Interface News Reporter | Chen Zhenfang
"Teacher Yu is leading everyone in a review."
On the early morning of November 16th, Dongfang Zhenxuan suddenly announced that "it will be temporarily suspended from broadcasting today. We are thinking in private and kindly ask for your criticism. Dongfang Zhenxuan will be broadcasted on the 17th."
On December 15th, the stock price of Dongfang Zhenxuan fell 5.58% to HKD 26.25, with a total market value of HKD 26.644 billion, a decrease of more than 20% from the market value on December 8th, evaporating HKD 7.5 billion.
Source: Dongfang Select Tiktok
The direct reason for this suspension came from Dongfang Zhenxuan's selection of another anchor, Tianquan. On the evening of November 15th, Tianquan said to netizens during a live broadcast, "I've been cursing all day without any repetition. Netizens are really very cultured. We've set up so many blocking words, and we can still come up with a different approach."
"We've all arrived. Before being blacklisted, you should use up these three vouchers first before leaving." Tianquan also said that many things were sold at a discount that night, and each order was at a loss. "If you want to ruin it, we'll buy it. The fruit discount is ten yuan. If you want to ruin Dongfang Zhenxuan, the simplest way is to go crazy and buy our eggs."
Seeing this, the staff nearby not only did not stop it, but also stirred up the flames. "You have to understand me, I've been holding it back for two days," Tianquan claimed, "I'm not afraid of big things. Live streaming with colleagues and CEOs is in this style."
Image source: Oriental Selection Media PR Group
There has been a viewpoint that "New Oriental has always had a culture of being hostile to heaven and earth, and they are not taken seriously by everyone, and it is quite unique." Dongfang Zhenxuan related personnel quoted the above viewpoint in the media public relations group and said that the clash between New Oriental's corporate culture and fan culture is essentially a conflict between the old and new cultures.
These words instantly angered consumers, and they all went to choose from Dongfang Selection. As of the time of publication, Dongfang Zhenxuan has a fan base of 29.07 million, compared to 31.159 million before the "Xiaowen" incident on December 9th, and has lost over 2 million fans. At the same time, Dong Yuhui had 16.52 million followers and gained nearly 3.46 million followers.
The subsidy campaign, originally intended to appease consumers, has brought greater crisis to Dongfang Zhenxuan due to the anchor's comments. On the early morning of December 16th, Dongfang Zhenxuan announced the suspension of broadcasting.
According to netizen "Dongfang Xiaobian", Tianquan has submitted a resignation application after broadcasting, and the company is currently assessing the feasibility of the matter. Interface Education has sought confirmation from Dongfang Zhenxuan regarding this matter, and as of the time of publication, the other party has not yet responded.
In fact, this is not the first time that an anchor under Dongfang Zhenxuan has had an accident.
Dongfang Zhenxuan anchor Zhong Can made his debut on September 18, 2022 and said during the live broadcast, "The number 918 is too lucky, it's about to be released." After realizing his mistake, he immediately apologized to the audience, but the controversy continued to ferment.
On September 11th, Dongfang Zhenxuan once again apologized for the inappropriate remarks made by its anchor Zhongcan 918. "We will continue to strengthen education on the serious mistakes in the anchor's words and actions, and take this as a lesson to strengthen internal ideological education."
From the "essay crisis" caused by the hard work of Dongfang Zhenxuan's editor and netizens, to CEO Sun Dongxu's live broadcast revealing Dong Yuhui's salary and confusing consumers with the culture of the fan circle, and to the inappropriate remarks of the anchor, three consecutive rounds of crises have repeatedly brought Dongfang Zhenxuan to the forefront, exposing internal management issues without doubt.
As an e-commerce live streaming "entrepreneurial reality show company", Dongfang Zhenxuan clearly lacks self-awareness and awareness in facing the public. When dealing with crises, what the public sees is an arrogant and high-profile attitude, confusing consumer dissatisfaction with the culture of the food industry, which is why many fans choose to close.
In June 2022, the popularity of Dongfang Zhenxuan was based on its knowledge live streaming, where anchors would introduce products in both Chinese and English. When Dong Yuhui recommended books, he made a bold statement - "The ultimate romance is the stars of the universe, and we are the children of the stars of the universe." He brought Dongfang Zhenxuan out of despair, and the latter became a top live broadcast room.
Dong Yuhui once said in an interview with Interface Education: "(Oriental Selection) let everyone see that the dithering tape goods can have another look. It's like letting a parent see a child. He can not only take exams, but also become a free artist and a very happy farmer."
However, under the pressure of excessively pursuing sales and a fast-paced lifestyle, Dongfang Zhenxuan's live streaming pace has become faster, and downplaying knowledge labels has become the team's choice. In fact, the live performance of the two "speechless" anchors is approaching the fast paced Tiktok conventional live style.
From a team size of one to two hundred people in June 2022, the size of Dongfang Selection's team has expanded more than tenfold in one year. According to the financial report, as of May 31, 2023, Dongfang Zhenxuan has 1479 full-time employees and 486 part-time employees, exposing increasingly severe management problems.
On December 14th, after the time for "essay writing" had fermented, Yu Minhong stepped forward to "put out the fire" and said, "There have been significant loopholes in the internal management of Dongfang Zhenxuan."
In order to prove the limited impact of public opinion, Dongfang Zhenxuan also released its performance in the midst of a "storm". On December 14, Tiktok stores selected by Orient to sell self operated products had daily sales of more than 62 million yuan, setting the highest sales record for self operated products selected by Orient in the past two years, exceeding the highest peak during the special session in Jilin.
On December 15th, Luo Yonghao shouted to Dong Yuhui on Weibo, "There's no need to waste your life working. You're willing to support him in starting a business." Many internet celebrities spoke out to gain popularity. It is rumored online that Liu Qiangdong has arrived at Dong Yuhui's hometown of Tongguan, Shaanxi, in an attempt to contact him, but the rumors were later refuted.
At present, Dong Yuhui has changed his signature from "I used to be a teacher, but now I am a salesperson" to "Do not intend, do not need, do not fix, do not me", which has also sparked heated discussions among netizens about his future direction.
Dong Yuhui once explained the latter's meaning during a live broadcast, which is that true gentlemen will not do these four things: do not imagine out of thin air, do not hold onto words, do not be stubborn, and do not be egoistic. "Whenever you want to improve yourself, these eight words are a motto for a person's continuous growth reference."
At the same time, Gao Tu Jia Pin picked up the loopholes in Dongfang Selection. As of December 16th, the live broadcast room had 1.72 million fans, with a cumulative increase of 1.4 million in recent days and an online audience of over 100000.
Chen Xiangdong said that he personally led the project, and he personally interviewed every employee. "Gaotu Jiapin is too important to me, Gaotu, and consumers," he said