How does Love Game in Eastern Fantasy (永夜星河) as a TV series create a long-tail effect?
When we talk about the long-tail effect, we often imagine the scenario of a product after it earned considerable income, but in fact, a TV series can also be considered a product in terms of its long-tail effect. Back in the early days, Chinese TV dramas already had a long-tail effect. The fairy tale TV series of Hua Qian Gu is an example. After Hua Qian Gu was broadcasted, it produced many derivatives as a famous IP, such as dolls and mobile games, so its long-tail effect is quite powerful. However, since it was produced and released quite a long time ago, I chose the recently released Love Game in Eastern Fantasy to analyze the long-tail effect of the TV series.
Compared to Hua Qian Gu, the long-tail effect of Love Game in Eastern Fantasy actually had been prepared during the broadcast period. When it was launched on Tencent Video, the producers of the TV series set up a card collection campaign for it on DouYin in order to promote it to more audiences. DouYin users will not only increase the popularity of the drama's official account through liking and commenting on the relevant activities but also expand the awareness of the drama through the spontaneous output of promotional videos. As a result, Love Game in Eastern Fantasy gained a lot of popularity during the broadcast period and earned a lot of membership recharge fees for Tencent Video.
After the broadcast of Love Game in Eastern Fantasy, producers of drama responded to the demand of viewers for the physicalisation of electronic mini-cards and produced physical cards for sale; moreover, derivatives of key props products and sold them to viewers through Tencent Video. Additionally, many companies have collaborated with the TV series IP to produce many related products during the broadcasting period. For example, Molly Tea produced related milk tea cup sets, postcards, and stickers to sell along with the milk tea; Chinese dress brand Thirteen Yu also collaborated with Love Game in Eastern Fantasy during the broadcast period and produced three sets of costumes of the main heroine for sale for a limited time. Although the price of co-branded products is more expensive than other products, many consumers still pay for the sake of sentiment.
The long-tail effect of Eternal Night of Stars has not only brought considerable gains for Tencent Video and the show's producers but has also raised the profile of four of its lead actors. Among them, the male protagonist, Ding Yuxi, received the highest attention; not only had his fans on DouYin and Weibo each grown by a million, but his Weibo superlatives were ranked the third-grade diamond a week ago. To be clear, Level 3 Diamond Super Talk has always been difficult to achieve, and only the most popular celebrities have ever set such a record.
Overall, Love Game in Eastern Fantasy has gained a large number of drama fans after broadcast, and based on this large fan base, its long-tail effect brings considerable positive impact for the producer, broadcast platform (Tencent Video), and the actors.
Thanks for your interesting sharing about the longtail effect by illustrating Eastern Fantasy as an example. The Long Tail effect emphasizes the commercial value of the vast number of individuals, whose individual value may be extremely low, but the sum of this long tail is not to be underestimated. I strongly agree that "Eastern Fantasy" has secured a place in the long-tail market by accurately targeting its audience, especially young viewers, and meeting their needs for specific types of TV series. Furthermore, I do think there's a clear trend towards creating a matrix for media promotion rather than concentrating on individual productivity alone. It may strengthen the longtail effect to a certain extent, and even produces the effect of traffic convergence and contextual linkage.
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