Chapter 197 CCTV Advertisement: Winter in the North always seems to come sooner than...
Winter always seems to come earlier in the north than in the south. At the end of September or the beginning of October, when military training is over, people in the south are still wearing short-sleeved shirts and shorts, while people in the north have already changed into thick coats and trousers.
A month later, in November, a heavy snow fell in Beijing.
On Sunday afternoon, the beginning of winter, in the office of the Beijing branch of Southern Women's Wear, Xu Heye, Pang Qiao, and her newly hired assistant Wen Ling, gathered around the stove, watching the news broadcast while eating hot pot.
Hot mutton bone soup with potato slices, cabbage, kelp knots and various meat slices.
Xu Heye picked up a piece of tripe, put it in the boiling hot soup, and lifted it up and down to blanch it, counting one, two, three, four in her heart... It is said that tripe is the most tender and can be eaten after being blanched for seven or eight seconds. If it is blanched for more than ten seconds, it will lose its fresh and crispy taste.
As she was counting, she heard Wen Ling excitedly say, "Boss, the news broadcast is almost over."
"Is it over?" Xu Heye loosened her grip, and the piece of tripe she had carefully boiled fell into the pot. It rolled a few times in the boiling hot soup and then sank to the bottom, disappearing without a trace.
She subconsciously put down her chopsticks and looked at the TV. Next to Xu Heye, Pang Qiao and Wen Ling did the same thing.
With the familiar news closing remarks, the News Broadcast quickly ended, followed by a 30-second down jacket advertisement.
"When buying down jackets, buy Nanfang. Nanfang down jackets give you the warmth and companionship of your loved ones." Xu Heye subconsciously held her breath, and only after the last advertising slogan was broadcast did she let out a long sigh.
This was CCTV's first advertisement.
It is also the first advertisement launched by Southern Women's Wear.
For this advertisement, Xu Heye mobilized all the connections she could get.
Through her second aunt He Zhijun, Xu Heye met He Zhijie, the eldest uncle of the He family. Then, with He Zhijie's introduction, Xu Heye met Yang Shengguang, the director of CCTV.
At this time, CCTV was like a wealthy family that had fallen on hard times. It looked glamorous, but was actually extremely poor, no different from living in the palace and eating coarse food.
In the machine room, old machinery creaked, cameras would suddenly go black while recording, and smoke would occasionally billow from the control room. Getting paid was like winning the lottery, all based on luck, and Yang Shengguang had to dig up the extra money himself.
The staff at the station were all wondering whether they should go to the train station and find a corner to set up a stall to sell tea eggs.
However, local TV stations are thriving with advertising, collecting generous advertising fees, and their directors are enjoying a good night's sleep. Only CCTV, despite its prestigious reputation, is struggling internally.
Yang Shengguang also wanted to get advertising on CCTV, but the approval process alone was so tedious that several companies that applied to run ads on CCTV went bankrupt by the time they were approved.
This advertisement is a case of acting first and asking for permission later.
In order to reduce mistakes, Xu Heye and Yang Shengguang supervised the entire filming process of this advertisement.
Xu Heye was responsible for ensuring that the advertising images and copy highlighted the advantages of Nanfang down jackets, while Yang Shengguang was responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the images and copy. CCTV represents the face of the entire country, and its advertisements cannot contain any controversy.
The filming alone took a full half month. The advertising copy and the order of the images were carefully considered word by word before being edited into this short thirty seconds.
As soon as the advertisement was broadcast, Xu Heye breathed a sigh of relief.
But she knew the problems were just beginning.
In the director's office at CCTV headquarters, the telephone lines seemed to be exploding, and the anger of the Audit Department seemed to be transmitted to the office through the telephone lines.
"What's going on?"
Yang Shengguang unfolded the account book in his hand and said calmly, "CCTV is almost broke."
The equipment is as old as a radio from the 1980s, and the subsidies are like radiators in winter: slow to heat up and occasionally break down. Without this wave of ads, the news broadcast might suddenly go black one day.
Audit Department: “…”
The first shot has been fired, and the next step is to see the subsequent response.
The next day, Monday, Xu Heye went to school. At 6 p.m., after finishing her last class, Xu Heye ran out of the school, her books in her arms.
Wen Ling drove a Santana to pick her up at the school gate. Xu Heye got in the car. While driving, Wen Ling reported the sales of various stores in Beijing today.
"Boss, today, our eight stores in Beijing City brought in nearly a million in sales. I haven't had time to ask about Hucheng yet. But I spoke with Accountant Dong on the phone this afternoon, and he's been busy there as well."
"Also, we're running low on inventory in Beijing. The stock in the warehouse can only last for another week at most. I contacted the main factory and asked them to transfer some stock over.
In addition, Sales Manager Dong called me and said that many dealers saw the phone number on our advertisement and called the factory to ask if they could become our agents and get clothes from our factory to sell.
But the problem is, although the main factory had stocked up, they didn't anticipate the ad would be so effective. So, they didn't stock up enough, and if we don't export, we can only sell it for about 20 days if we only sell it in our own stores.
So he asked me to ask you whether the dealer should refuse it."
Xu Heye thought for a moment and said, "Let me think about it first."
"Okay." Wen Ling turned her attention to the road. After the car stopped, the two walked into the office. Xu Heye turned on the TV. The news broadcast was about to end.
Against a blue backdrop, two anchors sat at attention, sorting through the manuscripts on their desks. Xu Heye waited for several seconds until the news ended and an advertisement for their Southern Women's Wear brand began to play.
A smile appeared on Xu Heye's face.
She looked at Wen Ling and saw that Wen Ling was also relieved.
The ad was not withdrawn.
On the CCTV side, Director Yang withstood the pressure from the review department.
Their ads will be able to air until the end of the year as they expected. As for the prime time slot after the New Year, they probably can't think of it.
Fortunately, three months is enough for the image of their Southern down jackets to penetrate into the hearts of people across the country.
With the support of advertising, we can take bigger steps in the future.
Xu Heye returned to the office and asked Wen Ling to bring over some of the questions she had recorded today, and then started calling Hu Cheng.
In Hucheng, the Southern Women's Clothing Factory is brightly lit.
Duan Jie received the call and quickly called Dong Fuyun, "Manager, come over quickly. Someone from Beijing City is calling."
"Tell He Ye to wait for me." Dong Fuyun pressed the receiver and gave an order, then said to the other end of the line, "Boss Zhao, I'm sorry, I have something urgent to deal with here. I'll ask my sales representative to contact you."
"It's okay, it's okay. You go first." Boss Zhao said very kindly.
"Thank you, thank you. I'll treat you to dinner later." Dong Fuyun said, then waved to a new salesperson, "Come here and have a good chat with Boss Zhao."
Dong Fuyun handed the phone to the salesperson and looked around. There were six landlines in the office of about 20 square meters. There were two salespeople sitting next to each landline, one to answer the phone and the other to record the information.
Xu Heye entered another office and took the phone from Duan Jie. "Hello."
"Uncle," Xu Heye said, "Uncle, the opportunity to make our factory famous throughout the country has arrived."
After hanging up the phone, Xu Heye's hands and feet were shaking.
She had only one order for Dong Fuyun: Don't worry about sales, just go for it. If there's not enough material, order it; if there's not enough staff, hire. In short, take on this wave of traffic at all costs.
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