Chapter 359 Too Popular
Deng Siyuan is the head of the propaganda department in Beijing and Taiwan.
Previously, the promotion of the show "Friends" had gone wrong, which put him under a lot of pressure. This time, with "The Seventeenth Floor," he and his department put in a lot of effort to try and turn things around, but the ratings were problematic.
He immediately said, "This is not a problem with our department. We managed to raise the peak viewership of the first episode to 1%, which shows that our promotional work was absolutely effective. The reason it keeps declining is that the show itself is not attractive and cannot retain viewers."
It's not uncommon for people to pass the buck to each other.
However, Deng Siyuan's words undoubtedly shifted all the blame for the poor performance of "The Seventeen Floors" onto the production department.
However, who could have imagined that in just one day, "The Seventeenth Floor" would become a sensation on Aurora Video, proving to everyone with record-breaking online viewership that its content itself was not problematic and that it could attract viewers.
When Jiang Lan said these words at this time—even if it's just a rumor or hearsay—it already expresses a certain attitude.
Deng Siyuan was furious.
He immediately went to report to the leaders of Taiwan.
The station's top management immediately held a meeting.
"It's undeniable that 'The Seventeenth Floor' did well on the Northern Lights TV show, but I didn't cut corners at all in promoting it. Leaders, you can see that I really put all my effort into promoting this show. It's our king of dramas, and I didn't slack off at all."
"No one said you were lazy, and no one said you were slacking off." Jiang Lan sneered softly, "It's just that your wide-ranging, broad-based promotional methods have benefited others. Just look at the data from Aurora Broadcasting. The fact that 'The Seventeenth Floor' was so well-received by Aurora Broadcasting is partly due to your efforts."
"Huh?" Deng Siyuan was stunned.
What the heck?
Jiang Lan said, "The ratings for the first episode kept dropping the day before yesterday. Minister Deng said that the quality of our drama itself was not attractive enough. Yesterday, the ratings for the second episode, well, they weren't very high, but they did live up to Minister Deng's words and stabilized at 0.7. The overall average ratings were even a little higher than the first episode and didn't continue to drop."
Deng Siyuan gave a smirk.
“Chief Jiang, I only did the analysis based on the data before.”
“I know, otherwise why would I say you’re doing all the work for someone else?” Jiang Lan smiled slightly, but her eyes were cold. “I got some news late last night. The night before last, after the first episode aired, the people from Northern Lights immediately called Chen Siqi, the girl who co-founded the magazine with Lu Yanhe. They decided to buy their pre-order campaign tailored for ‘The Seventeenth Floor’ to promote the show. Yesterday, the trending topics were all about the guests and information from their event. Moreover, it effectively converted viewership. The number of viewers exceeded ten million within an hour of the premiere. Even if we don’t do online video, we should understand the value of this data, right? A top-tier drama like S+ only averages fifty to sixty million views per episode.”
"Why is it that when our ratings are declining, everyone is predicting a downturn, while Aurora Studios is actually increasing its promotional budget and launching this campaign?" Jiang Lan's gaze was fixed on Deng Siyuan. "Because they can see from the inverse relationship between the declining ratings and the phenomenal critical acclaim of the same series that there are a large number of potential viewers who haven't even watched the show yet, so they want to grab those viewers. But we, because of a 1% peak, assume we've already grabbed all the viewers we could, and the problem is not retaining them. Of course, viewers in their forties and fifties won't stay, but did you really manage to win over viewers in their twenties and thirties from the very beginning?"
Deng Siyuan's forehead was beaded with sweat from Jiang Lan's interrogation.
Jiang Lan: "Did you know that a professor from the School of Communication at Zhenhua University posted on his social media today, directly criticizing our Beijing-Taiwan propaganda about 'The Seventeen Floors' as the least cost-effective form of propaganda that consumes a lot of manpower, financial resources, and material resources?"
Deng Siyuan: "Nowadays, many professors deliberately say alarmist things in order to become famous."
“He’s a professor at Zhenhua University, Minister Deng,” Jiang Lan cautioned. “Don’t compare him to those so-called rubbish experts.”
Deng Siyuan took a deep breath.
Jiang Lan: "And I heard another piece of news. A month ago, Chen Siqi actually contacted your department, wanting to collaborate on a customized promotional plan for 'The Seventeen Floors,' but you refused because they had made you lose face once with the show 'Friends.' They turned the tide and saved the ratings of 'Friends,' but they made you lose face."
All eyes were on Deng Siyuan's face.
At this moment, Deng Siyuan felt a sense of unease, a feeling he hadn't experienced in a long time.
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On Sunday night, the second episode of "The Seventeenth Floor" was released on Aurora Studios, and its popularity remained high. What's even more outrageous is that in just one day, the number of pre-roll ads increased by four, following the eight pre-roll ads in the first episode.
The change in this data alone shows that the market highly approves of the performance of "The Seventeenth Floor".
After discovering this, fans of the show spread the word and wished they could tell the whole world.
Those who have been criticizing "The Seventeenth Floor" these past two days, take a good look!
The unexpected turn of events in public opinion allowed almost everyone involved in "The Seventeenth Floor" to breathe a sigh of relief.
This includes Chen Bige.
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Chen Bige holds a very high position, but she hasn't released a blockbuster work in a long time.
Over the years, she has focused on movies. While her films haven't exactly flopped at the box office, in a market where films often gross billions, most of the ones she starred in only grossed a few hundred million. She made money, but it didn't do much for an actress of her caliber, nor did it win her any major awards. In recent years, she has only maintained her status.
After all, their status was already at its highest point, with no further advancement possible.
Returning to the small screen this time, choosing a TV series like "The Seventeenth Floor" is a big challenge for her.
When she made this decision, many people advised her not to choose such a risky subject and to play it safe first.
Given her position, barring a major setback, she could maintain it until retirement.
But Chen Bige still hoped to make a new breakthrough.
As an actor, I have made breakthroughs in acting; as a career, I have achieved breakthroughs in the level of my career.
“Many young viewers have only heard my name but don’t recognize me,” Chen Bige said. “I’m not old enough to retire yet, am I? I’m only in my thirties. Many actors my age are still big stars and very famous. Why should I start to retire?”
Her team members all said, "Who wouldn't want to be in your position?"
“But I want to be seen by the audience, to be liked by everyone, I don’t want to retire.” Chen Bige insisted on choosing “The Seventeen Floors”.
This time, Chen Bige's performance in "The Seventeenth Floor" was unsurprisingly a huge hit.
The orphan Li Meng, whom she plays, grew up in the lower class and is wary of people. She has the wit and resourcefulness that comes from being raised in the streets. In such a cruel environment, she shows extraordinary abilities and responsiveness, which makes it easy for the audience to sympathize with her and admire her at the same time.
Chen Bige's masterful acting skills portrayed the character as both cold and stubborn, yet also possessing a vulnerability that evoked tenderness and pity.
In contrast, the other characters, because the plot has not yet fully unfolded, have not received as much discussion as Chen Bige.
However, Lu Yanhe's portrayal of the ahoge genius still sparked a lot of discussion, mainly among girls who love this type.
This type of character is not uncommon and has a very large audience. Lu Yanhe put a lot of effort into fleshing out the details in his portrayal of this character.
He accepted a short video interview with Li Bi—Li Bi created a special section for his short videos called "Eight Questions, Eight Answers".
One of the questions is: What was the biggest challenge in starring in "The Seventeenth Floor"?
Lu Yanhe said, "From the perspective of the difficulty of the actors' performance, everyone in this play has very good acting skills. How to make me shine is one of the difficulties. From the perspective of character shaping, the biggest difficulty is how to make such a genius who is just not good at expressing emotions not seem like a fool."
Li Bi interviewed Lu Yanhe from the car.
The camera was pointed at him and filmed.
Lu Yanhe said, "This is a technical difficulty, which is exactly what I lack the most. So, I was actually anxious for a long time. Later, I came up with a solution, which was to watch a lot of movies and TV series and imitate them. If I couldn't build it myself, I would imitate it first. After I got rid of the mental burden of having to create a unique 'Lu Yanhe' 'ahoge genius', I relaxed and had some ideas."
Li Bi's short videos are usually two to three minutes long.
One question, one short video.
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After interviewing Lu Yanhe, Li Bi immediately made an appointment with Chen Bige.
He has only been making short videos for less than a year. Although he has made rapid progress by leveraging the connections of Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi, he has not yet truly made a name for himself.
Therefore, Li Bi's self-designed route was to "hitch a ride".
In the very beginning, don't try to come up with any innovative topics; just jump on whatever has the most traffic.
Find out which films and TV series are about to be released, and proactively reach out to them and discuss cooperation.
When singers release new songs or have concerts, we proactively apply for collaborations as soon as possible.
Many people refuse, but there are always some who accept.
As his viewership gradually increased, brands finally started to integrate his short video programs.
With the airing of "The Seventeenth Floor," Li Bi knew that this was an opportunity he absolutely could not let go of.
So, the first person he asked for was Lu Yanhe's time. The recording took about forty minutes, a short drive.
The key to this column lies in how to ask the eight questions.
A good question will get a good answer.
If you ask the wrong questions, you might end up with nothing but the same old answers.
Therefore, Li Bi usually prepares one hundred questions each time, and then asks the editors of the "Jump Up" self-media to help select the eight most representative questions.
This is a very demanding job, even physically demanding.
Li Bi, however, persisted.
And Li Bi is not a person who sticks to old ways.
For every artist who comes to his short video channel, he will apply for a grant to help the artist market a topic based on a point in his short video.
Many times when I really had no money, I could only go to Chen Siqi.
“Consider this a loan from me, and I will pay it back later,” Li Bi said.
When Chen Siqi heard Li Bi say that, she knew that Li Bi truly regarded this program as his career.
If a capable person is truly willing to put in the effort, then the investor only needs to focus on the investment itself.
Sure enough, by a month ago, Li Bi finally achieved profitability for a single video, with traffic advertising revenue and product placement sponsorship revenue covering his operating costs and marketing expenses.
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The huge success of "The Seventeenth Floor" has put the lead actors on a non-stop work schedule.
That's how the market works; whoever is popular, everyone chases after them.
And once again, everyone was frustrated to find that Lu Yanhe was still the same as before. No matter how they talked to him, he wouldn't take on too much work and keep himself on the go.
Basically, there's only one public appearance per week, including recording a TV show.
This forces everyone to face a situation where there are too many monks and not enough meat.
Who would want that?
Fortunately, "The Seventeenth Floor" has a large cast, which means that everyone can more or less secure a slot with one or two actors.
Fortunately, "The Seventeenth Floor" is a weekly drama, which extends the series' run and maintains its popularity for longer. This means that the various partners don't have to fight tooth and nail over who gets to work on a particular person's schedule. They can even negotiate their schedules amicably, like going to one person's show today and another's tomorrow.
Only Lu Yanhe goes nowhere; this boy deserves to be killed!
Li Bi's "Eight Questions and Answers" column has been updated for eight days, and his eighth question is "Why do you always deliberately reduce your exposure? You are clearly a very hardworking person who cares a lot about this career."
When Li Bi asked this question, Lu Yanhe was stunned.
No one ever asked him to combine these two things into one question.
Many people think he's lazy, aloof, or that he became famous suddenly and was lucky, so they don't care about the hype.
Only Li Bi could see clearly that he was deliberately reducing his exposure.
Lu Yanhe couldn't help but lower his head and chuckle.
"Can I tell you the truth?" Lu Yanhe pursed his lips and hesitated for a second before saying, "Because I feel I'm too famous."
“It’s not that I’m in Versailles; it’s probably just because of everyone’s favoritism, plus some unexpected luck, that I seem to be trending on social media from time to time and being seen by everyone. If I want to be a good actor, I have to maintain a certain degree of mystery. It’s not that I’m going to live in the deep mountains and forests so that no one can see me, but I don’t want people to see me every now and then. If someone is always in front of the audience, they will get tired of seeing them,” Lu Yanhe said.
“Actually, most of the time when I’m not meeting with everyone, I’m doing my own thing. I’m reading, writing scripts, reading scripts, and meeting with producers, directors and other actors,” Lu Yanhe said. “That’s what I’m doing.”
This response immediately sparked a massive online discussion.
—I think I'm too famous.
Listen to this! Is this even human language?!
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"Which celebrity normally wishes they were more famous? But you? You, on the contrary, openly complain that you're too famous." Chen Ziyan couldn't help but laugh and scold, "You're stabbing someone in the back."
Lu Yanhe: "This really wasn't my intention, Sister Ziyan."
Chen Ziyan: "Anyway, whether it was your intention or not, you've definitely become the target of everyone's slander now."
Lu Yanhe was both amused and exasperated.
"Should I step forward and apologize?"
"What are you going to apologize for? Apologize for saying you shouldn't have said you're too famous?" Chen Ziyan sighed. "You should just forget about it and wait for the storm to pass."
The main reason is probably because of Lu Yanhe's words. Although they were arrogant, they were true. And no one can say anything against him for that.
Many netizens also found Lu Yanhe's words interesting and genuine.
(End of this chapter)
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