Jiaqi asked his questions, or asked "all the possible doubts of girls" for the other party to answer.
If the other party's approach to brand promotion or product is inappropriate, Li Jiaqi will also directly say no and put forward his own suggestions.
He was worried before, "I'm afraid that the brand will no longer care about me in this life", but now he has the confidence that he is really talking about the other party's problems, and they immediately start to listen.
His ambition is far more than just being a cargo anchor, he hopes to be a top-line beauty brand in China.
He regards communicating with the brand as a learning process.
During the three or four days of rest every month, he would go to talk about corporate culture with foreign big names.
He is still accumulating energy.
He once tried a lipstick sample and threw it away when he got it.
"I'm not ready yet."
Li Jiaqi knows that the founders of many brands are internationally renowned makeup artists. They are people who do field experiments every day. "I am a salesman. Although I have tried more than 100,000 products, branding is not the same as trying."
"I want to improve my knowledge reserve. That's why I have meetings with brands. I want to learn from their founders why they want to do this brand, why they designed it like this, why they designed this kind of effect, etc." He said frankly, this is what he learned the process of.
But maybe one day, Huiqing is better than blue from blue.
Li Jiaqi is still looking forward to her "small goal", "Maybe the counter of this beauty brand in the future will be next to the first-tier international brands; maybe there will be more people who come to my counter than those who buy their things. ."
China News Weekly, Issue 46, 2020
Statement: The publication of "China News Weekly" manuscript is authorized in writing