BEIJING, May 31, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:
IQ) ("iQIYI" or the "Company"), an innovative market-leading online
entertainment service in China,
announced that an all-girl idol group composed of the nine winners
of its hit original variety show Youth With You Season
2 (the "Show") debuted on the eve of May 30th. The 9-member idol group,
THE9, includes XIN Liu, Esther Yu,
Kiki Xu, Yan
Yu, Shaking, Babymonster An, Xiaotang Zhao, Snow Kong and K Lu, who were
selected out of more than 100 trainees through viewer votes during
the Show and THE9 will become the ambassador for Mengniu Zhenguoli.
On the eve of May 30th,
global users are able to watch the Show in Chinese, English and
Thai on the international version of iQIYI App, witnessing the
debut of THE9.
Youth With You Season 2, a variety show focusing on
female pop idol trainees, presents iQIYI users and fans with the
highly engaging and entertaining journey of the trainees'
persistence and hard work as they compete to stand out in the
Show. Youth With You Season 2 demonstrates that
young Chinese women are confidently embracing independence and
diverse values, and are daring to dream big.
"Youth With You Season 2" hit trending lists on
Twitter 393 times
As iQIYI's leading IP-based original variety show, Youth
With You Season 2 has sparked widespread discussion
amongst domestic and international audiences since its release. The
Show has broken previous audience engagement records in iQIYI's
variety show category, hitting a content popularity index of 9,000
multiple times. In terms of user interaction, the Show's bullet
subtitle interaction feature has exceeded 100 million in usage
numbers, a record high for iQIYI in the variety show category.
Youth With You Season 2 is also available for
streaming on iQIYI's international platforms. iQIYI has localized
the Show for international viewers by translating it into multiple
foreign languages and accounting for the cultural context and
language habits of its target markets. Overseas audiences were able
to engage with the Show and root for their favorite contestant by
casting their votes towards a contestant popularity ranking on the
international version of the iQIYI App. According to the popularity
ranking, the most popular contestant in international markets is
XIN Liu.
So far, official videos released by Youth With You
Season 2 has attracted over 300 million views on YouTube,
with 73 video clips reaching more than one million views each. In
addition, over 393 hashtags related to the Show trended on Twitter
in 15 countries across Asia,
Europe, South America and North America. Meanwhile, on the popular
social platform in China, posts
with hashtags related to the Show achieved a readership
of 51.66 billion.
Moreover, 12 lucky overseas audiences from Malaysia, Thailand, the U.S., the Philippines, among others who applied for
the 'calls for Youth With You Season 2 cloud
recording audience' programs via platforms such as Facebook,
Twitter, YouTube and Instagram participated as audiences in the
cloud recording session of the contestants' performances.
Using technology and ecosystem to create a one-stop immersive
idol culture experience
Youth With You Season 2 uses a variety of innovative
technology-driven production methods to enhance viewer engagement.
This includes features such as the AI Radar "Qiguan", the
multi-perspective watching mode, celebrity chatrooms, Suike AI
immersion, as well as AR and VR technologies. For example, Qiguan
allows users to have quick access to a contestant's biography
and information on songs that is playing on the Show as background
music. The feature has proven to be very successful and was used
nearly one million times in the first week of its launch.
The multi-perspective watching mode, which is used for the first
time in a variety show, provides users with a more personalized
viewing experience by displaying a close-up of their favorite
trainee's performance in a separate section of the screen. The
celebrity chatroom feature enables a simultaneous watching and
commenting experience. Popular trainees used the chatrooms to
interact with users in real time, creating a closer connection with
the audience.
In addition, iQIYI has built a comprehensive IP ecosystem
around Youth With You Season 2 in areas such as
short videos, comics, e-commerce, and merchandise. By collaborating
with IQIYI's ecosystem such as iQIYI Comics, Ba Da (iQIYI's cartoon
app), Zeal Beauty (iQIYI's cosmetics knowledge app), iQIYI Paopao
(iQIYI's entertainment community for fans to follow and interact
with celebrities) and Fansfun (iQIYI's spin-off merchandise app
tailor-made for fans), iQIYI provides its users and fan groups with
diverse and fresh interactive experiences, maximizing the fun and
reach of the Show.
Using innovative marketing approach and cross-over
initiatives to maximize commercial value of IPs
To create the most interactive entertainment experience
possible, the Show worked with more than 30 brand advertisers and
IP licensed advertisers including Mengniu Zhenguoli
Huaguoqingru, DARLIE, SOFY and Kiehl's and jointly developed over
700 SKU products with IP licensed advertisers across a range of
categories including clothing, food, and cosmetics. This helped
promote the Show among younger audiences while also meeting their
demand to stay up to date with the latest fashions.
iQIYI has also been exploring new forms of cross-over social
marketing by leveraging the strengths of its business ecosystem.
For example, Zeal Beauty invited the trainees to share their beauty
tips on the platform as "makeup masters", allowing fans to learn
about the trainees' behind-the-scenes life. Meanwhile, Fansfun App
launched Youth Capsule Toy, Youth Postcard and other spin-off
merchandise. The show also unveiled its official avatar YUNI for
use in toys as well as the accessories worn by the trainees. These
initiatives helped to build a deep connection between the Show, the
trainees and the audience and create value across all the
industries in iQIYI's ecosystem. Moreover, trainees XIN Liu and
Esther Yu collaborated with Li
Jiaqi, China's top beauty
influencer and livestreamer with over 16.76 million followers on
the social media, to sell products on the popular livestreaming
channel. The collaboration attracted more than 30 million viewers.
With a diversified range of entertainment content, Youth
With You Season 2 maximizes the IP's commercial value by
collaborating with relevant businesses across the value chain.
In addition to Youth With You Season 2, iQIYI has
launched other high-quality hit shows such as Idol
Producer, The Rap of
China and FOURTRY in recent years, making
it a leading trendsetter in youth culture. The Youth With
You series have kicked off the development of idol culture
in China within just three years
and created a new benchmark for idol variety shows. The series meet
users' needs for diverse entertainment while inspiring global
audiences with positive messages such as self-belief and the
perusal of one's dreams, and further drive the robust development
of China's idol market.
About iQIYI, Inc.
iQIYI, Inc. is an innovative
market-leading online entertainment service in China. Its corporate DNA combines creative
talent with technology, fostering an environment for continuous
innovation and the production of blockbuster content. iQIYI's
platform features highly popular original content, as well as a
comprehensive library of other professionally-produced content,
partner-generated content and user-generated content. The Company
distinguishes itself in the online entertainment industry by its
leading technology platform powered by advanced AI, big data
analytics and other core proprietary technologies. iQIYI attracts a
massive user base with tremendous user engagement, and has
developed a diversified monetization model including membership
services, online advertising services, content distribution, live
broadcasting, online games, IP licensing, online literature and
e-commerce etc.
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SOURCE iQIYI, Inc.