Rebirth of Chinese Entertainment, starting with the strategy of 95 flowers to counterattack

Chapter 225 Another Rising Star at Xinhe Media
Gu Yang suddenly chuckled and wrote something on the scoring board: "Yang Chaoyue, do you know what kind of qualities a girl group member needs?"

"Pretty? Can sing and dance?" Yang Chaoyue answered uncertainly, then scratched her head, making her already messy ponytail even more disheveled. "And... likable?"

Gu Yang put down his pen, his gaze focused: "The most important things are authenticity and emotional impact. Technically, the performance just now was indeed subpar."

He paused for a moment, a slight smile playing on his lips. "But you're the first contestant tonight that I'll remember."

The studio erupted in uproar, and the live chat instantly split into two camps:

"What does Gu Yang mean? He can praise someone's skill level?"

"Wait a minute, I suddenly understand this girl's charm!"

"Being genuine and unpretentious is much better than those fake smiles!"

Lin Xiaoyu found herself smiling too.

Yang Chaoyue's awkward and helpless appearance on the stage, her clumsy yet sincere efforts, inexplicably reminded her of her first time participating in a university club interview.

After the show aired, hashtags such as #YangChaoyueReal#, #YangChaoyueCountingBeats#, and #FlyingShoesGirl# quickly trended on social media.

The comments section was polarized:
"This level of skill is allowed on TV? The Chinese entertainment industry is doomed!"

"I'm dying of laughter, she's so cute, I want to pick her!"

"Am I the only one who thinks she's brave? She admits she's not good enough, but she still dares to stand on the stage."

Lin Xiaoyu refreshed the topic page and was surprised to find that Yang Chaoyue's direct-shot video was getting more and more views, and the comment section was full of "hahaha" and "I'm inexplicably a fan".

This contestant, who was technically completely unqualified, unexpectedly moved countless viewers with his terrible but genuine performance and a few heartfelt words.

She clicked on Yang Chaoyue's official profile page and found that the rural girl's vote ranking was rising at a visible speed.

On various social media platforms, discussions about Yang Chaoyue are intensifying:

"She reminds me of myself when I first started working, knowing nothing but gritting my teeth and getting on with it."

"Among a bunch of perfect personas, her authenticity became the highlight."

"Although she's not good at singing and dancing, she's incredibly popular with audiences!"

Lin Xiaoyu hesitated for a moment, then cast her vote for Yang Chaoyue.

Perhaps what this show really needs is not yet another perfect idol, but a real girl that ordinary people can see themselves in.

Outside the window, the night was already deep.

On the computer screen, the first episode of "Produce 101" has just ended, but the story of Yang Chaoyue, who can count beats and fly shoes, seems to have just begun.

……

Galaxy Media Headquarters - Late Night Meeting Room

At 1 a.m., the headquarters building of Xinghe Media was still brightly lit.

In the strategic meeting room, smoke filled the air as a dozen executives in suits sat around a long table, with the projection screen displaying real-time data from the premiere of "Produce 101".

This was the work Gu Yang arranged before leaving, even though he knew that his little artist had become famous because of this show.

But this doesn't mean Gu Yang doesn't have to do anything.

Many things are accidental, including the rise to fame of celebrities.

Just like Yang Chaoyue, after joining Xinghe Media, she became very satisfied with the monthly salary and dormitory provided to her.

I've started to just drift through life lately...

While Gu Yang maintains her original persona on the show, the company will also provide full support behind the scenes.

He still values ​​Yang Chaoyue a lot, because this girl became a "top star" directly because of this show!
Her former company, Wenlan Culture, had been losing money for years, but thanks to her sudden popularity, its valuation soared to 1.6 million yuan in 2019.

She single-handedly supported the company and also fulfilled the performance-based agreement between the company and Transmit Entertainment.

Of the profits Yang Chaoyue generated in the past few years, a share had to be given to Tencent and Wajijiwa Entertainment, the operator of the girl group, with the two companies taking 60%.

Gu Yang had already communicated with Tencent beforehand, which was one of the conditions under which he agreed to be a mentor on "Produce 101".

Therefore, for Gu Yang, as long as Yang Chaoyue becomes a huge hit, she can bring the company more than 5 million yuan in profit in the next few years.

This is not a small amount.

Currently, only Zhou Ye and Tian Xiwei have gained commercial value within his company; the other young actresses are still far behind.

Yang Chaoyue's ability to instantly become one of the top three artists in the company in terms of commercial value demonstrates the amazing nature of the entertainment industry.

Sometimes, a celebrity's sudden rise to fame is truly illogical.

The meeting room was buzzing with excitement.

"We have six spots in the top 50 trending topics on Weibo, three of which are directly related to Yang Chaoyue." The marketing director pushed up his glasses, pointing a laser pointer at the ever-rising curve. "#YangChaoyueCountingBeats# has climbed to third place, with over two million discussions."

Shen Wei stubbed out his cigarette and tapped the table: "Tell me, according to Director Gu's instructions, how should we handle this wave of traffic?"

"Let's analyze why she became popular." The head of the public relations department pulled up a set of social media screenshots. "The first is the contrast. Among a group of well-trained contestants, her clumsiness became the memorable point." "The second is the sense of authenticity—flying shoes, counting the beats, that sentence 'Finally finished counting,' are all instinctive reactions that were not designed."

“Third,” he paused, “the audience saw the potential of a ‘developmental’ project in her.”

"Specific plan?" Shen Wei scanned the room.

"First, we absolutely will not create a false persona for her." The new media operations manager raised his hand. "Maintain her 'straight man' style of speaking. Let her post on Weibo herself, and don't let the copywriting team write it for her."

"Second, we should amplify her 'lucky charm' attribute." The female director of the marketing department opened the proposal, "Many netizens have already taken screenshots of her flying shoes and used them as lucky charm memes, so we can take advantage of this trend and help her achieve that."

"Third, we should appropriately preserve her 'imperfections'," Zhang Axin added. "If she improves too much in the next performance, it will lose its authenticity. What the audience likes to see is the growth process, not a sudden breakthrough."

Shen Wei quickly jotted down notes in his notebook: "What about public opinion monitoring?"

"Currently, negative comments are concentrated on two points: 'unworthy of her position' and 'disrespectful to the stage.'" The public relations department pulled up a real-time public opinion chart. "But the voices of support are seven times those of opposition, and ordinary viewers love her to death."

The meeting lasted until 3 a.m., and the final promotion strategy of "authentic approach + moderate marketing + natural growth" was determined.

When the meeting ended, Shen Wei specifically asked the new media team to stay behind: "Cut Yang Chaoyue's pre-match interview line, 'Food and lodging included, plus a salary,' into a 15-second short video and upload it to Douyin and Bilibili."

"And the lucky koi emoji pack that President Gu asked for, hurry up and release it too..."

"Ok!"

……

Colmar, France, Hussen Airport.

As soon as Gu Yang turned off airplane mode, WeChat messages flooded in like a tidal wave.

As he walked toward the pickup vehicle, he swiped his screen, and Shen Wei's voice call request suddenly popped up.

"Old Gu, is it morning over there?" Shen Wei's voice was filled with undisguised excitement. "Yang Chaoyue has exploded in popularity, much more than we predicted!"

"It's only a 6.7-hour time difference!" Gu Yang handed his suitcase to his assistant and climbed into the black Mercedes. "Specific figures?"

"The first episode garnered over 100 million views, with her personal segment accounting for 35%. Her Weibo followers increased from 2,000 to 800,000 and are still increasing at a rate of 300 per minute."

Shen Wei spoke rapidly, "The most amazing part is the flying shoe scene, which has become a meme across the internet."

The French morning scenery outside the car window rushed past, and Gu Yang smiled slightly: "Don't over-package her, keep her natural state. Contact the production team and choose a simple song for her for the next performance."

"It's all arranged, but there's one more thing." Shen Wei hesitated for a moment, "Several brands have already expressed interest in having her as their spokesperson. Should we accept?"

"Reject them all," Gu Yang said decisively. "Accepting commercial endorsements now will only bring negative publicity. Let's wait until the show is over."

"They're just looking to get a bargain, ignore them! Chaoyue's commercial value is just beginning!"

He thought for a moment and added, "Have the Ministry of Justice keep a close eye on cyberbullying, and send lawyer's letters directly to anyone found to be maliciously photoshopping images or making personal attacks."

After hanging up the phone, Gu Yang opened the pinned chat box on WeChat and sent Zhang Yifan a voice message: "Keep a close eye on Yang Chaoyue. Don't let her get carried away by the sudden attention."

“Remind her…” he paused, “The audience may praise you to the heavens today, but they may trample you to the ground tomorrow.”

The message showed as read, and Zhang Yifan replied instantly with a screenshot.

Yang Chaoyue was doing extra training in the training room, her hair tied into messy little buns, looking like she was completely exhausted.

The caption read: "Don't worry, Mr. Gu, I've been keeping a close eye on things the whole time. I even gave her an extra hour to practice dancing, and I taught her myself!"

"I said it was your order!"

? ? ? ? ?

Is this somewhat like settling a personal score while on official business?

Was Zhang Yifan jealous? Are all these girls really that scary?

……

The midday sun streamed into the restaurant through the glass windows. The long wooden tables were full of guests. The crisp clinking of knives and forks against porcelain plates, conversations in different languages, and the sizzling sounds of stir-frying in the kitchen all mingled together, making the whole restaurant as lively as a pot of boiling water.

Zhang Jingyi stood by the dining table near the window, her fingers secretly tightening around the tablet she used to order.

Across from me sat an elderly French gentleman with silver hair, smiling as he looked at the menu covered in dense Chinese characters.

"Excuse me, do you speak English?" Her voice was eight octaves higher than usual, with a slight tremor at the end.

The old gentleman shook his head, said something in French, and pointed to the "Kung Pao Chicken" on the menu.

Zhang Jingyi took a deep breath, fine beads of sweat appearing on her forehead: "This spicy chicken and peanuts are good!"

She gestured frantically, even making a "fire-breathing" gesture to indicate the spiciness level.

The old gentleman chuckled at her words and suddenly said in heavily accented English, "Young lady, I was just teasing you. I worked in Shanghai for ten years."

(Young lady, I was just kidding. I worked in Shanghai for ten years.)
Zhang Jingyi's face flushed instantly, and she almost dropped the tablet in her hand.

The old gentleman laughed heartily and said in Chinese, "Give me a serving of Kung Pao Chicken, mildly spicy, please."

(End of this chapter)