Rebirth 09: Starting from taking charge of Running Man on CCTV

Cao Guowei's gaze sharpened.

"No matter how good a product is, if it has no content and no users on the first day of its launch, it's just an empty shell."

Chen Yang leaned forward slightly.

"You need two things. First, a group of influential people to join and drive ordinary users to register. Second, a continuous stream of high-quality, topical content to keep users engaged."

"And these two things cannot be solved by traditional internet customer acquisition methods. Paying for traffic can bring in registrations, but it can't bring in user activity."

He looked into Cao Guowei's eyes.

"Mr. Cao, what if I told you I could solve both of these problems for you at the same time?"

Cao Guowei leaned forward an inch.

"How do we solve this?"

Chen Yang simply picked up the teacup in front of him and took a small sip.

He looked directly into President Cao's eyes, leaning forward slightly.

"This year's A-level key project of CCTV's Variety Channel is 'Run, China's first all-star outdoor competitive reality show.'"

"Mr. Cao, what if my program becomes the first official account to join, and I also get the artists from the program to join Weibo and open verified accounts?"

President Cao's eyes flickered slightly, but Chen Yang didn't give him time to think. He spoke at a moderate pace, but each word struck the table like a bullet.

"That's not all. All online interactions for the program, including audience voting, behind-the-scenes footage unlocks, and topic discussions, are exclusively linked to the Weibo platform."

"After each episode airs, exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and memorable short videos will be released exclusively on Weibo."

"It will be broadcast during prime time on CCTV, reaching hundreds of millions of television viewers nationwide. I want every viewer who wants to participate in the interaction to have to, and can only, register on Weibo."

The huge office was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Chen Yang watched the other person's changing expression, leaned back in his chair, and smiled faintly.

"Mr. Cao, what do you think of this plan?"

The conference room was so quiet you could hear the hum of the air conditioner.

Cao Guowei stared at the cover of the proposal, motionless.

Chen Tong had already straightened up from the chair, her lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.

ten seconds.

Twenty seconds.

Cao Guowei suddenly looked up.

"Who are these celebrities?"

Chen Yang read out the list.

Deng Chao, Li Chen, Wang Baoqiang, Shen Teng, Chen He, Zheng Kai, Angelababy.

"Wang Baoqiang's 'Shunliu' will air on CCTV-1's prime time slot next month, Deng Chao has two movies released this year, and the others will quickly gain wider popularity after the program airs."

"With these seven people joining Weibo at the same time, plus the weekly broadcast on CCTV during prime time, I think we can bring you ten million registered users within three months."

Cao Guowei flipped the plan open with a "snap".

He read extremely fast, his fingers tracing each page faster and faster.

He turned to the last page, closed the proposal, took off his glasses, and put them on the table.

"Director Chen."

"Um?"

How much do you want?

Old Sun's back straightened instantly.

Chen Xi's fingernails dug into her palm.

Chen Yang held up one finger.

"Exclusive title sponsorship, 50 million per season."

"And the program presentation will consistently display the logo of the 'Post-90s Generation' sponsor."

"The 'Post-90s Generation' will become the first exclusive online title sponsorship in the history of CCTV's prime-time variety shows."

Cao Guowei did not bargain.

He turned and glanced at Chen Tong.

Chen Tong swallowed and nodded.

Cao Guowei put his glasses back on and pulled the proposal in front of him.

"Fifty million, sign."

He picked up the pen on the table and wrote his name in the confirmation of intent section on the last page of the proposal.

"Director Chen, I'll make an exception."

He put down his pen and looked at Chen Yang.

"The group Houlang has never paid for the title sponsorship of any variety show in all the years since it was founded."

"You're the first person who makes me feel that this money was well spent."

Old Sun's hands trembled like leaves under the table.

He'd been in business for almost twenty years and had never seen a negotiation like this before.

From the moment I entered until now, it's been a full forty minutes.

Fifty million, and they just signed it like that?

Chen Xi gripped her thigh tightly, her nails almost digging into her flesh.

She felt like she was dreaming.

As I left the meeting room, I ran into several other senior executives from Houlang in the hallway.

I heard that President Cao just approved 50 million for a variety show, and the expressions on the faces of several people looked like they had swallowed flies.

Cao Guowei only said one sentence: "Go and take a look at that proposal."

Half an hour later, the entire floor was quiet.

No one objected anymore.

At 1 p.m., the van drove back onto the North Fourth Ring Road.

Old Sun sat in the passenger seat, holding the signed letter of intent in his hand, looking at it over and over three times.

"Director Chen...is this really fifty million?"

"Um."

"You went in forty minutes and signed a 50 million contract?"

"Um."

"I've worked in business for eighteen years..."

Old Sun's voice sounded a little unsteady.

"I've followed up on several rounds of bidding for the CCTV Spring Festival Gala's top bidder. I've never seen a negotiation like this before."

Chen Yang did not respond.

He leaned back in the back seat with his eyes closed.

Chen Xi, standing beside him, held the letter of intent, her hands trembling slightly.

She glanced down at the handwritten words "Fifty Million Yuan" on the cover, then looked up at Chen Yang's profile, which appeared calm as if he were asleep.

this person.

Last night, when he was telling her, "Give me a rundown of Houlang's financial report tonight," she thought he had gone crazy.

At noon today, she felt that she was the one who was crazy.

"Director Chen."

Her voice was a little hoarse.

"You never intended to talk about variety shows in the first place, right?"

Chen Yang did not open his eyes.

"What's the point of talking about variety shows? They're an internet company, not a fast-moving consumer goods brand. If you talk to them about ratings, they won't understand, and they don't care."

"So you're talking about...?"

"I'll talk about whatever he needs."

Chen Yang's lips twitched slightly.

"Then tell him I can help him solve it."

Chen Xi remained silent for several seconds.

She carefully placed the letter of intent into the document bag, zipped it up, and held it close to her chest.

"Director Chen, I used to think that doing publicity and marketing was just about writing press releases, posting on social media, and buying advertising space."

"I only realized today that the highest level of marketing is... sitting across the table and getting the other party to willingly spend money."

Chen Yang then opened his eyes and glanced at her.

"Remember today."

"When you talk to anyone about cooperation in the future, never start by saying what we need."

"As for what I can give you."

Chen Xi nodded vigorously.

Her eyes were burning brightly.

"Old Sun."

Chen Yang straightened up.

"Turn around and head to Tencent's Beijing branch."

Old Sun suddenly braked.

"Now?"

"Now."

"Director Chen, should we go back to the station to let them know? A naming rights sponsorship of fifty million, the station will definitely..."

"Go back and report; this afternoon will be a disaster."

Chen Yang pulled out a second proposal from his briefcase, which was thicker than the one he had given to Hou Lang earlier.

"Strike while the iron is hot, negotiate with two companies in one day."

Old Sun took a deep breath and turned the steering wheel.

The car headed towards Zhongguancun.

2:40 PM.

Conference room on the sixth floor of Tencent's Beijing branch.

Three people were sitting across from each other at the conference table.

Leading the group was Cheng Wu, the vice president of Tencent's Interactive Entertainment Group. He was in his early thirties, lean, and spoke very quickly.

Next to him were the business director and a marketing manager from the Beijing branch.

Upon receiving the invitation from CCTV to conduct an interview, Cheng Wu declined his afternoon meeting.

Being noticed by CCTV is a huge honor.

But when Cheng Wu saw Chen Yang's face, his expression was exactly the same as Cao Guowei's two hours earlier.

too young.

"Director Chen, I've heard so much about you."

Cheng Wu shook hands with a smile, his words were polite, but there was a hint of observation in his eyes.

"Are CCTV really this bold now? The director of an A-level project is so young?"

Chen Yang smiled but didn't respond.

After exchanging pleasantries for two minutes, Cheng Wu got down to business.

"Director Chen, we've read the program synopsis you sent us in advance. To be honest, the concept of an outdoor competitive reality show is quite novel, but..."

He was very careful with his words.

"Unscripted filming, celebrities running around the streets, name tag ripping... Will CCTV be able to pass censorship with this kind of content? Isn't the risk too great?"

The business director added from the side, "Yes, we've discussed this internally as well. Tencent's brand image leans towards a younger demographic, but CCTV's audience is predominantly middle-aged and older. We're wondering if this user profile can match..."

The atmosphere was subtle.

It wasn't a rejection, but rather a lot of concerns.

Chen Xi sat in the back row, her palms starting to sweat again.

The confidence I had just displayed in the younger generation seems to have shrunk back here.

Tencent is different from the younger generation.

With hundreds of millions of active users, QQ has almost monopolized the instant messaging portal for Chinese people. They do everything themselves, so why should they give you an external variety show to spend money on?

She glanced at Chen Yang furtively.

Chen Yang did not rush to respond to those concerns.

He slowly pulled a document out of his briefcase.

Dark blue cover with gold lettering.

"Run, China!" × Tencent QQ Brand Upgrade + Full Ecosystem Collaboration Plan

He gently pushed the document in front of Cheng Wu.

"Mr. Cheng, we're not in a rush regarding the program."

"Take a look at this first."

Cheng Wu lowered his head and turned to the first page. His eyes scanned two lines, and then his hand suddenly stopped turning the page.

......

P.S.: Let's continue the discussion. What celebrity, song, or movie/TV show left the deepest impression on you in 2009? And which guest would you like to invite to Running Man?