26. You are terrible at speaking directly.
Ling Ling unloaded her thoughts, which Gu Chuqi appreciated intellectually but remained wary of. "Your ideas are so clear and your expression so complete; you seem quite well prepared. All you need is a signature, right?" Ling Ling smiled kindly at her and said, "I'm just offering some advice as an outside observer. These suggestions still require your diligent effort to discern, filter, and evaluate their adoption. Turning an idea into a plan and then implementing it requires more than a few words. The distance between these ideas and actual implementation is like the distance between a puddle of water and an ice sculpture—assuming the water doesn't evaporate." After Ling Ling's humorous explanation, Gu Chuqi felt relieved. Ling Ling returned to her workstation and continued delving into the system platform software development requirements that she struggled to understand. Gu Chuqi stared at her bewildered expression for a few seconds before saying, "Gu Chaoqun is just a PowerPoint trickster. You might be intimidated by his unfamiliar vocabulary at first, but after a few listens, you'll realize it's all just repetitive rhetoric. The boss hired him with a high salary, hoping to bring in a professional who could leapfrog the company's intelligence capabilities. He's been working on it for a whole year, spending millions in consulting fees, and still accomplished nothing. This time, we thought we were going to have a project commissioning meeting, but it turned out to be a kickoff meeting! The boss probably knows he's been ripped off, and he's incredibly frustrated with the project, on the verge of a rage, waiting to see who'll trigger it. So, this job—it was originally Bai Yihan's general office position. If it was that good, why was it given to you?" After Gu Chuqi's guidance, Ling Ling's mind suddenly cleared up. Since following this system platform development project, Ling Ling had come into contact with Gu Chaoqun twice, and she had a vague feeling that he was indeed confused. Building systems requires a clear mind, and a system designed by someone like him, who only knows how to make grand statements and empty promises, is truly worrying. "Chuqi, thank you for telling me this," she said gratefully to Gu Chuqi. Gu Chuqi could see Ling Ling's sincerity, but she didn't act like a fake sister. She turned away naturally and continued to ponder her copy. *~*~*~*~*~*~~ I didn't expect the Ningshi men's skincare project to even require a pitch. Since Ling Ling was transferred to Creative Team A, she has been the sole copywriter for Ningshi. While pursuing this client, Ling Ling had met Xiao Hun, the Director of Ningshi's Planning Department, several times and felt quite compatible. She had originally thought that securing this account...
Ling Ling poured out all her thoughts without stopping. Gu Chuqi was intellectually impressed, but emotionally still wary. "Your thoughts are so clear and your expression is so complete. It seems you've prepared well. The only thing missing is a signature, right?"
Ling Ling smiled at her kindly and said, "I'm just giving you some advice as an outsider. These suggestions still require your effort to discern, filter, and evaluate. Turning an idea into a plan and then implementing it takes more than a few words. The distance between my ideas and implementation is like the distance between a puddle of water and an ice sculpture, provided the water doesn't evaporate."
After Ling Ling's humorous explanation, Gu Chuqi felt relieved.
Ling Ling sat back at her workstation and continued to study the system platform software development requirements that she didn't quite understand.
Gu Chuqi stared at her bewildered expression for a few seconds before saying, "Gu Chaoqun is just a PPT trickster. At first, you might be intimidated by the unfamiliar words he uses, but after hearing them a few times, you'll realize they're just repetitive. The boss hired him at a high salary, hoping to bring in a professional who could radically improve the company's intelligence. But he's been working on it for a whole year, spending millions in consulting fees, and still accomplished nothing. This time, we thought we were going to have a project commissioning meeting, but it turned out to be a project kick-off meeting! The boss probably knows he's been ripped off, and he's so unhappy with the project he's on the verge of a rage, waiting to see which unlucky idiot will trigger it. So, this job—it was originally Bai Yihan's general clerical position. If it was really that good, why was it given to you?"
After Gu Chuqi's guidance, Ling Ling's mind suddenly became clear.
Since following this system platform development project, Ling Ling had come into contact with Gu Chaoqun twice and had a vague feeling that he was indeed confused. System development requires a clear-headed person, and a system designed by someone like him who only knows how to make big promises and fire empty cannons is truly worrying.
"Chuqi, thank you for telling me this." She said to Gu Chuqi gratefully.
Gu Chuqi could see Ling Ling's sincerity, but she didn't show any exaggerated fake sisterly behavior. She turned her head naturally and continued to think about her own copy.
*~*~*~*~*~*~
I didn’t expect that the Ningshi men’s skincare product case would still require a competition.
Since Ling Ling's transfer to Creative Team A, she has been the sole copywriter for the client, Ningshi. While pursuing the client, Ling Ling met Xiao Hun, Ningshi's Planning Director, several times and felt a strong rapport. She initially thought she had secured the client, and they also awarded Ling Ling the men's skincare campaign. However, when it came time to submit the final draft, the client remained undecided and proposed a competition with two other agencies, leaving Ling Ling feeling very nervous.
During the day, Lingling has to hold various brainstorming sessions with product managers who are working on the system platform, and at night she has to work overtime to revise the plan.
When developing product requirements for the system platform, Ling Ling had originally intended to consult with Shi Wenjin, a veteran, to learn about the technical bottlenecks and pitfalls Tuowu had encountered over the years. However, this older man, possessing the uncontrollable desire to express himself, launched into a torrent of eloquence as soon as a young woman asked him a question, spouting off a slew of irrelevant information, a deluge of information and a complete lack of value. Furthermore, the entire conversation was incredibly enjoyable, leaving Ling Ling eagerly hoping someone would call her for help, even if it meant the fire alarm went off, so she could at least escape.
Gradually, Ling Ling stopped asking him for advice. Seeing Lu Chong busy with Gu Chuqi's drastic changes to Jiang Feng's hair transplant plan, she felt it was difficult to ask him for help. She had to figure everything out on her own.
The Time Freezing Men's proposal first had to be reviewed within Group A. Ling Ling wrote the copy and, relying on her limited design skills, created renderings before presenting it to the team. Because the copy had to remain confidential until it was sent to the client, only Mei Xiao, Lu Chong, and Gu Chuqi participated in the review.
While showing the PPT, Ling Ling explained the conception of this copywriting: "I hope that the copywriting style for Ningshi Men this time will be consistent with the style of Ningshi Women I previously did, forming a sense of mandarin duck copywriting, so that the customer's perception will have continuity and it will help to deepen the impression.
Men's skincare products usually take the "cool" approach, which I find boring and unoriginal, and can easily lead to brand confusion among users.
At the same time, men's products generally highlight their hard work, but this is not appropriate in today's era of female dominance, because women are also working hard, and the hard work and success rate are no less, so I also abandoned this concept.
The following is the copy I wrote and the display effect, please enjoy it——
"People always say that men value appearance. To live up to this motto, I became rough, slovenly, and disliked fragrance and color. Now, I have carefully examined my face and will define it according to my heart. From this moment on, I am the man I want to be—a Time Freeze man."
My presentation is over, can you guys take a look?"
Ling Ling's last question was very weak. She timidly looked around at everyone present: Gu Chuqi showed his signature disdainful sneer again; Lu Chong frowned and stared at her PPT, as if he didn't want to take his eyes off her; Mei Xiao's face did not show satisfaction or surprise. She opened her mouth to comment, but stopped thoughtfully.
There was a terrible silence for a while. Ling Ling's self-confidence had hit rock bottom, and Mei Xiao finally spoke.
"The copy is okay, but it lacks consistency with the product's features. As for the overall presentation and design, it's... poor. Lu Chong, please help revise it. That's it for today."
Although she was criticized, Ling Ling finally felt relieved. She silently thought to herself, "Boss Mei, Boss Mei, if you just want to use the word 'bad' as your comment, why bother choosing the right words?"
Mei Xiao's working style is to never waste time and never talk nonsense. Whenever she has some free time, she would rather leave work early and enjoy life.
After Mei Xiao and Gu Chuqi left, Ling Ling sat dejectedly on the swivel chair, like a banana leaf with a broken stem blown by wind and rain, green and lush but lifeless, spinning around unsteadily.
Seeing her like this, Lu Chong kindly comforted her, saying, "Lingling, don't be discouraged. Sister Mei is just like that. She's very demanding about efficiency, so she likes to be straightforward. Although your presentation isn't great, as she said, your copywriting is still okay. She's been in the advertising industry for nearly twenty years and has seen countless amazing works. So no matter how brilliant your writing is, she's not going to cover her mouth and exclaim like a girl with overflowing heart. Today's situation is normal. I'll help you revise your presentation and straighten out your explanation logic. It'll be finalized in the next two days, no problem."
Ling Ling looked at Lu Chong's sincere eyes, but she felt very sorry in her heart: "Brother Chong, I'm sorry. Your family just had a baby, and I didn't want to trouble you. I wanted you to spend more time with your family. But I ended up making a mess, and now I have to make you work overtime with me."
Seeing that she was such a kind and sensible newcomer, Lu Chong also opened his heart and advised her, "Don't worry about it. Let's work together well. I am very confident that we can handle this case well. Sister Mei is a results-oriented person. You will just have to get used to her style. If you have the opportunity to meet clients with Sister Mei and feel her ability to control the situation, you will feel more at ease. Just focus on doing our part.
Your presentation today wasn't very effective for two main reasons: First, you shouldn't have laid out so many ideas you rejected upfront, which could have sparked a debate with your audience. Even before your stunning proposal was even presented, the foreplay was already chaotic. Don't test your clients' patience; they have even less patience than Ms. Mei.
Second, your PPT production is truly unprofessional, lacking both technique and aesthetic logic. For example, you used a lot of dark backgrounds, claiming you were designing for men's products. But if you're presenting with a projector, you should use light backgrounds—that's basic knowledge in our industry."
Ling Ling listened carefully to every word of Lu Chong's advice. This was the first time in her career that someone had given her some valuable advice so sincerely.
"Brother Chong, thank you for telling me this."
"You're welcome! If you write good copy, of course you need to match it with good design." Lu Chong smiled heartily, exuding warmth and kindness.
For quite a long time, Lu Chong's words of comfort and praise were the source of energy in Ling Ling's career.
Under Lu Chong's guidance, Lingling diligently revised her copy and presentation. The process of homework was also a learning process. Lu Chong was a leading art designer in the industry, and Lingling seized this opportunity to learn from him. Lu Chong, a rare and insightful apprentice, generously taught her.
On the eve of the pitch, Lu Chong even meticulously prepared a checklist for Ling Ling to ensure a foolproof on-site demonstration: How big is the space? Who will be involved? Will the screen be a projection screen or LED? Will the display interface be HDMI, VGA, or Type-C? Have you truly rehearsed your Plan B or Plan C, and will they work as expected when needed on-site? And so on and so forth.
Ling Ling felt very safe when she was with Lu Chong. There was no open or indirect sarcasm as when she was with others. They just simply talked about work and learning technology. She enjoyed this fulfilling and rich working life the most.
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