This director is vindictive.

Chapter 272 Let me show you what true vision is, I'll just give away 500 million for free.
Chen Mo certainly wouldn't be so aloof as to reject advertising.

In fact, "The Silent Truth" is not completely without advertisements; it just doesn't have product placements or in-plot ads.

There are still pre-roll and post-roll ads.

However, this has absolutely no impact on netizens.

"The Silent Truth" did indeed gain significant exposure through this reverse publicity.

The first person to try something new always gets the best taste, and this time is no exception.

Of course, Chen Mo's decision to get Tencent to agree to the "zero-advertising" strategy came at a price. In reality, it was in exchange for a live-streamed promotional event for himself and the main cast.

In fact, all things considered, Tencent Video actually did not lose money; on the contrary, it made a small profit.

After all, if a platform wants to invite a top-tier celebrity like Chen Mo to do a live broadcast for promotion, you'd be embarrassed to even ask for an appearance fee of several million. Even so, it would be extremely difficult to invite him.

Sure enough, when Tencent Video announced that Chen Mo and the main cast of "The Silent Truth" would be joining a live stream on Tencent Video to chat with netizens about the behind-the-scenes stories of "The Silent Truth," the number of netizens who booked the live stream exceeded one million in just over two hours, and the number is still soaring.

Many netizens were extremely interested in this live stream.

As for Chen Mo's decision to do a live stream, many netizens guessed the reason without needing to be told.

"Wow, now I finally understand why Tencent Video was so generous this time. They said they wouldn't take the ads, so that's what they were waiting for!"

"What do you mean by that? What does this have to do with 'zero ads'?"

"Think about it carefully, upstairs. When has Chen Mo ever done live streaming? If it weren't for this exchange, do you think Tencent Video would have so easily let go of tens of millions of in-stream ads?"

"Wow, looking at it this way, it really is true. Chen Mo has so many works, but even for promotional purposes, he rarely appears on TV shows, let alone does live streams!"

"He really made me cry! This is a real director, he really went all out for the reputation of his work!"

"Wow, it seems like this really is Chen Mo's first time doing a live stream?"

As a result, as a result, as a result, Chen Mo once again demonstrated what it means to be someone's boss, and what it means to be a walking trending topic generator.

As a result, #ChenMo'sFirstLiveStream# immediately topped the trending searches again.

This would make those "traffic stars" feel utterly inadequate; they have to buy their way onto the trending topics list, but Chen Mo never spends money to get on the trending topics list!

When Tencent Video saw this buzz, Sun Huai, in particular, couldn't stop smiling. Previously, many of Tencent Video's executives had expressed reservations about the ad-free release of "The Silent Truth," since it involved tens of millions of yuan in profits. But now, they all kept quiet.

It's easy to imagine that Chen Mo's method of replacing advertisements with live streams is a sure way to win big, right?

What is traffic? Traffic is influence, traffic is money, my friend!

Moreover, and more importantly, it won over netizens' goodwill and promoted "The Silent Truth" at the same time, achieving multiple benefits in one fell swoop!
The other platforms are definitely envious, but this method is basically not replicable and can only be attributed to Chen Mo, who is indeed a marketing genius.

Within half a day of the news breaking, the hashtag #ChenMo'sFirstLiveStream# had garnered over 500 million views and over one million discussions.

Tencent Video's technology department worked overnight to expand its servers, fearing they would crash due to overload on the day of the live stream.

What made his peers even more envious was that Chen Mo's live stream bookings soared to 800 million within 24 hours!
Although this is just the number of reservations and it's impossible for everyone to come during the live stream, this number is already quite alarming, right?

At the same time, they could clearly feel how popular Chen Mo was.

Actually, this wasn't Chen Mo's first time doing a live stream. For example, he had Dilraba do a live stream when the TV series "Candle in the Tomb" was airing earlier, and he would occasionally appear on it.

When filming "Fame and Fortune" during quarantine, I also had the fat guy do a live stream.

But back then, it was mainly others broadcasting, and he would at most show his face. But this time it was completely different.

It was a live stream that focused directly on him.

As for why it's so popular, there are many reasons.

One reason is Chen Mo himself. Although he is a director, in reality, no one really treats him as a pure director; he has too many accolades.

He doesn't have many acting credits, but his drama "My Love from the Star" was a huge hit across the country, or rather, across Asia.

The number of Professor's fans is already staggering. In addition, over the years, he has occasionally pulled off some outrageous moves, frequently made headlines, and produced so many excellent works. Plus, he has the reputation of being a modern-day Wei Xiaobao, and so on. As a result, Chen Mo's popularity has remained consistently high.

Of course, there is another crucial point, and that is scarcity!
No matter how popular a celebrity is, if they frequently do live streams in front of the public, it's probably not surprising anymore. However, Chen Mo rarely appears in front of everyone directly, let alone interacts with them through live streams.

That's why this live stream attracted so many people, and even its first live stream went viral and trended on social media.

Although this live stream was ostensibly for promoting the TV series "The Silent Truth," its immense popularity clearly demonstrates its inherent value.

So, if you don't include ads in "The Silent Truth," then you can't also avoid including ads in the live stream for fear of affecting its reputation, right?
In no time, several brands that had long cooperated with Tencent Video came knocking on their door, simply wanting to advertise in the live stream.

Tencent Video has already reaped such a huge wave of traffic, so it's impossible for them to also take a bite out of this wave of advertising. Besides, this live stream is mainly Chen Mo's show.

Therefore, Sun Huai contacted Chen Mo immediately to tell him about it.

Upon seeing this opportunity, Chen Mo immediately agreed, and even went so far as to ask, "Mr. Sun, how many companies want to advertise here?"

"Um, many companies, including snack brands, dairy products, beverages, etc., Director Chen, what do you mean?" Sun Huai asked doubtfully.

"How about this, for this live stream, you let them quote prices, but I don't want advertising fees. I'll just use their products to offset the cost! As for how many sponsors there are, let's start with ten!" Chen Mo said after thinking for a moment.

Anyway, he doesn't lack money. Since netizens are willing to support him and give him face, he is naturally willing to give back to everyone. When it comes to playing games, either don't play at all, or play big.

Sun Huai was immediately dumbfounded.

“Ahem, Director Chen, even if we’re going to do an event, is it necessary to use all the products? Can’t we just have them sponsor it?” Sun Huai said.

"No need. How much can we get with free sponsorship? We already have over eight million pre-registrations, and it'll be close to ten million soon. How many items can we get with that little bit of free sponsorship? It's not enough to go around with just a few million people, okay?" Chen Mo said dismissively.

Chen Mo either doesn't play, or he plays big.

Sun Huai was completely convinced this time. This was true vision, this was real vision!
Given the popularity and buzz surrounding this event, it's safe to say that if these brand sponsors were simply asked to spend money to display items in the live stream or have the actors pick them up and drink from them, even with such high viewership, the sponsorship fees would likely be limited.

However, Chen Mo directly deducted the money and even asked them to bring out their products. Chen Mo certainly didn't want those things for himself. In other words, Chen Mo's main strategy was to give them away directly.

These brands will definitely not be stingy.

Leaving aside the fact that natural products have a premium price, exposure and influence are completely different things, okay?
"Director Chen, you're amazing! I understand now, I reckon they'll be fighting tooth and nail to get in," Sun Huai said with a sigh.

"By the way, let's not publicize this beforehand," Chen Mo suddenly said, remembering something.

“Alright then!” Although Sun Huai didn’t know why Chen Mo didn’t want this to be publicized in advance, he understood after thinking about it carefully.

If this wave isn't promoted beforehand, many of those who watch the live stream will definitely be genuine "fans." But if it is promoted, then those who watch the live stream will only be there to take advantage of the deal.

As Sun Huai had expected, after he shared Chen Mo's ideas with several partners, the brands immediately became incredibly generous, showering him with praise and offering top-tier quotes.

The total value of the sponsored products from this single live stream, if calculated according to the "official price," is over 200 million yuan. And if calculated according to the "original price," the price is already outrageous. It wouldn't be wrong to inflate it by 100%, since it was a giveaway, so the price can be inflated.
Of course, the sponsors aren't stupid either; in reality, even a 50% discount followed by a 50% discount would be too much.

For example, how much does a branded roll of toilet paper cost? It's probably just a few dollars. But when people buy it, it usually costs around 20 dollars. If it's marked at the original price, it can easily cost 30 to 40 dollars. Of course, no one would be foolish enough to buy it at the original price. After all, it's just for show!
But if it's given away as a gift, then it can be calculated at the "original price"! It wasn't supposed to be sold anyway, right?
Sun Huai couldn't help but sigh, "A person's reputation really does reflect their character. Chen Mo is indeed a marketing genius. His success today is no accident!"
This scale and this style are something even Sun Huai has never seen before.
Although it's said to be the retail price, it's something worth over 100 million, given away just like that, and genuinely given away without expecting anything in return.

Well, it's not that we're not seeking any reward, but the reward is intangible. The key is that Chen Mo will definitely become a legend after this live stream!
After all, as the saying goes, "He who takes a man's gift is bound to be grateful," and for netizens, this is definitely a pleasant surprise, right?

The biggest surprise is that there's no publicity.

He could imagine how proud Chen Mo's fans must be. After all, other idols are always thinking about how to extract money from their fans' pockets to enrich their own wallets, but what about Chen Mo?

He really gives away benefits, and they're free! There are no strings attached, no requirements whatsoever!

But considering how much money Chen Mo gave to his female confidantes, even billions or tens of billions at a time, it doesn't seem like much, does it?
After Sun Huai reported the data to Chen Mo, Chen Mo remained silent for a while.

Suddenly, he added, "Let's contact the courier companies again and see if any of them are willing to sponsor us, um, just to help send these packages."

Sun Huai paused for a moment, then shook his head and smiled wryly. He hadn't really thought of this before, but now that Chen Mo had mentioned it, he realized he had indeed overlooked it.

As for whether any courier services are willing to sponsor it, just look at the merchants and you'll know the answer is definitely yes! He doesn't even need to think about it.

"Isn't Tencent Video going to give us something in return?" Chen Mo suddenly asked again.

"Huh?" Sun Huai asked in confusion.

“Look at your strategy, Mr. Sun. As the biggest beneficiary, you see, viewers need to register to watch the live stream, right? And they need to fill in their personal addresses to claim prizes, right? This data is a valuable asset for you, isn’t it?” Chen Mo said.

"Director Chen, what kind of prizes do you think would be suitable for us to offer?" Sun Huai asked.

"What other prizes can you offer? Memberships, of course! We're promoting 'The Silent Truth,' which is also promoting Tencent Video, so we're giving away some memberships," Chen Mo said casually.

Sun Huai thought that Chen Mo's words made sense, and after thinking about it, he frowned and asked, "But how many portions are appropriate?"

"That depends on your vision, Mr. Sun!" Chen Mo didn't give an answer but instead turned the tables on Sun Huai.

Now it was Sun Huai's turn to hesitate. Had he given too much? Although this thing seemed to have no cost, it actually did have a cost.

But if you give too little, just like Chen Mo said, it's all about perspective, perspective!
As the host and the platform provider, look how generous the sponsors are, and how magnanimous Chen Mo is. How can you possibly give less?
Why have those brand sponsors suddenly become so generous?

Is it really just because of the exposure of this live broadcast?

No, it's far more than that! This incident will definitely spark another round of discussion.

When the time comes, will they still be stingy with posting pictures when netizens are discussing it?

That's why they're willing to raise the sponsorship price.

"One million monthly memberships!" Sun Huai said through gritted teeth.

Chen Mo nodded and said, "It's so-so, then it's settled!"

Sun Huai was a little annoyed. This was barely acceptable. One million memberships, even if they were only monthly memberships, were still worth tens of millions, right? Why did Chen Mo sound so dissatisfied?

Chen Mo was indeed not very satisfied; a million copies was really nothing.

I gave you the chance, but you couldn't seize it!
"Add another 100,000 monthly memberships and 10,000 annual memberships!" Sun Huai blurted out.

"Mr. Sun, you've really broadened your horizons! Don't worry, it's absolutely great value for money, and the profits are all going to be made in the same pot, Mr. Sun!" Chen Mo finally said with a smile.

Sun Huai couldn't help but roll his eyes. He finally understood. Chen Mo was indeed generous, but this time it seemed that he was being generous with other people's money. Look what happened to him.
Oh, I spearheaded this event, but the rest was all paid for by others.

But will netizens thank them? Perhaps, but most importantly, everyone will thank Chen Mo!
After all, without Chen Mo, they wouldn't have received this generous gift!
It's free! It's free! It's free! I'm saying it three times because it's important.

However, he could already imagine how popular this live stream would be.

Adding all that up together, to exaggerate a bit, you could say that a single live stream gave away 500 million!
I just want to ask, who else?
Don't be fooled by the fact that Gree's Dong Mingzhu can generate billions in sales in a single live stream; after all, that's just selling products!

It's purely a commercial activity; it's about selling goods!
But what about Chen Mo? He's giving it away! Bro, he's really giving it away! Don't be fooled by the fact that it's only 500 million; it's free, no merchandise involved!
"Hmm, Mr. Sun, it would be best if Tencent Video had a few extra servers on hand. It would be embarrassing if the servers crashed due to the influx of viewers," Chen Mo reminded him with a smile.

Chen Mo was not exaggerating when he said that the number of viewers for this live stream might not have been that high at the beginning.

But if they actually give away something, then countless viewers will probably flood in at once.

Don't be fooled by the fact that there are tens of millions of people who have made reservations now. It may seem that the number of people watching the live stream may not even reach that number. But once we start giving away freebies, we can probably set a record for the number of people watching the live stream at the same time.

To put it bluntly, why are those live-streaming e-commerce hosts on Douyin so popular right now? How do they attract viewers?

Things like "0.1 yuan" or "0.1 yuan giveaway".

To put it bluntly, do you really think these things are being given away as welfare? While they certainly exist, you definitely won't be able to snag anything that's clearly worth far more than the price.

What you can manage to snatch are definitely just some worthless items.

They probably only sell a few items, and you'll find that no matter how discounted or how many items they claim to have, you'll definitely be able to buy them.

But even so, don't netizens understand? Everyone knows these tricks, so why do so many people still enjoy doing them?

That's because everyone loves getting freebies!

Don't take advantage of the cheap bastard!
Chen Mo's move was a direct gift! And it was a large-scale gift, with quantities in the millions.

Even if there are ten million viewers in the live stream, and it's impossible for everyone to win a prize, the winning rate is still incredibly high.

So Chen Mo's main strategy is simple and straightforward, a very old approach that anyone can replicate. But the key question is, who can do what Chen Mo does, where people are eager to give him gifts without him spending his own money?

In fact, although Chen Mo forbade any publicity beforehand, it was impossible to keep such things a complete secret.

Soon, rumors began to circulate online.

"I'm an employee of a certain brand, and this is inside information. Chen Mo's live stream is absolutely massive. The company has prepared products worth at least seven figures, all exclusively for this live stream! Think about it carefully!"

"Really? Chen Mo isn't going to do live-streaming e-commerce, is he?"

"Hehe, I have a reliable source within a certain snack brand that I've been authorized to provide. Our company has also prepared products worth seven or even eight figures to be provided free of charge for this live stream. So, do you understand? I don't tell just anyone this!"

"Holy crap, is this some kind of big-scale campaign? Is it just another publicity stunt?"

"Whether it's true or not, we'll find out when we see it. Anyway, it won't cost any money!"

"This could very well be Chen Mo's doing. After all, Chen Mo can give away billions or even tens of billions of shares just like that. What does it mean to have a broad mind? These hundreds of millions or tens of millions are just a drop in the ocean for Chen Mo, okay?"

(End of this chapter)