The Heiress's Game

The meeting is scheduled for 10:00 AM on Tuesday in the conference room of Xingyao Media.

Today, Lao Ma wore a newly tailored gray suit, and his hair was even shinier than usual. He stood in front of the projection screen, looking very imposing.

When Gu Yunjin led Lu Xiao and Li Chunjing into the room, he came up to shake hands and exchanged a few pleasantries. "It's really important that President Gu came in person."

After the meeting began, Lao Ma gave the first report.

He first reviewed the playback data of the first episode, using several pages of charts to densely display the number of clicks, interactions, topic popularity, and social media index, with each metric soaring upwards.

Then he changed the subject and opened a new business monetization plan.

"We've already received more than twelve offers of sponsorship," Old Ma said, drawing circles on the projection screen with a laser pointer.

"I suggest securing all the sponsorships while the hype is high. Ideally, choose six to eight brands with diverse product categories to avoid overlap."

Start with a 30-second gaffe from the sponsored brand, and then insert one or two more gaffe segments in between.

In addition, we can also do hard placement in the content—for example, in the scene where Chen Cui is cooking, there is a bottle of a certain brand of soy sauce on the stove, and we give her a close-up. The audience's attention is all on Chen Cui's face, and they will remember the brand without even realizing it.

And the scene where the younger brother is fixing the car could easily have been cleverly integrated with a lubricant or tool brand; it would have been very natural.

After he finished speaking, he placed the laser pointer on the table, spread his hands, and wore a smile that suggested he had already seen victory in sight.

"Mr. Gu, as you've seen from the current market response, we are definitely the dark horse in the variety show sector."

Once the sponsorship and GG (Google Games) business is established, the potential for future profits is substantial.

Li Chunjing opened her notebook, her tone neither humble nor arrogant:

"The core of the first phase's word-of-mouth campaign is authenticity, sincerity, and a lack of commercialism."

If six to eight sponsors are suddenly crammed into the second episode, the episode will be ruined within the first thirty seconds, and then there will be several mid-roll ads, plus hard-sell product placements in the content—the audience's viewing experience will plummet.

Sponsorships are acceptable, but should be limited to two or three sponsors, and can only be featured at the end of the video; no insertions or hard product placements are allowed.

What we want is long-term brand value, not short-term GG profits.

Old Ma's expression changed slightly, but he quickly regained his composure and said in a tone of someone with experience:

"Assistant Li, you are indeed very dedicated to the execution of the project, as everyone knows."

But you might not have enough experience in monetization.

The profit cycle for variety shows is very short. If we don't hurry up and fill up the GG slots now, the brands won't be willing to pay this price once the hype dies down.

Moreover, the audience's tolerance for GG isn't that low, as long as the product placement is cleverly done—"

"No amount of sponsorship is as important as the quality of the variety show itself."

Gu Yunjin spoke up, "Filling up all the GG slots while the hype is high is not the model I want to do."

What I want to create is not a variety show that makes quick money, but a long-term asset that can last for three or five seasons, and even spawn a brand.

There was a silence in the conference room for about two seconds.

Old Ma blinked, clearly not understanding what she meant.

He smiled and nodded at Gu Yunjin with an "I understand you" expression:

"Mr. Gu is absolutely right! We are going to build long-term assets, so we need to take this opportunity to lay a solid foundation for GG."

Your idea is excellent; I think we could add one more step.

—At the end of each episode, add a short skit featuring Chen Cui and her sister personally recommending products; the effect will be phenomenal.

Gu Yunjin leaned back in her chair, looking at Lao Ma's smug face, and suddenly found it very funny.

She has already made her stance very clear—don't overextend, don't over-commercialize, and don't cram GG into the content.

As a result, Lao Ma didn't understand at all, and went along with her words, treating her as a young boss who needed to be coaxed and played with, and used the phrase "President Gu is absolutely right" to fool her.

Old Ma clearly hasn't realized the seriousness of the problem.

He continued to talk at length about his idea of ​​a "live-streaming sales mini-theater," and even started assigning roles to Chen Cui and her brother: one to recommend beauty products and the other to recommend tools.

He was halfway through his sentence when, probably trying to calm the crowd, he turned to Li Chunjing and said:

Assistant Li, I understand your concerns, but you need to trust professional judgment. I've been in this industry for many years, and I'm very familiar with the monetization strategies for variety shows.

Li Chunjing didn't say anything, she just closed the notebook.

She silently drew a line between herself and Lao Ma in her mind. It wasn't that she was unwilling to communicate, but that she realized Lao Ma wasn't communicating at all—he was on the defensive.

He regarded Li Chunjing as an assistant who overstepped her authority and interfered with his business decisions, and Gu Yunjin as a young rich second-generation who was "rich but clueless".

Old Ma had no idea that the young woman sitting across from him, speaking softly before lowering her head to drink her coffee, was seriously considering whether or not to make him leave the conference room immediately.

Gu Yunjin put the coffee cup back on the table, didn't look at Lao Ma, and turned to Lu Xiao, saying:

"I need to see the final list of candidates from the headhunters this week."

Lu Xiao nodded and said that it had been arranged, and the first candidate could arrive as early as tomorrow afternoon.

Old Ma stood in front of the projection screen, and his expression finally showed a slightly unnatural stiffness—but only for a very short moment.

He quickly resumed his professional manager-like smile and said that they would wait for President Gu to review the candidates before making a decision.

Gu Yunjin stood up, picked up her bag, and smiled at Lao Ma. The smile was polite but distant, as if she were dealing with an employee who had already signed a resignation agreement.

"Mr. Ma, thank you for your hard work these past few days. Assistant Li will coordinate the follow-up arrangements with you."