Olay from boycott to fiscal control, or why leaning on idols will become increasingly riskier...

There is no good idol, only good fans.

?In China leaning on idols and their significant sales traction has become common for luxury and beauty brands. But as Olay learnt the hard way these past weeks, idols can come with a strong downside.

Who could have foreseen that by signing Xiao Zhan, one of the current top rising actor, Olay would have to undergo waves of boycotts, harassment of their customer service, and even be summoned by governmental authorities for fiscal inspection?

The so-called 227 incident highlights the brands ever-increasing exposure to cyberbullying. When ferocious communities of fans hijack the public space with their inner battles, they can drag rashly third-parties and cause significant collateral damages, brands included.

Because this kind of crisis is very likely to repeat, brands should reframe how they lean idols to possibly mitigate and circumvent the risks.

1. The “227” incident: key milestones

Xiao Zhan is a young actor who rose to prominence this summer in “The untamed”, a BL (Boy Love) drama, in which he co-stars with Wang Yi Bo. He has since garnered a 24 million fans community, known to be especially militant.

On 2.27 some fans went to report AO3 (Archive of our own), an online fiction platform for being immoral and pornographic. They were opposing a spin-off of The Untamed, featuring Xiao Zhan as too dubious and feminine for them. In a quest to maintain their idol’s image flawless, they succeeded in having the platform shutdown. Other platforms like Lofter or Bilibili have also been impacted by the censorship.

In a country counting 70 million online fiction lovers, this generated much distress and anger. Many felt they had lost their “fictional havens”, while having nothing to do with Xiao Zhan. Massive retaliation ensued. The best way to affect fans - who feel strongly responsible for their idol’s prominence - was to attack Xiao Zhan directly.

Call for boycotts rapidly hit the walls of the brands he endorses (Olay, Estee Lauder, Crest, Vidal Sassoon, Piaget, Qeelin, Budweiser, OPPO…). 

His dramas notes went systematically downgraded.

An online war between factions of fans and anti-fans escalated on social media. At that stage the main feeling associated with Xiao Zhan was anger (measured through sentiment analysis by CBN Data). Over a couple days 300K people claimed online they wanted him to be taken down. Another online survey showed that 48% people believe that idols should be accountable for their fans, while only 14% believe that idols should not foot the bill (Source DT).

By then Xiao Zhan’s studio released apologies, but they were not enough to soothe the ire.

Many brands rapidly distanced themselves. Some switched idols - like Crest featuring Luhan on top of their Weibo page. Others went low-profile, refusing to get involved - like Budweiser not answering if they had restricted or terminated Xiao Zhan’s contract. Xinli studio (who produced The Untamed) also stepped back. Let down, attacked for not containing his fans and called to justify himself, the actor remained silent. Many predicted him an imminent career crash.

 During this crucial timing Olay stood up and advocated their support for Xiao Zhan. This could hardly have been be a worst timing for Olay. They were in full launch of their new whitening skincare range, with a strong media campaign staging Xiao Zhan in a romance-like videos series. On Weibo consumers engagement had been doubling every day, from 45K to 160K likes between 25 and 29th of February. In a concomitant livestreaming the brand reaffirmed their support to Xiao Zhan, adding that such boycott could not go very far.

Sadly this enraged the anti-fans and caused the situation to inflate even more. Joining the livestreaming in masses, swelling its usual audience by ten-folds, anti-fans started to harass Olay’s customer service, asking for purchase receipts – sometimes even dating back up to 5 years before. They threatened to report Olay to fiscal authorities, should they not comply with the due regulation.

By 6th of March Olay was summoned by fiscal authorities for interview. In the meantime Austin (Li Jia Qi) had cancelled all Olay and Estee Lauder products from his broadcast.

By 9th of March in an unexpected turnaround, Xiao Zhan started to gain new fans and support. People pitying him for being the victim of such unfair cyberviolence went to buy precisely the products he endorses.

2- TAKE-OUT FOR BRANDS?

In such unpredictable and reactive contexts leveraging the fan economy will be increasingly complex and risky. Should brands shun away from idols in crisis or support them throughout it until “natural” regulation? Should brands expect from their spokespersons to stay accountable for their fans communities? There is no simple answer. As seen this kind of crisis development can spiral daily.

 Was this kind of incident predictable and can it repeat?

Yes. Because fan culture is about constant and immature battling.

Yes. Because youngsters are digital natives, which makes these battles spread like fire on social media, dragging in rashly all passersby and brands alike;

--> Fan culture is about self-identification process, leading to highly invested and non-negotiable positions As Cathy, 22 testifies “If my idol succeeds through my actions, I will be happy and proud. His victory is also my victory and it makes me shine through”. For many, the real pay-off of their fierce commitment is about self-gratification. By fueling their identity construction and social recognition, they transform fan loyalty into an existential quest. This can explain why they sustain such adamant positions whenever they enter in conflicts - And the problem is that they seem to love quarrelling.

--> Fan culture = school playground mindsets? With a strong inclination for coded language, fans regroup into factions and engage considerable energy battling between themselves. For instance within the Xiao Zhan’s community, there is the BJYX faction - supporting both Xiao Zhan and Wang Yi Bo (BJYX standing for Bo Jun Yi Xiao博君一肖, a pun combining both idols names deriving from博君一笑 please one another) and the faction of Xiao Zhan-only fans. When they are not battling against each other, they battle together against the faction of Wang Yi Bo-only fans faction. Childish? You name it.

These constant battles propagate themselves on social media, randomly kidnapping the whole public space, causing significant collateral damage. GenZ youngsters know well too much how to amplify their actions through social media. Neither do they do hesitate to report and denounce to have higher instances involved ( very typical of school playground mindset...). This youth inconsequence can literally hijack the whole society and cause significant collateral damage.

 3. CALL FOR ACTION : Can brands mitigate the risks?

Now that most brands rely on idols and consequently on fans communities, they are definitely at risk. Some stars seem to have more dangerous fan communities than others though. According to a DT survey PG One, Liu Yi Fei, Zhang Yi Xing, Luhan, Kris Wu are amongst the stars having the most braingless/extreme fans, with Xiao Zhan ranking “only” 7th

Most hysterical fan list. Source DT

How can brands circumvent the risks? 3 possible directions

1.     Work with “real” people. Because idols are highly idealized, it is hard for them in the long run to live up to fans expectations and cristallizations. Working with aspirational but relatable spokespersons can alleviate the pressure. For instance Chanel collaborated with Zhan Qing Yun, a young Harvard graduate admired for her eloquence.

 2.    Support a set of values to be incarnated by role models. For instance Perfect Diary celebrated Wuhan medical staff “with light in their eyes and love in their hearts”. This is no way not to rally.

3.    Bypass idols and use customization to fuel ego-gratification. For instance during 3.8 YSL had a mini program #YouSparkTheWorld enabling consumers to edit personalized posters, with one’s portrait and choice of motto. 

Essenziabydao is a strategic marketing boutique agency specialized in fragrance and cosmetics. Anthropologic, sensorial and linguistics decryption. Creative strategy.

#INFLUENCER #IDOL #FRESHMEAT #FANECONOMY #IDOLCONOMY #CYBERVIOLENCE #OLAY #ESTEE LAUDER #GENZ #POST90s #POST00s