Will The9 – the C-pop girl group that won iQiyi’s hit reality show Youth With You Season 2 – hit the big time?
All-new girl pop group The9 rocketed to fame when they won popular Chinese entertainment platform iQiyi’s Youth With You Season 2 on May 30. The nine finalists who won a place in the group were voted for by the public out of 109 contestants on the show, also known as Idol Producer Season 3.
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The show was a record-breaking smash hit
The show is one of the most popular programmes on iQiyi and repeatedly broke the entertainment streaming platform’s own records. The show’s videos on iQiyi gained a whopping 2.3 billion views.
The most popular member Liu Yuxin garnered 17 million votes from the public, while Esther Yu Shuxin earned 13 million votes. Apart from its popularity domestically, the show attracted a massive audience in Southeast Asia and beyond. Hashtags such as #DanceMentorLaLisa continue to top the charts on Twitter as well.
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The show’s videos on iQiyi’s YouTube account received over 300 million views in total, and more than 70 of the videos played in excess of one million times each. The top performing video was viewed over 20 million times.
Young singers, young fans
The trainees range in age from 17 to 30, while the average age of all 109 contestants was just 22 years old.
The audience fan base is also young – and receptive to innovative marketing solutions. iQiyi launched an augmented reality integrated outdoor advertising featuring the 20 finalists. Through scanning the faces of the contestants on the outdoor advertisement via the iQiyi app, users could root for their favourite trainees digitally. The marketing stunt itself became a trending topic on Weibo soon after its launch.
Commercial integration was a constant throughout the reality show, with trainees promoting everything from yogurt to toothpaste during the show.
Move over, clones – there’s a new group in town
Instead of the typical sweet girl next door type of girl group idols, The9’s most popular members are known for their androgynous looks. Liu Yuxin sported short dyed hair and wore pantsuits rather than C-pop standard mini skirts in the finale. Aside from the group, celebrity judge Li Yuchun who won Super Girl in 2005, the first reality show of its kind in mainland China, is also known for her gender neutral style.
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Can they attract brand endorsements? Watch this space
Even though they only made their debut on May 30, The9 will take part in the much-anticipated JD.com’s 618 midyear sale festival extravaganza on June 18, marking their first major appearance.
Will The9 enjoy the same levels of success as their K-pop counterparts in attracting luxury brand endorsements? We’ll soon find out if they strike the right chord.
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With a unique blend of gender neutral and pop princess members, can The9 emulate the success of their Mandopop and K-pop rivals?