Chapter 698: Chapter 85: Advertisement, One Day Not Seen
Chapter 85 Advertisement, One Day Apart
Li Yan took the opportunity to invite Li Jie, Huang Ying, and Manager Zhao Chengyao for lunch together. Although he didn’t invest much effort in Jie Rui, because of the relationship between Li Jie and Huang Ying, he certainly hoped it would rise and improve. He also didn’t want to dampen the enthusiasm of Zhao Chengyao, who was capable of getting things done, because of any estrangement.
Returning to the company in the afternoon, Li Yan called in Luo Ling, who was responsible for market aspects, to his office to discuss the issue of product placement advertisements.
For this issue, Luo Ling was still somewhat conservative in her views. It wasn’t that she was unwilling or unable to develop advertisements; she simply felt that doing so with the company’s first project might make the company resentful. She suggested holding a meeting to study it further.
Li Yan thought it made sense; he couldn’t make decisions solely by himself, so he convened a temporary meeting.
When they heard the theme of the meeting was about placing advertisements in the movie "Springtime Leaked," everyone’s reaction was quite significant. Position-wise, everyone supported it, but operation-wise, they hoped not to proceed so quickly. They suggested waiting until the company had enough brand appeal, as doing it now would make it seem like a one-time deal.
As the market supervisor, Luo Ling felt it necessary to be clear in her statements. So, after everyone had spoken, she summarized, "President Li, our movie is firstly pressed for time, and secondly, the script has gone through extensive modifications and improvements. The filming progress maintains a high efficiency daily. Even if we manage to secure advertisements now, the director’s placement will certainly feel awkward. That would ruin the viewing experience, potentially leading to audience criticism after the release, which would inversely affect the box office. After all... the box office is the main deal."
"That’s right. Our director, Zhou Yuan, can only be considered a new director, not Feng Xiaogang."
Jiang Xueyin also said, "From a company financial perspective, I hope we can have another avenue for revenue, but as a movie viewer, I detest product placement ads. It’s undoubtedly good to have advertising income, but if the placement affects box office returns, it’s not just a matter of affecting fund recovery. It would further weaken our influence on distributors and cinema channels, which would be even more unfavorable in the future."
Li Yan praised, "Not bad. Even you are seeing more than just saving money."
Jiang Xueyin gave him a white-eyed glare, and everyone knowingly laughed; she, as the financial supervisor, was always spot-on in overseeing funds.
After a brief joke, Li Yan inquired, "Was Director Ning Hao considered a newcomer when shooting ’Crazy Stone’?"
Everyone was taken aback, not understanding what he meant but still replied, "Of course he was. His influence only began with this project; especially by creating an incredibly high return with low cost, he drove the multi-thread narrative style, becoming a representative among the younger generation of directors."
"Hmm, I’m sure you’ve seen ’Crazy Stone.’ Do you remember the ’Don’t touch me’ car badge scene?"
In the film, the protagonist was driving downhill when a soda bottle dropped from a cable car above, shattering the windshield. Then, swearing at the sky in anger, they found the brakes insufficient, causing the parked car to roll downhill, crashing into a BMW parked below.
The BMW driver came out exclaiming, "Damn it, high-tech! Unmanned driving!" then pointed to the big BMW logo close-up, "See this? Don’t touch me!"
Nowadays, it might not seem great, but back then it was one of the movie’s jokes, at one point becoming a catchphrase. So when Li Yan mentioned ’Don’t touch me,’ everyone laughed.
After everyone finished laughing, Li Yan spoke seriously, "For the same brand’s placement, in ’Tangshan Earthquake,’ Director Feng Xiaogang had the disabled protagonist run away for years of work and, in the early 90s, before this brand formally entered Yun Country’s market, drove it home. Many didn’t notice it at all; those who did felt the plot was too fantastical and unrealistic. On the contrary, this comedic placement was not only straightforward in giving a close-up but also left a deep impression due to the good scene design and added dialogue.
For another example, with the same brand in ’Shadow Writer,’ an international director and big stars also placed advertisements, but it highlighted BMW’s powerful navigation features, integrating with the plot without making people resent it, thus remembering its functionality."
Everyone quieted down, looking at Li Yan with a bit more admiration. Initially, as Li Yan spoke, while everyone seemed serious about the meeting, inside they felt disdain, thinking Li Yan was only thinking about making money without a long-term vision. Now they understood he wasn’t just motivated by a whim to make money but had thought deeply about how to do it well! There has been investigation, planning.
"President Li, I understand your point now. We don’t have to adopt the attitude against placement; what we need is value, and while placing adverts smoothly, we should avoid causing resentment!" Luo Ling re-made her decision based on Li Yan’s comparisons of three effects with the same brand. Most others agreed as well.
"Exactly, we don’t want the audience counting brands and ads. Let’s create a few refined ones! Which ones to include shouldn’t be based on what we can secure, but on which industry is worth pursuing! Carefully read the script first, list the essential props used in it, and then select among them to secure ads. As you know, our filming progress is highly efficient, so speed is essential!"
