HuaYu97: Starting as a Singer

Chapter 225 [225] Advertisement Explosion: Millennium Fish Head Wine Party Switches to Wuliangye

The male lead on TV is dashing and handsome.

Guan Yuanliang didn't recognize him; he felt the face looked familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

He recognized the female lead; wasn't she Diao Chan from "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"? She was just as beautiful as she was back then.

Guan Yuanliang commented that the film has an ethereal quality and brings Chinese aesthetics to its fullest potential.

After the full 4 minutes and 31 seconds of advertising, it jumped directly to the next ad, leaving Guan Yuanliang speechless.

Isn't this a movie trailer? Why not tell him the specific release time?
He was probably too engrossed in watching it; it was mentioned on TV, and he simply overlooked it.

He waited for over an hour, and when the advertisement finally came, he didn't want to miss a single second and watched it carefully from beginning to end.

This time, he was certain that there really was no specific broadcast time specified.

This also shows that it was not a movie trailer.

Half an hour later, he watched it again and finally realized that it was a commercial.

Guan Yuanliang really couldn't believe that the quality of commercials had become so high.
If all commercials were this awesome, he'd turn against the gods and never watch TV dramas again, he'd just watch commercials instead.

……

Tianya (the ends of the earth).

A user posted a question.

[Can anyone tell me where I can watch the full version of the movie "The Spring Tide of Love," starring Qi Yuan and Chen Hong? I asked at a video store, but the owner said they didn't have it. Has this movie not been released yet?]

The following is a reply.

[You saw it on CCTV-6, right? Please, that's not a movie, that's a Wuliangye (a type of Chinese liquor) commercial.]

[Damn! You're telling me this is an advertisement? I'd believe you if you said it was a multi-million dollar blockbuster.]

This advertisement changed my perspective on commercials. I never imagined that watching commercials could be a pleasure.

Why did I only see a five-second ad? It only contained the line, "Wuliangye's springtime glory is splendid, its fragrance has intoxicated the world for three thousand years."

[Upstairs, are you watching the evening news? The Wuliangye commercials before and after the evening news are only five seconds long.]

The CCTV "top bidder" refers to the five seconds before and after the "News Broadcast".

This time slot has the highest viewership and influence.

Wuliangye spent over 100 million yuan to bid for this, and that's what they got.

The purpose of winning the bid is to enhance brand awareness and make the Wuliangye brand memorable to audiences nationwide.

Full-length ads pushed out during regular hours are used to enhance brand prestige and deepen audience recall.

That's why some people see a five-second ad while others see the full version.

Everyone watches different channels and at different times.

If you watch TV during the "News Broadcast" time, you'll definitely see five seconds of it.

You might see a five-second ad during some good time slots.

During less popular times, such as mornings and late at night, the full-length ads are more likely to appear.

……

New footage.

Zhang Weiping and Zhang Yingmou teased Chen Kaige: "Old Mou, do you think Chen Kaige has fallen from grace? A big director, actually going to shoot music videos and commercials, it's hilarious."

Zhang Yingmou ignored Zhang Weiping.

Zhang Weiping knows absolutely nothing about art.

Zhang Yingmou watched the Wuliangye commercial once today, and he's sitting in front of the TV preparing to watch it a second time.

Finally, he had waited for it. The moment Qi Yuan and Chen Hong appeared, Zhang Yingmou's eyes widened slightly.

Yes, yes, yes, this is exactly what he wanted: Broken Sword and Flying Snow. This is exactly what Broken Sword and Flying Snow looked like.

The scene where Qi Yuan and Chen Hong are suspended by wires and descend from a height of more than ten meters to land on a bamboo raft in the middle of the lake inspired Zhang Yingmou.

He was thinking, could we build a lake with a pavilion in the middle, where two swordsmen could fly across the water? Just imagining that scene would be beautiful.

Furthermore, Broken Sword and Flying Snow, dressed in ancient green costumes, stormed into the Qin King's palace. Broken Sword was in green, while the Qin King was in black, and the two clashed...

Zhang Yingmou got inspired and found a pencil and paper to start drawing storyboards.

Zhang Yingmou, a cinematographer by training, produces exceptionally detailed storyboards, resembling comic strips.

Zhang Weiping was speechless when he saw the finished product of the advertisement. Chen Kaige was truly talented; he produced a masterpiece of Chinese advertising with his first work. Where had he fallen from grace?

He even suspected that Chen Kaige might be addicted to racking up achievements.

They won China's first Palme d'Or at Cannes, then produced China's most beautiful music video, and now they've created China's most beautiful commercial.

"Old Mou, Old Mou..."

Zhang Yingmou ignored Zhang Weiping's calls and continued drawing for more than an hour before stopping. Then he asked, "Can you get him to play Broken Sword? If you can get him, you don't need to consider any other candidates."

The broken sword in the advertisement is the one he wants.

Broken Sword is the second male lead in "Heroes", Chang Kong is the third male lead, and King Qin is actually the fourth male lead.

Zhang Yingmou wanted to make "Hero" a super commercial blockbuster that rivaled Hollywood blockbusters, and the male lead, Nameless, could only be played by someone with international box office appeal.

Last time Zhang Weiping recommended Qi Yuan, Zhang Yingmou only agreed to include Qi Yuan in the shortlist because of Zhang Weiping's face, but in fact he did not intend to use Qi Yuan.

This advertisement changed his opinion of Qi Yuan. Nameless is unacceptable; Broken Sword is the only one fit for him.

Zhang Weiping replied, "It should be possible."

He really wanted to invite Qi Yuan. Qi Yuan was very popular, and inviting Qi Yuan would add at least tens of millions of yuan to the box office in China.

"Give me his phone number, I'll call him after the New Year and invite him in person."

Previously, Zhang Yingmou was an art-house film director and had not proven himself in the commercial field. He liked Qi Yuan's appearance and temperament in the Wuliangye advertisement. Qi Yuan also had box office appeal, which could provide some help for him to try commercial blockbusters.

Such a good actor, it would be more sincere for him to hire him himself. It would only take a phone call and not much time.

……

This advertisement continues to spread its influence across China.

Taking Shandong province, where people enjoy drinking fish head wine, as an example, Wuliangye has become the designated wine.

In the year 2000, Moutai was not as famous as Wuliangye.

Taking last year as an example, Wuliangye ranked first in revenue, which was about three times that of Moutai.

However, Wuliangye faces considerable pressure, while Moutai has established itself as the national liquor, and its high-end image is gradually gaining recognition.

If this trend continues, Wuliangye may indeed be surpassed by Moutai in the future.

Publicity and storytelling are very important.

This sophisticated advertisement significantly enhanced Wuliangye's image.

'Wuliangye's springtime glory is brilliant, its fragrance has intoxicated the world for three thousand years.'

This lyric is known to countless people.

Even Fan's mother called Fan Xiaopang: "Binbin, didn't you say a while ago that you wanted to bring a few bottles of good wine for your dad for the New Year? Your dad asked you to bring Wuliangye, which has a 3,000-year history and is very popular. These days, everyone in our hometown is giving this as a gift. It's a good way to impress guests."

Li Bingbing and her sister bought plane tickets back to their hometown in Northeast China, and they also planned to buy a few bottles of Wuliangye liquor to take back home.

During the Spring Festival of 2000, there was a buying frenzy for Wuliangye liquor.

(End of this chapter)