Fan base size may not be the best benchmark for event organisers to assess an influencer’s commercial viability now that the KOL phenomenon has reached its peak. To add, it is hard to play the numbers game in a market as big as China. Even successful KOLs such as Zhang Dayi have yet to attain mega celebrity status despite having close to 10 million followers on Weibo.
Sally Lu, managing director of Uniplan, Shanghai and Guangzhou, believes that microinfluencers are essentially more effective for a wider reach. Hence, everyone in the audience is potentially a wanghong or web celebrity. Speaking at Event360 in Hong Kong earlier this month, Lu explains what needs to be done to cater to the wanghongs.
