---
title: "Why Traffic Products Are Destined to Become Mediocre?"
description: "The article argues that products optimized for traffic platforms inevitably become mediocre, while those focused on brand value and customer perceived value can thrive. It contrasts the fates of traditional crosstalk masters like Ma Sanli with modern internet celebrities, illustrating the fundamental conflict between traffic thinking and value thinking."
author: "响马老苗"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2021-01-02"
language: "en"
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# Why Traffic Products Are Destined to Become Mediocre?

> The article argues that products optimized for traffic platforms inevitably become mediocre, while those focused on brand value and customer perceived value can thrive. It contrasts the fates of traditional crosstalk masters like Ma Sanli with modern internet celebrities, illustrating the fundamental conflict between traffic thinking and value thinking.

**Click to read the original article for details**
**Choose: Be Ma Sanye or an Internet Celebrity Sister**

**-01- Crosstalk and the Spring Festival Gala**
In 1985, Ma Sanli, a master of crosstalk, received an invitation to perform at the Spring Festival Gala.
Ma took it seriously and prepared a special piece for the gala, titled "Da Le Te Le" (Extreme Joy). Amidst the spotlight and expectations, Ma Sanye took the stage.
It was still a crosstalk in the distinctive Ma style—delicate, natural, and seamless. Ma's later performances had reached a state of perfection: generous, relaxed, with impeccable rhythm and timing—truly a master of his generation.
If you are a seasoned crosstalk enthusiast, you would surely consider this a classic.
Listening to it is exhilarating; recalling it brings endless amusement, the more you think, the funnier it gets.
Unfortunately, the crosstalk received a lukewarm response at the gala.
According to Shao Ma Ye (Ma's son, Ma Zhiming), the old master admitted he was not suited for such a stage. After that, Ma never appeared on the Spring Festival Gala again, and "Da Le Te Le" became his swan song on the gala.
Was Ma Sanli's crosstalk no longer marketable?
Or was his style out of step with the times?
If this happened today, self-media would surely churn out inspirational articles like "The Times Abandoned Ma Sanye Without Saying Goodbye."
But that's not the case.
Sixteen years later, in 2001, at Ma's farewell performance, the Tianjin People's Gymnasium was packed, and traffic around the venue was paralyzed.
On stage, Ma said just three words: "Am I worth it?"
The entire audience stood and cheered, many clapping, laughing, and crying at the same time.
Crosstalk fans nationwide and the folks of Tianjin truly loved Ma Sanye. He was a monument in the crosstalk world and a totem for the people of Tianjin.
Coincidentally, Guo Degang, a representative figure of the new era of crosstalk, had a similar experience.
He became famous in theaters, then spread through the internet. Amid the calls of countless fans, Guo Degang and Yu Qian finally appeared on the Spring Festival Gala stage.
The result was again mediocre. Guo, who used to mock TV crosstalk for being unfunny, now experienced what "unfunny" meant.
The clever Guo never appeared on the Spring Festival Gala again.

**-02- TV Crosstalk Is Destined to Be Unfunny**
Many crosstalk enthusiasts attribute the unfunniness of TV crosstalk to two main reasons.
**First, time constraints.**
Good crosstalk jokes need to be set up and built up with escalating emotion. TV crosstalk generally lacks sufficient time, making it hard to achieve the desired effect.
**Second, the system.**
This view is championed by Guo Degang, who attributes the decline of the crosstalk industry to the system.
Those within the system, because they are on the government payroll, only need to answer to their leaders, not face the market. So they don't care whether the crosstalk is funny or not. This leads to neglected skills, factionalism, and suppression of dissent.
These two reasons do not adequately explain the decline of TV crosstalk.
Try letting a TV station air a 45-minute crosstalk segment—it still won't be effective. Some local stations have attempted to broadcast long crosstalk, but it wasn't successful.
As for the system, although it sounds exciting, the facts are clear.
Guo, who is outside the system, has also been on TV, and it was still unfunny. The golden age of crosstalk was the radio era of the 1950s to 1980s, when all performers were within the system.
Even masters like Ma Sanli and Hou Baolin were within the system. The system nurtured greats like Ma Ji, and famous artists like Jiang Kun and Feng Gong.
TV crosstalk is destined to become unfunny; TV will inevitably ruin crosstalk. From a marketing and communication perspective, this is common sense.
**"The medium is the message"** is the most important concept of Marshall McLuhan, a social thinker and communication master.
**Technology determines the form of the medium, and the form of the medium determines the content of the message.**
In plain words: Different soil grows different crops; different water nurtures different people.
**When the medium form changes, the standards for good content change. The standards for good and bad products also change.**
What is good crosstalk?
Funny is good; not funny is bad. That's a truism.
**Different scenarios lead to different feelings, and different feelings lead to different product experiences.**
Funny theater crosstalk may not be funny on TV. TV classics may not sell tickets in theaters.
**Different media forms have different selection mechanisms for products.**
Theater crosstalk competes on commercial performances, on how much people who are willing to pay to listen are willing to pay for your tickets.
So the first criterion for judging theater crosstalk is ticket price.
In this form, Ma Sanye is a master, a towering figure.
TV crosstalk, on the other hand, is a platform competition, competing on how many people are willing to listen to your crosstalk for free without changing the channel, facing all viewers.
So the first criterion for judging TV crosstalk is ratings.
In this form, crosstalk can't beat skits, skits can't beat reality shows, and reality shows can't beat "Sisters Who Make Waves."
In terms of selling tickets, Zhao Benshan certainly can't beat Ma Sanli, but on the Spring Festival Gala, ten Ma Sanyes can't beat one Zhao Benshan, or even Yue Yunpeng.
**Theater crosstalk is value thinking and brand thinking; TV crosstalk is traffic thinking and platform thinking.**

**-03- Be Ma Sanye or an Internet Celebrity Sister?**
I've written several articles criticizing "traffic thinking" and received a lot of feedback.
"Brands need to make good products and provide better customer value, we all know that. But after making a good product, don't we still need to generate traffic and manage it?"
This is a huge misunderstanding.
The difference between "traffic thinking" and "value thinking" is not just a difference in focus; it's a fundamental difference in underlying operational logic.
**Brands want to build brand added value, target precise audiences, and strive to create brand differentiation.**
**Platforms do not recognize brand added value; they require category explosions and try to erase brand differences.**
Brands want to carve out their own territory.
So they create different styles based on different needs and interests. **Differentiated satisfaction of needs brings brand profits.**
The result is a variety of schools and distinctive features.
Platforms think "my turf, my rules."
Whether you're crosstalk, skits, magic, acrobatics, or Mei style, Cheng style, Ma style, Yang style—whatever brings traffic and GMV is a good style.
**When all brands compete under one standard, products and brands become increasingly similar and mediocre.**
How many readers know Professor Zhang Huoding?
If you're not a Peking Opera fan, 99% of you probably don't know her.
Although little known, Professor Zhang has very high market value and is called the "Lamp God" among opera fans.
Last year, her "Farewell My Concubine" premiered in Beijing, with tickets scalped to over 10,000 yuan each. The second performance in Shanghai had to switch to real-name ticketing, yet tickets at over 3,000 yuan each were sold out.
Old man Kotler, outside the marketing circle, basically no one knows him.
Dr. Cao Hu, president of Kotler's China branch, met a friend at a conference who grabbed his hand excitedly and said, "Finally found you! Our kitchen and bathroom fixtures are all Kohler."
But this doesn't stop old man Kotler from being a hall-of-fame master with extremely high market value for his IP.
Whether it's Professor Zhang or old man Kotler, putting them on TV won't boost ratings, and on the internet, their traffic is far less than "internet sisters" and "dear old friends."
**Ma Sanye, Professor Zhang, and old man Kotler are good products under brand thinking, providing customer perceived value.**
**In contrast, "Sisters Who Make Waves" and "internet celebrity sisters" are good products under platform thinking, providing attention and traffic.**
The most extreme example of a good product under platform thinking is the traffic star: someone with no decent works at all, yet still hugely popular.

**-04- Traffic Thinking vs. Value Thinking: A Struggle Between Two Paths**
In the end, the difference between platform thinking and brand thinking is the difference between traffic thinking and value thinking, just like the difference between "little fresh meat" and "seasoned actors."
Little fresh meat are all the same; seasoned actors have distinct styles.
Little fresh meat are popular for a while; seasoned actors simmer slowly.
Little fresh meat sell personas; seasoned actors sell works...
Where you stand depends on where you sit.
From a brand's perspective, you'd want to be a "seasoned actor," speaking to users with your works and gaining market competitiveness.
From a platform's perspective, you'd want brands to be "little fresh meat," easily gaining massive attention, highly replaceable, and swapping them out when one fails.
**Platforms seek to obtain maximum attention at minimum cost, while brands seek users willing to pay a premium.**
**Don't think that "more attention means more profit."**
**These are actually two different paths with no necessary correlation.**
Ma Sanye's crosstalk had no traffic, but tickets sold out. Spring Festival Gala crosstalk is known to everyone, but commercial performances require giving away tickets in large numbers.
Crosstalk was put on the big TV platform, gained traffic, but was ruined.
Guo Degang brought crosstalk back to small theaters, cut off traffic, but saved crosstalk.
Years ago, when supermarkets were booming, KA stores all moved toward platformization: not making money by selling products, but by charging entry fees, display fees, promotion fees, etc.
The inevitable result was that stores became monotonous, consumer experience dropped significantly, and people lost interest in shopping. This planted the biggest landmine for today's supermarket decline.
Today's internet commerce platforms are even more ruthless.
**They are GMV-oriented, using categories and low prices as weapons, cutting off brand added value. At the same time, they are castrating the core competitiveness of brands.**
If you're not the first or second in your category, you have little exposure on the platform. Even if you become the category leader, without continuous traffic purchases, your position will quickly decline.
The result: brands lose their brand weapons and can only seek category opportunities. Buying traffic and low prices become their only promotional means. Platforms gain unprecedented voice, and e-commerce becomes the hardest business in the world.
Teacher Liu Chunxiong said, **big brands and big manufacturers are hedged. It's not the platform that creates added value, but the brand. However, big platforms focus on cost-performance, eliminating added value.**
Concepts like "traffic thinking," "new retail," "explosive products," and "user time competition" are weapons used by platforms to brainwash brands, fundamentally denying the logic of brand added value.
Brands must not disarm themselves or cut their own meridians, following the platform's traffic baton.
Do you want to be an independent seasoned actor or a traffic star at the mercy of others?
This choice should not be difficult.
Source: Lao Miao Tears Marketing (id: yiheyingxiao), Author: Xiang Ma Lao Miao

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