Author | Zhang Yi reports | TOP e-commerce
A few days ago, Dong Yuhui spent 76.5855 million yuan to buy "Walking with Hui", and the matter of completely selecting independence from the East caused a stir on the Internet.
Just when everyone was focusing on Dong Yuhui's resignation, some sharp-eyed netizens found that Dong Yuhui's company had applied for the registration of a number of "Yu Hui Peer" trademarks, and the international classification involved social services, advertising sales, education and entertainment, etc.
It seems contradictory that he became independent from Dongfang Selection, but applied for the trademark "Yu Hui Peer", but behind this may reflect the strategic thinking of Dong Yuhui and his team on the future development direction.
From "Walking with Hui" to "Walking with Yu Hui"
On July 25, Oriental Selection announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange: Dong Yuhui has decided to no longer serve as an employee of the company and the senior management of one of the company's consolidated affiliates, and the resignation is due to Dong Yuhui's professional ambitions, investment in other businesses and personal schedule, effective July 25, 2024.
At the same time, the announcement also shows that on July 25, Dong Yuhui (buyer), Beijing New Oriental Xuncheng Network Technology Co., Ltd. (seller) and Hui Tongtong (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. (target company) entered into a sale agreement, according to which the seller agreed to sell, and the buyer agreed to acquire 100% of the target company's equity at a consideration of RMB 76.5855 million.
However, the 76.5855 million yuan for the purchase of equity was paid by Yu Minhong and Dongfang Selection. Yu Minhong explained, "Yuhui holds the share purchase money required to walk with Hui, and I also arrange to pay it in a manner that complies with the rules of the listed company and the articles of association." In other words, Walking with Hui was given to Dong Yuhui by Yu Minhong.
Source: Douyin @Yu Minhong
When the news of Dong Yuhui's resignation was overwhelmingly reported, some media picked up another piece of news: Dong Yuhui's company had applied for the registration of a number of "Yu Hui Peer" trademarks, the international classification involves social services, advertising sales, education and entertainment, etc., and the current trademark status is mostly preliminary examination announcements.
Source: Screenshot of Guangdong News Broadcasting Video Account
In addition, in June this year, the company also added a new radio and television program production and business license, which is the first time that other institutions have applied for a radio and television program production and business license.
Source: Tianyancha
It is understood that Yu Minhong and Dong Yuhui were discussing their breakup 4 months ago, that is, in March this year.
On the one hand, it may be to further expand the business territory and strengthen the brand image. As mentioned above, the trademark classification involves education and entertainment, etc., and it also adds a new license for the production and operation of radio and television programs, indicating that Huitong has the idea of expanding its business. After leaving Dongfang Selection, Dong Yuhui also has greater autonomy in the subsequent development of the company, which is convenient for him to expand the company's business.
On the other hand, Dong Yuhui's departure from Dongfang Selection with Hui does not mean that he will be a stranger to Yu Minhong in the future, and there is no possibility of cooperation. The "Yu" of "Yu Hui Walking" is obviously Yu Minhong's "Yu", not to mention "Hui", "Yu Hui Walking" may be conveying the message that the two will cooperate in the future.
From "Walking with Hui" to "Walking with Yu Hui", it can be seen that the two have taken a wider road in the future.
Why does Dong Yuhui have to fly solo?
In fact, the move of applying for the trademark "Yu Hui Peer" also shows to a certain extent that the contradiction between Yu Minhong and Dong Yuhui is not so deep.
There are more contradictions between Dong Yuhui and Dongfang Selection, perhaps it is due to direct or indirect factors such as the deepening contradictions between the two sides that led to Dong Yuhui's departure.
The first is the "small composition" turmoil. In December 2023, because of the question of who wrote the promotional copy of the live video of "Trip to Jilin", it triggered a debate between Dong Yuhui's fans and the editor of Dongfang Selection, and also intensified the debate because of the statement of the management of Dongfang Selection.
This incident exposed serious mistakes in the internal management of Dongfang Selection, and also exposed the general contradictions between big anchors and MCNs.
In the end, the "Little Composition" incident ended with Dong Yuhui opening an independent live broadcast room, which not only appeased Dong Yuhui's fans, but also allowed Dongfang Selection to complete the de-Dong Yuhui, but this does not mean that the contradiction between the two has disappeared, but has become the first step for Dong Yuhui to leave.
The second is the common contradiction between big anchors and MCNs, the individual is too dazzling, and the volume is too large to affect the company's development. When the ability of the anchor alone can play a decisive role in the development of the company, the MCN will naturally consider reducing its dependence on the head anchor, and generally the final result will only be two: one is to form a new company around the individual like Li Jiaqi and Mei ONE; It's a complete break.
As mentioned earlier, the contradiction between Dong Yuhui and Yu Minhong is not so deep, so they will not choose the second path.
Finally, the public opinion between Dong Yuhui and Dongfang Selection has seriously affected the development of Dongfang Selection. Yu Minhong said in "An Open Letter to Dongfang Selection Shareholders and Friends": "Although there is no obstacle to the communication between me and Yuhui, the complex public opinion disputes, coupled with the guidance and rumors of a few forces with ulterior motives, have directly led to the estrangement between Dongfang Selection and Hui's peers, resulting in huge uncertainty in the development of the companies on both sides. ”
Source: Screenshot of Lao Yu's gossip on the official account
In short, Dong Yuhui's departure may have been doomed, and for Dongfang Selection, it can also be stopped as soon as possible.
After "Yuhui Walks Alone",
How far can you go?
In the eyes of many people, Dong Yuhui's departure from Dongfang Selection is to embark on a road full of more challenges and unknowns.
Even Luo Yonghao, who has always been extremely concerned about Dong Yuhui and Yu Minhong, said that Dong Yuhui is very pitiful, and although it is worthy of affirmation to stand on his own, the road ahead may not be smooth.
Source: Screenshot of the live broadcast room of Make a Friend
He bluntly said that Dong Yuhui may need to find a like-minded business partner to move forward together, and used Li Ziqi as an example to emphasize the importance of finding a suitable partner.
As Luo Yonghao said, Dong Yuhui's road after independence is not easy.
The most important thing in live streaming is to solve the problem of goods, that is, the supply chain problem, and the establishment of a supply chain is not something that can be completed in a day or two, which is likely to affect the next development of Hui.
There are also management issues. Although Dong Yuhui has a lot of autonomy after independence, and can personally command product selection, operation, after-sales and content creation, but he does not necessarily have sufficient management ability to transform from an anchor to a manager. And a few days ago, I just moved to a new office location with Hui, close to Douyin, and the rent should not be low, so the rent, personnel management, product selection, and development direction all need to be controlled by Dong Yuhui, and the challenge is obviously not small.
In addition, in the current fierce competition for live streaming, it is also a question whether it can maintain the current traffic with Hui.
On the whole, after leaving the Oriental Selection, Dong Yuhui's road is not easy, as for how far he can go, time will tell us the answer.