1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 538 "Great Ambitions Achieve."

These days, the hardest part of making a TV series isn't finding actors or writing a script, but raising funds.

Take, for example, the largest portal for producing TV dramas: the Beijing Television Art Center.

This is already a state-owned institution with government funding, but it's still not enough. Most of the filming costs need to be raised from various sources in society.

Of course, "Seahorse" can't compare to the Television Arts Center. Although it also receives funding from above, it's very little. So it has to learn from the Television Arts Center and seek sponsorship.

However, there are differences.

The financial backers of the Television Arts Center are mostly private business owners who run restaurants and clothing businesses.

Jiang Xian didn't focus on these people; instead, he innovatively approached product companies and enterprises.

Don't let Sun Yingui's rustic appearance and the fact that Bailong mineral water bottles aren't well-known fool you. In fact, Sun Yingui has been in the construction equipment business for several years and has dozens of patents, many of which are even implemented in the United States. While he may not be a tycoon, he is definitely a small business owner.

"Mr. Sun, have some tea, have some tea." Jiang Xian pulled Sun Yingui to sit down.

Upon hearing Jiang Xian's words, Sun Yingui...

What?
Mr. Sun!
Oh my, that's a really fancy way of calling someone a goat farting like a sheep—both stylish and sassy.

Without further ado, he immediately had a large box brought over and handed it to Jiang Xian. "Teacher Jiang, this is our Bailong mineral water kettle. It's a nice gift for our first meeting. Please take it home and use it."

"Oh, you're too kind."

Jiang Xian took it and opened it to examine it carefully. The mineral water bottle was a rare item for him, and he had hardly ever seen one before.

This thing looks quite decent. The main body is a large water bottle, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, with a transparent middle. It has a blue and white design and looks very sophisticated. A black dashboard is attached to the front, which can display numbers. The bottom line prompts: "When the number indicated by the red arrow is an even number (2, 4, 6, 8, 0), please replace the inner core and adjust the sterilization pack in time."

This unusual device quickly attracted the attention of many people at "Seahorse," who came to see what kind of "high-tech" thing it was.

Sun Yingui proudly introduced to Jiang Xian: "These days everyone says that you should drink mineral water. Our mineral water jug ​​can purify water. The water flowing out of our jug ​​is all mineral water. Besides, you know how expensive mineral water is on the market now. You might as well buy one of our mineral water jugs and make your own mineral water."

"That's amazing!" Zhu Hong believed it to be true.

"Hehe, I see." Jiang Xian also played with the mineral water bottle in his hands for a while. "A very thoughtful design. I've never seen one like it abroad."

"Wow!" Sun Yingui slapped his thigh. "Where can you find this abroad? We developed it ourselves."

"Yes, it was independently developed by us and it's leading in the world."

"More advanced than foreigners."

"Ouch."

Jiang Xian was startled upon hearing this, "That's really true, far ahead!"

"Far ahead?"

Sun Yingui's eyes lit up. "That's right, we're far ahead in this water purification field!"

After praising Bailong mineral water kettles, the group finally started discussing investment.

However, Sun Yingui lost interest after listening to Jiang Xian's introduction to "Stories from the Editorial Department".

"So it wasn't your script after all. Oh dear, this..." Sun Yingui's face showed undisguised disappointment.

“We thought it was a script you wrote, so we came to take a look,” explained another member of Bailong.

"hehe."

Jiang Xian smiled and said, "Although I didn't write this script, the guys I found to write scripts are definitely not bad either. They are all well-known writers in the literary world."

"But."

"What, you don't trust my judgment?" Jiang Xian challenged him.

Sun Yingui scratched his head awkwardly, "Look at what you're saying, how could I not believe you? I'm a loyal reader of yours, I've read every single one of your books."

"That's incredible." Jiang Xian smiled. "I personally oversaw the script; it won't be substandard."

Sun Yingui, being a businessman, didn't dwell on the issue but instead asked directly:
"Uh, Comrade Jiang Xian, what if our Bailong Group invests in your film?"

"Stories from the Editorial Department"

"Oh, right, the story of the editorial department. What would we get if we invested in it?"

Sun Yingui's words also raised doubts in the minds of many people present.

Just because I like you, Jiang Xian, I can't just invest so much money in you. Bailong is just a small company. So much money can't just go down the drain. Businessmen are profit-driven. How could they not want a return?

"Hmm, Mr. Sun, do you watch a lot of TV?"

Sun Yingui waved his hand, "Oh dear, I'm usually busy and don't have much time to watch TV."

"It doesn't matter if you haven't seen it. Let me tell you about it. There's an animated series called 'Astro Boy.' It's a Japanese animated series that has proven to be a hit in the Japanese market. It received a huge response as soon as it aired."

Astro Boy?

Sun Yingui vaguely remembered, "Isn't it a small robot with its upper body naked? Oh, I've heard my child mention it."

"Yes, this animated series aired on CCTV back in 80. Guess how much CCTV spent to acquire it?"

"How many?"

"No money spent."

Jiang Xian smiled and said, "Because Astro Boy is the spokesperson for the Japanese brand Casio. Do you know Casio? It's a Japanese consumer electronics company. They gave CCTV the broadcasting rights for 'Astro Boy' for free, with only one condition: that their Casio product advertisements be bundled with the end credits to facilitate their entry into the Chinese market."

"Oh~"

Sun Yingui had been in business for many years, but this was the first time he had heard of such a thing. He couldn't help but admire Jiang Xian's knowledge, and quickly realized what was going on:
"You mean, you can play commercials for our Bailong mineral water bottles at the end of the TV series?"

Sun Yingui thought about it and realized it was quite good. Their Bailong mineral water kettle was "far ahead" in terms of technology. Unfortunately, because it was too novel, consumers didn't know what it was. Without understanding it, there was no demand, and without demand, it wouldn't sell.

Therefore, they urgently need to increase the popularity of this mineral water bottle, and Jiang Xian's proposed method seems to be able to help them solve their immediate problem.

"Not really."

Just as Bailong's people were getting more and more interested, Jiang Xian poured cold water on their enthusiasm.

"no?"

Sun Yingui was stunned. "Comrade Jiang Xian, if you are willing to promote us at the end of the film, we are not against the investment. We can discuss it."

"How much are you willing to pay?" Jiang Xian asked tentatively.

"Hmm, if every episode could be aired, how many episodes would you have?"

"More than twenty episodes."

"I'll give you this amount for that episode."

Sun Yingui raised one hand, revealing five fingers, "Five thousand yuan."

"Five thousand!"

Zhu Hong, who was listening from the side, was shocked. Five thousand per episode, so more than twenty episodes would be more than ten thousand!
Just by putting an ad at the end of the film, they were able to attract such a large investment!

She looked at Jiang Xian, wishing she could just agree for him.

However, Jiang Xian didn't show much excitement on his face, seemingly not taking the tens of thousands of yuan Sun Yingui mentioned seriously at all.
"Mr. Sun's vision is too narrow."

"Small vision?" Sun Yingui paused for a moment, then asked tentatively, "Is it because you think the money is too little?"

Jiang Xian shook his head.

"Vulgar."

"What?" Sun Yingui rubbed his ears, thinking he had misheard.

"Vulgar."

Jiang Xian repeated, "It's too tacky. Putting an advertisement at the end of the film is the lowest level of advertising."

"Low-level?"

Sun Yingui and Bailong's men were dumbfounded.

What?
Isn't Casio a household name in Japan? How can a novelist like you have such profound insights into advertising?
"What do you mean?" Sun Yingui asked tentatively.

Jiang Xian took a sip of water and said with a serious expression:

"What's the point of putting ads at the end of the show? Here's what we'll do: give me 300,000 yuan, and I'll directly insert your Bailong mineral water kettle ads into the TV drama plot."

"Take the young master?!"

Sun Yingui looked at Jiang Xian in disbelief, wondering if the guy had gone mad.

"Three hundred thousand?!"

Jiang Xian is really asking for an exorbitant amount.

Is this a small amount of money? An ordinary worker could save up this much money even if he lived frugally his whole life.

"This is too expensive."

Sun Yingui started to back down, saying, "Comrade Jiang Xian, if we're going to cooperate, let's cooperate properly. You can't treat Bailong like a sucker."

"Mr. Sun, it seems you haven't listened to a word I said. If you think I, Jiang Xian, am asking for an exorbitant amount, the door is right over there." After saying this, Jiang Xian picked up his cup and took a sip of water, his face completely calm and composed.

Sun Yingui and his group were also bewildered. They looked at each other, not understanding why Jiang Xian was suddenly deciding to see the guests off.

Under other circumstances, Sun Yingui might have just left without a word, since he was the sugar daddy.

But not now.

One reason is that he was genuinely moved by Jiang Xian's promise to play a promotional ad at the end of the film.

In addition, he felt that Jiang Xian seemed quite confident, even though he was the sugar daddy, he was being scolded like a dog by Jiang Xian.

He just wanted to know what Jiang Xian was so proud of.
Only now did Sun Yingui recall that Jiang Xian had mentioned an unheard-of plan after the 30 yuan:
"You just mentioned product placement in TV dramas? What do you mean, and how is it done?"

"."

Jiang Xian slowly swallowed the water in his mouth before speaking: "It's very simple. It's just that the actors bring out your product while they're acting, and then use that as a selling point."

Product placement in television is a practice that has become commonplace in later generations.

Let's take "999" as an example, a familiar face to the audience.

In modern dramas, whenever there's a scene with a cold, they immediately pull out a box of 999 Cold Remedy.

In shows like "My Sunshine," the female lead, Zhao Mosheng, often catches colds, and the male lead, He Yichen, immediately gives her 999 Cold Medicine. Later, when the female lead recalls their relationship, the scenes almost become a "999 Cold Medicine commercial compilation."

The most ingenious thing is that if modern dramas can do this, they can also make ancient people drink "999 Cold Remedy" in period dramas.

When the protagonist catches a cold, the medicine package delivered to him will always be labeled "999 Cold Remedy". When the protagonist goes to a pharmacy, the signboard will always read "999 Pharmacy".

Even in fantasy dramas about cultivating immortality, our "999" is indispensable.

In the TV series "The Legend of Chusen", a character says that he has a "hot stomach and feels uncomfortable". His granddaughter quickly takes out the "Weitai" medicine that she got from "Sanjiu Zhenren" and says a saying from "Sanjiu Zhenren": "If your stomach is not good, warm it up."

Aside from 999, all those product placements with brands like Liangpin Shop and Vipshop were enough to give viewers PTSD.

But going back to this era, TV dramas are truly a breath of fresh air. After all, no one has yet figured out how to make TV dramas work, treating them as works of art like movies. So no one has ever dared to do it this way, inserting advertisements into the plot so awkwardly. That's unheard of.

Therefore, upon hearing Jiang Xian's words, Sun Yingui felt as if he had opened Pandora's box and seen a new world, his eyes lighting up once again.

"Ouch."

"This method is great!"

"This is definitely much better than playing commercials at the end of the film!"

Sun Yingui, being a businessman, quickly realized that if the advertisements were shown at the end of the film, many people might not watch them and would go off to do other things, leaving a less lasting impression.

But in a TV drama, it's a different story.

Since viewers couldn't possibly miss such a scene, they had no choice but to watch the advertisement.

The advertising effect is definitely incomparable to that of placing it at the end of the film.

Looking at it this way, Jiang Xian's asking price of 30 doesn't seem like much at all.

"You know, this mineral water bottle is such a good product placement option. What character wouldn't want to take a sip of water?"

Jiang Xian continued to coax, "I was also planning to write a script, but I haven't started yet. How about this, if you and we finalize it, I'll write a special episode about your Bailong mineral water jugs. What do you think?"

"Okay!"

Sun Yingui was extremely excited.

This is Jiang Xian!
Such a great writer personally wrote an episode specifically for their Bailong mineral water bottles.

Wow, no matter how well it turned out in the end, it really made Bailong mineral water bottles look good!
"Comrade Jiang Xian, this is my business card."

Sun Yingui took out a business card and handed it to Jiang Xian, saying, "This is not a small amount of money. Let's go back to the company and discuss it. Don't worry, we'll give your crew a reply soon."

"it is good."

"In addition, I have another request."

As he spoke, Sun Yingui somewhat embarrassedly took out a copy of "Jiang Xian's Collected Works" published by Writers Publishing House, one of the volumes in the "Literary Rising Stars Series".

"Could you please sign your name for me?"

"Oh, okay, okay."

Jiang Xian pulled out a fountain pen from his pocket and quickly wrote down, "Wishing you great success. — Jiang Xian"

Bailong's people filled another van and then left.

As Zhu Hong watched the car disappear from sight, she couldn't help but ask Jiang Xian a question:
"Brother-in-law, Director, do you think they'll agree to invest? Three hundred thousand? Isn't that too expensive?"

"expensive?"

Jiang Xian smiled.

It's cheap!
Back then, the broadcast of "Stories from the Editorial Department" made Bailong mineral water kettles a nationwide sensation.

Don't let Sun Yingui's current situation of being stuck in a minivan fool you; I heard that not long after "Stories from the Editorial Department" aired, he immediately switched to a Mercedes.

(End of this chapter)