The Chinese proverb, "A tree standing taller than the forest invites the wind to topple it," suggests that conspicuous individuals may attract both admiration and envy. This age-old wisdom resonates in the current narrative of Dong Yuhui, one of the most popular livestreamers in China, who has recently grappled with his own gust of troubles.

Dong is known as a Super IP, a term applied to employees of companies who hold large portions of their company's intellectual property, income generating ability or sway with consumers. While, in many cases, these Super IPs have made fortunes for their companies, learning to coexist with them is often a steep learning curve for company executives.

"Once a teacher, now a salesperson" used to be Dong's social media signature. In 2021, education authorities issued policies to reduce the excessive burden of homework and after-school tutoring on primary and middle school students. This significant policy shift precluded students participating in after-school tutoring, leading to a loss of business that threatened the survival of many companies in the sector.

In response, New Oriental Group, one of China's leading tutoring institutions, transformed its business focus by establishing East Buy, a livestreaming e-commerce platform primarily selling agricultural products. Dong, then an English tutor with the company, became a livestreaming salesperson.

Despite Dong's modest self-image, his audience doesn't see him as just an ordinary salesperson. During his livestreams, shopping seems to be more of an additional option. The allure of his Chinese-English bilingual hosting and his essay writing tutorials during product introductions, together with his genuine demeanor, humor and the frequent emergence of memorable sentences, have emerged as the main draws for viewers. These tags swiftly garnered him massive media exposure.

Dong travels around China and broadcasts his livestreams from different locations, and in his videos, he employs exquisite language that vividly portrays the distinctive features of each locality. The beauty of his expression resonates with many viewers and often evokes a sense of longing for their own hometowns. People have described these flowery descriptions as "short essays." However, the exceptional nature of these essays recently became a spark for controversy in the livestreaming e-commerce scene.

'Mentor' or 'adversary?'

"Jilin, embraced by all four seasons in an unrestrained dance of splendor, revels in utmost magnificence… People, astride horses, frolic freely in the snow until they lead the sunset into the river of stars, creating ripples that mirror the profusion of stars. It's only then, with a sudden realization, that one exclaims in awe: Indeed, fairytales exist in this world…"

This is a translated excerpt of Dong's enchanting "short essay" crafted to showcase the charm of Jilin Province in northeast China. The video was released on December 5. While the audience expressed their admiration for the essay's literary style, there was a sense of curiosity about the mastermind behind these words. Some wondered whether all the short essays are written by Dong himself.

After maintaining since the beginning that Dong was the author of the essays, East Buy's editorial desk chose this moment to readjust the narrative, pinning a statement at the top of the comments section: "Every time a short essay is crafted, it's a joint effort. The anchor stands before the camera, behind him is a team of creative writers, a film crew, and an editing team."

This revelation left Dong's fans feeling something was not quite right, with many suspecting the company was trying to deliberately reduce Dong's standing with his followers. Some voiced their discontent, saying, "Yu Minhong (founder and Chairman of New Oriental) once publicly mentioned that a previous essay of the same series was written by Dong himself." Others commented, "You are one team. Why come out now and undermine Dong? This feels like an intentional effort to belittle him." There were also remarks like, "Even if it's a collective effort, try having someone else present it and see if it has the same impact as Dong."

The incident continued to escalate and became a trending topic on social media as the editorial desk continued debating with dissenting followers and even listing the authorship details of each essay. Later, on the evening of December 12, East Buy's CEO Sun Dongxu officially responded via livestream. "The editorial desk is blamable for their inappropriate way of communicating, though their emotions are understandable," Sun said, adding that Dong had been affected emotionally by the controversy and thus made a last-minute decision not to livestream on December 10.

Sun also mentioned that the company firmly rejects "fandom culture," which refers to group of fans spontaneously organizing activities to support and promote their idols. He reassured those fans who were worried about Dong, saying the company had not mistreated Dong, as while many had speculated that Dong's annual salary was in the tens of millions of yuan, that was only a portion of his total earnings.

Sun's words made many fans feel like they, too, were being criticized and the fans believed Sun's talk about Dong's income was intended to fuel public hostility against the superstar livestreamer by instigating the hatred of the rich mentality. After all, China's per-capita disposable income stood at 36,883 yuan ($5,487) in 2022, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

As the drama continued, the incident had already caused significant losses for East Buy. From December 12 to 16, its official account on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, lost 2.5 million followers, while Dong's personal account on the platform gained 5 million new followers. Its Hong Kong-listed stock price cumulatively plummeted over 20 percent from December 10 to 15, leading to a market value evaporation of approximately HK$7 billion ($896.8 million).

Dong had previously mentioned in a livestream that Sun was his mentor and benefactor. Publicly available information also shows that when Dong considered leaving East Buy due to immense pressure caused by the transition from English tutor to salesperson, it was Sun who, with empathy and reason, convinced him to stay time and again.

However, it was also Sun who, after Dong gained fame, teased the latter during livetreaming with comments like "Dong is able to talk authoritatively on any book, whether he has read it or not," and also jokingly mentioned, "Now I can hardly manage him anymore."

'Restaurant owner' vs. 'chef'

After the incident, the 30-year-old Dong changed his social media signature to "not arbitrary speculation; not absolute certainty; not stubbornly holding one's own views; not being self-centered," a proverb from Chinese philosopher Confucius.

Certainly, the old signature no longer holds true. Dong is no longer just an everyday English tutor or salesperson. Judging from the recent incident, his impact on East Buy is already more significant than expected.

"Comparing the relationship between a Super IP and a corporate manager to that of a chef and a restaurant owner is a vivid metaphor," Guo Tao, an angel investor and senior digital platform expert, told Beijing Review. The Super IP can be seen as the chef, responsible for creating and delivering compelling content, while the corporate manager is akin to the restaurant owner, tasked with overseeing the overall management and operation of the business, he explained.

"They are interdependent, and so balancing the relationship between the two is crucial for promoting the healthy development of the company," Guo said.

In many cases, while Super IPs pursue personal fame and income, companies seek brand recognition and market share. Issues may arise in terms of profit-sharing policies, leading to tense relationships. Moreover, companies might attempt to restrict the development direction of Super IPs, who, in turn, wish to maintain their independence. All these factors can intensify their conflicts, Zhang Xiaorong, Director of Deep Technology Research Institute, told Beijing Review.

"But when traditional companies transition into new economy entities in sectors such as live-streaming e-commerce, they often lack a sufficient understanding of the fan economy and have yet to establish a robust mechanism to manage potential risks," he said.

In the face of mounting pressure from Dong's fans, even with apologies issued by both Yu and Sun, the crisis had showed no signs of abating. On December 16, East Buy announced the removal of Sun from his position as CEO due to his mismanagement of the platform, with Yu concurrently assuming the role.

During this period, numerous entities attempted to poach Dong, considering him a valuable asset. However, Dong ultimately chose to remain with East Buy. And this time, he is a senior partner at the platform. He has also assumed the role as vice president of New Oriental's cultural and tourism unit, another business focus of the group, and assistant of Yu's culture-related business.

However, this may still not be the end of the story. A fresh tale of individual growth and corporate strategic shifts is just commencing. BR

(Print Edition: The Power of a Top Influencer)

Copyedited by G.P. Wilson

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