Afternoon.
The production of the commercial had begun.
In the modern office space, Zhang Ye was the authoritative figure. He began instructing the advertising firm's staff to follow his directions and the requirements needed for the content of the commercial.
Zhang Ye did not listen to anything that they tried to suggest as he took charge of everything down to the details that were seemingly unimportant to the others. Zhang Ye made sure that everything was done according to his instructions. There was no other way. Zhang Ye was forced to do things his way as he knew of the miracle the Brain Platinum commercial had created in his world. In this world, only Zhang Ye knew about it. In order to recreate the miracle over here, he had to be on the safe side and did not intend to change the content of the commercial at all. At least it could not stray too much from the original. Every step had to be done accordingly, in the way it had been done in his world, so that nothing unexpected could happen!
"What? You are not going to sing the jingle?" Director Wang asked in a stupefied fashion.
Zhang Ye said it in a matter of fact manner, "Of course I'm not going to sing it. Let the dubbing artist do it." He thought to himself that since it was such a retarded jingle, how could this bro go and sing it?! Do they think that I’m stupid?
Director Wang asked surprised, "Then how is the commercial going to be filmed?"
Zhang Ye said, "Didn't I already explain it to you? There will be 2 animated characters, an old man and old lady who will be dubbed as if they are singing. Their characters will be dancing around. The characters will look cartoonish and cute. Can your team do the designs according to those requirements first? I will take a look at it later."
Director Wang asked incredulously, "Then what will you be doing in the commercial?"
Zhang Ye pointed to himself, "Me? I will just make an appearance, holding the Brain Plati.....Brain Gold product at the end of it. The focus of this commercial should not be on me."
Today, Director Wang and the project team staff had their eyes opened for once. After so many years of experience in the advertising industry, it was their first time they had witnessed such a production. A big company had spent so much to employ you to endorse their product and you sure are good. All you do is appear in a perfunctory shot and that's it? Isn't that too easy an endorsement fee that you're getting? And what's with the Brain Gold company, why did they even include a clause like that in the contract!?
Director Wang looked at Wu Mo, "CEO Wu, this...."
Wu Mo looked like his confidence was completely shattered and only simply waved his hand saying, "Just do as Zhang Ye says, don't ask me anymore. I'm going outside for a smoke." He didn't care anymore and felt like he was just throwing a tantrum. It seemed like he had boarded Zhang Ye's pirate ship this time and was forced into a corner. He was not going to do anything about it anymore.
Zhang Ye was not bothered by this and continued giving out instructions.
"Is this image OK?"
"No, they look too young."
"How about this? The hair is now white."
"I'm looking for a cartoonish character. This is not cute at all. They need to look cuter and look kind. In their kindness, they also need to look like they are full of vitality. Adjust their eyes to look bigger, yes, the body proportions should decrease a little more. Make the old man wear a suit and the old lady dressed in a bridal gown. Don't make them too old either, they need to show a youthful vigor."
"How about now?"
"Good, that's OK. That's perfect!"
The commercial's proposal had been decided, so all that was left was the production. This was not something that Zhang Ye could participate in, as he did not have any animation skills.
Outside.
On a balcony at the end of the corridor.
Wu Mo was smoking over there. There were already 7 to 8 cigarette butts lying on the ground.
"CEO Wu." Zhang Ye smilingly said as he walked over. He took out a cigarette, "I'll have one too."
Wu Mo glanced back at him, but didn't say a word. He was ignoring Zhang Ye.
Zhang Ye knew that he was angry at him since this afternoon. He lit his cigarette and walked over to the bench and took a seat. He offered a cigarette to him, "Having one?"
Wu Mo grabbed a stick, "Teacher Zhang, my aunt mentioned you to me before. She said she really admires your literary skills and even said that you were a talent that no one else could ever replace in our nation. I've also seen your poems, listened to your speeches, and watched your advertisements. I believe in your abilities. You are also older than me by a year or two and so I address you as Brother Zhang, but you can't go and take advantage of me like this. I'm just a small businessman and my company is going to go bankrupt soon. I can't go through this sort of setback now." Zhang Ye's status as a famous host, writer, literary person, and Redologist was known by all. He was even a very popular person in the Chinese department of Peking University, so Wu Mo didn’t direct his anger at him.
Zhang Ye did not know what to say either. After some thought, he asked Wu Mo, "CEO Wu, since you've watched my advertisements before, then tell me whether the saving electricity advertisement was influential or not?"
Wu Mo said with a sigh, "Influential!"
Zhang Ye asked again, "Then my 'I'll speak for myself' advertisement... was it hot or not?"
Wu Mo was stunned but still said, "It was hot!"
Zhang Ye said with a smile, "If I may say so, whether it’s in the field of broadcast, novels, TV hosting, poetry, literature, giving speeches, or even advertising, have I ever made a wrong move before?"
Wu Mo was surprised for a moment, then pondered over what Zhang Ye said. He realized what Zhang Ye said was true. He had really never made a wrong move before. No matter what sort of work he did, it was all extremely popular. Even if others did not think he would succeed, Zhang Ye would eventually prove them wrong!
Since he was Wu Zeqing's nephew and also quite a nice guy who placed great importance on a commitment and also because he was young and not such a scrupulous businessman, Zhang Ye decided to say a few more words, "When I did my lecture on the Three Kingdoms, how many people doubted me? When I created my Talk Show, how many people called for my death? When I started lecturing on ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’, how many people were ready to skin me alive? In the end, I have never disappointed those who have trusted in me. CEO Wu, if you believe me, then just leave the whole advertising project planning to me. I will bend over backwards just to ensure your company is profitable!"
Wu Mo stamped out his cigarette, "I have no other choice!"
Zhang Ye had also finished smoking, "Then why don't we go inside? What sort of concept does the product, Brain Gold have? Explain to me in detail the science and technicalities behind the product."
Wu Mo asked, "Why do you need to know about these things?"
Zhang Ye asked, "The commercial we are doing, is actually the trump card, but having a trump card is not enough to create a miracle. We still need a supporting strategy."
Wu Mo naturally had no objections, "Alright, let's talk while we walk."
Along the way, Wu Mo gave Zhang Ye a detailed explanation of the product.
Zhang Ye discovered that this Brain Gold was actually the same as his previous world's Brain Platinum. The main ingredient was melatonin and only slightly differed on the additional ingredients.
This was even better than expected!
This campaign is almost a done deal!
In the meeting room.
Wu Mo called for a meeting with all involved personnel.
But Zhang Ye closed his eyes instead and bought a Memory Search Capsule from the game ring's system. After eating it, he went back to his world within his memory to remember all there was to know about the Brain Platinum's advertising campaign strategy. In his previous world, the biggest reason for Brain Platinum's success was the television commercial. It was especially retarded, but in the face of all those who thought it was the most retarded commercial ever broadcasted, it had created a miracle that had left everyone in the industry dumbfounded. In fact, in the history of the People's Republic of China, there had never been a commercial that had created a miracle like this that had left the deepest impression on so many eyeballs. Zhang Ye was one of those who had personally experienced it.
But the success of Brain Platinum was not down to just the credit of the commercial. Zhang Ye had mentioned that it was only the trump card in creating this miracle, but it still needed some special conditions!
One of these was the quality of the product. This was already a present condition.
The second was an omnipresent marketing campaign.
Thirdly, scientific editorials that did not have any traces of advertising to build up the campaign.
The last was the miraculous TV commercial that could brainwash people!
"Teacher Zhang?"
"Zhang Ye?"
"Aren't we having a meeting?"
"Why did he fall asleep?"
Everyone was discussing while at a loss at whether to laugh or cry. This person was a legend of the advertising world? Bullsh*t! It's really a case of meeting beats hearsay! To them, the legendary Zhang Ye was really too damn unprofessional!
Finally, Zhang Ye opened his eyes. "Sorry, I was just thinking about something."
Wu Mo was now resigned to his fate, "Tell us, what else do you need us to do?"
Zhang Ye said, "CEO Wu, I would like to know how much of our marketing budget is left? What I mean is, are there any additional funds that could be used. What is the highest figure?"
Wu Mo said helplessly, "Excluding your endorsement fee and advertising costs, we still have about one million."
Zhang Ye found it quite small, "Could we increase that?"
Wu Mo rolled his eyes, "We are an almost bankrupt company, how much more do you think I can use? We are already going for broke. We even took out a loan and put our bets on this."
Zhang Ye immediately said, "How about this, I won't take my endorsement fee and advertisement planning fees for now. Your company can pay me in a few months time instead. A few years later is fine too. We can add that clause to the contract too. Payment can be made in installments within 5 years, I'm fine with that. Then we can add that sum to the marketing budget. Since we are betting big, we might as well bet as much as we can! Knock on wood because if the company really closes down, then I won't take a single cent in endorsement fees. This can be added into the contract too!"
Director Wang was stunned!
Wu Mo and the staff of Brain Gold company were also stunned!
"Brother Zhang...." Wu Mo said, "Are you serious?"
Zhang Ye smiled, "I'm a man of my word. If I said it, then I definitely won't go back on it. Even if you don't put it in the contract, I will still do as I said."
If it were others who said this, no one would have believed them.
But since these words were uttered by Zhang Ye, no one doubted it!
What sort of person was Zhang Ye? This was a man who became broke to help save the life of a fan that he barely knew! At that time, how much money did he spend to help with his fan's treatment? It was much more than this endorsement fee! Zhang Ye did not care about money! That matter was just too beautiful. Even now, there were still many people and media relishing over this matter. This was also the only incident since his debut that Zhang Ye did not receive flak for. Zhang Ye's personality in other aspects may be considered terrible and he was infamous, but in terms of his character, no one had ever doubted him, nor could they doubt him. He had indeed done things in a fashion more beautiful than anyone else!
No one had expected these words from Zhang Ye. This was clearly a suggestion that was not in line with the interests of Zhang Ye.
Wu Mo eyes quivered for a moment. At this time, he finally believed that Teacher Zhang Ye was sincere in helping him. He had not been teasing him and was definitely not kidding everyone!
Wu Mo was still a fair-minded person. In a certain sense, he was very similar to Zhang Ye. They acted according to the maxim, 'However I get treated, I will treat others back the same'. "Teacher Zhang, that's not necessary. We will pay you however much you deserve. Our company will still be able to cough up another 300 to 400 thousand. With 1.3 to 1.4 million, that should be enough."
Zhang Ye shook his head, "It's really not enough. CEO Wu. Listen to me, just include my endorsement fee into the marketing budget. Even with that, I still find it lacking."
A woman from Brain Gold company asked in surprise, "What do you intend to do with that much money?"
Zhang Ye answered, "We will carry out large-scale advertising with it. We can't afford another TV commercial spot for now, but in Tieba pages, forums, internet TV, newspapers, we can still do a lot of advertising. We need to maximize the exposure for the provincial level, prefecture level, county level, and even the special districts. I am planning a large scale and multi-pronged carpet bombing attack of advertisements on all fronts. We cannot afford to do that for the long term at the moment, but in the short term, it is still possible. We need to do it all in the golden period during these few days before Chinese New Year. The more advertisements, the better!"
Director Wang was sweating, "Is that OK?"
Zhang Ye answered him, "Even that is not enough."
Wu Mo's eyes blackened, "Not enough? We still need more money?"
Zhang Ye smiled, "Not anymore. After we do all of this, the rest of it is simple. The money we need is also significantly less. Not even 100k is needed -- We need to find a guerrilla team!"
An advertising firm staff asked, "Why do we need them for?"
Zhang Ye said, "To post on forums and Tieba. Yo help us rally up awareness of our product!"
CEO Wang was almost speechless, "A guerrilla tactic is such a cheap technique. They can't do it legitimately and there's no meaning to it, right? It is already a thing of the past."
Zhang Ye said confidently, "The guerrilla tactic is a thing of the past? That is because the correct method and strategy has never been used. This sort of promotion technique will never get outdated."
Wu Mo said, "But if we resort to making advertisements in this manner, we would attract the ire of the masses. Everyone would be conflicted against us and the campaign would have a negative effect. The people these days are much more aware than in the past. They would easily be able to tell if it is an advertisement and won't even click on it."
Director Wang also said very professionally, "It's like this. In the past, our company had employed such means, but we no longer do so. Because it really is a waste of time."
Zhang Ye said joyfully, "When did I say we were going to advertise?"
Many advertising people who were present were left wondering, "Not advertising? Then why are we spending so much money for?"
Zhang Ye explained, "We are going to do a scientific editorial, going the deceptive path of a public service announcement. There will be no traces of advertising!"
Wu Mo did not understand, "What do you mean?"
Zhang Ye looked around, "Do you have a pen and paper?"
"Yea, what kind of paper and pen?" an advertising firm member asked.
Zhang Ye thought of showing everyone, so the words would have to be big. So he said, "Some Xuan paper and a calligraphy brush. A thin brush."
"Then I will go get them." A youth said.
In a short moment, the Four Treasures of the Study were prepared for Zhang Ye.
They did not know what kind of editorial script Zhang Ye was talking about, so all of them gathered around to see.
Zhang Ye did not eat the Memory Search Capsule for nothing earlier. He picked up the brush and immediately started writing. He would bring over all the scientific editorials for Brain Platinum from his world into this one. With some slight modifications, he wrote:
"A woman at forty, could be a blooming flower or a wilted flower".
For a woman who is past 40: Her skin becomes rougher and more wrinkly. Her body also becomes more bloated and there would be constant hair loss. All kinds of blemishes would appear and cause her to be more self conscious about her appearance. Unable to face herself in the mirror and with impending menopause, a large change would happen psychologically and physiologically. Due to this, people say: A woman at forty, could be a blooming flower or a wilted flower. Modern science has discovered that all of these changes in the brain are dictated by - DHA (Brain Gold). The brain is structured layer by layer, like an onion. The outermost layer is the cerebral cortex, while the innermost of the core is comprised of DHA. The amount of DHA in the brain directly affects the aging of organs in a person's body, and at the age of forty, the amount of DHA would be about 30% of the amount one has in childhood, resulting in most organs beginning to age. If a moderate amount of DHA is consumed every day, it can return one's organs to their youthful state. Skin cells will begin massive production (in deep sleep). Dead cells will be removed, and loose skin will turn elastic again. It will greatly delay the formation of wrinkles. The intestines would also return to a youthful state, effectively preventing toxins that are harmful to the skin from invading the body. It would eliminate colored spots, and even push back menopause.
Etc, etc, etc.
Zhang Ye finished writing.
Wu Mo exclaimed, "Is this the scientific editorial public service announcement that you were talking about?"
Director Wang was also staring dumbfounded. He suddenly exclaimed, "Great creativity! This is really great creativity! One will look at it and think it is scientific fact, but in reality this is really advertising! It may not be written clearly and obviously, but a seed would be buried. Once the Brain Gold advertisement is released, everyone would immediately recall the scientific editorials!"
A few other advertising creatives also gave remarks of admiration. So an advertisement could be done this way too! It can even be so silent and not outstanding! It's too sinister!
Was it unethical?
It was indeed a little bit unethical!
But those present looked at Zhang Ye with admiration!
However, Zhang Ye was not bothered by them. He just kept on writing the editorials with such speed onto the Xuan paper.
"Can humans become immortal?"
"2 Biological Bombs"
"Americans can sleep soundly, while the Chinese work! "
"A 'clock' exists in the human body"
"How astronauts sleep"
"A human can survive only five days without sleep"
"Not passing motion for a day = Smoking 3 packs of cigarettes"
He began writing from 3PM in the afternoon and continued on until it was 7:30PM. For almost 5 hours straight, Zhang Ye did not say a word and just wrote. He did not stop to have a drink, a bite of food, or even a rest in this period of time. It felt like he did not even blink or put down his brush during these 5 hours.
Everyone around him could only look on in awe!
"Teacher Zhang?"
"Uh, do you want to rest for a while?"
"We still have time."
"Teacher Zhang, why don't you have something to eat first?"
Zhang Ye's memories were strengthened by the memory search capsule and he continued on writing. He did not reply to them and just concentrated on writing.
Only after he finished his last editorial, did he put down his brush. He suddenly felt a rush of tiredness and he heaved a sigh and rubbed his eyes before quickly sitting down.
Wu Mo shouted, "Water! Water!"
A person rushed to get it, "Coming, coming!"
"Go and get takeout for Teacher Zhang!" Director Wang was also rather worried.
Quite a few of them had taken their time earlier to go and have their dinner while Zhang Ye was busying himself with his writings.
Many of the advertising creatives were curious about the writings that Zhang Ye had done. They browsed through a few pages of it and counted each one. All of them could only look on admirably at Zhang Ye. They finally understood why Teacher Zhang Ye was so famous. With this skill of his, who could ever compete with him? He stood there motionlessly on the spot for five hours writing. He did not even have a draft, and yet there was not a single wrong word! The writing was fluent and every sentence was on point. It was so well written that it made the point directed at the sales crowd. Things like insomnia or aging for women were all presented in a way that maximized the use of scientific knowledge to back it up. If someone read this, they would be 'brainwashed' by all the 'DHA (Brain Gold)' words that were used!
Every word was a classic!
Every sentence was shocking!
The words were good, so the sentence’s were even better!
He definitely deserved the title of a legend. He was just as good as they had heard he was! The creative writing was just too impressive!
If it were any other advertiser, just picking out a random editorial from those that were written, would have required the brainstorming of a team for several days before they could come up with a copy at such a standard, but look at Teacher Zhang Ye? Without rest, he had written seven to eight editorials in one fell swoop!
One of him would be enough to match ten advertising teams!
They all looked at each other, stunned by the capabilities of Zhang Ye!
Director Wang, who had taken a look too, could only suck in a deep breath. He looked at Zhang Ye, "Teacher Zhang, if you would join our firm, we would definitely break out of Asia! Your writing talent is too amazing! Our company's staff strength, even when combined, would not match up to your ability!"
Zhang Ye just smiled, "This is what I do professionally. Writing something like this is my forte. That is why I might be a little quicker than you all. Here, take a look everyone."
They had all finished reading it already and they couldn't stop praising it at all!
It was so crafty! This advertisement was full of deception!
There was not a single mention of eating "Brain Gold" anywhere, but yet every sentence was telling everyone that if there was a lack of Brain Gold, they would not able to survive!
Zhang Ye said, "With these, we need to send people to post them onto Tieba pages and forums to spread the word. Then through the guerrilla teams, we can make it go viral to complement the TV commercial. This would signal the beginning of the first step!"
Wu Mo finally revealed a smile, "Brother Zhang Ye. Only now do I realize that giving you over a million in endorsement fee was well worth the money!" If it were anyone else, who would work as hard as Teacher Zhang Ye!? It was really worth every dollar!
Zhang Ye gulped down his water and finished the bottle. Then he said, "It was definitely worth it for you, but now I'm exhausted. Can I get a meal? I need some food desperately!"
Although Wu Mo and Director Wang still did not think that the jingle "The only gift I will accept is Brain Gold" was good, they still recognized the guerrilla marketing tactics. There was also nothing to criticize about Zhang Ye's editorials. Director Wang's team looked like amateurs in front of Zhang Ye.
Zhang Ye began eating, while stuffing food into his mouth.
Spotting a chance, Wu Mo suggested, "This marketing technique is so good, we should really focus more on it. As for the TV commercial, shouldn't we change it a little? Change it to a promotion style similar to propaganda? We could first talk about the harms before we promote our product. Although 15 seconds is not enough, by condensing it a little, there should not be any problems."
Zhang Ye shook his head, and carried on with his dinner without a word.
No one was clearer about it than Zhang Ye. If not for the TV commercial, all of this publicity would amount to nothing!
Forum advertising?
Spreading editorial messages?
Guerrilla marketing online?
Any of these could be canceled, but definitely not the retarded TV commercial!
But this was not the time to explain, since none of them would get it anyway. This was why Zhang Ye did not bother to explain, as long as the whole process was done according to his instructions, they could always thank him later!