PressPlay's attack: from a learning platform in the era of fragmentation to a brand promoter in the fan economy
Recently, because of the promotion of my own online course “Content Power: The Super Power of Building Brands (opens in a new tab)” and because I am writing a master’s thesis on “knowledge paid services”, I am particularly interested in paid service platforms at home and abroad.
I am very happy that through the introduction of my friend Tian Yuling (opens in a new tab), I have the opportunity to visit PressPlay Company (opens in a new tab), which has just moved to a new company today, and communicate with the founder Weng Ziyang (opens in a new tab), and also talk about each other’s views on the knowledge payment industry.
In fact, I am no stranger to PressPlay and their predecessor─HereO Fundraising Platform (opens in a new tab) is also slightly known. We even had the opportunity to cooperate with them a year ago, but the environment was not yet mature at that time, so we put the plan on hold. We hope to be able to restart in the spring of 2018. I would like to ask for your support then!
Recently, on the one hand, I have been preparing physical courses and online courses, and on the other hand, I have also collected a lot of information about paid knowledge services at home and abroad. After seeing so many developments, in addition to being curious about the latest developments of domestic industry players, I am also looking forward to a new era in related industries.
A learning platform in the era of fragmentation
During today’s exchange, the founder Weng Ziyang (opens in a new tab) (Paul Weng) told me more than once that PressPlay’s positioning is somewhat different from the online learning platforms in the market-PressPlay wants to be a learning facilitator in the fragmented era, hoping to help consumers save time and help them really learn things or obtain useful information.
Although the attributes are different, founder Weng also mentioned that there are actually opportunities for cooperation between different content platforms. For example, it may be possible to expand related markets through cross-industry alliances; it may also allow professional talents such as writers, lecturers, or YouTubers to have more stages to showcase their talents and create more beautiful sparks.
In today’s exchange, we couldn’t help but talk about well-known paid knowledge service platforms on the other side, such as Get (opens in a new tab), Guoke, Himalaya and Zhihu. Although these companies have come a long way, they also have outstanding performance in terms of revenue. However, Paul feels that Taiwanese manufacturers still have opportunities, and he is very proud of their team; he also said that PressPlay is a new startup company with engineers as the main body, and it implements “Internet thinking (opens in a new tab)” to create various products and services.
Brand promoter of fan economy
Recently, PressPlay is actively developing new mechanisms, which will provide proposers and users with more convenient services in the fields of data analysis, community services, etc. in the future.
A creator (opens in a new tab), such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author – in other words, anyone producing works of art – needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans (opens in a new tab) to make a living.
We also talked about Kevin Kelly (opens in a new tab)(Kevin Kelly)‘s “One Thousand True Fans (opens in a new tab)” (1000 True Fans). Weng Ziyang (opens in a new tab) also said that PressPlay will be committed to helping every expert manage the brand and maintain the relationship between fans in the future.
Although the development of paid knowledge services in Taiwan is relatively slow, it has recently been catching up. I visited PressPlay today and saw a group of young friends gathered in the newly completed open office space. They were either having meetings or busy developing new services. It seemed that I could feel their youthful atmosphere and their enthusiasm for creating paid-for-knowledge services.
──As Paul told me, he hopes that PressPlay will not only be a subscription platform, but also become a brand promoter of the fan economy in the future.
Paul further added that the so-called “fan economy promoter” does not only focus on managing hardcore fans, but also turns more users into fans who learn knowledge through complete functional construction, thereby building a knowledge community. Therefore, the real goal of PressPlay is to help knowledge experts or brands build their own knowledge communities.
If we say that in the past, 囧星人, Jiujiu Shoes, Adi English and Lao Wang Loves Joking (opens in a new tab) and other experts have helped lay a good foundation for this platform; then, I am even more looking forward to PressPlay, under the leadership of Paul, making a gorgeous attack!
★ Photo Credit: Thought Catalog (opens in a new tab)
Further reading
- Knowledge Paid Content Subscription Summit: You Shufan talks about five insights into engaging in paid knowledge services
- Exclusive interview with Zhou Qinhua, founder of “Science and Technology Island Reading”: Insights and experience sharing in operating subscription-based content
- How is a subscription service with a monthly amount exceeding 120,000 yuan created?
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Vista Cheng speaks and runs workshops on AI workflows, writing and content systems for companies, schools and public agencies.
