Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, cooperates with six major film and television industries in China to launch its "Vision Plan."
TikTok, International version of Douyin, logo. PHOTO: Credit to Bytedance
According to 36Kr, Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, announced its successful cooperation with six major film and television companies to launch its “Vision Plan.” In the interview with 36Kr, ZHAO Tian (赵添), Byte Beat’s vice president, said the company’s vision plan will be a starting point for the company to integrate pre-preparation film, data, marketing, and content.
The companies involved are Wanda Media (万达影视), Beijing Enlight Pictures (光线影业), Alibaba Pictures (阿里影业), Xinli Movie (新丽电影), Emperor Motion Pictures (英皇电影), and EDKO Film (安乐影片).
According to the 2018 China Network Audiovisual Development Research Report, China’s online video users reached 609 million, accounting for 76% of the total number of users on the web. Short video apps boomed in 2017; the number of users surpassed 410 million, a 116.5% YOY growth, according to QuestMobile. In 2018, short video users reached 594 million, which according to 36Kr makes up 97.5% of online users. Paying users for online video is 53%, an 23.8% YOY increase.
Time spent on short video apps has also increased significantly. Total time spent on short video apps accounted for 5.5% of all mobile apps in 2017, according to QuestMobile’s survey. In 2016, it was a mere 1.3%.
As traditional film and television companies get involved in short video apps, they will get more traffic and use this to announce trailers and marketing efforts. Many companies have already used KOL (key opinion leaders) on the app to boost exposure. In China, the movie “How Long Will I Love U” (超时空同居) challenge launched by celebrities resulted in 139 million video playbacks, according to 36Kr. In addition, movie promotion exposure exceeded 10 million in 2 months.
Another Chinese movie, Hello Mr. Billionaire (西虹市首富) reached 1.5 billion at the box office, partly due to Douyin’s efforts. Content on the short video app includes behind the scenes footage and movie highlights.
Government agencies have also enjoyed Douyin’s massive video playback volume. In June 2018, video playbacks related to government affairs exceeded 1.6 billion.
Douyin is continuously seeing success domestically and internationally. In June 2018, the app surpassed Kuaishou (快手), a popular short video app in China, in daily active users. Xigua Video and Douyin are both short video apps produced by ByteDance.
TikTok, Douyin's International version, also ranked first in downloads (6 million) in the United States in Oct 2018. It’s also increasing its rank across Southeast Asian markets, coming in at second and third in Indonesia, Thailand, and Cambodia respectively.
TikTok’s impressive statistics indicate more upcoming competition as companies may rush to jump on the trend or sought other creative ways to boost exposure. In addition, opponents looking to snatch a slice of China’s short video market share may depend upon product innovation, a strategy that spans various sectors to remain competitive.