A few things on my radar #8
Nezha 2 and Atour
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Nezha 2 ( 哪吒 2）
Nezha 2, the Chinese animated blockbuster, accounts for over half of China's total box office earnings during the Lunar New Year holiday
Despite last year's Chinese box office was quite dismal, with revenue dropping 22% year-over-year, domestic box office revenue has hit $1.32 billion (¥9.5 billion) since the CNY holiday began this year — a 18% increase over last year's holiday period, according to Maoyan, China's leading entertainment services platform.
Enlight Pictures'（光线传媒; SHE: 300251), animated sequel Nezha 2 is driving these impressive numbers. The film, directed by Yu Yang, has earned est ¥5.49 billion during CNY holidays and looks set to surpass the war film The Battle at Lake Changjin (¥5.69 billion in China; $913 million worldwide) as China's highest-grossing film ever.
Nezha 2 is a film that serves as the direct sequel to the 2019 film Ne Zha. The series draws inspiration from the classic novel Investiture of the Gods (封神演义).
"Thematically, while the previous film focused on breaking destiny, this one explores breaking rules—there's a clear connection between the two episodes," Liu Wenzhang, the producer of Nezha, told The Paper. "The tough situations he faces, such as deception and injustice, all shape his growth."
Besides, what really sparked the discussion online lie in its geopolitical metaphor: villains who appear righteous reside in a Pentagon-like building, while demons—who are labeled as evil monsters despite being good-hearted and simply trying to survive—are hunted down by the Pentagon's team under false charges. These underlying messages deeply resonated with Chinese audiences.
According to official announcements, the film will launch globally, including major markets such as North America, South Korea, and Japan, as well as regions including Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia.
Whether the strong start of Chinese New Year films signals that Chinese cinema is about to emerge from its slump is hard for me to say. But Nezha 2 is certainly a pleasant surprise. The work impresses audiences with its visual style, gripping narrative and themes of individualism and anti-authority.
However, whether this story, especially the underline political metaphor, can capture the interest of overseas viewers, remains uncertain - we cannot rule out the possibility that its ideology might face push-back from Western audiences.
Atour
Atour(NASDAQ:ATAT), a fast-growing Chinese hotel chain making waves domestically, despite limited media attention
As of late 2023, Atour stands as China's premier upper midscale hospitality provider, leading the market in total room capacity. The company has distinguished itself by pioneering an innovative retail integration model within the Chinese hospitality sector, according to Frost & Sullivan.
The company quietly listed on NASDAQ in 2022, becoming a reopening stock that benefited from Beijing's relaxation of Covid restrictions. As of June that year, Atour operated 834 hotels across 151 cities in China.
As of September 30, 2024, Atour's hotel network boasted a total of 1,533 hotels or 175,199 hotel rooms in operation, witnessing robust year-over-year boosts of 37.9% and 36.1% in terms of the number of hotels and hotel rooms respectively, according to Atour report.
Atour net revenues for the third quarter of 2024 increased by 46.7% to $271 million yoy, primarily driven by growth in managed hotel and retail businesses. Notably, retail business, including bedding, bathing and perfume products, accounts for 25% of total revenue.
“ATAT’s current valuation reflects its solid performance, but the potential for significant upside remains. With continued growth and strategic expansion, ATAT is poised to narrow the gap with industry leaders and achieve higher valuations.” said Alvin Chow, author at Growth Dragon.
Based on my personal experience, Atour's success stems from prioritizing guest experience over basic hotel operations. Unlike other hotels' standardized approach, Atour delivers personalized service—they'll pre-warm rooms for temperature-sensitive guests, proactively check on guests who appear dissatisfied, and even accompany ill guests to the doctor. This exceptional care builds customer trust, making guests more receptive to Atour's retail products. The result is a seamless ecosystem where hospitality and retail business reinforce each other.
However, this extreme focus on user experience may be built upon sacrificing employee wellbeing - I have noticed that some employees of Atour are complaining about the company culture online. "The customer experience is great, but they're very unfriendly to employees. Management's style is all about yelling and docking pay. One person has to do the work of two or three people, sacrificing themselves for just a few thousand yuan monthly salary." a comment online.
It seems that they are in a similar situation as Manner - rapid expansion and pursuit of customer experience has led them to neglect the interests of frontline low-paid employees. If true, this toxic culture could be a ticking time bomb - burning out employees, causing staff turnover, and even public condemnation, ultimately damaging the brand's reputation.