Short video app Kuaishou to give out record 1 billion yuan in digital red packets at 2020 Spring Festival Gala
- Kuaishou will be the exclusive “red packet” partner of the 2020 Spring Festival Gala, the world’s most-watched national TV broadcast
- The giveaway this year is the highest ever in the history of the gala since the virtual red packet concept was introduced in 2015
As the exclusive “red packet” partner for next year’s Spring Festival Gala, Chinese short video app Kuaishou will pour 1 billion yuan (US$143 million) of cash into a red packet campaign for Lunar New Year next year, it announced on Wednesday.
Since 1983, watching at least part of China Central Television’s (CCTV)’s Spring Festival Gala has been a national tradition for families in China. Last year, the programme – dubbed “China’s Super Bowl” and recognised in the Guinness World Records as the most-watched national network TV broadcast – attracted over 1.1 billion viewers at home and abroad.
By becoming the exclusive red packet partner of the gala, Kuaishou will be the only means by which people can “snatch” the digital cash gifts during the programme. This year’s partner was search engine operator Baidu.
Kuaishou’s cash giveaway next year will the highest amount ever in the history of the Spring Festival Gala, Kuaishou and China Media Group – the parent company of CCTV – said in a joint press conference.
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Red packets or hongbao are a traditional practice of giving cash in red paper envelopes (considered an auspicious colour for the Chinese) that has increasingly moved online with the ease of smartphone-based mobile payments. Many companies in China routinely hold red packet promotions, giving out cash or rebates that consumers can then “snatch” through mobile apps.
At the 2020 Spring Festival Gala, digital red packets will be given out to viewers who watch video clips and like the 2020 Spring Festival Gala on Kuaishou, according to Kuaishou vice-president Chen Sinuo.
Founded in 2011, the Beijing-based start-up is one of China’s biggest video streaming platforms, and is backed by investors including Tencent, Sequoia Capital and Temasek. The company has reported over 200 million daily active users, and said more than 19 million users earned money through advertisements, live-streaming video, e-commerce and virtual gifts on the platform this year.
Kuaishou’s partnership with the Spring Festival Gala comes after the founders, Su Hua and Cheng Yixiao, set a target for the company to reach 300 million daily active users by February.
In a call to arms to its more than 8,000 employees in June, Su and Cheng cautioned of the downside of a laid-back corporate culture that once set it apart from its peers in China’s fiercely competitive internet industry, asking staff to switch to “combat mode” as China’s short-form video industry becomes increasingly crowded with rivals such as ByteDance’s TikTok.
“Behind what looks like good numbers, we see deep, hidden dangers,” Su and Cheng said in a joint memo to staff. “We’re no longer the team that runs the fastest. Somewhere during the growing-up process, our muscles are losing their strength, reaction times are slowing, and our connection to users is weakening.”
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