China’s top web celeb finds a new way of monetizing videos: ecommerce

Even if you’re not a Chinese web user, you may have heard of Papi Jiang. She’s the internet video humorist who raised VC funding for her act, then got harshly censored by the government. That didn’t stop her, though – shortly after that she sold a block of ads on her videos for US$3.3 million. And now she’s found yet another way of monetizing her fame: ecommerce.

When Papi Jiang posted her latest video on June 13, things went pretty much like you’d expect: people clicked on the video link and the views quickly climbed into the millions. But there was a new addendum at the end of her message: a link to a Taobao shop where she was selling limited editions of three different themed T-shirt designs. These particular designs were Warcraft-inspired (her latest video is about seeing the movie, which is a smash hit in China), but only 99 of each design was available.

Papi Jiang’s fans clearly bought into this new approach, as all three designs were sold out in 36 minutes. Now other Taobao shops are selling knockoffs, and Papi Jiang is surely planning to repeat the stunt with future videos.

In actuality, using ecommerce to monetize “web celebrity” video content isn’t a new concept in China. The country’s top video game streamers have been doing it for years. Former League of Legends pro Misaya, for example, used to have a branded Taobao shop that sold snacks, and he was reportedly making quite a bit from it. But Papi Jiang may be the first Chinese web celebrity to sell products that are directly related to her video content in more or less real-time.

Whether this is a sustainable model remains to be seen. And if Papi wants to turn her ecommerce into a significant revenue stream, she’ll probably have to sell more than 300 shirts with each video. But even in the face of government censorship and general disapproval of the “web celebrity” model, Papi Jiang seems to be blazing a trail when it comes to turning internet fame into a tangible business.

A few months ago, there were plenty of people saying the VCs who backed Papi Jiang were crazy. There are a lot fewer people saying that now.