Huayu: Traffic is king

Chapter 206 Ascending to the Top of the Fault Line in One Year
However, Gu Jingyi soon saw discussions about his looks, and his appearance became a hot topic. His outfit when presenting awards at the ceremony, as well as his ES haute couture attire, had already been turned into GIFs and went viral online.

Many people who didn't pay attention to Gu Jingyi before, or who weren't interested in green cards, were amazed by Gu Jingyi's appearance in these pictures, and many instantly became fans or switched their allegiance.

This GIF has become a famous moment that made Gu Jingyi stand out, and it has been used as "The King's Journey".

Even Tian Xiwei, Dilraba Dilmurat, and Li Yitong sent this picture to him during their chat, praising or jokingly complimenting him, saying that the outfit was really good-looking.

Interestingly, he received messages from Liu Haolin, Zhao Yue, and Sun Zhenni.

Sun Zhenni jokingly set Gu Jingyi's photos as her phone's wallpaper and even took a screenshot of them.

Then ask: Do you think this latest screensaver looks good?

Gu Jingyi was at a loss for words; this direct attack completely paralyzed his ability to organize his thoughts.

But this younger sister is really interesting.

Gu Jingyi quite liked this kind of grand, undisguised expression of love.

Great, let's make her the female lead in the "Boy with luv" music video.

Regarding the MAMA awards ceremony, Gu Jingyi's greatest honor was not Song of the Year, but rather accelerating Ahn Joon-young's entry into the competition.

As for those awards and the hype surrounding fashion resources...

For netizens in the Chinese entertainment industry, it's all become tiresome.

They were already used to Gu Jingyi constantly breaking these records and privileges; perhaps this was what it meant to be a "rising star" in the Chinese entertainment industry.

After MAMA, December 30th will follow.

This is the second to last day of 2018. Gu Jingyi only has a New Year's Eve concert scheduled, so he can take a short break on New Year's Day.

The rehearsal for Hunan TV was in the afternoon, so Gu Jingyi went directly to Huace in the morning.

He went straight to his office with practiced ease, closed the door, and picked up the documents that his team had neatly arranged on the table.

This is a year-end review compiled by Huace, which mainly summarizes Gu Jingyi's work and achievements this year.

Since the Chinese entertainment industry entered the era of internet traffic, everyone likes to post a year-end summary of a certain celebrity.

The first person to follow this tradition was Gu Jingyi's idol, Da Mi Mi.

The group of actresses born in 85 are too competitive, and their fans are all "tiger parents".

They often fight each other over a certain award or endorsement.

In order to make his presence known to strangers and elevate his sister's high-class image.

Fans of actresses born in the 85s love to urge their studios to prepare a work summary at the end of the year. Then, the fans themselves will photoshop their idols' portraits together with these honors, praising their idols' hard work throughout the year.

This isn't just empty boasting for fans; it's a declaration from this moment on. Any fan wars, big or small, or any gossip-mongering marketing accounts stirring up trouble for our idol, will cease.

Fans would upload these pre-made posters, featuring their idol holding a trophy at the center of the image. His various achievements and awards would then be displayed around the perimeter, making the information immediately clear.

He quickly and directly captured the attention of passersby, leaving them with the impression that Gu Jingyi was awesome.

Gu Jingyi picked up the summary and began to read it.

If there are no problems, this report will probably be released by CTI tonight.

Firstly, regarding film and television works:

At the beginning of the year, Gu Jingyi was just a trainee who had returned from South Korea. However, he had only starred in one web drama, "A Love So Beautiful," which garnered over 3 million views in just two days after its release.

However, he only left an impression within the industry and became a rising star.

This helped Gu Jingyi regain the popularity he had lost after returning to China from South Korea and remaining silent for more than half a year.

This also garnered him a wave of fans, truly establishing his name in the hearts of Chinese entertainment audiences. It helped Gu Jingyi expand his influence beyond the K-pop circle.

同月
The first episode of "Idol Producer," in which Gu Jingyi participated, has aired. The variety show has already shown its potential to become a hit with its extremely high viewership after only three episodes.

In February, after the first public performance of the show aired, Gu Jingyi's number of check-ins on her Weibo supertopic skyrocketed from 70,000 to 170,000, ranking her ahead of many top celebrities in the Chinese entertainment industry.

At this point, Gu Jingyi already had top-tier popularity data and near-top-tier achievements.

With his striking good looks and exceptional charisma, Gu Jingyi officially caught the attention of luxury brands. Dior featured him on the cover of Harper's Bazaar, and his collaboration with Dilraba Dilmurat immediately went live. Gu Jingyi's sales surpassed those of the top female celebrity, Dilraba Dilmurat, demonstrating his potential and popularity to a wider range of brands.

As the show progressed to its second performance, Gu Jingyi had already secured endorsements from brands such as Mosen eyeglasses, One Leaf facial masks, and Peacebird. By this time, "Idol Producer" had become a massive hit variety show, and Gu Jingyi's Weibo supertopic had over 30 check-ins after de-specification. This stunned many in the industry, who hadn't expected the fan economy to have found a new way to operate.

After the show aired its third public performance, Gu Jingyi added three new endorsements: NetEase's "A Chinese Ghost Story," Laiyifen, and Lizhi FM. Her endorsement fees jumped from 700 million yuan a year to a top-tier figure of 900 million yuan.

It may seem like a small step, but it actually represents a leap from "second-tier" to "top-tier".

In the Chinese entertainment industry, there are only about five people whose endorsement fees are consistently in the tens of millions.

At that time, although Gu Jingyi had indeed reached the standard of a top-tier celebrity in terms of short-term traffic data, his status was still relatively superficial. He had traffic, but had not yet obtained the resources and status that a top-tier celebrity should have.

"Idol Producer" is a talent show that selects boy groups, but the Chinese entertainment industry lacks the environment for idols to grow.

At that time, the brands only considered "Idol Producer" as a "short-term phenomenon that created a top-tier idol." However, Gu Jingyi also had the added boost of the hit drama "A Love So Beautiful," giving him a work that could speak for itself. It was only because web dramas had limited potential and he had no existing projects that the brands were able to negotiate a price of 900 million yuan per year.

Even 900 million is a number that is very difficult to achieve even among top celebrities.

According to the financial reports released by major brands at the end of the year, the endorsement fees of the "Four Top Celebrities" are in the range of 800-900 million yuan.

A quoted price of tens of millions doesn't necessarily mean it actually is tens of millions. There's still room for negotiation; the classic example is a certain teacher who loves to haggle.

However, Gu Jingyi has caught the attention of many luxury brands, and Chopard has already shifted its focus from Wang Yuan to him.

In April, Gu Jingyi debuted as part of a group. His overwhelming popularity was already confirmed, and sales of top-tier women's magazine covers broke records in the Chinese entertainment industry. He was appointed as Dior's Asian brand ambassador, rather than a specific regional brand ambassador for China.

Dior's stock price rose 23 percent, and the same style worn by Gu Jingyi sold out in just one minute after its launch.

In the same month, Gu Jingyi was directly appointed as the highest-ranking global brand ambassador after participating in the Chopard Baselworld watch fair.

She became the first post-95s generation spokesperson for two top luxury brands in the Chinese entertainment industry, second only to Chris in terms of fashion status.

In May, Gu Jingyi's first mini-album, "Like the Wind," was released and set a new sales record in the Chinese entertainment industry.

Add 1 to your achievements in your music career and 1 to your resume.

In September, the movie "Take My Brother Away," starring Gu Jingyi as the male lead, grossed 10.86 billion yuan at the box office.

Gu Jingyi was thanked in the end credits for his dual role of providing creative ideas and contributing to box office success.

This movie also definitively cemented Gu Jingyi's status as an unparalleled top star.

Not everyone can make their film debut, especially when paired with several newcomers. Yet, it broke records for youth films in the Chinese entertainment industry, achieving such high box office numbers.

Following that, Gu Jingyi's Dior title jumped to Asian brand ambassador.

This is Dior's highest title in Asia, and the first time it has been given out.

Gu Jingyi's commercial value has surged again, with her endorsement fee exceeding 1000 million yuan per year.

In October, Gu Jingyi launched his streetwear brand "GoodGu." He transformed into its owner. The brand sold out on major e-commerce platforms immediately upon launch.

In November, Gu Jingyi's phenomenal English single "Butter" was released. It broke into the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 7. This directly surpassed the best performance by a Chinese artist in Europe and America, bringing glory to the nation.

In December, Gu Jingyi's viral video on Douyin (TikTok) was released, opening up access to lower-tier markets and boosting his popularity. Gu Jingyi also became a minor shareholder of TikTok, a potential future millionaire.

In the same month, Gu Jingyi's solo cover for the year-end issue of Vogue South Korea was released. Gu Jingyi truly achieved the "Grand Slam" of ten magazine covers, collecting all of them as a solo artist. Unlike Chris and the future Yi Yangqianxi, Vogue used double/group covers to fill out the collection.

"Ashes of Love" and "Better Days" have already finished filming, and "Go Go Squid!" is currently being filmed.

Looking back, Gu Jingyi, who works year-round without a break, has already embarked on the path to becoming a "viral sensation".

As for the top-tier lineup, it consists of four major and three minor ones, along with BL (Boys' Love) adaptation 1.0.

Judging from popularity alone, none of these people can rival Gu Jingyi.

Of the four popular stars, Chris was the only one who still made a splash by the end of 2018.

Lu Han's popularity has shown a serious decline, and his status as a top star is in doubt.

The three young stars all have decent popularity, ranking among the top ten in the Chinese entertainment industry.

As for Zhu Yilong, although she is popular, she is still overshadowed by Gu Jingyi.

Moreover, the path she took afterward leaned towards serious dramas, which was not the same as Gu Jingyi's path.

Gu Jingyi's popularity comes from the combination of music and film and television, and he has a considerable number of male fans.

Gu Jingyi, who has only been in the industry for a year and a half, has already become a veritable top star in the Chinese entertainment industry.

He was undoubtedly number one, and 2018 was dubbed "Gu Jingyin Year".

As for endorsements, Gu Jingyi is a high-end jewelry brand, a top-tier blue-blooded luxury brand, a top-tier red-blooded luxury brand, and a luxury brand.

He is the first person in the history of the Chinese entertainment industry to be a "7-luxury spokesperson", and apart from Dior, which is the highest title in Asia, all the others are the highest global titles.

As for other commercial endorsements, aside from short-term endorsements for One Leaf facial masks and A Chinese Ghost Story.

Gu Jingyi currently has 16 endorsements, ranking third in the Chinese entertainment industry.

Don't underestimate this third place. If you only consider quantity and ignore prestige and quality, Gu Jingyi's popularity and status easily surpass the 43 endorsements he had that year.

"Okay, send it like that."

Gu Jingyi put down the documents and spoke calmly.

2019 is almost here, let's set a small goal.

In the new year, the number of endorsements will exceed 35.

(End of this chapter)