"not doing the right job" Jay Chou has moved to the capital circle and sneaked into the coffee track again!
Recently, the news that a company called Superstar Legend applied for an IPO on Hong Kong stock has become a hot search. The reason is that behind the company is superstar Jay Chou.
● Image source: @如机新彩
According to the listing application, Jay Chou's mother Ye Huimei is the controlling shareholder and founder of the company, and his old partner Fang Wenshan serves as the company's chief cultural officer. Bole Yang Junrong , friend Liu Genghong , and Nanquan Mama are also among them.
It is worth mentioning that this is the third time that the superstar legend has hit an IPO. Previously, the company submitted a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on September 30, 2021 and March 31, 2022.
Why did Jay Chou, who is invincible in music, suffer repeated setbacks in the capital circle? What is the abacus of this superstar legend that almost covers all of Jay Chou’s "Friends"?
01
Jay Chou sold coffee, 600 million
Open the listing application for superstar legend, which was established in 2017. But at the business level, it is not the traditional sense of packaging planning and derivative business around celebrities.
After all, holding Jay Chou’s super IP provides a natural channel and ability to make money for superstar legends.
● Image source: @Caixin.com
However, it is surprising that The superstar legend's "revenue cow" is actually the new retail business , that is, it mainly develops and sells health management products and skin care products. The main products include Magic Dog Coffee, Magic Tong, Prebiotic Gummy, etc.
Among them, Modou Coffee contributed most of the company's revenue. The product was launched in 2019, and its sales revenue in 2019, 2020 and 2021 was RMB 71.9 million, RMB 333 million and RMB 228 million, respectively, accounting for 83.0%, 72.8% and 62.3% of the company's total revenue in the same period.
● Image source: Modun Coffee official website
From the Modun Coffee official website, the price is quite high. One type of "one box of coffee + one bottle of strawberry bubbles [7-day experience package]" is priced at 298 yuan, and the other type of "three boxes of coffee + three bottles of strawberry bubbles" is priced at 894 yuan.
According to relevant media reports, the average price of 7 small packets of 30 grams of coffee exceeds 100 yuan, and the gross profit margin is as high as 70%.
It can be said that Magic Doll Coffee is the pillar product of the superstar legend.
Then what is this "Maodu Coffee" that focuses on fat reduction? So popular.
In fact, this kind of coffee has not been born for a long time. Around 2004, an American named Dave Aspree was inspired by China's Tibetan butter tea. Based on the preparation technique of butter tea, coconut oil and butter were added to the daily drinking black coffee , and the bulletproof coffee was prepared.
The superstar legend "Maodu Coffee" is an industrially processed version of bulletproof coffee.
In publicity, this coffee can prevent starch from decomposition and reduce the absorption of glucose and the accumulation of fat. It also contains dietary fiber to increase satiety.
● Image source: Modun Coffee official website
Because of this , Modun Coffee is quite popular in the fitness circle, and coupled with Jay Chou's star effect, he has become a "Internet celebrity product".
Although it is a legendary ace product of superstars, the efficacy of Modou Coffee has repeatedly raised questions.
Some industry insiders say that the so-called weight loss method of Modou Coffee is actually a "ketogenic weight loss method".This weight loss method exists in itself and does not depend on Moduan Coffee. Moduan Coffee is just a food that can be tried in ketogenic weight loss, and does not affect ketogenic diet .
Some people directly question that Modou Coffee itself will not have a slimming effect, and the one that can lose weight is the low-carb diet itself. Using Modou Coffee Contemporary Meals to Lose Weight is a pure IQ tax!
02
pyramid scheme doubts under multi-level distribution
What is questioned is not only the product functions of Superstar Legend, but also the business model.
According to the prospectus of Superstar Legend, Modou Coffee is sold in a new retail model, and is carried out in a general distribution plus distribution at all levels. There are also some e-commerce channels, including socialized e-commerce, own APP "Superstar Preferred" and platform-based e-commerce such as Tmall store and Kuaishou store, which ultimately reach terminal consumers.
● Image source: Modun Coffee Tmall Store
Prospectus disclosed that from 2019 to 2021, Modun Coffee's sales were 632,000 boxes, 3.3 million boxes and 2.1 million boxes respectively. Logically speaking, many consumers should know about products with millions of boxes and sales of more than 600 million yuan in three years, but not many people seem to know about this product on the Internet.
The problem lies in the multi-level distribution model of Modou Coffee. The general agent of Superstar Legend is Kunshan Tingshe, and then Kunshan Tingshe enters a distribution agreement with the company's distributors, and the company's distributors are responsible for monitoring their respective distributors.
Behind Kunshan Tingshe is Li Ting, the "WeChat Queen" who once appeared on the billboard in Times Square in the United States. From 2019 to 2021, the total number of dealers and distributors of Magic Bulletproof Coffee consists of 74, 575 and 699 distributors, as well as 639, 2719, 16,519 and 18,871 distributors respectively.
As of June 30, 2022, the company's distribution network includes 706 distributors and 16,698 distributors respectively.
is developing so rapidly that the hero behind it is Li Ting.
But from another perspective, only if new distributors and dealers can buy goods can contribute more sales to superstar legends, rather than consumer consumption.
This is hard not to remind people of the secret makeup brand of the TST Ting Zhang Ting couple who were investigated for suspected pyramid schemes last year.
It is also because of this that Superstar Legend has been repeatedly questioned by pyramid schemes since it made its IPO. In April this year, an article titled "The Legend of Superstars Going to Hong Kong for IPO: Jay Chou brought goods to Ye Huimei as a shareholder and was investigated for suspected pyramid schemes" was widely circulated, pushing the question to a climax.
● Image source: Anti-Party Hotline Network
Therefore, some netizens suspect that Jay Chou is not the next "Zhang Ting" in the entertainment industry.
even a blogger publicly complained that a certain product produced by Superstar Legend is suspected of deceiving consumers, and the price is inflated, with a profit difference of up to 20 times.
In 2020 and 2021, the superstar legend encountered several incidents of temporary freezing of bank account funds due to "suspected pyramid schemes".
However, later, the Kunshan Market Management Bureau issued two inspection opinions in June 2020 and June 2021, respectively, and determined that it was engaged in new retail activities through a legal distribution model. The frozen funds will be fully lifted in July 2020 and July 2021.
At the same time, Xinhua News Agency also clarified the situation, clearly pointing out that the superstar legend does not constitute a pyramid scheme under Chinese laws and regulations, but is engaged in new retail activities through a legal distribution model.
● Image source: @Jaylen Universe
At this point, the superstar legend has come out of the doubts of pyramid schemes.
03
Superstar relies on "superstar"
Although superstar legend has escaped the doubts of pyramid schemes, the reason why its IPO has failed repeatedly may be due to the transition dependence on Jay Chou.
Putting aside the star IP creation and operation, this version of the business itself is deeply bound to Jay Chou, and the pillar product of superstar legend Modu Coffee also relies heavily on Jay Chou's IP effect.
Although Modou Coffee was born in 2019, its real explosion was on the variety show " Weekly Travels ", which premiered in March 2020.
At that time, Superstar Legend promoted Magic Bomb-proof Coffee through advertising, on-demand and discrete product implantation in the program to increase the exposure of the product.
● Image source: @奥网新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新新�
Relying on the Jay Chou effect, Magic Doll Coffee ushered in a sales climax. However, after the broadcast of "Journey to the Week", Superstar Legend's profit in the first half of 2021 was only 8.29 million yuan, a sharp drop of 87.4% from 65.8 million yuan in the same period last year.
is visible. Compared with coffee itself, consumers' real purchasing intentions are more inclined to the idol halo of "Jay Chou" himself.
Transition-dependent business model of individual star effect is obviously rejected by the capital market that pursues stable growth.
Superstar Legend obviously also realized this problem. So we see that in addition to Jay Chou, Nanquan Mom, Harlem Yu , and Liu Genghong, who was popular at the beginning of the year, all joined the IP camp of superstar legends.
In this regard, Superstar Legend stated that such cooperation will reduce the company's dependence on any specific star and enhance the overall IP empowerment capabilities.
Among them, Liu Genghong, who is popular due to fitness, has the most hope to become the next trump card of superstar legend. After all, Coach Liu is very suitable for selling this magic coffee, which focuses on fat reduction.
In fact, this is exactly what the superstar legend intends. As early as November 2021, Superstar Legend and Liu Genghong established the Talent Planet (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd., with the two parties holding 70% and 30% of the shares respectively, aiming to engage in the training of KOLs and cooperate with various MCNs to develop product sales through live broadcasts through social e-commerce channels.
● Image source: @NetEase Technology Channel
Later, with Liu Genghong's popularity, Talent Planet, Liu Genghong and Mainland MCN Worry-free Media signed a cooperation agreement:
Liu Genghong promised to provide live broadcast marketing services in 2022.
This obviously paved the way for Modou Coffee to log in to Douyin e-commerce channels.
is just Liu Genghong, who was just caught in the "bird's nest controversy" not long ago, now wants to sell the already controversial Magic Doll Coffee, which is obviously an adventure.
For superstar legends, Jay Chou IP + Magic Coffee obviously cannot support an IPO!
The biggest problem facing the superstar legend is how to prove to the market that even if you get rid of Jay Chou, you can achieve stable growth of the company even without Magical Coffee.
In the short term, this is obviously impossible.
