Huayu: Traffic is king

Chapter 189 Resource Ascension
The filming is gradually getting into place, and a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

Filming for the movie "Better Days" is more than halfway done, while the original timeline movie has only been filmed for a little over two months.

Gu Jingyi's acting skills are better than Yi Yangqianxi's, and the film's focus is mainly on "Chen Nian".

Having only been on set for a month, Gu Jingyi has already filmed more than half of her scenes.

With him on set, it's like having a pillar of support; the atmosphere and treatment are much better.

The double-person issue featuring Gu Jingyi for Vogue was also released on October 29th, and the physical edition sold 700,000 copies in just one day.

Fans of Gu Jingyi have been showering her with gifts in the supertopic, wanting to give her the best possible reception for her first appearance on Vogue, a magazine widely regarded as the "fashion bible."

The e-magazine, which implicitly unlocks two-person interaction, sold 240 million copies.

Gu Jingyi's first appearance on the cover of Vogue caused a stir in the industry.

The physical magazine is priced at 40 yuan per copy excluding postage, while the digital magazine is 6 yuan per copy. Gu Jingyi's total sales, including both physical and digital copies, exceeded 4000 million yuan. This set a new record for a top-tier entertainment magazine in China, once again proving the power of "traffic economy."

The trailer for the October issue of Vogue, hailed as a "twin of light and shadow" concept, went viral and became a trending topic as soon as it was released.

Hu Ge represents the youth of many viewers; his popularity among the general public is undeniable.

As for Gu Jingyi, regardless of whether you care about the Chinese entertainment industry or not, and regardless of whether you have seen any works related to him, his name became a sensation in 2018.

After filming ended, Gu Jingyi didn't even change out of his costume before leaning back on the sofa playing on his phone.

Lin Ze looked into his eyes and exclaimed in admiration, "Wow, that's amazing! Gu Jingyi, do you know that your Vogue magazine sales have broken records again?"

"I had eight of the top ten magazines in annual sales. Breaking records? I'm used to it."

Gu Jingyi was scrolling through TikTok, not even lifting his eyelids.

To facilitate data collection, fashion magazines often create separate versions for individual celebrities in their duo or group portrait issues and calculate sales figures accordingly.

The October issue of Vogue, featuring two women, is the final piece of Gu Jingyi's "ten-issue grand slam".

As soon as it was released, countless people rushed into the backend system to purchase it.

Fans don't buy magazines one by one; they usually start with at least three copies.

One copy is for browsing, and the other is kept unopened and placed in the bookcase along with its plastic seal for safekeeping.

Another method involves cutting out images of idols from the cover and inner pages, then turning them into banners on Taobao or printing them into small cards for personal collection.

Gu Jingyi has been active in South Korea and Japan recently, and buying Vogue magazine is indeed troublesome when you include international shipping costs.

Fortunately, Gu Jingyi's Chinese fan club was quite capable, as they created a "no-shipping" link for overseas fans who purely support Gu Jingyi.

I also created a link to split the shipping costs and ship the goods together.

Finally, overseas fans who had been waiting for a long time were able to successfully embark on their journey.

The magazine itself is much cheaper than the postage, and many overseas fans first subscribe to the "no return shipping" option (excluding international postage, only the magazine price is paid to their home country to boost sales).

Then they would rush to "ship back," setting off with the "convoy" to split the postage and transport the goods back to their home country.

Fashion magazines like Vogue never have trouble selling; its status as the "fashion bible" is unparalleled.

However, the magazine was still taken aback by the enthusiasm of Gu Jingyi's fans, who were afraid that if they missed even a second, they would not be able to get their hands on the "Grand Slam" Vogue double cover magazine, which was of great significance to Gu Jingyi and their group of fans.

Due to the large number of users, the mini-program experienced immediate cancellations and displayed "Orders Busy" for the first 5 minutes.

The fans are going crazy and keep submitting feedback.

As soon as the Vogue programmers finished the emergency fix, Gu Jingyi's Weibo account immediately went to the super topic and various fan groups to notify fans.

The sales were even more astonishing, with 300,000 copies sold in just one hour. Each magazine cost 40 yuan plus 11 yuan for postage, which means that with Gu Jingyi's support...

In just one hour, it generated nearly 15 million in revenue for Vogue.

After this battle, Gu Jingyi became famous overnight.

Vogue also truly felt Gu Jingyi's popularity across Asia; he's genuinely a star!
Fashion magazines are generally only popular with die-hard fans; casual fans might support them by buying related merchandise or other necessities.

The phrase "Gu family army, a whole family of die-hard loyalists" was often used during the talent show to mock Gu Jingyi's popularity.

This has also become a topic of casual conversation among passersby regarding Gu Jingyi's popularity. This is the first time Vogue has collaborated with Gu Jingyi.

Wuhu, too, took off on the winds of Gu Jingyi's rise.

Let's take a look at the sales figures for Hu Ge's solo album, another male star featured in a duo magazine. Hu Ge's solo sales are 15.7.

This is also a good result; he ranked second in sales among male celebrities who collaborated with Vogue this year.

Who's number one? Of course, it's Gu Jingyi!
The contrast between the sales of 70 physical copies and the sales of 15.7 physical copies is too stark.

Gu Jingyi has an advantage that Hu Ge will never have: overseas fans!
South Korea contributed 7.6 copies of Gu Jingyi's physical magazine to its sales this time, a figure higher than that of South Korean celebrities appearing in Vogue.

South Korean Vogue magazine has already started its pre-launch promotion.

The great Gu Jingyi Xi, the December 2018 issue (quarterly) is about to be released! Those who wanted to buy it, start saving now, or you'll have to wait another year!

A magazine scheduled for release at the end of next month has started its promotional campaign almost two months in advance. The South Korean Vogue magazine, abandoning its usual aloofness, adopted a pathetic and laughable approach, making everyone understand why Gu Jingyi has become an undisputed top star.

He has genuine popularity, sales ability, and online buzz in South Korea and Japan, two of the most difficult markets for top Chinese celebrities to conquer.

Vogue magazine's square-faced staff must be laughing their heads off; print media has been declining since the advent of the internet age.

None of the magazines are having a good time.

With Gu Jingyi's popularity, it seems we can have more mutually beneficial collaborations in the future.

After all, Gu Jingyi is a leader in film, television, and music, and is also the "representative of the six luxury brands in the Chinese entertainment industry".

Collaborating with such sophisticated and elegant artists will not lower the magazine's overall quality.

Just like South Korea's Vogue, which has been subtly releasing press releases everywhere and even putting a pre-sale link on its official website. They've already started using Gu Jingyi's fame to sell magazines, and no one seems to care about how blatant their actions are.

"Platinum blonde hair," "Blonde warrior," "Absolutely stunning, beauty of all ages."

These so-called "insiders" and "staff" made their revelations, immediately piquing the interest of fans and casual observers alike.

Gu Jingyi has always been a template for various plastic surgery hospitals in South Korea, a synonym for "CG face", "a masterpiece of bone structure and skin", and "face genius".

Especially recently, when Gu Jingyi went to South Korea for an event. Standing next to Cha Eun-woo and Oh Se-hun, two of South Korea's top handsome men, made them look like "noobs" in comparison.

This completely ripped away South Korea's fig leaf, and overnight, Gu Jingyi's official fan club gained 7 new registered paid fans.

"The only brother" refers to Gu Jingyi's status in the hearts of South Korean fans who are obsessed with good looks.

South Korean fans naturally wouldn't skimp on things like magazines and posters that showcase their looks in various ways.

Gu Jingyi's October issue of Vogue, featuring two people, is being resold for around 600 RMB on South Korea's largest secondhand goods platform.

Even so, it doesn't stop fans from actually taking the bait.

The scalpers missed out on a money-making opportunity; they didn't get to reap the benefits firsthand from Gu Jingyi's success.

At the same time, the marketing press releases that Gu Jingyi had prepared in advance were also released simultaneously and continuously on various major social media platforms.

This was something Gu Jingyi had already discussed with Huace, determined to make even a passing ant stop and discuss it.

Please, he's the "youngest to achieve a grand slam of ten magazines" and the "fastest to achieve a grand slam of ten magazines."

This achievement needs to be boasted about, and kept secret from everyone in the fashion industry and the general public.

Gu Jingyi felt that he had really let himself down by working day and night on airplanes to shoot magazines.

What's wrong with bragging a little? My good teammate Kun Kun got a solo cover for one of the top five women's magazines, and fans are praising him everywhere.

Gu Jingyi is a "grand slam" winner of the top five women's magazines and the top five men's magazines, not to mention Cai Xukun.

In the entire Chinese entertainment industry, only Chris could see Gu Jingyi's back.

All the other young male celebrities could only sit at the bottom of the well and look at Gu Jingyi, the bright moon.

HuaCe is also going all out, determined to further enhance Gu Jingyi's influence. On platforms like Zhihu, Douban, and Weibo, many seemingly impartial answers are appearing.

These are all paid trolls from Huace, comparing Gu Jingyi to all the top celebrities. Through examples and various comparisons, they claim Gu Jingyi is overwhelmingly superior.

A day later, Vogue's official Weibo account posted the news: "Thank you to all the fans for your support. 30 physical copies of Vogue's double issue were sold out in just one hour through Gu Jingyi's solo link. In just 13 hours, the 70 copies in stock have been sold out."

Major marketing accounts also started to mobilize, and information related to Gu Jingyi was everywhere on the internet.

For two or three days in a row, the top trending topic was still #Gu Jingyi's Tenth Magazine Grand Slam#.

HuaCe did spend money on in-game purchases, but its fans also worked hard to boost the hashtags.

Gu Jingyi's double cover shoot for Vogue has been repeatedly reposted by marketing accounts.

Wearing a Burberry trench coat and holding a coffee, Gu Jingyi and Hu Ge smiled at each other in the snow, showing off their mature style for the first time.

This Vogue cover occupies the "C" position in the nine-grid layout, while the others are all magazine covers that Gu Jingyi has "completed".

Nine other fashion magazine covers flanked Vogue like bodyguards, making Gu Jingyi appear even more aristocratic.

Click on any post and choose the one with the highest popularity to start reading.

Every popular comment section was dominated by Jingfei fans.

Born in 1998, 20 years old, the first person born after 95 to achieve a complete sweep of ten magazine publications!! Gu Jingyi is amazing, I'm tired of saying that.

[There's no need to add the "post-95s" prefix, because only two people in the Chinese entertainment industry have achieved the feat of publishing ten magazine covers in a row: Chris and Gu Jingyi. Gu Jingyi's collection speed was a mere 320 days, faster than Chris's year and a half. Gu Jingyi was only 20 years and a little over a month old when he achieved this. He's truly amazing! I honestly can't think of anyone in the predominantly classically trained Chinese entertainment industry who could surpass this achievement.]

[His ten-issue cover sweep at twenty started with the April issue of Harper's Bazaar. Back then, seeing him and Dilraba on the same cover was pure bliss; they were such a perfect match. After that, Gu Jingyi's fashion resources completely overshadowed Dilraba's. Everyone witnessed the favor shown to him by top luxury brands like Dior and Chopard. The willingness to give Gu Jingyi a cover is truly enviable!]

[XS, I suddenly remembered that a while ago my brother gave a gift to his 3000 million Weibo followers on set. He posted a cover of Li Ronghao's "Young and Promising." For the first time, no one was discussing his singing skills; everyone was saying that the song sounded even more infuriating coming from Gu Jingyi, this seemingly perfect guy. He perfectly embodied what it means to be young and promising, what it means to be full of youthful vigor!]

He's the quintessential "Celestial Being"! Like a protagonist straight out of a novel, he's been dominating the Chinese entertainment industry. From the end of 2017 to 2018, his popularity single-handedly swept the nation. This year's two hottest memes at the end of the year were both related to Gu Jingyi: "Undisputed center position" and "The nation owes me a good older brother."

[Long-time fans are already crying! Don't forget that Gu Jingyi once suffered a lot just because he's doing well now. He delivered food, wore mascot costumes, and worked at a shopping mall opening. After a long day, all he could eat was a seaweed rice roll (with pictures)]

Sisters, don't cry, all of this is in the past. Jingbao won't be stuck in the same place forever; we need to look forward with him. The boy of yesteryear has become a king!

[Having achieved a grand slam of ten magazine covers in less than a year, holding endorsements from six luxury brands including Dior, Chopard, Rimowa, and Guerlain, and starring in a film that grossed over one billion yuan, with "A Love So Beautiful" becoming a minor hit, and "Ashes of Love" and "Better Days" generating buzz even before their release, Gu Jingyi is far ahead of the competition!]

Gu Jingyi has a bright future ahead of him. As a new fan, I wasn't there for him during his most difficult time. But from now on, we will always be there. Let Gu Jingyi walk the path he loves, and let's help him bask in glory together.

Sisters! Stop lamenting! Mercedes-Benz has officially announced that Gu Jingyi has been invited to become their brand ambassador! @Mercedes-Benz

Fans who were surfing the internet were all taken aback when they saw the post.

Following the link, I entered the official account, and @Mercedes-Benz's latest Weibo post was published five minutes ago.

[@Mercedes-Benz]: Mercedes-Benz welcomes actress and singer Gu Jingyi as its brand ambassador. Our encounter begins with this legendary moment.
The accompanying picture was from a recent photoshoot at headquarters by Gu Jingyi; he looked very handsome and youthful.

They are not regionally visible spokespeople, nor are they brand ambassadors for a particular car model who are touted as spokespeople despite having various strange prefixes attached to them.

Mercedes-Benz officially announced on both its internal and external websites that Gu Jingyi has become their new brand ambassador.

Fans were stunned; Gu Jingyi had done something truly extraordinary.

They were just boasting about being the "spokesperson for six luxury items" when the "seven luxury items" came along right after.

With the addition of the highly anticipated YSL luxury brand, which has already been revealed by major fashion influencers and is still on its way, Gu Jingyi is about to become the spokesperson for the "Eight Luxury Brands".

Their endorsement areas range from ready-to-wear, fragrance, and skincare to makeup, effectively controlling their fans.

Then there were cars that were sniping people traveling together, which really made sure they were all taken care of.

Fans have now moved past the initial excitement of posting over ten or more times on their WeChat Moments as soon as an official announcement was made. Although they are still happy, they only retweet the Weibo post and then share it on their WeChat Moments with some restraint.

Then they went to check the comments section of Gu Jingyi's official announcement of Mercedes-Benz. The top comments were undoubtedly controlled by fans.

[@Gu Jingyi's Data Station Controlling Comments]:

#Gu Jingyi Global Brand Ambassador# Congratulations to Gu Jingyi on unlocking a new era of luxury car brand ambassadorship! Mercedes-Benz × Gu Jingyi: The first Chinese global brand ambassador for "Experience the Extraordinary"! Unrivaled resource certification! 1.2 million views for the brand's TV commercial! Over 85 new followers on the official Weibo account.

When Emperor Gu leads his troops into battle, not a blade of grass will remain! Mercedes, sell out fast! (Image: Nine-grid screenshot of Gu Jingyi leaning against an S500 coupe, his side profile is stunning + the brand's stock rose 3.7% that day)

Following the fan-made luxury posters of Gu Jingyi, a Mercedes-Benz was added to the mix.

[Gu Jingyi's fans are already quite calm; a friend just showed me a screenshot. I wasn't surprised at all; I never thought I'd say "I understand." Gu Jingyi is truly amazing. Zhang Yixing is still just a brand ambassador for the G series, right? Gu Jingyi skipped the side story and jumped straight to the top.]
[It's because Gu Jingyi is worth it; some wealthy fans have already posted pictures of their purchases. See @GuJingyi'sGirlfriendFans for more information.]
[@Gu Jingyi's girlfriend fan, bought an S500 in full! The salesperson said I'm the first one to buy one in the city! (Invoice with coded message: 1,468,000)]
Three days later, Gu Jingyi received Zhou Ye's blessings as soon as he arrived at the film set.

"Congratulations, Jingyi. I saw the sales report posted by your fans first thing this morning: 182 S-Class Coupes were pre-ordered within 72 hours. That's a 450% increase compared to the previous period, amazing! You've really broken into the luxury car market. The C-Class and E-Class have also delivered 4382 units. Many female fans say they want to buy their first Mercedes just because of you. Your sales performance is truly outstanding."

Gu Jingyi took the iced Americano from Zhou Ye and took a sip.

"It's normal. I'm a male celebrity. The C-Class and E-Class are mainly bought by women, while the S-Class is a top-of-the-line coupe. Not everyone who buys a car is a fan of mine; they just don't piss me off. Besides, for companies, buying cars can also reduce some taxes."

He wouldn't be so arrogant as to think all the credit goes to him; car endorsements are always about choosing celebrities with good public image.

If sales really depend on fan support, not many people can make buying a car worth hundreds of thousands of dollars seem like buying a toy...

"Don't say that. You really are the first Mercedes-Benz to give such a high title as its spokesperson. And it was announced simultaneously at home and abroad, which really makes us Chinese entertainment industry proud."

Zhou Ye smiled and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, looking at Gu Jingyi with a beaming smile.

Gu Jingyi did not deny this point; such treatment is the highest in the Chinese entertainment industry.

Even Yi Yangqianxi, who is often associated with the new generation in marketing, will only be a new generation spokesperson specially created for him by the brand when he gets the BMW endorsement.

One is a global brand ambassador with no prefix for the entire product line, and the other is a regional brand ambassador with a strange prefix.

Gu Jingyi and Yi Yangqianxi are not on the same level at all. Whether it's their endorsement fees or their overseas promotion efforts, they are completely different.

Gu Jingyi, the newly appointed global brand ambassador for Mercedes, was also somewhat surprised. Initially, she and Lin Ze had agreed to wait until after "Ashes of Love" aired.

Unexpectedly, it was released ahead of schedule. It seems to be related to the fact that "Butter" made Chinese history.

The S500, being a top-of-the-line business vehicle, is only bought by business owners when they need to conduct business.

Given Gu Jingyi's past achievements in bringing glory to the country, it's no wonder he would prioritize the Mercedes when purchasing a top-of-the-line business vehicle this year.

The huge success of "Butter" also propelled Gu Jingyi to global influence, making him incredibly popular.

The person in charge of liaising with Lin Ze has also changed from the regional manager to the headquarters.

Just how impressive is this groundbreaking musical achievement report? Gu Jingyi, who debuted just over a year ago, was actually included in the review, just like Zhou Jielun.

Gu Jingyi, who excels in three fields, has extremely high commercial value. He is outstanding in every area and his development shows no signs of slowing down.

Almost every brand wants to work with Gu Jingyi, which means he will always be the male star with the highest commercial value in the Chinese entertainment industry.

"And you, would you consider buying a Mercedes as your first car for me?"

Gu Jingyi asked with a smile, a question that immediately stumped Zhou Ye.

"Eh?"

[FrogFun, what does this mean? Does he know I'm interested in him? But I don't have a driver's license! Ugh, is he urging me to learn to drive quickly so he can support his business? But my fees haven't been settled yet, TAT]
"Pfft," Zhou Ye only realized she'd been tricked when she heard Gu Jingyi laugh. However, she wasn't angry.

Gu Jingyi had never joked with her before; they were just old acquaintances with whom she had a slightly closer relationship.

It was after that noodle shop experience that he started to resemble the person he was when he was a child.

The two grew closer, and the familiarity between them truly brought Zhou Ye joy.

"Alright, I'm kidding you. Focus on your work. As a year-end gift, I'll get you a G-Class SUV. It's time to get a nice car now that you've made your debut."

Gu Jingyi gently rubbed Zhou Ye's little head; the fluffy texture felt really nice.

Seeing Wei Lai, the "villainous female supporting character," behave like a docile lamb under his control, I honestly felt quite accomplished.

A few days later, the battle robe that Dior had prepared for Gu Jingyi was delivered to the film crew.

Gu Jingyi took two days off from the film crew to attend the Bazaar Charity Gala.

They also want to have a paid date after the party.

(End of this chapter)