In 2023, China's entertainment industry achieved a strong recovery.
In terms of the film market, according to data from the National Film Administration, the total box office of national films reached 54.915 billion yuan in 2023, an increase of 82.64% over the previous year. The Spring Festival program had a strong start, and the box office of the summer vacation program and the New Year's Day program set new box office records in film history. In addition to this, the offline performance market has also achieved strong growth. According to the China Performance Industry Association, as of November 22, the number of commercial performances nationwide reached 342,400 in 2023, with box office revenue of 31,541 billion yuan, a sharp increase of 453.74% over the previous year.
Seen from this perspective, the entertainment market is recovering steadily due to the release of consumer demand. In this context, leading industry players are expected to take the lead in benefiting.
Currently, companies are issuing performance announcements one after another, which probably just gave us a window to observe the “leading” companies among them. Among them, Maoyan Entertainment (1896.HK), an all-entertainment industry service provider that just released its 2023 results today, is a good observation sample.
The business blossomed a lot, and Maoyan's performance grew by leaps and bounds
According to the announcement, in 2023, the company's annual revenue reached 4.757 billion yuan (RMB, same below), an increase of 105.1% over the previous year; net profit was 908 million yuan, an increase of 766.2% over the previous year, and achieved outstanding results in the industry.
Specifically, the reason why Maoyan's performance has improved dramatically is due in large part to Maogan's comprehensive layout in terms of content, platforms, and services. In this context, businesses in various sectors have developed rapidly.
Entertainment content service sectorBased on the company's ability to recognize and accurately grasp high-quality content, Cat Eye has made significant breakthroughs in the depth and breadth of content development, and has maintained a high level of performance at both the quality and quantity levels. Among the domestic films already screened in 2023, the company participated in a total of 54 films, and the number of films and market coverage reached record highs in the same period in history. Among them, many films achieved a double harvest of box office and word of mouth, and the number of entries for the top ten domestic films of the year reached 8.
At the same time, Cat's eye promotion expertise continues to be strengthened, and market recognition has increased across the board. The company continues to explore diversified publicity plans and create accurate marketing methods of “one piece, one policy”, “one city, one policy” and “one time, one policy”.
Among them, the Spring Festival program “Man Jiang Hong” achieved an innovative promotion model of “Entering the Sky” through collaboration with multiple airlines and ground-based high-speed railways, promoting the film to reach over 4.5 billion yuan in box office and successfully winning the Spring Festival box office title; the summer program “Fengshen Part 1: Morning Song Fengyun” pioneered an ultra-long-term landing event and live online live streaming, helping the popularity of the film continue to rise through “co-creative marketing”; the New Year's Eve program's “Twinkle Twinkle Twinkle the Stars” also relied on the New Year's Eve ceremony. It was a hit, and the box office surpassed expectations. In addition to this, the company is also continuously refining its product capabilities and updating and iterating various promotional products. For example, the company's “cloud package” service was widely recognized by the industry. In 2023, it served more than 200 theatrical movies, helping the box office increase 227% year-on-year.
Ticketing aspectsBy deeply cultivating the cinema scene, Maogan helps cinemas continue to improve operational efficiency through joint promotion and provision of marketing plans for membership, product sales, etc. with cinemas. In addition, Cat Eye has also become an officially designated screening and ticketing platform for many large-scale events, such as the 13th Beijing International Film Festival, the 5th Hainan Island International Film Festival, and the 10th Silk Road International Film Festival, helping it improve its service capabilities.
At the same time, Maogan is also targeting opportunities for a strong recovery in the offline performance market to increase investment and development in the performance ticketing business. In 2023, Maoyan achieved breakthrough growth in various segments such as concerts, sporting events, and music festivals. According to reports, in 2023, total revenue and GMV from Maoyan offline shows both reached record highs for the same period. Furthermore, Maogan continues to explore overseas markets, continuously expand its business areas in both Hong Kong and Macau, and has developed comprehensive and in-depth cooperation with the local community.
Aspects of the advertising businessMaoyan has strengthened cooperation with various Internet platforms, covered various scenarios such as games, lifestyle services, communities, and travel, and integrated new marketing models through live streaming to enhance brand building and commercialization capabilities.
Based on the company's strong data system and product innovation capabilities, Maoyan can better help industry partners maximize box office growth and content value at business levels such as publicity, thus gradually establishing its own unique advantages.
Among them, the multi-dimensional data services and functions of the Cat Eye Professional Edition not only provided strong support for film promotion, but also made positive contributions to cinema management and the overall prosperity of the film industry. Currently, it has become a must-have product for industry insiders.
On the one hand, the leading data system in the Cat Eye industry can cover the pre, middle and late stages of film promotion. In the early stages, Cat's Eye Pro Edition was based on big data technology accumulation and can make accurate AI box office predictions based on online public opinion and box office trends; during the movie promotion period, its “Japan Crown Map” function can provide a visual display of daily box office distribution, including multi-dimensional data such as number of people, shows, and wants to watch, and update the box office in real time to help the promotion team adjust the promotion strategy based on the data; the “Film and Television Grand Slam” and “Film and Television Battle Report” functions provide honorary certification for leading films, drive box office growth, and add more honors list achievements by adding new and upgraded honors list achievements Provide a promotional point for the video.
On the other hand, Cat's Eye Pro has upgraded its cinema service, and launched a “branch distribution” function in the second half of last year. Cinemas can directly connect with the filmmakers to get in touch. Currently, many movies have entered the branch distribution video library. In addition, by providing movie viewing preferences data of cinema customers, this function helps cinemas and film companies develop branch distribution strategies to promote cinema operations and overall box office growth.
The Maoyan Research Institute has formed a complete market analysis and user research system based on Maogan's own massive user data and consulting service experience for hundreds of film projects in the past. Under this system, the Cat's Eye Research Institute can connect the film, cinema and audience, provide in-depth and systematic data services for all aspects of the film, help the industry reach the audience more efficiently, and assist all aspects of the film to reduce risk and optimize strategies in a timely manner.
What is Cat Eye doing right behind the steady increase in income levels?
Cat's eye was able to take the lead in recovering, and there are quite a few things worth learning from the industry.
First, user-oriented. Since its inception, Maogan's perception of its identity as a “servant” has not changed in the slightest. Whether it is the continuous provision of high-quality content to users, the ticketing business that meets the diverse needs of users, or the advertising business that helps maximize publicity effectiveness, it is all oriented to meet the diverse needs of users.
In 2024, the company will continue to increase its investment in high-quality films. While bringing more high-quality content to users, the company also provides long-term upward potential for Cat Eye. Other than “Twinkle Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and “The Annual Meeting Can't Be Stopped!” In addition to films that have achieved excellent results, such as “Flying Spike 2,” Maogan participated in the production or distribution of “The Yellow Finch Is Behind!” Films such as “The Big “Anti-Party” and “Stranger Spending Money” have been scheduled one after another, and dozens of films such as “Sauce Garden Alley,” “Crisis Line,” “Improvised Murder,” and dozens of self-developed films such as “Fire on the Plains,” “Rebirth,” “Genius Game,” “Child of Time,” and “Umbrella Girl,” are also progressing steadily.
At the same time, in line with the AI wave, MaEye actively promotes the deep integration of technology and data to improve operational efficiency and service quality.Among them, entertainment content services optimize promotion strategies through data analysis capabilities and integration of resources across platforms. Online entertainment ticketing services reflect the application of technology by enhancing the service capabilities of film festivals and cultural welfare activities, as well as the versatility of cinemas. The advertising business and others use new media matrices and big data technology to strengthen brand building and commercialization capabilities. More importantly, based on the ability to commercialize big data services in the cat's eye industry, the company provided comprehensive market analysis and strategy suggestions for the entertainment industry, greatly promoting the efficiency and transparency of the industry, and deeply in line with the current market value orientation.
Of course, the most important point is the company's ability to integrate in the entertainment industry chain.By opening up content, ticketing, advertising, etc., Maogan has achieved a complete closed loop in the industry, has the advantage of synergy throughout the entire industry chain, enhanced market competitiveness, and achieved diversification and healthy development of the revenue structure.
epilogue
In summary, in the revival of the entertainment industry in 2023, Maogan Entertainment achieved significant growth in performance by continuing to cultivate deep cultivation in the entertainment market, continuously accumulate industry experience, enhance product and data advantages, and achieve significant growth in performance. Many businesses have shown strong market competitiveness. The collaborative development of diversified businesses has not only raised the company's growth ceiling, but also strengthened the role and position of Maogan in the entire entertainment industry, and achieved common growth with the industry.
The brokerage agencies have already given positive expectations for the future growth potential of Cat's Eye. For example, CICC released a research report stating that considering the performance and management expenses of Lunar New Year movies and adjusting the predicted income tax rate, it raised Cat Eye's net profit forecast and maintained its “outperforming industry” rating. Northeast Securities pointed out that Cat Eye benefited from a good recovery in the film market. Performance GMV reached a record high, and performance with abundant reserves can be expected in 2024, maintaining its “buy” rating.
Overall, the entertainment industry is showing signs of recovery. Behind the boom in the movie market, more and more viewers are entering cinemas again. Therefore, we also believe that with the deep integration of technology and data, strong film reserves, and the collaborative advantages of the entire industry chain, Maoyan will continue to create value and empower the entire industry to help the market continue to develop and prosper.