The history of the changes in Spring Festival Gala red envelopes: Why are Internet giants rushing to appear on the Spring Festival Gala?

The Spring Festival is getting closer and closer, and CCTV's 2021 Spring Festival Gala has also entered the countdown stage. Nowadays, CCTV Spring Festival Gala has become an indispensable feast for most families on New Year's Eve.

In recent years, with the rapid development of the Internet, grabbing red envelopes has become a new New Year custom. In order to increase audience participation, CCTV Spring Festival Gala has also launched red envelope interactive activities to keep up with the times.

On January 26, Douyin and CCTV Spring Festival Gala jointly announced that Douyin became the exclusive red envelope interactive partner of CCTV Spring Festival Gala in 2021. It is understood that on New Year's Eve, Douyin will distribute 1.2 billion yuan during the live broadcast of the Spring Festival Gala.

In fact, in recent years, the Spring Festival Gala red envelopes have been a cooperation project that Internet giants have been competing for. Since 2015, WeChat, Alipay, Taobao, Baidu, Kuaishou, etc. have appeared one after another.

CCTV Spring Festival Gala Red Packet Inventory

(1) 2015: WeChat “Shake” app distributed 500 million cash red packets

In 2015, Tencent paid 53.03 million yuan to acquire the exclusive cooperation rights for CCTV's Spring Festival Gala in the Year of the Goat. During the live broadcast of the Spring Festival Gala, users used the WeChat "Shake" function to grab WeChat cash red packets worth more than 500 million yuan provided by various corporate sponsors.

According to official data released by WeChat, the total number of WeChat red envelopes sent and received throughout New Year's Eve reached 1.01 billion times. From 20:00 on New Year's Eve to 00:48 on the first day of the New Year, the total number of WeChat Shake interactions during the Spring Festival Gala reached 11 billion times, with a peak of 810 million times per minute.

According to statistics released by a third-party organization, the number of bank cards linked to WeChat Pay reached 200 million in just two days, while it took Alipay eight years to achieve this.

(2) 2016: Alipay distributed 800 million red envelopes, of which 200 million were equally divided among users who collected all five blessings.

In 2016, Alipay became the exclusive interactive platform for CCTV Spring Festival Gala. Through the new gameplay of "Swiping Red Packets, Spreading Fortune", the audience can interact with the Spring Festival Gala and add to the festive atmosphere and joy. The total amount of red packets reached 800 million yuan after four rounds of lucky red packets and the grand prize of collecting all five fortunes after midnight.

In addition, according to data released by Alipay, the total number of participants in Alipay's "Xiu Yi Xiu" interactive platform reached 324.5 billion times on New Year's Eve. A total of users from 208 countries and regions participated in the Fu card interaction, and 791,405 users collected all five blessings and shared the 215 million yuan grand prize.

(3) 2018: Taobao distributed 600 million red envelopes on the day of the Spring Festival Gala

On February 5, 2018, Taobao announced an exclusive interactive cooperation with CCTV's 2018 Spring Festival Gala, distributing cash red envelopes totaling more than 1 billion yuan during the Spring Festival. Among them, Taobao distributed 600 million yuan of Spring Festival Gala red envelopes and prizes during the live broadcast of the Spring Festival Gala.

According to data released by Alibaba, as of 23:00 on New Year's Eve, more than 100 million households participated in Taobao mobile interactions while watching the Spring Festival Gala, distributed across the country and in 212 countries and regions around the world.

(4) 2019: Baidu’s “Shake” app gave out 900 million yuan in cash red envelopes during the Spring Festival

In 2019, Baidu became the exclusive online interactive platform for CCTV's Spring Festival Gala, participating in the Spring Festival Gala red envelope interaction. Audiences can get red envelopes through a variety of methods such as shaking, searching, and watching short videos.

According to the data, global users participated in Baidu APP red envelope interactive activities 20.8 billion times, sharing a total of 900 million cash red envelope prizes. The daily active users of Baidu APP jumped directly from 160 million to 300 million.

(5) 2020: Kuaishou joins hands with the Spring Festival Gala to distribute 1 billion cash red envelopes

At the end of 2019, Kuaishou announced that it had become the exclusive interactive partner of CCTV's 2020 Spring Festival Gala, becoming the first short video APP to join hands with the Spring Festival Gala red envelope activity.

From 8 p.m. on January 24 to the early hours of the next morning, Kuaishou distributed 1 billion yuan in cash red envelopes, including 2.21 million "koi red envelopes" with amounts ranging from 66.6 yuan to 2,020 yuan. In addition to watching videos to grab red envelopes, Kuaishou also prepared a large number of Kuaishou coins and coupon bags.

According to the "2020 Spring Festival Gala Data Report" released by Kuaishou Big Data Research Institute, the 2020 Kuaishou Spring Festival Gala live broadcast room had a total of 780 million viewers, the number of red envelopes shared outside the site exceeded 590 million, and the total number of countries and regions participating in the event was 212.

Behind the Internet Giants' Entry into the Spring Festival Gala

What is the secret behind the Internet giants' successive spending? Data shows that from 2003 to 2020, the ratings of CCTV's Spring Festival Gala have been around 30%. It can be said that the Spring Festival Gala is a media event that can influence the whole country and even the world. The Spring Festival red envelope is an indispensable symbol in the traditional culture of the New Year, which contains beautiful meanings. The Spring Festival Gala + red envelope has become one of the best ways to maintain the friendship of the Chinese people.

Nowadays, the demographic dividend of the Internet is gradually disappearing. Today, the cost of attracting new users is getting higher and higher. By sponsoring the Spring Festival Gala, not only can the brand quickly expand its popularity, but more importantly, through red envelope interaction, it will undoubtedly bring huge user traffic. Although it requires a lot of investment, if enough new users can be obtained, the cost-effectiveness is still very high.

In addition, the promotion of their own payment services by Internet giants is also an important reason for joining the Spring Festival Gala. On January 29, Douyin Pay was officially launched in the Douyin APP, which means that users can choose Douyin Pay when paying. By sending red envelopes, users' payment habits can be re-cultivated, thereby retaining users for a longer period of time.

In conclusion:

Over the past four decades, the Spring Festival Gala has recorded the changes of the times in my country and witnessed the vigorous development of my country's economy. From watch, wine and pharmaceutical companies to e-commerce, short video and other Internet platforms, the sponsors of the Spring Festival Gala have reflected the development of the times. In the current Internet era, the competition for users is intensifying. In the future, what kind of sparks will the Spring Festival Gala create with the Internet is worth looking forward to.