I really don't want to make bad movies!

"The first episode of 'The Swindler' is pretty good!"

"Well, to be honest, it's definitely a lot better to watch than the first episode of 'Chinese Paladin 4'."

"In 'Chinese Paladin 4,' only the female lead was pleasing to the eye; the rest of the characters were all ugly. But in 'The Swindler,' all the actors are good-looking!"

"Can we please stop talking about the four thousand beauties? She had the same expression the whole time, acting like someone owed her money with that slanted eyebrow."

"Is no one discussing the plot? The story of the first episode of 'The Swindlers' was really smooth, and I didn't expect the final twist."

"Although I've only watched the first episode, it's clear that 'The Swindlers' is a work that is architecturally precise in its narrative structure, achieves a sublimation from a legendary tale of the underworld to an existentialist exploration in its themes, and reaches a peak of localized innovation in its genre creation."

"That one above must be a paid troll..."

"The Swindler" was a work that was pushed to the peak of public opinion. In the online battlefield created by Xia Ming, many people immediately expressed their thoughts on the book in their respective main battlefields.

Viewers who have been dissatisfied with "Chinese Paladin 4" can use the quality of the first episode of "The Swindler" to attack the "Chinese Paladin 4" production team.

There were even platforms that tried to discredit each other, claiming that Tencent Video had better taste than iQiyi, and that iQiyi only made melodramatic romance dramas.

The battle will not stop; it will only intensify as the quality gap between the two shows becomes apparent.

At this moment, the arguments between forum members have not yet reached their peak.

Because many people are still engrossed in the series, they directly choose to watch the second episode!

Xia Ming chose to create a contrasting marketing approach for two reasons: first, he genuinely lacked funds, and second, he was confident in the quality of his drama series.

If there isn't enough high-quality drama to offset the negative traffic generated by marketing, the backlash could be devastating.

Even if the quality is good, this marketing approach is not perfect.

Ultimately, regardless of the quality of the plot, the show's rating will inevitably be lowered due to the online arguments between fans.

If rival fans can't argue with you, they'll have no choice but to give your show bad reviews.

Xia Ming kept staring at the Tencent Video playback page, constantly clicking the mouse to refresh and observe the changes in popularity and play count.

As time goes on later and students finish class and office workers get home, these two indices begin to gradually rise.

It started at just over 100,000 and quickly climbed to the million level!

The poster GG that was scrolling on the Tencent Video homepage also played an important role. Many ordinary viewers who didn't care about cyber warfare just wanted to watch an eye-catching web series at the end of the day.

Open the homepage and you'll find it hard to resist a TV series called "The Swindlers," whose cover is full of handsome men and beautiful women.

Xia Ming used a pen to record the data changes every minute, and based on the different number of views and popularity of the first and second episodes, he estimated the approximate retention rate of the series.

If the retention rate is high enough, it means that most viewers recognize the quality of "The Swindlers" and want to watch the second episode after watching the first one.

If the retention rate is low, it means that many people still treat "Mao Pian" as a battlefield, simply for the thrill of fighting.

Based on the different retention rates, Xia Ming needs to decide on the next marketing strategy.

With a high retention rate, he seized the opportunity to release pre-prepared plot analysis videos to attract core viewers and increase user engagement.

If the retention rate is low, he needs to expand the battlefield first and attract more casual fans to join.

Despite the heated online debate, the actual number of viewers who will pay for a membership is probably only a minority.

Xia Ming didn't have Tencent's internal data, so he could only use a crude method to estimate the numbers and try to make "The Swindler" even more popular.

……

A few hours later.

Tengzi Video Jinghai Group Building.

The interior was still brightly lit.

Everyone seems to have gotten used to working overtime, and today is especially lively.

Amidst the bustling crowd, Fu Xiaotian, clutching his laptop, excitedly ran into an office.

"Brother Qiang!"

"Call me Pete at the company!" Pete said angrily, putting down his coffee.

Fu Xiaotian slapped himself, strode to Pete's desk, and showed him the screen: "It's exploded! It's exploded! This time it really exploded!"

Pete stared at him in confusion: "I have a computer, don't I? Why did you bring your own computer here?"

"I was so happy I forgot!"

Fu Xiaotian didn't care about anything else. He slid his finger across the touchpad and opened Tencent Video's main website.

"The video 'The Swindler' garnered over a million views within two hours of its release!"

"Why are you concerned about other people's view counts? We're the purchasing department."

Although Pitt said he didn't care, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up.

If this trend continues, it's only a matter of time before "The Swindler" surpasses 10 million views, and it might even catch up with "Chinese Paladin 4".

And it received rave reviews!

Although we can't see the retention rate and member conversion rate of the series yet, nor can we see the related Google revenue, we will see these in the annual meeting summary sooner or later.

If things go quickly, the details will be revealed at a meeting in a few days.

This is not just a benefit, but also a merit!

It was a great achievement to fight back and win a resounding victory against the heavy offensive launched by Kiwi!

As the person in charge of purchasing the TV series "The Swindlers", he deserves the highest credit!

"Oh, right!" Pete seemed to suddenly remember something and quickly patted Fu Xiaotian's elbow to urge him, "Go find the marketing and front-end teams and discuss whether we can change the carousel image for 'The Swindler' to the featured image."

"Uh, the featured image was already agreed upon, we can't change it, right?"

Pete slapped him hard on the back: "Why don't you just give them a couple more featured spots?"

"It's almost the end of the year, time to put some effort into your commission!"

When it came to commissions, Fu Xiaotian's steps immediately became brisk, and he dashed out of the office in a flash.

Watching Fu Xiaotian leave, Pete sat at his desk for a moment, then finally picked up his phone and dialed Xia Ming's number.

"The number you dialed is currently switched off..."

……

The same scene also occurred at the headquarters of the QuanQuan platform.

Supervisor Gao Fang found Ye Heng, who was checking data, and excitedly pressed his phone screen against Ye Heng's face.

"It exploded! It exploded!"

"What exploded?" Ye Heng shut down the data backend.

Gao Fang laughed heartily: "That web series we invested in! It's the one you initially said was a project involving a content creator, and I was worried you were being scammed!"

Ye Heng snapped out of his daze: "The movie 'The Swindler' that Riyue produced?"

"Yes! It's 'The Swindler'!"

Gao Fang swiped his phone screen, and instead of seeing Tencent Video's homepage, he saw trending topics on Weibo.

#The Swindlers' First Scene is a God-Tier Success, Cinematic Quality Amazes Everyone#, #Jiang Wen's Words Were True, Can The Swindlers Carry the Banner of Web Series This Year with One Show?#, #Xia Ming's Second Meridian is Opened#, #Where is Chen Kun?#

Although the trending topics are varied, most of them are related to Mao Zedong's fraud.

Switching to the Music platform, one is even more overwhelmed by a deluge of clips of "Mao Pian".

Zhao Ning's aloof and stunning features in the drama are breathtaking, while An Ning's alluring charm has attracted a large number of male fans.

Many viewers are drawn to Tencent Video by watching a short clip that lasts only a few seconds.

Gao Fang thought the male actors in the show were quite handsome, but he didn't have any sweet potatoes on his phone, so he didn't know what the female viewers thought.

In short, after scrolling through my phone for ages, the only conclusion I can draw is that "The Swindler" is a hit!

"As long as the popularity of 'The Swindlers' stays, your promotion at the end of the year is practically guaranteed!"

Hearing this, Ye Heng's eyes finally lit up: "Really?"

"Nonsense!" Gao Fang laughed. "Do you know how big a contract Sister Li negotiated with Tencent? Our guys are in the whole show! We've hit the jackpot!"

"The whole company is talking about your boldness—daring to go all in with five million on a web series made by a content creator. Amazing!"

"Those clueless specialists could spend their entire lives streaming content on YouTube and still not earn as much as you did with this one wave!"

Ye Heng became more and more confused as he listened. In a daze, he picked up his phone, found the Sun and Moon commentary, and thought for a long time about what to post.

In the end, all I could edit was a message of blessing, wishing "The Swindler" continued success and hoping for future collaborations.

……

Xia Ming had no idea that at this very moment, a large number of people were looking for him.

He sat in front of his computer, watching the online arguments escalate, and also noticed that the viewership of the second episode of "The Swindler" continued to grow steadily.

He silently opened the iQiyi main site, entered the Green Fruit Short Video section, and sent out the pre-prepared analysis of the first two episodes of "The Swindler" using the Sun and Moon Commentary account.

[The Dark Horse of the Year? Why did a low-budget web series manage to surpass the blockbuster "Chinese Paladin 4" in terms of critical acclaim?]

I then found Xiao Cheng through the official collaboration channel of the Creator Star Map Project and sent him a message asking, "Hi, I've uploaded a new video, would it be convenient for you to promote it?"

Xiao Cheng was slacking off at his workstation, watching the latest web series "Mao Pian" released by the enemy channel.

When she saw the message pop up in the background of the work software, she was startled, thinking it was her boss demanding her life.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be an explanation of the sun and moon.

"How do I find me through the iQiyi backend?" Xiao Cheng asked, puzzled.

I glanced at the message the other party sent; they were asking me for promotional offers.

Isn't this perfect?

Just a few days ago, Huang Xuke asked her to promote some high-quality creators' videos.

Sun and Moon Commentary is one of their key support targets.

Without thinking or even looking, Xiao Cheng immediately purchased a data package for Riyue Commentary.

"All done!"

After casting the stream, Xiao Cheng looked around to be on guard, then retreated to her workstation to continue watching the show.

Xia Ming refreshed his homepage and soon saw the number of views for the new video begin to climb.

He opened multiple platforms such as Yinpu, Bilibili, and Hongshu, and found the content creators he had previously contacted, informing them that they could submit content related to "Mao Pian".

……

That night, in addition to the battle between "Mao Pian" and "Chinese Paladin 4", a large number of high-quality videos focusing on "Mao Pian" emerged online.

The second round of promotional campaign has begun.