Recently, Dr. Xingyu Chen’s research team from the College of Management at Shenzhen University published a business case entitled “The Coming One: Revitalizing the Brand of a Variety Show” in the globally renowned Ivey Case Center. Dr. Xingyu Chen is the first author of this case, and the other collaborative authors include Dr. Ling Jiang who is currently an assistant professor at York University in Canada, Dr. Qiao Wang, a research fellow at our College of Management, Dr. Chuang Tang from the HSBC Business School at Peking University, and Professor Alain Chong from the University of Nottingham Ningbo China.
By delving into the brand repositioning and revitalization issue of online variety shows within China’s digital entertainment industry, this case focuses on one musical talent competition variety show jointly produced by Wajijiwa Entertainment and Tencent Video. It examines how the variety show, when confronted with intense market competition and rising audience expectation, leverages personal branding strategy by strategically establishing, marketing, and monetizing a set of contestant-centred personal brands on social media platforms to successfully revitalize the show’s brand, achieving a win-win in terms of commercial value and audience satisfaction.
The case introduces and compares the variety show’s market performance, popularity, and brand positioning across a series of seasons, followed by describing in detail how it utilizes personal branding strategy to reposition and revitalize the show’s brand in the latest season as well as its associated advantages and disadvantages. Through exploiting each female contestant’ unique personal charisma and music genres to establish an array of personal brands catering to diverse niche audiences, and utilizing social media to market and monetize these personal brands, the variety show successfully repositions the show and regains its leading position in the digital entertainment market in China. Despite its strengths, the case also discusses the drawbacks of the personal branding strategy, such as increased costs involved in creating, promoting and monetizing distinctive personal brands, and potential dilution of the overall brand’s identity and brand perception inconsistency.
This case offers fruitful teaching materials for such courses as Strategy Management, Brand Management, and Digital Marketing. By leading students to analyze the variety show’s personal branding strategy, it enriches their understanding of how a variety show could revitalize its brand and sustain the brand’s longevity through innovating brand positioning and marketing in the ever-changing digital entertainment industry. The case’s material and business practices prompt students’ creative thoughts and insights on brand management and marketing, and enhance their problem-solving capabilities.
The Ivey Case Center, prestigious worldwide for its rigorous academic standards and widespread business practice application, provides a vital resource database for teaching and research in top international business schools. Cases published in Ivey are representatives of high-level case-based research and teaching.
The College of Management at Shenzhen University has achieved remarkable success in case research and teaching. Previously, Dr. Xingyu Chen’s team has published two cases in Ivey (also indexed by the Harvard Business Case Center). This third case’s successful publication in Ivey marks another significant milestone in case development for our College of Management.
The publication of this case highlights the strength and capability of the College of Management in high-quality case research and teaching, contributing to the enhancement of the international influence of MBA programs. Meanwhile, It provides valuable insights for domestic variety shows in formulating and implementing brand strategy, propelling the Chinese digital entertainment industry to advance brand innovation and market competitiveness further.
