Chapter 439 Unstoppable
Mid-November, early winter.
In the CCTV headquarters building, the deputy director's office is filled with warmth.
"Mr. Song, you are such a rare guest today!" Jiang Tao joked with a smile as he placed the brewed tea on the coffee table.
"Thank you, Jiang Tai." Song Ci took the celadon teacup and sat down on the reception sofa. "I wouldn't come here for no reason."
Jiang Tao waved his hand upon hearing this: "Mr. Song, we are old friends too. If you have anything to say, just speak frankly."
Song Ci put down his teacup and got straight to the point: "Tengda Group wants to participate in the advertising investment for next year's Spring Festival Gala."
"Hey, so it's just a simple matter like buying advertising space. Just give me a call and I'll have my people handle it. There's no need for you to come here in person."
Jiang Tao responded with a chuckle, but he felt a little puzzled.
Tenda Group controls many traffic platforms such as WeChat and Weibo, and has no shortage of exposure. Why would it actually spend money to buy advertising space for the Spring Festival Gala?
On second thought, Internet giants have abundant capital, and they might have some business plans, so it’s not surprising that they spend tens of millions on them.
"Tai Jiang, Tengda isn't just buying advertising this time." Song Ci shook his head slightly, his tone suddenly becoming serious. "I plan to spend a huge amount of money to acquire the exclusive naming rights for the Spring Festival Gala in the Year of the Snake, as well as all prime-time advertising space."
Jiang Tao's expression changed slightly. He didn't expect Song Ci to be so generous. According to Tengda's plan, it would take more than ten billion to get it.
After a moment's hesitation, he immediately asked, "Is Tengda Group planning to launch a blockbuster product?"
"If Tengda Group succeeds in acquiring all the advertising space and sponsorship rights for CCTV, I hope CCTV can develop an in-depth strategic cooperation with Tengda."
Jiang Tao couldn't help but lean forward and asked with interest, "How does the cooperation work? Director Song, please explain in detail."
Song Ci spoke freely: "Tengda Group is an internet company. Its advertising format is different from traditional product displays and needs to be changed to an interactive experience.
Tenda will also give out an additional 500 million yuan in cash and a number of physical gifts as a reward to the audience. Every hour on the hour during the Spring Festival Gala, viewers can use the WeChat shake function to win cash gifts.
"An additional investment of 500 million!" Jiang Tao was shocked and secretly astonished. Tengda was indeed a giant with huge amounts of cash.
"Tengda is spending money to attract viewers, which is beneficial to CCTV. Why not do it?" Song Ci chuckled and changed the subject:
"Young people aged 15 to 24 are increasingly reluctant to watch the Spring Festival Gala, and these people happen to be the core users of WeChat.
On the day of the Spring Festival Gala, CCTV and WeChat collaborated to use the "shake" interaction feature to attract this audience back."
Song Ci paused, took a sip from his teacup, and continued, "Mr. Jiang, in the internet age, the CCTV Spring Festival Gala must also seek change and innovation.
Collaborating with Tenda will not only enable multi-dimensional monetization through "content + real-time interaction + advertising," but will also extend the commercial value of the Spring Festival Gala to the internet."
Jiang Tao was silent for a moment, but he had to admit that Song Ci's proposal was quite attractive. "I understand your intentions! Speaking of the plan alone, I personally think it is indeed a good opportunity for innovation in the Spring Festival Gala."
I will report this to the station director and the organization, but the prerequisite for any cooperation is that Tengda Group must first secure all advertising space for the Spring Festival Gala."
Immediately, the topic tightened, "Director Song, since the Spring Festival Gala was held, the investment promotion process has been mature and stable. Even the director cannot change the procedure.
So no matter how good the plan is, it depends on Mr. Song's courage. If we can't compete with other companies in the advertising bidding, everything will be in vain."
"Don't worry, Mr. Jiang. I have confidence in Tengda's strength." Song Ci said with confidence.
How can traditional domestic liquor and home appliance companies compare with the cash reserves of the world's Internet giant, Tenda Group?
"I hope Mr. Jiang will take more care of the cooperation."
Jiang Tao's expression straightened, and he responded solemnly, "I know the seriousness of this matter. It's no small matter. I'll report it to the station director shortly."
Although he is the deputy director and holds a high position of power, the CCTV Spring Festival Gala is a national cultural project, and its organization and management involve the coordinated operation of multiple departments of the headquarters, which is not something he can easily interfere with.
The Art and Literature Program Center is responsible for the overall planning, program production and execution of the Spring Festival Gala, and has a Spring Festival Gala project team dedicated to coordinating the work.
The Spring Festival Gala investment promotion work is centrally managed by the Advertising Business Center of the Central Radio and Television Station. A Spring Festival Gala Business Group is established to formulate investment promotion plans, meet the needs of enterprises, and ensure that commercial activities are in line with national propaganda guidelines.
After the business team has handled matters such as investment negotiations, contract signing, and resource scheduling, the director team will intervene, and the chief director and special directors will participate in the brand implantation review to ensure that the commercial elements are naturally harmonious with the program content.
After the program and advertising content is determined, it must be submitted to the propaganda, culture and other departments for final review to ensure that the ideological orientation and cultural values are correct.
In short, the advertising work for the Spring Festival Gala involves many aspects and cannot be solved simply by money. This is also the reason why Song Ci personally came to CCTV to meet Jiang Tao.
A few days later, on November 18, Song Ci visited CCTV headquarters again.
In front of the investment promotion hall, Jiang Tao shook hands with Song Ci and said goodbye: "Director Song, I won't go in with you.
The station has held a meeting and agreed to use the Year of the Snake Spring Festival Gala as a pilot to collaborate with internet companies. I wish you a successful start, so that subsequent work can be carried out more smoothly.
"Thank you, Jiang Tai." Song Ci nodded with a smile, "Wait for my good news."
Jiang Tao patted Song Ci's shoulder and turned to leave.
After watching Jiang Tao walk away, Song Ci, along with WeChat President Wu Yi and a professional business team, entered CCTV's magnificent investment promotion hall.
The richest man was dressed in a suit and walked steadily. As soon as he appeared, he attracted the attention of the whole audience and started talking about it.
"Why did this person come here in person?"
"Why is Tenda joining in the fun? Haier just put up an ad on Weibo!"
"The richest man is here personally, probably for the naming rights of the Spring Festival Gala."
Representatives from traditional industries such as liquor and home appliances were talking in low voices. They were all frequent bidders for Spring Festival Gala advertisements and were familiar with each other. It was indeed rare for Internet companies to get involved in the bidding for Spring Festival Gala advertisements.
The bidding process for Spring Festival Gala advertising is rigorous, and all companies participating in the auction are required to disclose their brand identities.
Song Ci looked around: in the liquor industry, there were time-honored brands such as Moutai, Fenjiu, and Jiannanchun; in the home appliance industry, there were the three giants Haier, Gree, and Midea, all of which were familiar faces in previous Spring Festival Galas.
There are also car companies such as Chery and Great Wall, which obviously want to use the unparalleled exposure of the Spring Festival Gala to consolidate their brand image in the hearts of the people.
Under the guidance of the staff, Song Ci and his group quietly sat down, their eyes swept over the auction table and the huge Spring Festival Gala logo, waiting for the show to begin.
The director of the Spring Festival Gala's business group gave a spirited opening speech, emphasizing the unique significance of the 2013 Spring Festival Gala. Then, the auction officially began.
Initially, it was an auction for advertising space in the auditorium, which is quite popular among wine and beverage brands.
Several liquor companies took the lead and after a fierce bidding, Yanghe Liquor won the first advertising space for 32 million.
After the audience seats display, three types of advertisements, namely props placement, scene placement, and plot placement, were filmed one after another, and were eventually acquired by brands such as Wahaha and Chery Automobile.
These are just appetizers, and soon it will be time to bid for prime-time advertising space.
The first time slot to be filmed is for language programs. Sketches, crosstalk and other programs have always been popular with audiences across the country, and the time slots before and after them naturally become prime time for advertising.
The bidding quickly climbed, from a starting price in the millions to tens of millions.
Representatives from various companies raised their signs frequently, and seeing no movement from Tengda, they secretly thought: The richest man must be here for the exclusive naming rights or the midnight time announcement.
In order to avoid the wealthy Tengda Group, the bidding representatives temporarily adjusted their strategies.
"Dear business representatives, the auction for prime-time advertising space will begin at 9:00 sharp. The starting price is 10 million."
Below the stage, Wu Yi leaned forward slightly and asked in a low voice, "Director Song, shall we proceed as planned?"
Song Ci said nothing, but nodded imperceptibly.
Wu Yi understood what he meant and immediately took the lead in raising his hand: "10 million."
There was an uproar at the scene.
Everyone thought that Tengda was going for the title sponsorship, but they never expected that they would even compete for the ordinary prime time.
Although they were confused, they did not stop bidding, and the bids continued to be heard.
"30 million the first time! 3000 the second time! 3000 the third time!"
The host banged down the hammer, "The 9 o'clock slot has been won by Tengda Group. Next up is the 10 o'clock slot, and the starting price is also 10 million."
“12 million!” “15 million!”
. . .
As the bidding started to rise, Wu Yi remained calm, raised his paddle again, and shouted, "32 million!"
"What is Tenda trying to do? An internet company is trying to steal our advertising space?"
"Something's wrong! The richest man is here in person. Is he trying to monopolize all the prime-time advertising spots?"
"Damn it! Tengda interfered and completely overspent the budget!"
The auction continued to heat up. When Tengda Group won the advertising slots at 10:00 and 11:00 respectively for 32 million and 35 million, representatives from various companies present could no longer sit still.
The richest man himself would definitely not be satisfied with just a few hourly slots, so he hurriedly contacted the company headquarters and asked for additional investment budget.
"Next is the 10-second midnight time signal title. The starting price is 20 million, and each increment must not be less than 1 million! Please raise your placards."
"25 million!" Home appliance giant Midea took the lead. As the title sponsor of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala's midnight time announcement for ten consecutive years, they are determined to win!
"26 million!" Wu Yi raised the sign slowly. No matter how much Midea's bid was, he would accurately add another 1 million to follow up.
Prices soared like a rocket, and the liquor giants were not to be outdone and joined the battle.
The competition for the midnight announcement of the Spring Festival Gala in the Year of the Snake was extremely fierce. After several rounds of bidding, the number had reached 64 million, exceeding the record of previous years.
The representative of Midea Group wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked sideways at the Tengda seat, only to see that the richest man was actually resting with his eyes closed, as if he didn't care at all about the fierce bidding in front of him.
After several struggles, the Midea representative gritted his teeth and decided to raise the sign one last time: "70 million!"
Before he finished speaking, the voice that had infuriated him rang out again: "71 million!"
"Damn it!" After cursing inwardly, the representative reluctantly put down his number plate.
For Midea, this year's advertising auction has ended and they do not plan to participate in the final competition for the title sponsorship.
As expected, the midnight time announcement advertisement was eventually acquired by Tengda Group.
"Dear business representatives, there is only one remaining item for this year's Spring Festival Gala: the title sponsorship of the gala. The rights and interests of the title sponsor include:
The brand logo will be displayed throughout the entire show, the host will make at least ten announcements, the opening and closing credits will be titled, there will be banners on site, and the program will be titled. The starting price is 100 million yuan, with each bid increment of no less than 10 million yuan.
As soon as the host finished speaking, the telecommunications giant China Mobile fired the first shot: "200 million!"
The whole place was filled with smoke and the sounds of bidding were heard one after another.
The advertising amount soon exceeded 500 million yuan. At this time, apart from Tengda Group, the only state-owned enterprise giants in the oil, banking, and communications industries remained in the battle.
"ICBC has 720 million. Banks are definitely rich."
"With Tengda joining the fray, this year's bidding is sure to break records."
"I really don't know what Tengda's business plan is. This will cost at least tens of billions, right?"
"Internet companies have plenty of money. Take Tenda's mobile payments business for example. They've been receiving billions in subsidies."
As everyone was whispering, the bidding price had already broken through the 1 billion mark, breaking the record for the Spring Festival Gala's total title sponsorship investment.
"1.1 billion."
As the oil group announced the shocking figures, Wu Yi's face lost its previous composure.
Tenda's initial budget was 1 billion, but the oil group and the mobile company seemed determined to compete with Tenda, and they raised the bid from 700 million to 1.1 billion.
Wu Yi was about to ask for instructions when Song Ci slowly opened his eyes. His voice was clear and steady, penetrating the noise:
"Tengda, 1.2 billion."
The whole place fell into dead silence in an instant. Everyone was horrified. How could you increase the price in an auction like that? Just increase it by 100 million!
All eyes were focused on the richest man, with shock, disbelief, hidden anger, and even deep fear and curiosity.
Song Ci looked calm and was not surprised by the 1.2 billion yuan expenditure. He wanted to use his unstoppable momentum to tell everyone present clearly that Tengda Group was determined to win.
The representative of China Mobile sighed and put down the number plate in his hand. He felt the determination of the richest man. It was meaningless to continue arguing. Moreover, China Mobile was about to cooperate with Tenda. He could just consider it as giving the richest man face.
On the other side, the representative of the oil group was about to raise his sign to follow suit, but was held back by a colleague next to him.
"Mr. Zhang, there's no need to raise the price. After all, the Spring Festival Gala only lasts one day, and spending over a billion on just a few hours of advertising is simply not worth it from a business perspective.
Song Ci of Tengda Group has the final say, even if he spends 10 billion, no one will care. But we are spending the country and the people's money, so every penny must be carefully considered.
The richest man himself spoke, and the group leaders had to give him some respect. He clearly wanted to put an end to this fearless competition. You and I are just employees, there's no point in getting into this kind of fight."
After some persuasion from his colleagues, the representative of the oil group came to his senses instantly. He felt extremely regretful and realized that he had indeed been a bit impulsive just now.
Although the oil group is a giant larger than Tengda, he is just an ordinary executive and his status is obviously not comparable to that of the richest man.
More importantly, if the billions of dollars spent fail to achieve the expected results, he will be blamed and may even be held accountable.
After figuring this out, he stopped talking.
When the host excitedly struck the final hammer, announcing that Tengda Group had won the title sponsorship of the Spring Festival Gala for 1.2 billion, the audience erupted in mixed and enthusiastic applause, with congratulations, envy, but more of shock and awe.
With internet giants interfering in the Spring Festival Gala, how will traditional industries continue to operate in the future?
(End of this chapter)
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