The Chinese content economy emerges

PARTNER CONTENT

 

The content economy in China has begun. With China’s content market value having grown to nearly Rmb400 billion (US$58 billion) and counting, the fierce competition among movies, TV serials, variety shows, game shows, and live entertainment has propelled content quality to unprecedented heights.

 

To better understand and analyse the upcoming trends in pan-entertainment content and the value growth in content and brand marketing, a summit on content marketing was jointly held by GroupM and @comm, one of China’s leading independent marketing service agencies.

 

To kick off the summit, GroupM announced the launch of Motion Content Group (Motion), a new global content investment and rights management company investing and partnering with the world’s leading talent, producers and distributors to fund, develop, produce and distribute premium content.

 

 

Patrick Xu, CEO of GroupM China and WPP China, said: “Consumer insights, brand image, creative communication and media risk assessment are all crucial to the success of content marketing. GroupM is committed to strengthen the media ecosystem for advertisers and media partners.”

 

Along that vein, Shirley King, founder and president of @comm, stated her belief that brands should view consumers not as target audiences but as fans of brands: “We are not building a brand, but a great intellectual property which has its own unique image, attracts numerous fans, and [offers] a good way [of] monetisation.”

 

Driving home the message that content is king, Li Ruigang, founding chairman, CMC Capital Partners, CMC Holdings, stressed that brands will undoubtedly be deeply involved in content creation. Technology and brand participation remain two main driving engines of the content industry.

 

 

Chiming in was Rycan Di, GroupM China’s chief investment officer, who addressed the shift, barriers and breakthroughs: “Data, technology and new content are driving content marketing to a new level. It’s important for all parties across the industry to work together to improve standards, regulations and market integrity.”

 

On sports entertainment, Chip Bowers, CMO of Golden State Warriors, shared his opinions on the values that sports marketing brings to advertisers. In comparison, sports entertainment commands a much higher per-minute airtime value than any other content. Though the threshold is relative high, it is an established phenomenon.

 

Taking a dramatic turn

While web dramas are becoming one of the fastest growth markets, intellectual property (IP) dramas, adapted from novels, cartoons and other media, are taking over TV screens by storm. Li Qian, head of content and GM of GroupM China, pointed out that relevancy and creative dividends are especially important in brand marketing of variety shows, dramas and movies.

 

Animes, comics, video games, short videos, real-time commenting, and virtual idols are also popular among young audiences. Bolin Wang, content general manager of Mindshare China, pointed out that brands need to manage uncertainty and include new content resources into brand operations to further drive growth.

 

Concluding the summit, Mark Patterson, CEO of GroupM APAC and chairman, GroupM China, stated: “The Chinese entertainment and content landscape is changing at a pace, and in nature, in ways we haven’t experienced before, driven by technology, innovation and creativity from both within and outside China…

 

“This presents new and exciting opportunities for brands to communicate their story to consumers of all kinds with engagement and interaction…“GroupM and its many partners in the content industry will continue to work together to strive to unlock opportunities for our clients.”