China’s short video war: WeChat invests in Channels to take on Douyin and Kuaishou in battle for eyeballs and advertising spend
- Channels function is increasingly being seen as WeChat’s future, if it can fight off the likes of Douyin and Kuaishou
- Channels opens up new opportunities for Tencent, as the platform can tap more advertising and live-streaming e-commerce revenue streams
When WeChat gave animation artists Zhang Xiaoying and Qin Yun an opportunity to try out the platform’s short video feature Channels in the summer of 2020, the duo were quick to jump in even though videos of Yutaixian, a fish character they created, had already snagged the interest of users on rival platforms such as Douyin.
“On WeChat it’s more than a video character. We’ve created a personal WeChat account for Yutaixian, where Yutaixian adds his own friends, interacts in group chats and posts on Moments like a real person. For other platforms we simply update the content,” said Zhang.
Yutaixian, which literally means a fish that has too much time on its hands in Chinese, talks in his videos about a reluctance to go to work and a desire to herd cattle instead. The character is Zhang and Qin’s attempt to capture the mood of many modern day workers in the country, who want to slow down the pace of their hectic work schedules to catch their breath.
The WeChat success and resonance with everyday people has given the character’s creators the confidence to further explore commercial opportunities, such as live-streaming and selling Yutaixian-themed products on Channels.