Huayu: Traffic is king

Chapter 56 Business Burst
There is no holiday during the rising traffic period. As soon as Gu Jingyi got into the nanny car, Lin Ze sat next to him with his briefcase, and took the opportunity to talk to him about the recent business arrangements.

"Jingyi, your traffic has been very high recently. After the first episode of 'Idol Producer' aired, the Weibo super topic had already reached a staggering 11 sign-ins. 'A Little Thing Called First Love' is only halfway through, and the production team has noticed your current traffic. They've suggested that you and Shen Yue go to the lobby together."

After only the first episode of Idol Producer was aired, the number of fans signing in to Gu Jingyi’s super topic skyrocketed.

Tian Xiwei's documentary filtered out many "March drama fans" and turned them into die-hard fans.

Hu Yitian in the original time and space only had 10 sign-ins until the finale of "A Little Thing Called First Love".

At the same time, "Idol Producer" had just finished its first public performance, and Brother Kun's super topic had over 13 sign-ins. This directly blocked the growth space of Hu Yitian, who might have been a top star, and broke the "four big and three small" traffic structure that had been stable for several years.

But unfortunately, after Gu Jingyi joined "Idol Producer", Cai Xukun was destined to become a background board, and could only pick up the remaining popularity after Gu Jingyi sucked away most of it.

Now, Gu Jingyi’s endorsement has piled up like a thick pile on the desk of Huace’s CEO.

Huace was once again thankful that Gu Jingyi had gone to "Idol Producer" early to grab all the traffic. It was a rare holiday, so naturally, it was impossible to let Gu Jingyi, the cash cow, rest at home.

Lin Ze has been extremely busy these days. He has been picking and choosing from all the endorsements and has made a packed schedule.

However, promoting "A Little Thing Called First Love" remains a top priority, as it's their own original drama. Huace's management would rather turn down one or two dispensable endorsements than allow Gu Jingyi to run promotions to boost buzz.

"Sweeping the building? Isn't this usually done when the plot starts?"

Gu Jingyi raised his eyebrows, a little surprised.

"Of course it's because you just finished filming A Little Thing Called First Love and then went to Idol Producer. Apart from the press conference and Happy Camp, you didn't participate much in the early promotions..."

Lin Ze pushed his glasses with a smile and explained in a gentle voice.

He also helped Gu Jingyi receive two awards these days, namely the Penguin Star Awards' Annual Potential TV Actor Award and the 2017 National Drama Festival Youth Network New Generation Honor.

These two awards are of decent value and can be considered "popularity awards" rather than "consolation prizes."

Gu Jingyi finally took a small step in the field of TV dramas.

"Actually, it's also related to you being on trending searches a lot lately, which has attracted a lot of attention from Weibo. They also want you to participate in the sweeps to return the favor."

"Okay," Gu Jingyi nodded.

In the era of traffic, it doesn't hurt to have good relations with the two major companies, Penguin and Kiwi, as well as Weibo.

"Xiaoyi"

Lin Ze hesitated for a moment, but still said: "When I went to the Starlight Awards to accept the award for you, Penguin seemed to have some opinions about you not going to "Creation 101" as a dance coach, but going to Kiwi's "Idol Producer"..."

"I believe Brother Ze will help me handle it."

Gu Jingyi also gave him a joking look. Lin Ze was one of the most promising new agents in the industry. He was very versatile and had strong methods.

"Of course. And I also think it's right for you to go to 'Idol Producer'. 'Produce 101' is a female talent show. The focus is on the female trainees, and the most you can do is just to show off your looks to the mentors. And how many people will actually pick a mentor..."

"You were right not to go. No matter how close you are to the penguins, it's hard to get big money behind them. It's hard for you to compete with them."

Lin Ze sees things clearly. If Gu Jingyi went to "Creation Camp", it wouldn't be much of a blessing...

Yang Yang, the "top streamer" who licked Tencent's chops for years, only to receive a string of "S+" productions. Gu Jingyi will continue to lick Tencent's chops, unless he goes into the "Dangai" (danmei adaptation) industry...

But Gu Jingyi was born with stiff knees and only wanted to stand while working together. He didn't want to go to the theater with the male actors just to become famous...

Kiwi's sincerity impressed Huace and also filled the last gap of Gu Jingyi's ancient idol drama.

It wasn’t Gu Jingyi who chose “Idol Producer”, but it was a mutually beneficial relationship for both parties.

A short period of dormancy is for a better start.

Huace's internal drama "I Only Like You" has been scheduled for May 18, and its rating is not high according to Tencent's estimates.

The same is true for the actual broadcast, which has not even reached the level of a "hit".

Before "Idol Producer", Huace was planning to have Gu Jingyi "mentor" the newcomers...

Just imagine, "A Little Thing Called First Love" was a hit when it was broadcast, but the subsequent "I Only Like You" was not even as popular.

The popularity that Gu Jingyi has finally gained will probably come to a halt, and his development speed will also slow down, which will be very damaging to the young artist who is in a period of rapid growth.

For young actors, each drama can be equivalent to about half a year of development time. Gu Jingyi didn't want to waste his precious time on such a low-value TV series that had no special meaning to him.

It’s better to wait until the group of “Idol Producer” is formed in April before accepting the “S+” fed to your mouth by the Kiwi platform~

"There's no need to sour relations with Tencent. Their 'Creation 101' is also modeled after South Korea's 'Produce 101'. During the third public performance, I can act as a 'senior' and get a collaborative stage or something."

Gu Jingyi glanced at Lin Ze and spoke frankly.

"Isn't this a coincidence? I said the same thing. Jingyi, you just happened to be forming a group at that time, so you had plenty of time."

Lin Ze curled his lips and couldn't help laughing. "That's what I said too. Penguin Video didn't say anything when they heard you'd be a guest on one episode. It's not a big deal. 'Creation' isn't a male talent show. Penguin probably mentioned you going to 'Idol Producer' to make things easier for us. In the age of traffic, we don't need to completely surrender to any one big company. Playing both sides and winning is the best way to go."

After chatting about TV dramas for a while, Lin Ze told Gu Jingyi another good news.

Huace sorted out all the scripts that came to them and the company's internal drama resources, waiting for Gu Jingyi to have time to choose.

This degree of freedom is also given by Huace because every choice Gu Jingyi has made since entering the circle has been the correct answer.

Regardless of luck or destiny, the company's top management was unanimously willing to give Gu Jingyi room to choose and fully trusted his vision.

"Okay, then let's wait until we finish filming the endorsement we have on hand before going."

Gu Jingyi nodded and spoke.

"That might be a bit too much. We also have endorsements for Mosen Eyewear and Laiyifen coming up. Peacebird will announce its spokesperson tomorrow, and you need to attend the brand launch and promotional events. You also need to attend One Leaf's promotional events; they officially announced your endorsement during the filming of your "Idol Producer" episode."

"Okay, no problem."

After Lin Ze finished talking about the new endorsements, he talked to Gu Jingyi about the Litchi App.

This was also the advertisement that Gu Jingyi was going to shoot soon. He placed the organized information in front of Gu Jingyi.

(End of this chapter)