Huayu: Traffic is king

Chapter 139 Gu Jingyi VS Cai Xukun

"Jingyi, OPPO has invited you to shoot another collaborative advertisement for the R15 Dream Edition."

Gu Jingyi, dressed in a black cloak, saw Lin Ze approaching with documents as soon as he finished filming.

"An advertisement? Didn't we already film one before?"

Previously, OPPO had Gu Jingyi and Chen Weiting film an advertisement together. The first half featured Chen Weiting, while the second half showed Gu Jingyi holding an R15 and taking about ten selfies.

Despite the criticism of "high price and low configuration", it is not lacking in selling points because it is equipped with the "AI beauty" feature that is currently being launched. Just like the advertising slogan of R15 in the promotional video, "AI intelligent photography makes beauty more natural".

"The advertisement video you mentioned is for the R15. OPPO invited you to shoot the R15 Dream Edition video this time. They also want to include a background music track, just like the last promotional video. The brand wants to know if we have any suitable songs."

林泽忍俊不禁，这一时期的国产手机确实版本跌代非常快。R15和X23都是3月发行的，R15梦境版也将与X23幻彩版同时在6月底发售。

Oppo and Vivo have recognized the "upgrading trend" among this group of college-bound students who have just finished the college entrance examination, and each of them has invited top celebrities to compete against each other.

However, because he repeatedly lost to Gu Jingyi, Cai Xukun has earned the nickname "Xu Kun" (meaning "false Kun"), implying that his online popularity is artificial and unsustainable.

Gu Jingyi had already shot promotional materials for the R15 series and instant photocards right after the group's debut night.

The former was announced a long time ago, while the latter will only be included when the R15 Dream Edition is launched this month and the purchase of the Gu Jingyi co-branded gift box is priced at 349 yuan higher.

The co-branded gift box includes four engraved Polaroid photos with personal signatures, a laser-signed phone case, a sticker sheet, and a power bank with fast charging protocol.

Because there are enough materials, even casual buyers who only have a good impression of Gu Jingyi can keep the power bank and resell the other items on Xianyu (a second-hand marketplace app) to recoup their losses.

This whole thing was suggested by Gu Jingyi; OPPO was just trying to fleece consumers from the start. Only those who purchased the R15 Dream Purple top-of-the-line model with 6+128GB of memory would receive a small card personally engraved and signed by Gu Jingyi.

This is outrageous! They're just wasting the fans' love like that.

Gu Jingyi proposed a launch privilege for the OPPO R15 Dream Edition, where only customers who rushed to purchase the launch could buy the co-branded gift box. As for the memory size, that would be entirely up to the fans' preferences.

Lin Ze simply relayed Gu Jingyi's suggestion to OPPO's marketing department, and surprisingly received a call from an OPPO executive three days later.

OPPO's eyes lit up after hearing Gu Jingyi's suggestion. They held a meeting to analyze the sales gains that the suggestion would bring if adopted.

Either outcome is far better than the original plan.

The CEO of Green Factory directly adopted Gu Jingyi's proposal, praising him as a rare young talent.

His endorsement fee also increased from 1200 million to 1500 million per year.

The increase of 300 million can be considered as the idea fee that Gu Jingyi provided for the planning.

Lin Ze felt somewhat indignant on behalf of Gu Jingyi, believing that the Green Factory wanted to use the creativity of its own artists at a low price with a small fee.

Gu Jingyi was quite open-minded; his idea originally stemmed from Song Yuqi's endorsement of the Reno13 series in 2024.

Even if he didn't recommend giving it to Green Factory, they were still incredibly skilled at this marketing tactic afterward.

It would be better to propose it in 2018, which would bring it to the attention of the top management of the green factories.

Green Factory has always targeted young women, from students to white-collar workers.

OPPO's overseas sales are second only to Huawei's, with shipments reaching 3140 million units in the first quarter of 2018. While Huawei's shipments reached 5220 million units, 48% of its core markets are Europe and 25% are the Middle East. OPPO also targets business professionals and employs a marketing strategy that combines sports marketing with official endorsements.

OPPO's core markets consist of 43% Southeast Asia and 28% Indonesia, and its marketing strategy focuses on entertainment and fast-paced retail. In the first quarter of 2018, OPPO's flagship overseas model was the OPPO F9. Emphasizing photography and fast charging, its starting price of only 2500 yuan precisely targeted young women as its fan base.

Gu Jingyi has some K-pop experience and the highly anticipated historical romance drama "Ashes of Love" is about to air. Even contemporary romance dramas, which have a somewhat awkward positioning in the Chinese entertainment industry, are enjoying great popularity in Southeast Asia.

It is foreseeable that the development trajectory of Green Factory will change due to the selection of Gu Jingyi to join its spokesperson lineup.

From the moment Gu Jingyi formed a group after "Idol Producer" and filmed the first promotional video for OPPO's R15 in the first half of the year, the gears of fate began to turn.

With talent shows booming both domestically and internationally, and the upcoming dramas "Ashes of Love" and "Go Go Squid!", congratulations to the Green Factory! Their showdown with the Blue Factory will be an easy victory thanks to Gu Jingyi, their biggest asset.

"Let's use my song 'Hug Me,' its sweet melody is perfect for summer."

After thinking for a moment, Gu Jingyi came up with a suitable song.

The song "Hug Me" is based on synth-pop, and its laid-back rhythm of 92 BPM perfectly matches OPPO's brand proposition of "easily recording life".

The lyrics are also very suitable for promoting the R15 Dream Edition. Gu Jingyi thought of several ways to match the phone's features with the lyrics of "Hug Me" after just a little thought.

"The instant your fingertips touch" corresponds to in-display fingerprint unlocking.

"The warmth spreads in my palm," a phrase that allows Gu Jingyi to emphasize the humanistic care brought by the R15 Dream Edition when talking to a friend on the phone in the short film. While communicating with his friend, Gu Jingyi, holding the R15 Dream Edition, has a warm smile on his lips.

You could also have Gu Jingyi appear in a game within the short film to showcase the phone's heat dissipation performance.

And the line "I'll embrace you through the sea of ​​people" was perfect for improvisation. Imagine Gu Jingyi standing on stage, with fans holding R15 Dream Edition phones and zooming in on his face with wide-angle lenses.

Upon closer reflection, Gu Jingyi felt that he had further refined a mobile phone advertisement to better highlight the product's features.

This creativity alone puts Cai Xukun, who only knows how to show off and coldly recite lines in the X23 Phantom Edition filming, to the ground.

"Brother Ze, your phone is ringing."

Lin Ze's ringing phone interrupted Gu Jingyi's thoughts. He patted Lin Ze's arm to signal him to answer the phone.

"Okay," Lin Ze said, unlocking the phone with his fingerprint. Seeing the caller ID, he smiled smugly and said, "It's a senior executive from Green Factory calling, Jingyi. Looks like your plan for a global brand ambassador is likely to come true."

In 2018, major mobile phone manufacturers were employing a massive talent pool strategy. Like KFC's promotional officers, whoever was popular was put on the team. Contracts were signed for the promotion of specific new products, typically for 6 to 9 months, and no more than a year. Only those who met the sales targets of the contract could be promoted from "Experience Officer" or "Promotion Officer" to series ambassador or regional spokesperson.

Typically, it's someone who becomes a sensation in a short period thanks to a single drama or a hit variety show. KFC and major mobile phone manufacturers are eager to monetize the commercial value of these rising stars, signing them with "six-month contracts" at a lower cost.

Even if these "experience officers" and "promotion officers" don't generate enough traffic and quickly "flop," the brand still used "experience cards" to maximize their popularity.

The industry has always used the promotion of these "experience officers" and "promotion officers" for six months and whether they have been promoted to a higher title as a criterion for measuring top-tier (T0) influencers.

KFC is relatively better, after all, it's fast food. The price is positioned at a few tens of yuan per person, so if fans really want to boost sales for their idols, anyone can afford it.

As for mobile phones, Vivo and Oppo release a mid-range model every six months.

The updates and iterations are so fast that you only need to use the current spokesperson's popularity to stimulate sales.

Those who can be promoted to a higher title after their "Promotion Officer" term expires are all top-tier (T0 level).

When Gu Jingyi was still on "Idol Producer" during the second public performance, even the Green Factory (the production company) didn't expect that Gu Jingyi would become so popular after debuting on the show. Even her current position as the brand ambassador for the R series was only decided after a long period of discussion.

Oppo probably didn't expect Gu Jingyi to value titles so much. In China, these "experience officers" for a new product only appear when the brand officially announces it.

According to their fans, they were all touted as "spokespersons for a certain product line".

Gu Jingyi would never do something so degrading; the fans' hype is just self-deception. No matter how much they exaggerate, the industry always bases its decisions on official brand endorsements.

He demanded an endorsement title from the factory from the very beginning; the title of "X23 Phantom Edition Experience Officer" was not enough to persuade Gu Jingyi to accept it.

The blue factory lacked sincerity, which led to OPPO successfully poaching its employees.

The endorsement fee offered by Green Factory is the highest in the industry, and they were willing to fight for the title for Gu Jingyi from the very beginning.

Therefore, Gu Jingyi chose Green Factory and became the "R Series Brand Ambassador".

Lin Ze's phone call was to confirm with OPPO and Gu Jingyi when they would have time to film the advertisement for the OPPO R15 Dream Edition.

The advertisement is divided into version A and version B. Version A will be used by OPPO as the official advertisement for the R15 Dream Edition, which is being promoted this time.

Version B will be built into the local video storage of the R15 Dream Edition phone.

It's a story about Gu Jingyi from a boyfriend's perspective, unfolding from the R15 dream version.

This was also inspired by Gu Jingyi, who previously endorsed Lizhi FM. The advertisement positions users as girlfriends, with Gu Jingyi as their lover across the screen.

The ad garnered over 10 million clicks in less than three days after it went live.

This was just an advertisement, yet it went viral.

Gu Jingyi also used the same concept when filming the music video for "Slowly Like You" after the recording of the "Idol Producer" performance.

The result was obvious: the music video for "Slowly Falling in Love with You" garnered over 10 million views in less than 24 hours after its release.

It is the song that has broken 10 million views the fastest among all of Gu Jingyi's released songs.

The Gu Jingyi we saw during "Idol Producer" wasn't the complete Gu Jingyi. His full potential was realized after he debuted with the group and released the mini-album "Like the Wind." During this period, Gu Jingyi's popularity and influence were significantly greater than when he participated in the competition.

However, it still failed to break the record for the fastest viewership of "Slowly Like You" to reach 10 million. The "dream girl economy" has a market no matter where it is.

Even a top-tier celebrity like Gu Jingyi, who is virtually unchallenged in the Chinese entertainment industry, can be affected by it.

"Jingyi, the script has been scanned and sent over by OPPO. Take a look and see if there are any adjustments needed."

Lin Ze sent a scanned copy of the script to Gu Jingyi and waited for his response.

"Okay, I'll take a look."

Gu Jingyi tapped the screen with his fingertip, and time passed little by little.

All I can say is that the script was pretty much what he had imagined.

Have Gu Jingyi stand on the filming location, holding an R15 Dream Edition, and recite his monotonous lines against a green screen.

The dialogue is just one line: "OPPO R17 Dream Edition, infinitely amplifying your beauty."

To be honest, it's a bit awkward.

The entire advertisement almost entirely focuses on Gu Jingyi's dashing and handsome demeanor, completely ignoring the phone that should be the main focus. The beginning is all about Gu Jingyi showing off his coolness, followed by just one line: "OPPO R17 Dream Edition, infinitely amplifying your beauty."

It's very disjointed, and the focus is completely blurred.

Although he felt it was a bit of a hassle, he still gestured to Lin Ze to let him say a few words.

After briefly expressing his approval of the R15 Dream Edition, Gu Jingyi changed the subject.

"Regarding advertising, I have a few preliminary suggestions..."

After carefully considering his words, Gu Jingyi then expressed his thoughts.

The other party didn't interrupt, and even had their assistant find and play "Hug Me".

The more I listened, the more I realized that the young man's suggestion was indeed very reasonable.

How old is he? Why does he have so many good ideas in his head?

Compared to Gu Jingyi, the people in her own company's planning and marketing departments were utterly useless.

"Jingyi, would you be interested in taking a temporary position at OPPO?"

Hearing the old fox ask this, Gu Jingyi refused without even thinking.

"I'm sorry, but I think my focus right now is on work."

The other party continued to persuade, "This temporary post won't affect anything; your main job is still in the industry. Just give us some advice on advertising when OPPO releases new products."

"Jingyi, you have much more insight than those good-for-nothings in the company."

Gu Jingyi still didn't take the bait. OPPO in 2025 was truly impressive. Its overseas sales were soaring, and in some countries, "OPPO Phone" even outsold "iPhone".

But it's 2018 now, and Huawei is still developing chips; their famous Kirin chip hasn't even been released yet.

Before Vivo adopted Zeiss technology, it became known as the "camera phone" that was famous for its photography capabilities, unlike other ordinary "camera phones".

Xiaomi is still "born for enthusiasts," and hasn't become the first of the three manufacturers to introduce Leica cameras. This will change the image quality of domestic manufacturers, forcing the "green factory Hasselblad" and "blue factory Zeiss" to compete fiercely.

With all the brilliant ideas Gu Jingyi has in his head, any domestic manufacturer could become a "distinguished guest".

Why bother working for the DPP?

He's just a minor "R-series Asian brand ambassador" right now, let alone worrying about OPPO so much.

Even when writing advertising jingles for Green Factory, Gu Jingyi wasn't that enthusiastic.

If it weren't for Cai Xukun's team constantly using Gu Jingyi for publicity since his debut, and the well-coordinated efforts of his fans to pit Ikun (Cai Xukun's fans) against Jingyi's fans, it would have been a major pre-competition training exercise.

By feuding with Gu Jingyi, they marketed Cai Xukun, who was considered a "half-step top star," as a "top star." They also used the fan wars to torment and train their fans' character.

He wouldn't be so ruthless if he kept clinging to Gu Jingyi's remaining value.

Given Gu Jingyi's current popularity, even if he does nothing at all, simply by filming commercials step by step, he can easily outshine Cai Xukun by a mile.

There's nothing we can do; Cai Xukun has been acting too high-profile lately.

If Gu Jingyi didn't give her a nudge, Giegie would really want to sit down and eat.

This time, he aims to maximize the soft power of his endorsement, so that he can "strike a fatal blow" and "easily seize the opportunity" on the first day of sales.

"Okay, it's good that young people have ideas. If you change your mind later, Jingyi, you can always tell me."

"However, to generate buzz for you, we'll be releasing some gimmicks. This time, the OPPO R15 Dream Edition has a very high 'consideration level.' Whether it's advertising shoots or merchandise, you'll be highly involved."

"For tomorrow's shoot, Jingyi, if you have any better ideas, feel free to use them. As the person in charge of version A, you know best. You came up with the idea, but I'm just worried that the revised version might go against your wishes."

It has to be said that people who can become senior executives are different; their words are always pleasant and comforting.

"At most, I should just change the advertising copy to make the positioning more precise."

Gu Jingyi said with a smile, but the voice on the other end of the phone suddenly sounded very surprised.

"Huh? Jingyi, do you have any good ideas?"

"I'll organize it in a bit and have my agent send it to your encrypted email."

He should just handle the entire advertising shoot himself. This old fox wants to use "Gu Jingyi's participation in the R15 Dream Edition advertising production and merchandise collaboration" to stimulate "Jingfei's" consumption and deeply bind Gu Jingyi to his cause.

Gu Jingyi's only reason for not refusing was that Green Factory had gained so much this time. After he fully demonstrated his strength, the other major companies weren't fools either.

For advertising, and even for mobile phones, Gu Jingyi, with his vision more than eight years ahead of the curve, can stir up the long-dormant mobile phone industry with just a single sentence.

Gu Jingyi disliked trouble and was too lazy to start a company.

The optimal solution is to establish deep partnerships with major mobile phone manufacturers and wait for them to come to you with "dividends" or other internal shares.

Green Factory is only half a step ahead, but Gu Jingyi will always be at the top.

Being a top star is great, but one's status is never high enough.

When Gu Jingyi was riding back in the nanny van, he took out his tablet and organized his thoughts on it.

I wrote down my ideas bit by bit, keeping it within the 30-second advertisement.

It's much cooler than Cai Xukun's line, "Want to take a picture together? Vivo X23 new color version, ultra-wide angle, discover your beauty."

As soon as I finished writing and sent it, the executive from the green factory called again.

The conversation was full of praise, and even subtly hinted that OPPO had big plans for 2019. They suggested reviving the long-dormant Find series and taking a flagship approach instead of relying on the "R series"—a mid-range product that focuses on photography while neglecting other specifications—to drive sales.

He went on and on praising Gu Jingyi, saying that his temperament and image were a perfect match for the Find series. He was practically about to say that he would definitely make Gu Jingyi the global spokesperson and conquer the world with OPPO.

He waited until his mouth was dry from talking before tentatively asking, "Jingyi, what do you think?"

Gu Jingyi chuckled, "I also feel that OPPO's target audience is a better fit for me, from students to white-collar workers, directly providing them with their phones."

"Haha, Jingyi, don't worry, OPPO isn't just about the R series and other mid-range products. We'll be relaunching the N series in the second half of the year, and the Find series will be launched next year. You're the one we've been waiting for..."

Gu Jingyi smiled and said, "Then I wish OPPO great success. The last time OPPO released a new product in the N3 folding series was in 2016. The Find series also stopped with the Find 7 in 2014, and experienced a vacuum period of several years."

"Haha, Jingyi, you really know a lot. You're so thoughtful to have gone out of your way to learn about these things."

The OPPO executive was grinning from ear to ear, thinking that Gu Jingyi was completely tied to the OPPO team.

After hanging up the phone, a senior executive suggested, "Why don't we just not make it public that Gu Jingyi was involved in such a complicated advertising production? I'm worried that other manufacturers might try to pull us away."

"No," the executive who had just spoken with Gu Jingyi said with a confident smile.

"HuaChang's Nova series uses Jackson Yee, while BlueChang's X series has never had a fixed spokesperson. The spokesperson lineup keeps changing, whoever has the most traffic gets the role."

"And what about OPPO? Dilraba and Wang Junkai are only the promotional ambassadors for the R11 and R11S. For the R15, we only invited William Chan and Wang Junkai."

"Gu Jingyi is a perfect fit for OPPO, and OPPO is the only path for him. Huawei intends to decide whether to hire Yi Yangqianxi as its first global brand ambassador based on his performance in the Nova campaign targeting the youth market."

"How could Gu Jingyi possibly switch to Huawei? Yi Yangqianxi's popularity is far inferior to Gu Jingyi's. His image is also based on building personal connections, while Huawei's target audience is business professionals and middle-aged men. Yi Yangqianxi can expand his general brand awareness, but he can't gain fans by being a Huawei spokesperson."

He stopped mid-sentence.

The meeting room fell silent for a moment, but soon a female executive got his point.

"Moreover, top idols like Gu Jingyi, who came from talent shows, are not very popular among men. He's too handsome, so handsome that he's on a completely different level from everyone else. He's also easily seen as a pretty boy by men, and he doesn't naturally evoke any positive feelings. So from the beginning, Gu Jingyi's side didn't plan to follow the route of Huawei. Only our positioning and that of Blue Factory are the most suitable for his positioning."

“That’s right,” Gu Jingyi would have been slightly surprised if he were there. The male executive he had been talking to for a long time was sitting very close to the dominant position, which symbolized power, so he was obviously not in a low position.

Even among a group of senior executives, his words carry considerable weight.

Seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, he pushed up his glasses and said with great certainty, "However, Blue Factory is still not as suitable as our Green Factory. Blue Factory initially refused to give Gu Jingyi the title of brand ambassador. They then turned around and invited Gu Jingyi's teammate Cai Xukun, trying to undermine his spirit."

“Young people are always concerned about their image, and Gu Jingyi would never side with the Blue Factory. So for this promotion, we will still emphasize Gu Jingyi’s role in advertising design and merchandise collaborations.”

"But if the co-branded gift boxes are released first, it's easy for Blue Factory to copy them."

At this point, others objected and raised their concerns with furrowed brows.

"Go ahead and learn from them. Do you really think these kinds of co-branded merchandise boxes make money through creativity? It's all about the popularity of the spokesperson! A mobile phone endorsement is different from a fast food endorsement. Only true fans will be willing to pay for this."

With the executives supporting Gu Jingyi's decision making the final call, everyone accepted his decision.

On the other side, in the minivan.

Lin Ze also said to Gu Jingyi, "Jingyi, I think we've lost out big time. We gave OPPO way too much; they need to pay more!"

His income is tied to Gu Jingyi's; basically, 5% of the top star's income goes to support the entire team. The "leading" agent gets a larger share than others, and Lin Ze consciously strives to secure more benefits for Gu Jingyi.

"Even if we have to pay more, let's not ask Oppo for it. Let's ask the production team for a day off. We need to go all in on stocks in the stock market before the R15 Dream Edition is announced."

"This is much more than the paltry benefits that OPPO offered."

Gu Jingyi smiled and said that he was going to go all in on all the liquid assets he had on hand.

Thanks to OPPO for the small gift; the rest I took myself.

(End of this chapter)