In just one night, “The Power of the Wilderness” has evolved from a response to reporters to a hot talk in the city, and has even appeared on the hot search list on Weibo, and female swimmer Fu Yuanhui also became popular in China during the Olympics, turning from an athlete to an “Internet celebrity”. Fu Yuanhui has made many netizens follow suit, and some companies want to find her as a KOL (Key opinion leader) to promote their own brands. What is the difference between “Internet celebrities” and KOLs often referred to by Hong Kong people? Sam, who works in online marketing, found many different examples on the Internet and tried to understand the difference between influencers and KOLs.
In the mainland, “Internet celebrity” refers to a person who is well-known in a certain field or suddenly becomes popular due to some incidents, and the recent Fu Yuanhui is a good example, her exaggerated expression and straightforward and hearty personality make her an “Internet celebrity”, but the popularity of this “Internet celebrity” often only lasts for a short period of time, about one to two months. And people who follow Internet celebrities have nothing in common, regardless of men, women, and children, they may be the audience. After the end of the Olympics, Fu Yuanhui’s exposure, attention and discussion gradually declined.
KOLs are collectively referred to as “tuba” in the mainland, which includes celebrities or people who are well-known in a certain field. In terms of fame, the difference between “Internet celebrity” and “tuba” is that the image of “tuba” has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the memory of “internet celebrity” to everyone is often only behavior, expression or golden sentences. In addition to fame, another focus is on the audience, and the “plus” audience usually has a specific age group, gender or interests, which has a significant impact and inspiration for brands to place ad inventory.
If Hong Kong local brands want to capture a certain craze and promote it in the mainland, they must accurately allocate different resources to “Internet celebrities” and “big names”. Using “The Power of the Wilderness” as an example, Sam suggested that customers add hashtags to their blog posts on Weibo to increase the exposure of their posts, and at the same time cooperate with the “big” promotion related to their target customer groups. Sam is a simple way to increase the overall exposure of the client’s brand, so as to achieve the effect of wide communication. Therefore, from a business point of view, every brand should also carefully consider when placing advertising resources, and should not blindly “pump”, so as to further improve the brand image while resonating with the audience.
