Screenshot 2022-04-06 at 11

Cantonese fun

by
One thing that sets social media and KOLs apart from traditional media, is that in order to be successful and popular, it’s more about collaboration than competition, and working together with other online talent in order to reach a wider audience.  And one of the most successful companies in Macau to adopt this strategy is Manner Culture Ltd.
 
Established in 2014 by a group of young enthusiastic content creators mainly focused on Facebook at the time, the platform now reaches an audience of hundreds of thousands, with some YouTube videos racking up millions of views.  The official Instagram page has over 540,000 followers and their main YouTube channel has 720,000 subscribers.  Their content ranges from short funny skits about life in Macau, to game shows and variety shows featuring regular panels of hosts and guests, many of whom have become popular celebrities in their own right.  With their motto ‘Taste Happiness’ the underlying theme to all their content is just having fun.
 
“We are in the entertainment business. Our content is about humour, having a laugh and creating happiness.  People deserve more happiness, especially nowadays,” says William Keong, better known as Ginger, Executive Director of the company. “Our agenda is fun and caring about what the audience wants and interacting with them.”
 
The focus is on fun, and more specifically Cantonese humour, appealing not only to people living in Macau, but also across the Cantonese language global diaspora.  The company’s English name mimics the sound of its Chinese name, 微which has the literal meaning of ‘slightly spicy’.  And Ginger stresses that they are not trying to be influencers in the traditional sense.
 
“We are original content creators focusing on Cantonese content with a Macau connection,” he comments.
 
Manner was founded as a joint venture by three Macau locals, Sixtycents, Jacky Lei, and Nathan Lam. Ginger became an investor in the company about a year after it started, seeing great potential in what they were doing in the online world of entertainment.
 
“Some of their videos had already gone viral and the content creators were all very young students with a lot of enthusiasm and energy.  It was basically like a university project that turned out to be a business opportunity. At that time in Macau there were not many people willing to invest in this type of project.  In terms of Hong Kong and Macau, we started early, and that has helped us build a strong fan base.” 
 
Today the Macau-based company has offices in Hong Kong and Guangzhou.  Here they employ around 80 people, including directors, script writers and post-production teams, and around 20 to 30 key content creators. With six separate production teams, they post new content on an almost daily basis. 
“We have variety shows, podcasts, livestreaming gameplay, things that all reach different audiences.”
 
Operating in a new media environment, the business model is not a traditional one. While the key personalities work for Manner, they also create independent content on their own social media platforms.  And the company frequently invites other guests and social media figures to be part of their productions. 
 
“Macau is a very close community, everybody knows everybody. Our content creators have friends and they all cooperate with each other and look after each other,” notes Ginger. “We’re not just looking for individual talent, we’re building a platform, an ecosystem for creators to interact with each other.” 
 
Manner has even established an incubation centre designed to help potential upcoming talent. 
 
“If you are someone new and creative it can be difficult to get started, so we provide this platform and invite people on so that audiences can get to know them. And after a certain time, they may start to create their own content.  Everyone has their own path.”
 
Ginger stresses that being successful online is not just about being good-looking. 
 
“You have to pay attention to the trends and learn to be a fast learner. And you have to be fun. The content has to be honest and authentic, and it’s all about how you interact and connect with the audience and fans.”
 
Growing up in Macau, Ginger’s father ran a DVD video rental shop, so he watched a lot of Hollywood movies and developed a love for entertainment.  In 2004 he started working in the music industry, and his passion for creative content evolved even more. 
 
“I believe that a career path in Macau should not be limited to working in a casino or for the government. I believe that the next generation deserves more choices if they want to be creative. There are very creative people in Macau.  Young people here have a good educational background and many opportunities to see the world, and we have hundreds of years of mixed cultural influences, so I think this is very beneficial for content creation.” 
 
As Manner’s popularity grows, the business is expanding and diversifying. 
 
“We are an IP (intellectual property) company, developing different IP shows, characters and partnerships.  We have merchandise and there is even an F&B group in Hong Kong who have licensed our IP for a physical restaurant”.
 
The company recently produced a limited-edition Dai Pai Dong drinking gaming set to go with their hugely popular Dai Pai Dong YouTube videos, and they also have a range of T-shirts featuring some of their very clever Cantonese-English translations.
 
“Our subtitles have become an important part of our IP too because they are very creative with lots of hidden meanings.  If you understand Cantonese, they are quite hilarious.” 
 
Looking to the future, Ginger hopes the company can continue to diversify its content, build up more talent and connect with an even wider fan base, but always maintaining a local focus.
 
“We live here and we love this place. Without Macau there would be no Manner.” 
Facebook
WhatsApp
Threads
X
Email

More from the author

More of this category

Featured

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Older Issues

Living and Arts Magazine

現已發售 NOW ON SALE

KNOW MORE LiVE BETTER