Chapter 540 Advertising Fees May Break Records! (Bonus Chapter)
"Mr. Xu, Tyson laundry detergent, Haishan bibimbap sauce, and Genki beverage have all contacted us again, wanting to be featured in the commercials on Friends."
Xu Senjin nodded and said, "Of course we welcome them back. However, since there was a temporary withdrawal of advertisements earlier, we need to increase the number of advertisements by 20% this time."
The head of the advertising department standing in front of him hesitated for a moment, then asked to confirm, "Is it a 20% increase on top of the previous sponsorship fee?"
"Is there a problem?" Xu Senjin raised his eyebrows slightly and asked.
"Director, we already negotiated the sponsorship fee at the maximum price."
“I know, but they withdrew their sponsorship at the last minute before the broadcast,” Xu Senjin said. “Now that they want to come back, of course we can’t follow the previous standards, otherwise other sponsors will follow suit, and how will we attract sponsors in the future?”
"Yes, but 20%... Okay, I understand, I'll go tell them."
"The highest ratings for the premiere episode already exceeded 2. As of now, the number of online searches for this drama is number one in the entertainment category. Sponsoring this drama means how many people will see it, which we don't need to emphasize to them," Xu Senjin said. "The third rebroadcast at 7:30 this morning still had a rating of 0.64%."
Xu Senjin indicated that the discussion on this matter had ended.
The head of the advertising department left.
The secretary knocked and came in, saying, "Director Xu, Director Shen Tailin from Beijing and Taiwan would like to invite you to dinner this weekend."
Xu Senjin said, "They must be coming to me again, wanting 'Friends' to be broadcast a second time on Beijing and Taiwan."
The secretary maintained her smile, awaiting Xu Senjin's instructions.
"Tomorrow night," Xu Senjin said. "Tell me that's the only time I'm free tomorrow night at eight o'clock."
“Okay.” The secretary nodded. “There’s one more thing. You asked me to remind you that the Friends cast will be at the station this afternoon to record Saturday Night. The rehearsal starts at 3 p.m., and the cast will arrive at 2:30 p.m.
"Okay, everyone has their own dressing room, right?"
"Yes, I've explained everything to them; they're all independent."
"Okay, you need to personally check the gifts prepared for them to make sure they don't make any mistakes."
"OK."
Xu Senjin's phone rang.
It was the director of another TV station calling.
The secretary tactfully withdrew and closed the office door.
Xu Senjin answered the phone.
"Wang Tai, why are you calling me so early on a Saturday? Why didn't you sleep in a little longer?"
...
Saturday morning, which should have been a relaxing day off, a time to sleep in.
However, for those working at top-tier television stations, this means they are destined not to be able to sleep lazily.
The explosive start of Friends was a shot in the heart for every television professional whose career was in decline.
With an average viewership rating exceeding 1.9% and a peak rating exceeding 2%, these figures are unattainable for any local TV station in this era, except for CCTV.
But Friends did it.
Even though everyone anticipated that with the return of Bai Jingnian and Lu Yanhe, and the viral marketing campaign for the show's premiere, including a 24-hour exclusive broadcast window, the show's premiere performance would definitely be good, everyone's expectation was only to break 1.
Breaking the 1 mark is already an incredible miracle.
As a result, Friends came out with a bang.
That's an exaggeration.
how so?
Why is it that even though the third season was so bad, with its ratings collapsing below the standards of Beijing TV, Friends was able to completely ignore its early failures?
Has Lu Yanhe's influence reached this level?
On Saturday morning, every major TV station, especially those specializing in dramas, was working overtime to analyze the reasons behind this.
Cast?
Of course, after the first three seasons, the six actors of Friends have seen a significant increase in both popularity and appeal compared to the first season, which is undeniable.
But can it really boost the viewership base?
I'm sorry, but in this day and age, no actor can do that.
Is it advertising and marketing?
Of course, the promotion and marketing of this drama can be said to be the best in recent years.
The ubiquitous online and offline advertising campaigns mean that they are extremely expensive to run.
However, if such promotion can generate a 1.96% opening rate, any drama or any TV station would be willing to spend money on it, because it can generate several times the advertising revenue.
what else?
This show is incredibly good!
No, you can tell from the ratings of this show's premiere. Within one minute of its premiere, the real-time ratings reached over 1.8%.
Why?
Why exactly?
TV Review published an article at 9:42 a.m. commenting on the premiere results of Friends, directly pointing out:
—I imagine this Saturday morning will be a busy one for any frontline TV station that is still determined to give it their all.
Why did Friends achieve such phenomenal ratings upon its premiere? This question will likely linger in the minds of every television professional for some time to come.
—I must say, just looking at my circle of friends, there's almost no one I know who hasn't watched *Friends*. It sounds exaggerated, but it's true. Over the past few years, this show has captivated everyone around me with its various topics and discussions. Just look at how many people criticized the third season to know how many people watched it.
Why did Friends achieve such an epic start? I can't give a particularly professional and objective explanation, but allow me to make a bold guess: it's the unique charm of sitcoms.
The biggest difference between sitcoms and other types of dramas is that once you get into the story and become familiar with the characters, you don't actually need to know what each episode is about. You can start watching from any episode because it's not a show with a strong story or plot.
—And over the past three years, the cast of Friends has almost become a symbol of the internet age. I'm not referring to a grand symbol, but rather a cultural icon. We use Li Lili to describe those pretty, slightly temperamental but innocent city girls, and we use the perspectives, attitudes, and choices of many characters in the show to explain how many young people in our time think.
This drama has spent three years creating such a cultural context, and the news that Lu Yanhe is bringing everyone back to this drama is a rallying cry, calling on all those who have been moved by this cultural context to return.
-
“The magazine ‘TV Review’ is always praising you from the front lines.” Li Zhibai said with some envy, “I noticed it a long time ago. For every drama you star in, this magazine never hesitates to praise you. They ask people to write articles in advance and publish them as soon as possible to support you.”
Lu Yanhe, who had just woken up at ten o'clock, came to Li Zhibai and Yan Liang's place in his pajamas. He sat on the carpet, drinking oat milk, and listened to Li Zhibai read to him media reviews of "Friends".
Lu Yanhe immediately said, "Television Review has always taken an encouraging and praising attitude towards my dramas. Don't forget, it also gave positive reviews to your starring roles in 'Washe' and 'Baiyuyao'."
Li Zhibai: "Wow, you remember all of this?"
“I’m a loyal reader of TV Review. I don’t have that much time to watch every show. I can only learn about the shows that are currently airing through their reports and reviews,” Lu Yanhe said with a smile. “I need to know about market changes.”
Li Zhibai: "You're exaggerating. I seriously doubt how much information you actually feed your brain every day."
Yan Liang came out of the kitchen with his water glass in his hand.
He reminded Yan He, "We're leaving in an hour."
"Okay." Lu Yanhe nodded. "I haven't asked you yet, how did your talk with Zhou Ping'an go this morning?"
"He tried to convince me that even if he signed with Mengli, it wouldn't affect my work." Yan Liang also sat down cross-legged and opened his water glass.
Li Zhibai glanced into his water glass and clicked his tongue, "What are you drinking? Why does it taste like Chinese medicine?"
"I just added some medicinal herbs that are good for your health." Yan Liang was somewhat speechless. "You're so weak, you should drink some too."
"So were you finally convinced?" Lu Yanhe asked with a smile, bringing the conversation back on track.
“Of course not. I was very insistent that I have an executive agent who can handle my work at any time,” Yan Liang said. “He was a little unhappy in the end, but he still agreed.”
“Of course he has to agree. Given your current situation, as long as you don’t leave Xingyu, you can kick him out anytime and get another agent.” Li Zhibai curled his lips. “If you leave, even if you get another Mengli, it won’t work.”
Lu Yanhe asked, "But would you be willing to let him arrange an executive agent for you?"
“If I don’t let him make the arrangements, he won’t easily agree. Although I can change agents, he and I both know that if I change agents now, I will have at least half a year to spend adjusting to the new agent.” Yan Liang shrugged. “Especially after Friends became popular again, my invitations from all sides have increased exponentially. It’s not a good time for a new agent to take over.”
Lu Yanhe nodded, "Indeed."
Yan Liang said, "Moreover, since the executive agent asked him to make the arrangements, and I also requested to hire a new assistant and a full-time driver, he was less afraid of me."
"Wow, Yan Liang, you're playing mind games with him."
"If you want to peacefully acquire some of your own power, you can only do it little by little like this." Yan Liang shrugged again. "I've learned a lot from Yan He."
Lu Yanhe quickly shook his head, "I wouldn't dare. If I had such ability, I wouldn't have been suppressed by Zhou Ping'an for so long back then."
“You’ve made great progress in the past two years. Sister Ziyan has taught you a lot, and I’ve learned a lot from her as well,” Yan Liang said, then looked at Li Zhibai. “Especially the part about Li Zhibai breaking up with Zhou Ping’an, it made me think for a long time, because I will face that day sooner or later. I’ve been thinking about how to protect myself in this war as much as possible and not be too affected.”
Li Zhibai's advantage lies in his family background, which no one dares to mess with, and his immense popularity since his debut, which allows him to go anywhere without having to be cautious.
Of course, there's another crucial point. Li Zhibai isn't the model student image of Lu Yanhe. From the beginning of his career, he's been a cocky guy. So, if you try to fabricate some scandal about him being a playboy, having a bad temper, or being unprofessional to blackmail him, you won't succeed at all, because not many people think of him in a positive light.
Simply put, Li Zhibai has been an idol with a 70% image since his debut. No matter how much mud you throw at him, it won't really get to him.
This is what Lu Yanhe envies most about Li Zhibai.
If one day he were photographed drinking or smoking (although he doesn't actually smoke, this is just an example), many people would be shocked and say:
—You actually drank alcohol?!
—You smoke?!
Lu Yanhe finished his oat milk in one gulp and let out a satisfied burp.
"I'm going to take a shower, then I'll get ready to leave."
"Hmm." Li Zhi asked, "So none of you are eating lunch?"
"Didn't Yan Liang make a big pot of chicken soup?" Lu Yanhe said. "I'll just have a bowl of that. I just ate a bowl of noodles and I can't eat anymore."
Li Zhi looked at Yan Liang with utter disbelief.
"You even made chicken soup? How weak are you to do all this nonsense?"
Yan Liang: "If you want to be in good condition when you are forty or fifty, you have to start paying attention to health preservation from the age of twenty."
"You're kidding me." Li Zhibai expressed his attitude without any politeness.
-
"We all know very well that this show will definitely make history, so if you want to add ads, OK, that's fine. But please stop joking about the price we just discussed."
Zheng Huai-ren sat in his office, holding his phone. The autumn sunlight flowed around him like honey, making his smile look exceptionally sweet and gentle, like an alluring trap.
As the exclusive online streaming platform for "Friends," although the first episode won't be available until 8 PM tonight, its performance on Yuehu TV last night is enough to prove that the market hasn't completely lost faith in the series. As long as viewers have something to look forward to, they are still willing to support the show.
The title sponsorship and other sponsorship positions on the network are naturally highly sought after.
In fact, all the available spaces have already been sold.
But with Friends poised to become the year's biggest hit, brands that missed out before are naturally eager to jump on board.
And buying a replacement ticket—of course—would cost even more.
After all, those who bought tickets before were gambling, while those who are now buying tickets have already seen the speed of this train.
Zheng Huai-ren dealt with several advertisers who tried to appeal to his emotions, then put his phone on silent, plugged it in to charge, and set it aside.
We need to calm down now.
Zheng Huai-ren picked up the data report that had just been delivered—
This report shows the number of pre-orders for "Friends" and the number of real-time searches on the site.
Although the first episode hasn't even been released yet, the show has already reached the top spot in real-time search volume on the site.
Even the number of views for the trailers is increasing wildly.
Clearly, this is data generated by people who want to watch Friends but can't see the full episode yet and can only click to see the trailer.
In fact, in his opinion, the way to leverage the commercial value of "Friends" is not through attracting new members or through advertising sponsorships during the broadcast. If Lu Yanhe and the others agree, they can do product placement. Given the popularity of "Friends", product placement alone can easily bring in hundreds of millions of yuan.
To understand what Friends is about, you need to know that it's about the daily lives of a group of modern urban men and women.
There are so many places where it can be implanted!
The revenue from product placements is over 100 million; this figure is by no means an exaggeration.
However, Lu Yanhe and his team have always strongly opposed this, resolutely refusing to include product placement in the main content, because they firmly disagree with the advertisers' request to insert a certain advertising slogan into their lines.
In the current market environment, only Lu Yanhe and Bai Jingnian can refuse this.
The head of the advertising department knocked on the door and came in, looking excited.
"President Zheng!" He couldn't hide his excitement at all. "Songquan Home Furnishings wants to invite Lu Yanhe and five others to shoot a short advertisement for them to play on TV. They said they're willing to give 100 million yuan if we can do that."
Zheng Huai-ren's eyelids didn't even twitch.
"Reject them."
"Refuse?" The head of the advertising department was stunned and incredulous. Zheng Huai-ren didn't even hesitate for a moment.
"Six A-list celebrities, playing characters from 'Friends,' filming short commercials for them, even having them played as inserts in ads, and they only get 100 million?" Zheng Huai-ren asked. "How do you calculate this? Do you know that our online title sponsor's sponsorship fee was 70 million? Didn't you sign this contract? Did our six actors film short commercials for the title sponsor? They've certainly got a good plan, directly using advertising fees to offset the endorsement fees, haven't they?"
"..." The person standing opposite Zheng Huai Ren said, "I'm sorry, I was too excited and didn't explain clearly. What they meant was that the fee for the six actors to film this short film is negotiable, 100 million, which will only be used as the fee for our online streaming and ad placement."
Only then did Zheng Huai-ren raise his head, his eyes shining with a hint of light.
“Immediately contact the agents of the six actors,” he said. “Get their quotes as soon as possible, and start negotiations with Songquan Home Furnishings. 100 million is acceptable, but the ad placement period is only three years. After three years, we will remove the ad.”
"Three years? Isn't that a bit short?"
"Did you know that the first season of Friends earned more than 35 million yuan in advertising revenue for Beijing TV last year?" Zheng Huai-ren said. "They would calculate this economic figure more clearly than we do. 100 million yuan is a lot, but there is only one national blockbuster of the level of Friends."
My phone alarm went off.
Zheng Huai-ren immediately waved his hand, indicating that he had something to do and asked him to go ahead and take care of it.
The head of the advertising department left his office.
Zheng Huai-ren took a deep breath and dialed Lu Yan-he's number.
"Yan He, did I disturb you? Haha, the entire entertainment industry must be congratulating you."
Zheng Huai-ren laughed heartily.
"I haven't looked into the media's praise yet, but judging from the business side—they always have the keenest nose—just this morning, after only the first episode aired, more than a dozen brands were already vying to get in line. This is a phenomenon we at Northern Lights have never encountered since our inception. I must say, even 'The Seventeenth Floor' and 'My Own Swordsman' didn't see such an exaggerated scene. This can only mean one thing: in their eyes, this show will reach unprecedented heights."
Lu Yanhe pressed his temples.
He noticed that, without realizing it, the people around him were starting to talk more and more exaggeratedly.
It's often described as unprecedented, unbelievable, epic...
“Sponsoring Friends is definitely the most worthwhile thing to do,” Lu Yanhe said. “Other shows are over once they finish airing, but we all know how exaggerated the long tail effect of this series is. I heard that the first three seasons of Friends started to see a surge in viewership yesterday, entering the top five on Bingyuan Video. One product placement can last for years.”
The online streaming rights for the first three seasons of Friends are held by Icefield Video.
It was someone from Bingyuan Video who told Chen Ziyan about this, and then Chen Ziyan told Lu Yanhe.
Zheng Huai-ren said, "I can only say that Friends is very likely to break the history of advertising revenue in the era of online video."
Well, another piece of history is about to be broken.
Lu Yanhe said, "Then all I can say is, we'll wait and see."
Zheng Huai-ren: "Don't forget our lunch tomorrow."
"I can't forget it." Lu Yanhe smiled helplessly. "You've reminded me three times already."
“Because I know how busy you are, and I also know how many people want to have lunch with you, I have to make sure you remember to have lunch with me, and that no one else gets in the way,” Zheng Huai-ren said with a smile.
(End of this chapter)
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