March 8th, Thursday.
The second exhibition match of the ICL League was about to begin.
After today’s exhibition match, they could basically confirm that all aspects of the league’s operations were working properly. All equipment had been debugged, the livestream signal was OK, and aside from a few rare emergency situations, there shouldn’t be too many unexpected issues. They could provide viewers with a relatively stable and good viewing experience.
By Saturday, the ICL League would officially begin.
Today, both Zhao Xuming and Eric weren’t at the ICL League venue, but were instead busy with their respective work in their offices. The venue should be fine, so there was no need to monitor it every day.
The issue was with the livestream.
Zhao Xuming checked the time. The exhibition match between FV and SUG was about to begin, so he took out his phone to check.
From the end of yesterday’s match until today, he had been monitoring online public opinion, and the more he looked, the angrier he became.
Most people were being sarcastic, saying that the ICL League wasn’t generating enough heat, nobody was watching, and it was a waste of money!
Some even had conspiracy theories, claiming that Mr. Pei had deliberately bought the exclusive broadcast rights to the ICL League for Rabbit Tail Livestream, and then intentionally suppressed its popularity, wanting the league to fail.
Initially, Zhao Xuming had thought the same, but after speaking with Chen Yufeng on the phone, he felt he might have wronged Mr. Pei. Because Rabbit Tail Livestream’s standards seemed to be fair and impartial. Mr. Pei was known for being upright and honest—even in business competition, he was always straightforward and wouldn’t lie for such small matters.
It could only be said that the ICL League’s actual data was indeed somewhat dismal, and there was nothing to be done about it.
Undeniably, the flood of negative voices online about ICL made Zhao Xuming very annoyed.
The ICL League had just begun, yet it was already being heavily criticized. If it couldn’t attract more viewers, what would happen in the future?
But he didn’t have a good solution either, so he could only wait and see.
Entering Rabbit Tail Livestream again, Zhao Xuming looked at the number of viewers in the ICL League’s livestream room once more.
This time, his eyes lit up.
The number of viewers in the livestream had reached 59,837!
Last time it was less than 30,000, this time it was nearly 60,000—the number had doubled!
Zhao Xuming’s embarrassed expression eased slightly.
It had to be said that FV Club indeed had a larger flow of traffic. After all, they were a team that had recently beaten foreign teams and won a world championship. Just their appearance brought the “double audience” attribute.
But…
60,000 people was still pitiful!
Compared to those livestream platforms that routinely had millions of viewers, a livestream room with just 60,000 people still had a vast gap.
Fortunately, as the match progressed, this number continued to grow.
Many people hadn’t been following the ICL League’s preparation in real-time. They might have only learned about watching the match on Rabbit Tail Livestream after seeing forum discussions, so the viewer count was in a state of continuous increase.
Regardless, it was much better than yesterday’s match. Zhao Xuming couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, feeling somewhat reassured.
But he was still deeply concerned about the lackluster popularity.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
Zhao Xuming looked up and saw it was his assistant.
“Is there something?” Zhao Xuming asked.
The assistant said excitedly, “Mr. Zhao, didn’t you ask me to think of a solution yesterday? I’ve got one!”
Zhao Xuming was taken aback, then realized the “solution” referred to “solving the problem of too few viewers in the livestream room.”
Zhao Xuming was a bit pleasantly surprised: “Let’s hear it?”
Actually, he hadn’t expected his assistant to come up with a very reliable solution; it was just a casual remark. After all, the contracts had already been signed, and there were no such clauses in them. It was impossible to ask Rabbit Tail Livestream to modify the backend, as Mr. Pei was famously stubborn.
Now that the assistant claimed to have found a solution, whether it would work or not, it was worth listening to.
The assistant confidently said, “Mr. Zhao, at first I really couldn’t think of a good solution either, because it’s impossible to get Rabbit Tail Livestream to help us fake the numbers.”
“So I thought all night but couldn’t come up with a good solution.”
“But just now! I suddenly had an epiphany—I think we’ve misunderstood Mr. Pei’s intentions!”
“We should do the opposite!”
“Actually, are numbers like 30,000 or 60,000 embarrassing? It depends on who you’re comparing with. Compared to other livestream platforms that routinely have millions of viewers, the numbers do seem very low.”
“But! We can also use this point to our advantage!”
“We can hire some internet commenters to widely publicize that other livestream platforms are inflating their numbers. Those platforms with hundreds of thousands or millions of viewers actually only have about 30,000 to 50,000 real viewers. The entire livestreaming industry is inflating numbers, and only Rabbit Tail Livestream doesn’t inflate its numbers. And we, like Rabbit Tail Livestream, are also very honest and trustworthy, absolutely not deceiving the audience with fake numbers!”
Zhao Xuming was stunned.
Was this what it meant to do the opposite?
It made sense!
Since they couldn’t change Rabbit Tail Livestream’s data, why not drag all other livestream platforms down too?
30,000 or 50,000 viewers did seem pitiful, but if they could make all viewers accept the “fact” that all livestream platforms were inflating their numbers—if they could make all viewers believe that those big streamers with millions of viewers on other platforms actually only had about 10,000 to 20,000 real viewers—wouldn’t that indirectly prove that the ICL League was actually popular?
Moreover, dragging other livestream platforms down meant these platforms couldn’t counterattack.
Because the popularity numbers on these platforms were fake to begin with, calculated from various data like viewer counts, gifts, and more. The algorithms were all company secrets and would never be disclosed.
They would dare to publish their platforms’ actual numbers?
These livestream platforms absolutely wouldn’t dare.
Because they were different from Rabbit Tail Livestream. Rabbit Tail Livestream had shown real numbers from the start, establishing such an image, and viewers had accepted it. Other livestream platforms had always used “heat” metrics to create illusions. If they suddenly published real numbers, regardless of how low these numbers were, viewers wouldn’t believe them!
For instance, if a platform with a streamer having a million “heat” claimed their real viewer count was 500,000, viewers wouldn’t believe it. If they claimed it was only 50,000, viewers would mock them for lying and still wouldn’t believe it!
Because everyone would think that livestream platforms were habitual liars, and even the 50,000 would be seen as inflated, just to sound more plausible.
Livestream platforms that had always used “heat” to replace real viewer numbers and contract gifts to replace real gifts had already lost viewers’ trust.
For the numbers shown, most viewers just glanced at them for a sense of the buzz, never taking them seriously.
So, if they seized on this point and attacked relentlessly, other livestream platforms couldn’t counterattack or prove themselves!
The best part was, this had the credibility of Rabbit Tail Livestream and even Tenda Group as backing!
Rabbit Tail Livestream was a platform created by Mr. Pei, and all livestream rooms displayed real data, though the platform hadn’t deliberately emphasized this point.
Some viewers knew that Rabbit Tail Livestream displayed real viewer counts, but they hadn’t widely publicized it, so the impact was minimal.
If Dragon Yu Group spent money on marketing to let more people know that Rabbit Tail Livestream’s numbers were real, while other livestream platforms had fake heat metrics and were full of various deceptions…
Wouldn’t that prove that the ICL League was actually popular? The numbers might look poor, but only because they were too honest?
This perfectly solved the problem!
Zhao Xuming was very happy: “That’s a great idea! Let’s do it!”
“Immediately buy some internet commenters, find people to drive the narrative online. Say that other livestream platforms are severely falsifying data, and those big streamers with millions of ‘heat’ actually only have tens of thousands or even fewer real viewers, while Rabbit Tail Livestream’s viewer counts are completely real data!”
“This way, the ICL League’s viewership isn’t low—it’s real!”
“Moreover, we can compare yesterday’s numbers with today’s to show that the ICL League is continuously attracting fresh blood, and the attention for the entire league is constantly increasing!”
“Quick, while FV team is playing and attention is relatively high, take care of this immediately! We must form a discussion hotspot online before the match ends, and stir up discussions across the entire internet after the match!”
The assistant immediately nodded: “Yes, Mr. Zhao, I’ll get on it right away!”
After the assistant left the office, Zhao Xuming entered Rabbit Tail Livestream’s livestream room again to check the viewer count for the ICL League.
The first game between the two teams had already begun, and the viewer count had reached 65,782 people—it was growing!
And this point, obviously, could also be used to their advantage.
For other livestream platforms, because their heat metrics fluctuated too much and there was often fake inflation, viewers couldn’t determine real numbers from the livestream room’s heat.
As for whether the livestream was actually getting more popular, or if the platform was artificially promoting it and creating a false impression?
Viewers actually couldn’t tell the difference.
But Rabbit Tail Livestream was different. Because viewers had already accepted that these were real data with no falsification, the increase in numbers was a real increase in viewers.
Yesterday 30,000, today over 60,000—didn’t this perfectly illustrate that the ICL League’s attention was gradually rising and its influence was rapidly expanding?
Zhao Xuming couldn’t help but sigh, feeling he had wronged Mr. Pei!
This real data system that Mr. Pei had set up, while seemingly a bit embarrassing for the ICL League on the surface, was actually a technique of first suppressing to later elevate!
Showing real data throughout, letting the ICL League have only about 30,000 viewers on the first day, being mocked across the internet.
But in doing so, it also let everyone know that Rabbit Tail Livestream’s data was all real, with no falsification.
Then the next day, the actual viewer count doubled and continued to grow, didn’t this prove to the audience that the ICL League’s real popularity was definitely not low?
“So that’s it, Mr. Pei is truly far-sighted!”
“Indeed, this aligns with Mr. Pei’s consistent marketing approach: unique and innovative!”
“I really misjudged Mr. Pei earlier. It seems Mr. Pei sincerely wants to collaborate with us and promote the ICL League well!”
“Since that’s the case, we should also make some gestures. Let’s help promote Rabbit Tail Livestream’s real data!”
Zhao Xuming was very pleased. As the saying goes, it’s not polite to receive without giving back.
It seemed Mr. Pei genuinely wanted to collaborate. Everything was done well, and the promotion was also strong. The only small misunderstanding was the issue of livestream room viewer numbers, which had now been resolved.
Since that was the case, why not help Mr. Pei promote Rabbit Tail Livestream more!
After all, promoting Rabbit Tail Livestream would also generate heat for the ICL League, wouldn’t it?
This move, without a doubt, was a win-win!