The scenery on the way to zipper is often so charming. It was already two o’clock in the morning when I arrived at the lake. The oncoming cold wind gave me a warm hug, which suddenly blew away the fatigue of the journey and the deep sleep at night.

This 100-kilometer journey passes through dozens of large and small villages, endless pastures, sand islands with towering peaks, and greetings from tourists on the road, all of which add a little interest to this 100-kilometer tour. We sang military songs and encouraged each other to come to the lake.

After a year, I walked this road again, but the fierce yaks and unrestrained horses in the pasture along the way seem to have changed a batch, just like my comrades on this trip. A group of new faces walked hand in hand on this road.

Yes! It has been more than half a year since the squad leader left the army. I can’t help but feel foolish when I think of our tandem encouragement and walking on this familiar and unfamiliar road.

At this time, the company commander’s voice brought me back to reality. The company commander said, "Monitor Wang, you will be on duty at night for a while. You can arrange it according to the actual situation." I immediately ran to discuss with the other three squad leaders: "Why don’t you send two capable guards to each class?"

In this way, I took the recruit of our class, Xiao Du, and stood on the first patrol post. Xiao Du and I walked on this endless grassland, and the fragrance of the soil swept through, which is the natural taste. Looking at the lake, there is a bright moon in the distant mountains, and the silver moonlight fills the whole lake, making the lake with ripples as blue as the ocean, and the various signs on the lake are also shining with a trace of Yin Hui. In a thousand miles of moonlight, the tent we live in seems so insignificant that even the stars in the sky seem to be just symbols on the sky.

Hunter, a military dog over one year old, ran out of the tent from nowhere, turned left and right beside me, and sometimes licked my trouser legs and wagged his little tail vigorously to show his love here.

A cool breeze blows gently, and the moon is bright. Xiao Du and I slowed down, and Hunter wagged his tail and followed, enjoying the beauty of this area.

There is a river around the tent, and the thin water is shining, and the tender grass beside the river grows green, which adds a touch of agility to this river injected into the lake. Perhaps our footsteps alarmed the fish at the entrance, and they swam happily and didn’t want to leave.

A gust of cold wind brought me yearning. Last time I came with the monitor, the river was surrounded by wild flowers all over the place, and it was dancing willfully. At that time, I sat by the river with the monitor and talked about the feeling of coming to the army. I said, "The army is actually quite monotonous, boring and tasteless." The monitor said, "Life in the army is not boring, but it is still beautiful. You have to be good at discovering it." Now, I have repeated this sentence with Xiao Du.

Going north, rows of withered Sophora japonica are not glamorous and eye-catching, but silently guarding this natural beauty, like a veteran of military career, striving for fame and fortune, taking root in the military camp.

Walking to the hillside seems to be closer to the moon. The bright moonlight illuminates the open space in front of the tent area like day, and the camouflage net with complex colors is clearly visible. The distant castle peak is covered with a layer of silver gauze, mysterious and quiet. There is no light in the scattered small villages at the foot of the mountain at this time, only yellow walls and red tiles are seen, and there are dim acacia trees.

At night in the country, there are no lights, no bustling noise of the city, only peace and serenity! Xiao Du and I leaned against the fence to look at the bright moon, the stars, the night view, and the cold wind blowing, and my thoughts were myriad.

In the army, I am not a member of "heartbroken people are in the end of the world", and I am not lonely as "till, raising my cup, I asked the bright moon, to bring me my shadow and make us three". I am glad that I have countless comrades to accompany me; I am glad that my youth has a little more happiness in camouflage; I am glad that comrades-in-arms are not brothers but brothers.

In contrast, we struggle in the military career, what’s wrong with a little regret? There is a corner in the city or country where you live, and there is a lamp among thousands of lights, which is enough! When work is not smooth, life is frustrated, and mood is low, find a self-healing way to release yourself, write down the sun, moon and stars, flowers bloom and fall, and go to Qiu Lai in spring …

The night was particularly quiet, and Xiao Du said, "Monitor, it’s time to be laid off." Back to the tent, I looked at my sleeping comrades, turned on my mobile phone, sent a sentence "I understand the beauty of the army" to the old squad leader who was far away from home, and then slept under the pillow of moonlight.

Author:Wang xinglai

Broadcast: Zhang Yuming

Source: Rocket Soldier

At the end of the year, the 2024 music season of China Symphony Orchestra arrived as scheduled. On December 9, the launch conference of the new music season of China Communications was held in Beijing Concert Hall. For the upcoming 2024 music season, Yu Zhou, secretary of the Party Committee of the China Symphony Orchestra, said: "The China Symphony Orchestra will bring the highest artistic enjoyment to the national audience with the most full input, the most full spirit and the most extreme interpretation." Li Xincao, honorary chief conductor of the 2024 Music Season of the China Symphony Orchestra, and Jing Huan, permanent conductor, shared the details of their diplomatic relations with China and expressed their expectations and prospects for the future.

In the new music season of China Communications, honorary chief conductor Li Xincao, permanent conductor Jing Huan, honorary art director Tan Dun, specially invited conductor Lin Daye, permanent conductor Wang Linlin and assistant conductor Yin Jiongjie will all make wonderful appearances. At the same time, the audience can also appreciate the conductors Shui Lan, Yu Long, Lu Jia, Zhang Yi, Liao Guomin, Chen Lin, Qian Junping, Jiao Miao and Chen Bing; Performers Yin Chengzong, Liu Yunzhi, Ning Feng, Huang Bin, Chen Xi, Qin Liwei, Li Zhuoyu, Shen Lu, Rao Hao, Wu Wei; Singers Liao Changyong, Zhu Huiling, Shi Yijie, Guo Sen, Song Yuanming, Qiu Zhiqian, Xue Haoyin, Ruan Yuqun, Liu Shen and other three generations of artists.

Yu Zhou, Party Secretary of China Symphony Orchestra.

More international faces will be active on the stage of the China Symphony Orchestra, including conductors David Hohs, Andres Delvers, Mikhail Agriste, Gunter Newhold, Hubert Sultant and Mark Bereyi; Performers Jehad Ortiz, Li Yuyin and Stephen Chechiff will all be on the stage of diplomatic relations. In a concert with a more international perspective, fans can appreciate the unique interpretations of different styles of works by musicians from all over the world, and also feel the artistic sparks of the collision between eastern and western musicians. In 2024, in the journey of dialogue with the world, China’s diplomatic relations will spread all over Asia, Europe and America, transmitting China’s voice to the world with music and telling China’s story with notes.

On the occasion of the bicentennial of brukner’s birth, the 160th anniversary of Richard Strauss’s birth, the 100th anniversary of Puccini’s death and the 175th anniversary of Chopin’s death, the State Council of Communications will launch a series of commemorative concerts, and at the same time, Puccini’s classic opera "The Artist’s Life" will be staged in the annual opera concert. Classical fans will be satisfied with large-scale works and high-quality performances throughout the year.

Li Xincao, Honorary Chief Conductor of China Symphony Orchestra

This year is not only the Great Year of Western Symphony, but also the 120th anniversary of the birth of China composer Huang Zi and the 100th anniversary of Luo Zhongrong. In such a landmark year, the State Communications Department will rearrange the excellent works of many composers such as Huang Zi, Luo Zhongrong, Chen Peixun, Shi Wanchun, Zhao Jiping, Tan Dun and Chen Qigang. The year 2024 marks the 85th anniversary of The Yellow River Cantata’s premiere. In addition, Guojiao and many universities promoted national classics among the younger generation. At the same time, they used the results of re-arrangement to perform the symphonic music Shajiabang in cooperation with local orchestras. In addition, there will be a symphony with strong "Chinese style" created by German composer Schneider, which will give fans a glimpse of "China music written by western composers" from another dimension. In terms of newly created works, China Communications will launch the second concert of "Symphony of the Years in Peace"; Join hands with other brother orchestras to create a symphony suite "Revival" with the theme of celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of People’s Republic of China (PRC); At the same time, it undertakes the creation and performance of the project "Changjiang Chorus" directly managed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and promotes the prosperity and development of symphony creation with realistic themes in the new era.

The chorus concert will take opera as the "highlight", and the concert will be sung on three occasions, including "Salute to Verdi and Salute to Puccini", which commemorates the centenary of Puccini’s death, and will form an anticipated opera theme performance with the opera concert. Chorus concerts, such as Colorful Nationalities, Appreciation of Chinese Poetry, A Lu Ge and Poetry, which aim to build up the sense of Chinese national community and carry forward Chinese traditional culture, will integrate the beautiful tunes of Tang poetry and Song poetry and ancient and modern folk songs, which will let the audience feel poetry and distance in the great national style and explore the eternal context and national soul of Chinese civilization.

The new music season will also present nine sets of chamber music performances with distinctive themes and colorful colors. Various forms of ensemble and duet chamber music combination will bring a series of western classic works, Chinese and foreign art songs and chamber music works with national music characteristics, which are both difficult to interpret and beautiful in melody. Compared with the past, in 2024, the cooperation modes of chamber music performance of the State Communications University are more diverse. In addition to the concert hall, it will also cooperate with many universities such as Immersed Performing Arts Space, Peking University and Tsinghua to better integrate chamber music into aesthetic education.

Photo courtesy of China Symphony Orchestra

Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Tian Yuting

Editor/Gong Lifang

Even if the current consumer venture capital ebbs, are we still optimistic about cutting-edge consumer brands?

There is no doubt about the answer.

Consumption is a track with a long slope and thick snow. Brand development is not overnight, but once it is established, it will not die easily. We see that after a round of high-speed growth pains, some new brand companies have loyal users, and then they have gained considerable scale and even profits, and entered a new stage of steady growth. Most of them were born after 2014, and they took advantage of the hot air of investment in 2019 to win in the fierce competition.

Based on this, 36Kr’s future consumption decided to select 36 new consumer brand companies, and continue to track their development by means of interviews and case studies, and gather them in "Houxue Company 36"In this column.

UR store, brand for the picture

Interview |Yaolan Yang Xuan

Text |Yao LAN

Edit |Qiao Qian

Source |Future consumption in 36Kr (ID: LSLB168)

Fast fashion has a wonderful beginning in China. What people see is that the Spanish brand ZARA officially entered China in 2006, but neglected its corner in Guangdong. That year, its strong rival was born.

Before 2017, ZARA, H&M, GAP and other international fast fashion brands spent their time in golden decade. They occupied gold shops in major shopping malls in first-and second-tier cities with an area of thousands of square meters, and played an important role as a "passenger flow driver". Nowadays, in China, they are not only replaced by Lululemon offline, but also slow in the face of emerging e-commerce channels.

There are many players overtaking in corners in domestic brands. On June 18th last year, on the Tmall women’s sales list, the champion was no longer Uniqlo, which had dominated the list for a long time, but URBAN REVIVO (hereinafter referred to as UR), a local fast fashion brand that had ranked second the year before, while ZARA was always behind UR, falling out of the top ten all the way.

UR seems to have jumped into the public eye overnight. In fact, it has been quietly growing offline for more than ten years, and has completed five rounds of financing in a low-key manner, and its annual sales scale has exceeded 6 billion yuan.

In this "fast war", UR showed its "slow" side. Known as "ZARA’s Apprentice in China", UR has adopted the practice of "holding high and beating high" since its birth, and opened "luxury stores". However, before it was released to join in 2015, the number of UR’s stores was small, and its founder Li Mingguang chose to spend financing on the construction of buyers and designers, supply chain construction and digital system, which lengthened its profit schedule.

After ten years of dormancy, in 2017, UR achieved sales of nearly 3 billion yuan by relying on about 200 stores, making a profit for the first time. To know that clothing is a high-margin industry, it is not difficult to make quick money.

Li Mingguang regards clothes as spiritual products. He said that the essence of fast fashion clothing industry is "fashion", not "fast". "China’s clothing enterprises generally only have a glorious period of about 20 years. It sells well, but it is not fashionable. This is the reason why many brands have declined. "

"Fashion" is perceptual and individualized in Li Mingguang’s eyes. Just as he plays his favorite alternative music in UR stores, he advocates that designers and buyers should often watch art exhibitions, concerts, operas, travel and stay in good hotels. "These are all about improving aesthetics". Today, UR has about 400 stores around the world, and the designer development team has more than 500 members, while ZARA, which has more than 1,900 stores around the world, has only 600 designers.

He Yu, the founding partner of Black Ant Capital, still remembers his first meeting with Li Mingguang. "The first feeling is that people are glowing, dressed in white, clean and refreshing, which is very consistent with their store temperament." He Yu said that Li Mingguang was the founder of "meaning-oriented", and he had higher pursuit besides making a big company and making profits.

How to always keep "fashion"? How to lead the company from the scale of one billion to the scale of ten billion? The following is a dialogue between 36Kr’s future consumption and UR founder Li Mingguang:

UR founder Li Mingguang

Future consumption in 36Kr: How did the brand name "UR" come from?

Li Mingguang:I will buy a lot of foreign music discs, and the cover design of some discs is really emotional. Seeing the beautiful Logo, I was thinking, I will be a brand in the future, and how to use it. UR’s name is inspired by a music disc released at the beginning of the new century, hoping to convey the creative aesthetic concept that can span the times and an international vision.

36Kr’s future consumption: UR is actually your fifth entrepreneurial practice. From the beginning, did you clearly know how to be a "brand"?

Li Mingguang:It should be said that I have always liked and pursued "beauty" since middle school, but I didn’t understand the matter of "making a brand" from the beginning.

In 1998, I started my first business, prepared 50,000 yuan, and opened a foreign trade clothing store in an alley in Baiyun District, Guangzhou, with a pavement of 30 square meters and a monthly rent of 2,000 yuan. A year later, I went to Guangzhou’s high-end business district-Good World Plaza to open a shop, and the monthly rent was 40,000, and the business was really better. But it is difficult to develop rapidly, or it is difficult to copy, because I am engaged in miscellaneous brand retail, not brand.

36Kr’s future consumption: Your brand road seems to have started from acting as an agent for the men’s wear brand VJC in 2000, and you also opened this store in the most fashionable Shanghai. This is a big step, and you are very courageous.

Li Mingguang:But the performance is not satisfactory. Basically, this store loses money every month. In just one year, I have spent almost all the money I have accumulated in the past two years. It is certain to close it. If I have any experience this year, I have a deeper understanding of how to make price positioning and communicate with consumers. Most importantly, we have strengthened our determination to create our own brand.

36Kr’s Future Consumption: How did you decide to be a "fast fashion" brand?

Li Mingguang:In 2003, I saw the domestic media reports about ZARA, and then I went to Japan to see ZARA’s physical store, and soon realized that "fast fashion" was the blue ocean in the Red Sea of China clothing at that time. I called to ask ZARA if she could join us, but they said she didn’t. I don’t think this is high-tech (laughs). It’s not that difficult to do, is it?

In 2006, we formally established UR brand, and ZARA entered the China market in the same year. UR opened its first store in Zhengjia Plaza, Guangzhou. At that time, a shop was more than 100 square meters. I told the mall that you had opened all eight shops, and I wanted to build a brand with a brand-new business model. In fact, Zhengjia Plaza in that period didn’t develop so well, and they were very happy to be taken away by self-employed people like me.

After opening the store for three months, UR’s sales performance is very good. I used to have a jeans brand BC jeans, which also opened a store in Zhengjia Plaza. The store area is 100 square meters, and the monthly rent is more than 100,000 yuan, but the sales volume is also more than 100,000 yuan, so the sales volume has not increased. Finally, I decided to close the jeans brand that opened seven or eight stores.

Future consumption in 36Kr: In the second year after UR opened its first store in China, another fast fashion giant H&M came. ZARA’s first store is located in Nanjing West Road, Shanghai, and H&M’s first store is located in Huaihai Middle Road, Shanghai. You are also targeting first-and second-tier cities. In terms of point selection, these overseas giants have priority. What does UR rely on to compete with them head-on?

Li Mingguang:At that time, in Zhengjia Plaza, Guangzhou, UR was the largest brand in the single clothing store except the department store giant Friendship Store. After driving out, I obviously feel that consumers think that we are a "big brand" and will have a sense of trust. Through the dimensions of shop size, decoration materials, lighting and music played, consumers can judge what brand this stall is.

UR store, brand for the picture

For a long time, few local clothing brands dared to open stores over 200 square meters. At that time, studying this business model, we knew that the store should be big enough and the store style was "luxury". UR didn’t invest much in marketing before, and the store itself was an advertisement. Brand is a kind of belief. Our store wants to be like a "church", and many art installations have been added in the store. In this atmosphere, consumers will have a feeling of admiration for the brand.

36Kr’s future consumption: I heard that you like listening to music very much. Will you play your favorite music in the store?

Li Mingguang: Yes, I want consumers to hear songs that are different or have never been heard before. I like House and Lounge styles which combine modern musical instruments with national elements, and I like the music of Buddha-bar best. Buddha-bar is located in Paris, which is a pub and a restaurant. There is a giant Buddha statue in the store, and the music played includes Middle Eastern elements, Japanese Sanxian and traditional music in China, etc. The styles are diverse and very special. Like listening to music, but also the pursuit of "beauty" performance.

36Kr’s Future Consumption: What did UR learn from ZARA?

Li Mingguang:In the past, clothing enterprises often attended some training courses, and I also attended them, but I found that I didn’t learn what I wanted to learn, so I stopped attending them later. To learn it, our channels are more media reports.

You will find "fast fashion". There is nothing summative for you to learn in China, so you have to grope for it by yourself, and then come back after learning something wrong. In the past, we read those reports that ZARA stores changed goods once a month, so we changed them once. Later, it was found that it was wrong. When people changed them once, they did not change them all, but partially. Among them, the trendy models may be updated once a week. Simply put, the traditional clothing brand is "a small amount of money", and ZARA has achieved a breakthrough of "a large amount of money but a small amount".

In 2006 and 2007, when ZARA was mentioned, many people didn’t know what brand it was. UR was the verifier and beneficiary of this business model in China. We have now precipitated our own "fast fashion business model".

36Kr’s Future Consumption: What do you think is the essence of "fast fashion business model"?

Li Mingguang:As the name implies, it is fast and fashionable, among which "fashion" is the core element.

UR women’s wear, brand for the picture

36Kr’s future consumption: Why is "fast" not the core element?

Li Mingguang:The supply chain of China garment industry is very mature, and so are some other industries. If you only compete for "fast" in this respect, UR is ahead. But this is not enough. We want to be a "fashion brand". The essence of clothing industry is fashion, and creative aesthetic ability is not only the core competitiveness of UR, but also the core competitiveness of clothing industry.

In the fashion industry, especially luxury brands, there are generally two parallel positions, one is CEO and the other is creative director. And in many cases, the creative director is a more decisive role. When luxury brands fail to grow, they often change creative directors and CEOs, because the brand itself has gone through a long period of time, which shows that organizational construction usually does not have problems, and more creativity is not good. Clothing enterprises in China generally only have a glorious period of about 20 years, and then they go down, because it is no longer fashionable.

36Kr’s Future Consumption: What’s Your Role?

Li Mingguang:You can understand that I have more roles as creative director. In the early days, I will follow the details of each model. Now, I am more concerned with controlling the overall direction, such as internationalization, being too young, being too old and so on.

36Kr’s Future Consumption: What’s the difference between UR and ZARA from a product perspective?

Li Mingguang:Compared with ZARA, UR is not the most international, but it is this difference that makes us do well in China. UR is more localized in terms of format, size, color and design details. ZARA is a European style, and many clothes need to be very tall to control, and the whole is a little mature.

36Kr’s future consumption: There are dozens of fashion styles popular in the market today. It’s hard to say which style dominates the market. How can your team grasp the latest fashion trends?

Li Mingguang:This actually depends on everyone’s fashion potential, because fashion is a perceptual and individual thing, and it cannot be standardized or copied. But it has a learning method, that is to say, as a designer and a buyer, you should not only pay attention to industry information, but also often watch art exhibitions, concerts and operas, travel more and stay in some good hotels, all of which are improving your own taste.

Recruiting designers and buyers, I also care about whether TA is willing to invest enough time in this matter, that is, "crazy about fashion". People who often have potential will be "madly in love". Dress and makeup are the first factors to judge "crazy love". Secondly, I will ask some professional questions.

36Kr’s future consumption: Apart from personal potential and "crazy love", is there a mechanism to ensure that UR is always fashionable?

Li Mingguang:The biggest difference between us and traditional clothing brands is that the product design is dominated by buyers rather than designers. Designers help buyers to realize the landing of products, and designers can play freely, but buyers should control them well and make products have two dimensions at the same time-leading fashion and selling well, so as to achieve the best balance between aesthetics and commerce.

UR designers may have a stronger digital thinking, and clearly understand why each model is easy to sell or not, which will help TA to have a clearer direction when designing the next model. However, we will never suppress TA’s creativity, not completely maximize sales. I don’t want UR products to sell well, but they are not fashionable. It sells well, but it is not fashionable, which is the reason why many China brands have declined.

UR women’s and men’s wear, brand for the picture.

36Kr’s future consumption: When it comes to "selling well", what is UR’s definition of "explosion"?

Li Mingguang:Reach a certain sales volume, and the gross profit is within the standards we set, which is the explosion. If you can sell 10 thousand pieces without making money, it is definitely not an explosion.

Future consumption in 36Kr: What is the earliest supply chain?

Li Mingguang:At first, we produced 30 pieces at a time, and many suppliers were unwilling to cooperate, which forced us to build our own factory in 2007. Slowly, for some reasons, the workshop worker opened a factory with 10 or 20 people outside with his wife or several fellow villagers, and then asked me for goods. With the increase of UR volume, the scale of these factories is also expanding, and UR is always their core customer. You can understand that these factories were hatched by us and gradually formed a small supply chain cluster around UR to serve UR. Up to now, bigger suppliers have also come to us.

36Kr’s future consumption: the most criticized issue of "fast fashion" is quality. How do you evaluate the product quality of early UR?

Li Mingguang:We have always believed that "quality" is an important factor driving consumers to continue to buy fast fashion brands. In the early days, many suppliers pursued profit maximization without considering quality at all, and each version was different. How can we talk about building a brand? So, later we built our own factory and R&D center. At present, the trend and quality of products are improving rapidly every year, and the speed of supply chain is also at the leading level in the industry. From design to store shelves, UR can take 6 days at the earliest.

36Kr’s future consumption: The international fast fashion giants represented by ZARA are no longer so beautiful in China. What do you think are the reasons for this situation?

Li Mingguang:I admire ZARA very much. The "fast fashion" it represents has deeply influenced the clothing industry in China.

In the past, ZARA has made great transformation and adjustment. For example, many stores have been closed in Europe, and many offline stores have gone online. At the same time, it raises the sense of quality to cope with the competition of some low-end brands. These actions made its sales and profits last year very good. There are two main reasons for the poor performance in China. First, the products are not localized enough, so it is difficult to go to the third and fourth lines, and it is impossible to develop on a large scale; Second, the main industrial chain is in Europe, so it is difficult to supply the latest products to China quickly. I firmly believe that its development in China is still worth looking forward to if it can get through the supply chain and make a big breakthrough in product level from this year.

Future consumption in 36Kr: Besides quality, serious homogenization is also a problem faced by fast fashion brands.

Li Mingguang:Just like Gucci and LV, both belong to the luxury field, making products related to aesthetics, which are non-standard categories. The same dress, the styles designed by each brand are absolutely different, because there are DNA of each brand in it.

36Kr’s Future Consumption: But Uniqlo is living well in China.

Li Mingguang:Uniqlo is the basic model for winning quality, and its customer base is relatively wide. Nowadays, Shopping Mall, Uniqlo and UR in China are two major clothing brands that they prefer. One focuses on basic models and the other focuses on fashion models, which can attract different customers. Uniqlo now strengthens its quality positioning with a sense of science and technology, and we focus on the trend and fashion.

36Kr’s future consumption: more subdivided styles and richer styles, in fact, the requirements for the supply chain have been further improved. Some people compare SHEIN to "advanced ZARA". What do you think of this opponent from China?

Li Mingguang:SHEIN is called "Super Fast Fashion", which is another brand-new business model. By simple comparison, we are positioned a little higher than it. What I want to say is that every model and style has its market opportunities.

36Kr’s Future Consumption: What consumer goods companies do you admire in China?

Li Mingguang:At present, there are many powerful consumer goods companies in China, especially some consumer brand companies that have accumulated over time, such as Arowana and Gree. I quite appreciate a suit company that is partial to production in the clothing industry. It has made a flexible supply chain system, which is very powerful and can meet the personalized and fast needs of consumers.

36Kr’s Future Consumption: Not only in the field of consumption, which China companies do you like?

Li Mingguang:I like two China enterprises, one is Huawei and the other is Vanke. Let’s talk about Huawei first. It is famous for its heavy investment in R&D. What impressed me most is the wolf management concept. Vanke is a very professional company, and the standardization and modernization of management are very good. This is what I particularly want to learn, because I am more emotional. I hope UR will have its own scientific management system in the future, which will ensure the sustainability of enterprise development.

36Kr’s future consumption: Before launching e-commerce, UR grew silently offline for more than ten years. From 2020 to 2022, UR’s ranking on the Tmall 618 sales list rose all the way, and finally won the championship, surpassing Uniqlo. Do you think it will be easier for clothing brands to go online from offline?

Li Mingguang:In my opinion, offline can build a more stable user base. Doing online, to put it bluntly, is to open a store on the platform. Of course, it also tests the operational ability, such as how to play different live broadcasts. However, the offline chain is very long, involving multi-city management, and site selection is only the first step, as well as space design, decoration, water and electricity fire protection and other links, which cost more. Where is the cashier, how wide the door is, and how to move the line? These questions are trivial. For big stores, atmosphere building is a science.

36Kr’s future consumption: Shanghai is UR’s "base camp", and there are more stores than ZARA. What is your logic of opening stores?

Li Mingguang:We call it the onion principle. In China, Shanghai should be opened before other cities, because Shanghai is the fashion capital of China. If you stand there, you can follow the trend and influence other cities. In Shanghai, it’s best to start from Huaihai Road or Nanjing West Road. You can’t suddenly open a very biased suburb for you to open, so you should stick to it.

UR store, brand for the picture

36Kr’s Future Consumption: Why did you choose to join in 2015?

Li Mingguang:After the successful financing in 2010, I found that the direct store has a large investment in a single store, about 6 million stores, and the funds are limited. In addition, the China market is so big that we have to let go of joining in the end. A very clever thing happened in this process. A Shopping Mall in Zhengzhou asked me to open a shop. I saw that the location of this Mall seemed not very good, so I dared not open it. Later, he said that I would invest, so you can help me manage it. At that time, we were short of money, so I agreed, and the result proved that the effect was good.

After joining in 2015, the scale ran out. The pace of opening stores every year is very stable, basically 50, even in the past three years, there are 40~50.

Future consumption in 36Kr: Since 2015, UR has started brand transformation and put forward a new positioning. You don’t want to be called "ZARA’s China Apprentice" any more.

Li Mingguang:Before 2015, we developed in Shopping Mall. Many people said that we were the second ZARA. To tell the truth, we were a little unconvinced at that time. Many successful brands in China, such as Internet brands, are transformed from foreign advanced business models. I don’t understand why this is not easy for clothing brands, so I want to build a unique UR in the world.

At the peak of fast fashion, there were three criticisms, namely, lack of originality, poor quality and environmental protection. So I put forward the positioning of "fast luxury fashion" again, trying to find a blank spot in the market between "fast fashion" and "light luxury"-the design is more fashionable and the quality is higher, so the price will naturally rise accordingly; At the same time, don’t update too fast to solve environmental problems.

Later, everyone will feel a little contradictory, and "fast" and "luxury" can’t have both. The team is now rethinking how to describe the new UR positioning.

36Kr’s future consumption: To become the unique UR in the world means that UR’s ambition is not just to compete with giants at home.

Li Mingguang:The strategic theory will tell you to make China bigger and stronger before going out, but I don’t think clothing brands with higher aspirations should do this. So, in 2016, UR opened the first overseas physical store in Singapore.

36Kr’s future consumption: Why not go through the China market before going to sea?

Li Mingguang:UR’s brand positioning and vision determine that we must be international. First, although China’s clothing market is also large, it only accounts for a quarter of the global market. To achieve over 100 billion revenues, a single brand must be globalized. You will find that there is no single clothing brand with a scale of more than 30 billion in China. It is true that all styles can survive, but as consumers’ aesthetic preferences become more and more international, brands with more international styles can have a longer life cycle. If you can gain a foothold in the world, it proves that your fashion has reached the international level.

Second, many clothing brands in China compromise a lot when they go down. Although sales will increase for a period of time after the compromise, after a while, consumers will abandon you if they think you are not fashionable enough, so this will test the strategic strength of the brand. UR is not only sinking at home and forcing itself to compromise. Why not go abroad and accept the challenge first? Singapore has a high degree of internationalization, and our stores are growing well. Now it proves that our strategy is correct.

36Kr’s Future Consumption: Will China sink the market? Do you need to compromise?

Li Mingguang:Sooner or later, it will sink into the market, but when to sink and where to "compromise", the inside is still thinking. UR is a link between the preceding and the following. It can not only upgrade its style in the international market, but also meet a wave of consumers who are temporarily weaker than the international level in fashion in China.

36Kr’s future consumption: UR didn’t make a profit in the first ten years. Looking back on this period, what does it mean to you and UR?

Li Mingguang: This decade is a stage of laying a foundation and practicing internal strength. I started financing in 2009, and in 2010, I got 10 million dollars. In 2011, I was short of money, and I got 60 million yuan. In other words, there is a lack of money between its establishment and 2017. UR has made 1 billion yuan and still hasn’t made any money. Some investors told me that many of your clothing peers have made 500 million yuan. Then we went to check whether the number of people was too large and the cost was not well managed. After checking them all, it seemed that none of these problems existed.

When we reach 2 billion yuan, we are still not profitable. Then investors asked me why I haven’t made any money yet, and I couldn’t find any other reason (laughs). Our own summary may be determined by our business model. UR is a brand that holds high and hits high.

36Kr’s future consumption: what are the advantages and disadvantages?

Li Mingguang:I opened a big store as soon as I came up, and I attached great importance to the image of the store. I may not have done so well in controlling the cost of decoration. After 10 years of long accumulation, we have finally established a relatively high barrier, and other brands can easily come in without a little capital or an idea.

From an unplanned stack of goods to a series of strategic ones, the store space has never been very good and is getting better and better, so we have gradually formed our own business model. In 2015, I let go of joining, and it developed rapidly at once. This decade has been slow, and I am right in retrospect.

36Kr’s future consumption: what challenges will it bring to the company if it spans different revenue scales?

Li Mingguang:The core reason why UR can go today is that our business model has not changed much from beginning to end. Large-scale expansion will have an impact on efficiency. Recently, we are thinking about how to make UR, which has grown into a big company, more flexible.

I have read many reports that 100 million is a barrier, 5 billion is a barrier, and 10 billion is a barrier. I am constantly experiencing the different feelings of each barrier. In the early days, I would worry or question, can I really do 1 billion or 5 billion with my own and my team’s ability? But now, we are moving towards a scale of 10 billion.

36Kr’s Future Consumption: What was your "anxiety" in the past three years?

Li Mingguang:My biggest experience is that cash flow is very important. Especially in November last year before the opening of the epidemic, I felt that enterprises would fall at any time. I had never felt this anxiety before. However, the CFO is more anxious than me (laughs). I actually thought about it. If this really happens, how can I make UR make a comeback? The answer is that I can still do a good job in maintaining the essence and basic ability of clothing, and that is our design.

UR women’s wear, brand for the picture

36Kr’s Future Consumption: If you started your business in the clothing industry today, would you choose a different incision?

Li Mingguang:If today I find that there is no second leading brand in the fast fashion industry except ZARA, I will still choose this incision.

Clothing is a very competitive industry. I call it "cake cutting market", and the market share of each enterprise is relatively low. It is not a sunrise industry, but it is not a sunset industry. The good point is that the market capacity is large and the demand is stratified and diversified. Uniqlo’s founder has been ranked as the richest man in Japan for many times, LV’s president is the richest man in the world, and ZARA’s boss is the second richest man in Europe. I was just wondering, why do you think that such a traditional so-called clothing fashion industry has produced outstanding enterprises and entrepreneurs in such developed countries as Japan and Europe? My understanding is that clothing is a spiritual product. After material satisfaction, clothing is needed to meet spiritual needs, and technology cannot solve this demand. Therefore, clothing is also an industry that can achieve great enterprises.

Creative aesthetic ability is a difficult point in this industry and an important factor affecting the fluctuation of the industry. Investors often ask me how to keep my creativity. I think the fast fashion industry seems to have some ways to make this fluctuation smaller.

36Kr’s Future Consumption: What is UR’s way to make this fluctuation smaller?

Li Mingguang:Digital construction is the key. For example, we have explosions, best-selling models, flat-selling models, unsalable models and ultra-unsalable models. Explosions will have commonalities, so maximize this commonality and add this factor to the best-selling models. Generally speaking, UR will make efficient decisions with the help of IT system, and also rely on the perceptual ability of buyers and designers. In the whole product structure, sales-oriented and creative products account for half each, and we will make a good balance.

We have long established two strategies-fashion UR and technology UR, with fashion as the root and technology as the foundation. The core competitiveness of the company is fashion, and technology can help improve operational efficiency. Our IT team is close to 200 people, which is rare in clothing companies with large offline revenue. Our investment in this area is second only to product research and development.

Future Consumption in 36Kr: What is UR’s latest thinking about brand building?

Li Mingguang:I used to think that the store is our best advertisement, and the core is to provide consumers with a unique experience from the perspective of vision and space. If the product is good, it will get twice the result with half the effort, but now I find that this strategy alone may not be enough. In the past ten years, UR has driven brand development by product power. In the next 10 years, I hope to add a brand power to realize two-wheel drive of product power and brand power. Starting from this year, we will make great efforts to build brand strength and make the brand’s personality and spirit more distinct. The fashion industry has always needed to be expressed.

36Kr’s Future Consumption: What do you want UR to look like in the end?

Li Mingguang:Many overseas fashion brands have come to China and set up stores in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and other places, but no China brand can be opened in London, new york, Munich or Los Angeles. In the next 10~20 years, there will be such a brand in China. Why not UR?

If clothing enterprises want to develop on a large scale, they will definitely take two paths, one is brand globalization, and the other is multi-brand. In the future, UR these two roads will go hand in hand.

Future consumption in 36Kr: Will you often go back to the first store now?

Li Mingguang:If that store is still in its original state, I may go back often, but it has become another store.

36Kr’s future consumption: what changes have you made?

Li Mingguang:People must be getting older and quieter. The love of clothing, the pursuit of beauty, and the firmness of brand mission and vision have never changed.

Friday 001: Bologna vs Lazio

This game is the 11th round of Serie A. Bologna plays against Lazio at home. As a mid-stream team in the League, Bologna’s unbeaten rate is still relatively high this season, with 15 points, ranking eighth in the League. The team has never lost in the face of some strong teams, Juventus, Inter Milan and La Burroughs, and its gold content is still very high. Lazio, as a team that performed very well in the league last season, is second only to Naples. However, in the case of multi-line operations this season, the current lineup seems to be not very supportive, and its performance in the league is relatively unstable. At present, it only gets 16 points and ranks seventh in the league. Judging from the past confrontation between the two teams, Bologna has not lost at home in recent seasons, and its mentality is still relatively stable.

In this game, the game data of the whole game gives 0 tower with the same value as that of the two teams, and the on-the-spot reference in the later stage is basically stable, and there is not much tendency for the two teams as a whole. Based on the preparation situation of the two teams, the author thinks that it is difficult for La Chan ‘ao to win away.

Conclusion: the main push wins, and the second push draws.

Score recommendation: 1-1, 1-0, 2-1 (for reference only)

Friday 003 las palmas vs Atletico Madrid

Las palmas, they performed well in recent games, successfully won Manakol 3-0 away, and won two consecutive games in various competitions. However, it should be noted that the team has just become a King’s Cup game in the middle of the week, so it may be at a certain disadvantage in physical reserve. Atletico Madrid’s offensive performance is stable, with only one goal in the last 10 matches, and the average efficiency is as high as 2.1 goals. They occupied a big advantage in the last six meetings with las palmas, and achieved 5 wins and 1 loss.

This game: On the whole, this game will be a match between two powerful teams. Although Rasl Mas’s defense is excellent, Atletico Madrid’s offensive strength and overall performance are even better. Therefore, this game is more optimistic about Atletico Madrid’s chances of winning.

Recommend negative and let negative.

The score is 0-2 1-2

Friday 004 Paris Saint-Germain vs Montpellier

Paris Saint-Germain: Paris Saint-Germain beat brest 3-2 away from home in the league, and won four consecutive victories in all competitions. It should be noted that the team has a strong momentum at home and won all the last four home games. This game may still be highly regarded at home.

Montpellier: Montpellier beat Toulouse 3-0 at home in the league, and won two of the last three games. It is in good condition. On the other hand, the team’s recent away play is still insufficient, and the last four away games have only achieved 1 win, 1 draw and 2 losses. You still need to be more careful in this away game.

In the last five meetings between the two sides, Paris Saint-Gervais scored 4 wins and 1 draw, and its track record was dominant. According to the data given by the institutions, most of the concessions given by the relevant institutions were at -1.5 initially, and most of them are at -1.75 at present, but the value of the home team is still declining, and the support of the institutions for the home team is increasing, which is beneficial to the home team. This field can pay attention to the big Paris victory.

Recommend letting win and letting even.

The score is 4-0 3-1 4-1

On December 6th, Beijing time, the Chengdu Table Tennis Mixed Team World Cup is about to usher in the first day of the second stage. At present, the group stage has ended, and the list of the top eight teams has been released. Although the China team lost by Manyu Wang, the other seven main players remained unbeaten, and they have been qualified for promotion and continue to attack the championship.

According to the arrangement, Guoping will play at 19: 30pm on December 6th against the average Slovak team, and the top three seeds, Germany, Japan and South Korea, will also continue to play. Please see below for the detailed situation, latest schedule and highlights of each match.

This mixed World Cup has adopted a brand-new 8-win system in 15 games. The first stage is to calculate the points to decide the outcome, and so is the second stage, which means that each team should try to make a quick decision and open the gap as early as possible to get 8 points. At the same time, the losing team need not be discouraged, as long as the total score is enough, it can still win medals and even hit the championship.

As mentioned earlier, Guoping has advanced to the top eight. Among the eight main players, only Manyu Wang lost 1-2 to Puerto Rico’s Diaz, while the other seven players, Fan Zhendong, Wang Chuqin, Ma Long, Lin Gaoyuan, Sun Yingsha, Chen Meng and Wang Yidi, remained unbeaten.

In addition to Guoping, the others have been promoted by Germany, Japan, South Korea, Sweden, Slovakia, France, and China Taipei. Next, except for the teams that have met in the first stage, all the others have to play again. Take Guoping as an example, whether you want to win the championship or not, you have to play six more games (Sweden has already touched it), and finally calculate the total score to determine the ranking.

According to the arrangement, the first two games to be played at 13:00 pm on December 6th were Japan VS China Taipei and South Korea VS France. Among them, the pressure on Japan was relatively small, because the three main players of China Taipei, Lin Yunru, Chuan Chih Yuan and Zheng Yijing, didn’t come, and the threat was not great.

The battle between South Korea and France is quite interesting. The former has eight generals, including Zhang Yuzhen, Lin Zhongxun, Li Shangzhu, Ahn Jae hyun, Shen Yubin, Tian Zhixi, Jin Naying and Li Shiwen, all of whom are first-class in foreign associations except Li Shiwen. The latter has four masters, lebrun Brothers, Simon and Yuan Jianan, and the rising star Pawad is also very influential. Although it is inferior to South Korea, it may not be impossible to score points.

At 19:30 pm, the table tennis match against Slovakia is not a big problem. The battle between Germany and Sweden may be fierce. Both sides have several main players absent. At present, the strength is even. Sweden may win with the advantage of men, but it may not lose.

So who do you think will win the first prize in the second stage? Welcome to write your own prediction in this message!

The Beijing News (Reporter Zhou Xiao) As the final battle of China swimming this year, the 2023 National Swimming Championships and Doha World Championships trials will be held in the swimming pool of Jinan Olympic Sports Center from December 10th to 15th. Zhang Yufei, Qin Haiyang, Wang Shun, Xu Jiayu, Li Bingjie and other famous swimmers all participated in the competition.

Since the 2024 Doha Swimming World Championships will be held from February 2 to 18 next year, this year’s National Swimming Championships will be held in December this year as a trial for the World Championships. For the famous swimmers, this is also a special experience. After all, this period of time has entered the winter training period, and there are few large-scale events arranged in China.

According to the selection method of the World Championships, at most two athletes in each event are selected. The selection conditions are as follows: among the final results of each individual event, at most two athletes who have reached the A standard of the World Championships and achieved the best results are eligible for selection; One athlete has been selected in each individual final result, and the other one has been selected by the athlete who has reached the World Championship A standard and achieved the best result in the preliminary results; If no athlete reaches the World Championship A standard in the final results of each individual event, at most two athletes who have reached the World Championship A standard and achieved the best results in the preliminary results will be eligible for selection; If no athlete in each event reaches the World Championship A standard, the athlete who has reached the World Championship B standard and achieved the best result in the final and preliminaries (the final is better than the preliminaries) will be eligible for selection; If the results of each individual event are the same and exceed the number of selected places, the results of this individual event will be compared, and those with good results will be eligible for selection; If the results are the same again, the athletes with the same results will be replayed according to the requirements of the replay in the competition rules after the final, and those with good results will be eligible for selection.

The qualification of relay events is: athletes who have obtained the qualification of single event selection should have the first performance of single event or relay with the corresponding stroke and distance of each relay event in the trial before they can obtain the qualification of each relay event; Athletes who are not qualified for individual selection will reach the A or B mark of the World Championships in the final results of individual strokes and distances in each relay event, and obtain the alternative qualification to participate in relay events only; According to the competition schedule of the World Championships, after all individual qualifications are confirmed, the list of athletes who only participate in relay events and the qualifications of athletes in relay events are determined by collective discussion according to the results of athletes who are eligible for relay events.

According to the schedule, the 2023 National Swimming Championships will start the preliminary competition at 9: 30 every competition day, and the final competition will start at 19: 00. Judging from the registration situation, many contestants not only have to participate in their own main events, but also reported many events called "whole life" by swimming fans. For example, Wang Shun signed up for 100 frogs, 100 butterflies and 200 butterflies, Xu Jiayu signed up for 400 butterflies, Li Bingjie signed up for 200 butterflies, Pan Zhanle wanted to try her hand at 200, and teenager Yu Yiting even signed up for 11 individual events. While striving for the World Championships in Doha, the athletes will also fully pull their own status and prepare for the World Championships and the Paris Olympic Games.

Editor Wu Dongni

Proofread Wang Xin

In the first half of this year, the beauty industry ushered in a recovery, and the semi-annual report of foreign beauty brands was really amazing. The performance of 10 head enterprises such as L ‘Oreal, Procter & Gamble and Shiseido all achieved growth.

In the semi-annual reports of these international brands, "the fastest growth" and "more contribution" have become the most important comments on the China market. Shiseido’s business in China increased by 44.1% year-on-year, and L ‘Oreal increased by 34.2%. Even Amore Pacific, which had been in constant trouble before, relied on the market performance in China to turn losses into profits.

Why has the beauty market in China suddenly sprung up under the COVID-19 epidemic? On the one hand, the "face value economy" is in power, and the epidemic situation has made women’s demand for exquisite life stronger, and the penetration rate of beauty cosmetics has further increased; On the other hand, the epidemic has changed people’s shopping habits, and live broadcast and online celebrity delivery have improved the promotion effect and consumption conversion rate of beauty cosmetics.

What deserves special attention is the localization strategy of foreign brands in China market. As we all know, these international brands have always taken a high-end route in the China market, with flagship stores, shopping malls and duty-free shops as their main sales channels. However, in the past two years, with the development of e-commerce, beauty, as a trendy lifestyle, has become the new favorite of e-commerce platforms. Li Jiaqi, Viya and other big V live broadcasts have inspired more women to pursue beauty. Some domestic beauty brands aim at the opportunity, and through new channels such as short videos and live broadcasts, their popularity has been greatly enhanced by the "star +KOL+ amateur" model. Domestic beauty products such as Hua Xizi and Perfect Diary have become popular brands on e-commerce platforms.

In this context, foreign brands have also begun to change their thinking, put down their bodies and launch online channels. During the "618" period this year, the top 10 Tmall beauty brands were almost monopolized by international brands, and L ‘Oreal’s sales ranked first; In the little red book that young people prefer, Estee Lauder was the brand with the largest investment in the beauty field in the first half of the year. Shiseido also learned to use it flexibly, and brought the way of live selling goods back to Japan, where its headquarters is located, and achieved good sales results.

More and more people know the international brands in China market and the domestic brands that have shined brilliantly in recent years, and the competition in China’s beauty market is becoming more and more fierce. The international big names who have tasted the sweetness have to work hard on "localization" if they want to keep the "family property" that they have cultivated for many years.

Source: Economic Daily

Text/hand tour that the devil touches the cat

Whenever I talk to my friends about the "party games" category of this year’s game market fire, Netease’s "Egg Party" is an unavoidable topic. After all, there are 30 million daily users, over 100 million monthly users, and over 100 million paradise UGC maps … It has too many auras.

It is no exaggeration to say that "Egg Party" refreshed the imagination of the outside world for party games, and it also made many people re-recognize the huge market potential of this category.

Behind these external eye-catching data, what deserves our discussion is the careful layout of the game in UGC for a long time-to be honest, perhaps many people didn’t expect it to develop so quickly.

In June of this year, Kwan, the producer of "Egg Party", announced at the first creators’ conference that Egg Paradise had achieved the achievement of adding millions of new maps and tens of millions of creators every week.

Just two months later, Egg Party once again announced the achievement that the total number of UGC maps in the game and monthly active users both exceeded 100 million. These data are enough to confirm the strong layout of Egg Party in UGC content.

Until last week, the "Egg Party" had a new action: the "Super Craftsman Recruitment" activity officially ended, and 500 outstanding creators were awarded the title of Super Craftsman, and they were invited to participate in the annual mysterious project of Egg Island, which also opened a grand prelude for the annual UGC event of Egg Island.

Although the activity is only a prelude, it still allows us to witness the deep "externalization" of UGC ecological relationship and the good interactive ecology as always. For example, the event not only attracted tens of thousands of creators to participate in the creation, but also won nearly one million votes in just four days of voting.

For another example, by inviting the author to create a personal booth, the activity can better help to condense the essence of UGC map into this landscape "miniature map", spread unlimited creativity as much as possible in the limited creative space, and vividly reproduce the far-reaching diverse motif in the UGC ecology-for example, the author noticed that there are both "Dunhuang Pipa" and "Fantasy Collection" booths that shoulder the heavy responsibility of inheriting traditional culture. There are also booths that pay attention to social phenomena and discuss topics such as campus bullying and mental illness.

From this, we once again see the flourishing and mature UGC ecology of Egg Party and its great influence.

Then, in just over a year, why can "Egg Party" make the UGC ecology truly unrepeatable? How to build a positive and benign creative ecology quickly, and continue to iterate and upgrade, and continue to build a creative ecological co-prosperity circle?

By analyzing this activity, maybe we can find our own answer.

01

Behind the super craftsman

It’s a hundred million growth stories and emotional flows.

If the content of UGC is a towering tree, then the creators are strong branches of this tree. On the one hand, they are an important guarantee for the prosperity and development of UGC content; On the other hand, their growth arc is a powerful mapping between their creative value and the official UGC ecological development.

Behind the 500 super craftsmen, it is the creator’s personal growth and the overall ecological synergy of UGC, which can solidify the higher brand value of UGC. The creators represented by super craftsmen constantly strengthen their personal IP characteristics with the help of the official stage, and they are mutually beneficial to the development of UGC, and jointly draw their own growth marks.

Taking the creator "Xuanzai Run" as an example, into the pit was attracted by the classic parkour game in the early days, and she came into contact with the function of the park workshop by chance. Its low threshold and high degree of freedom enabled her to easily reproduce the beautiful things in daily life into the map, depicting many scenes that were warmly healed in the booth "Love", and also realized her artistic dream all along.

Another example is the creator "Brown Bear", who is a "super daddy" in reality. He found the opportunity to realize "the dream of making games" in the powerful function of the egg workshop, and was invited to become an official full-time creator by virtue of his ingenious creative talent. While taking care of his family and career perfectly, he started a "second life" in the egg. In this super craftsman’s booth, "Brown Bear" continues the epic description style that it has always been good at, creating a magnificent and powerful "city of heroes", which is full of shock between the sword and the light.

While the official support and the creators’ self-growth complement each other, the creators’ sharing of creative interests has become an important part of UGC’s concept of "co-creation": "Langlang 11" and "Puxi Coke", which perfectly proves this point to the story of a good creative partner. By chance, they met in an author exchange group, and when they met for the first time, they hit it off in their creative ideas and pursuits. As an art student, "Puxi Coke." often helps science students "Langlang 11" optimize the artistic style of maps. And "Langlang 11" will often share its creative skills with "Puxi Coke."

This time, both of them showed their elegance in the "super craftsman recruitment activity", and "Langlang 11" carefully drew the super cute version of "Angel Egg", which was naive and endearing. The booth of "Deep Sea Relics" built by "Puxi Coke." leads users to sink into the deep blue sea and start a dreamy adventure.

Based on the above three cases, from ordinary users to creators, and then to symbiosis and common prosperity with the government, these diverse growth curves just bring together the three trump cards of Egg Party in creating UGC ecology: high-frequency iteration, convenient and easy-to-use UGC tools, diverse and high-return incentive system, and benign interactive creative atmosphere-which may be the sustainability of Egg Party.

02

Tools, Incentives and Operation with Three Axes

Help UGC reach its peak in ecology.

Recently, "Egg Party" announced the plan of "Creating an Egg Age Together", announcing that it will provide users with rich creative income with 500 million incentive funds within two years to encourage more users to join in the creation.

After research, the author found that the plan just echoes the three trump cards mentioned above-the "Co-Creation Age" plan is a three-in-one system based on powerful UGC tools of high-frequency iteration, multiple creative events covering all users as the carrier, and a perfect creator incentive and signing mechanism as the support, which actually realizes welfare overweight, affirms the value accumulation of creators’ personal growth, and better promotes the flow of emotions and relationships between creators, officials and creators.

On the whole, the UGC tools, incentive system and creative atmosphere, which are also reflected in the plan of "Creating an Egg Age Together", are not independent, but complement each other, and together constitute the thriving UGC ecology of today’s Egg Party. Let’s talk about tools first, which is an important cornerstone of UGC creation. No matter how good the game is, the tools are inconvenient and the creation threshold is too high, it will "persuade" a large number of users to some extent.

The project team of "Egg Party", which started with an editor, is even more familiar with this: on the one hand, they directly fill the creation friendliness of the creation tools through a large number of stupid templates with low threshold and visual operation forms. With the acceleration of the instrumentalization process, creators have gradually emerged more subdivided creative functional requirements. Therefore, Egg Party has successively introduced AIGC functions such as "one-click generation of pixel text/painting, flowers and architecture" and "video generation action", and recently broke the news about the king-fried functions such as "egg code" and "shooting UGC" which will be launched in the workshop, further liberating the creators from the tedious and repetitive creative steps.

On the other hand, in the practical stage of tools landing, Egg Party not only introduced the "nanny-level" instructions of workshops such as "Small Class of Egg Workshop" and "Open Class of Creator Workshop", but also launched a series of brand activities including online workshop UGC exchange meeting and "Craftsman Academy Training Camp", aiming at opening a window for creators to quickly understand the recent and future updates of workshops, and at the same time helping them with "old and new" teaching.

If the high-frequency iteration of tools helps creators to reduce their burdens and improve their efficiency, then the official incentive and signing mechanism based on low-threshold and diversified creative events affirms the creative value of creators from a broader dimension and gives rich realistic returns.

Under the planning system of "Creating Eggs Together", Egg Party has greatly increased more creative incentive events of all sizes, including "Artisans’ Creation Month" which is a permanent reading event, short-term activities such as "Workshop Components Reward Order", "Paradise Artisans’ Great Welfare" and "Vehicle Competition", as well as comprehensive "Workshop Creation Competition" and so on, even according to festivals and game season versions. Each activity has a different focus, and the creativity dedicated to the smallest and smallest can be captured, amplified and seen.

For example, the resident monthly creative event "Craftsman’s Creation Month", as the name implies, the official will provide different creative track directions every month, so as to cover every minority theme as much as possible, help creators to refresh their creative thinking for the node on a monthly basis, and also provide them with rich egg coins and cash prizes. For example, in December, the Craftsman Creation Month was upgraded in an all-round way in terms of rewards. Inspired by the 1 million bonus, the creators were invited to play their ingenuity in five sub-tracks, including group building and viewing.

In contrast, the "Paradise Craftsman’s Great Welfare" is a short-term, limited-time creative welfare activity. For example, in the third week of November, the challenge is to make the first 4,000 maps with a heat value of 1,000 within the specified time, and then get the 200 yuan Prize.

At the same time, there are small and medium-sized construction competitions with different specific nodes in the competition system, including the "Egg Games" with the theme of national sports competition, and the "Never Robbed" map construction competition for linkage, etc …… The purpose is to make the construction competitions with each interesting sub-theme attract the attention of vertical users in this field as much as possible, and then radiate to all the creators with pan-interest.

Matching with the rich incentive events, it is the official mature official incentive and signing mechanism to help creators with different demands and different growth stages get more opportunities for upward growth.

Specifically, as long as the total number of trips to create maps exceeds 10,000, you can apply to join the official "incentive plan" and get stable cash income. For those creators who have higher pursuits and unique talents, the government will continue to dig them into official contract authors to open a clearer future for them. The official has also prepared a series of exclusive rights and interests for this group of contracted creators: on the one hand, it significantly enhances their creative income, on the other hand, it also has priority rights such as participating in various official exchange meetings and experiencing the new version of the editor in advance.

For social media content creators, the government has also opened official support and incentive rights on the whole platform. Excellent content creators can not only get revenue bonuses, but also get official platform traffic tilt, so that their whimsy can be seen by more people.

With mature tools and rich incentive creation system, the whole UGC ecology of Egg Party has become more stable.

Because of this, it can form a more friendly and benign environment atmosphere for creators in the game, which is helpful to the internal communication of creators’ ecology, thus promoting the flow of creativity, content and emotion among creators. The "Langlang 11" and "Puxi Coke" mentioned above strongly prove this point.

In fact, there are many related cases, such as "an excellent creator recommended a paradise workshop to a colleague, and the latter signed a contract to become an official author", "The author of Lao Liutu transformed into an anchor and became close friends with another anchor" ……………………………………………………………………………………………….

In my opinion, these cases actually use "creation" as "social currency" to closely combine the user groups in the game. Creators can share and discuss based on UGC content; Between the creator and the player, new social relations will be created because of UGC maps. Whether it is praise or suggestion, the former can gain more progress and sense of accomplishment. This kind of good cooperative creative atmosphere is the best "endorsement advertisement" of UGC ecology, which can attract more and more interested people to join it, so as to make the whole ecology more active and prosperous.

03

Breaking the upper limit, the biggest opponent of Egg Party is yourself.

After the above analysis and discussion, you may have a clearer understanding of the UGC ecology that Egg Party leads the whole industry. Generally speaking, if an UGC ecosystem wants to develop steadily, it needs to establish a close "bonding" relationship from top to bottom, from officials to users, and from creators to users, so as to co-create around content and make the ecosystem bigger and stronger.

The "Egg Party", which is a chain of "official stage-setting, creator singing and user voting", is to connect the first few together, push the creators who are valuable resources of UGC into the spotlight, and show their works in an enlarged way, so that the outside world can see the official respect and cherish the creative value of UGC.

In my opinion, this "super craftsman recruitment" activity has been so surprising that I can’t help but look forward to what kind of shock the upcoming annual UGC event will bring.

In the future, "Egg Party" may once again break the existing ceiling of UGC and constantly set up new benchmarks in this field. And where will its upper limit be? I don’t think anyone can give an accurate answer. But at least, it is now the only existence in this market, and it continues to create more and more "firsts".