Chapter 661: Chapter 484: Always Supporting You
Zhou Yun was previously VX’s spokesperson for the Asian region. To climb higher up to the Title, one would become the global spokesperson.
Currently, VX only has one global spokesperson, a British actress who has won an Oscar for Best Leading Actress.
Zheng Xiaowen said that for Zhou Yun to become the global spokesperson, she’d need at least one of the big three’s Best Leading Actress awards.
Therefore, Zhou Yun didn’t take Zheng Xiaowen’s words to heart.
At the moment, she had a lot of endorsements in her hands, covering various product fields, and just the brands she was wearing included thirteen.
Jewelry, watches, makeup, skincare, clothing, high heels... Just clothing alone included three brands - VX, underwear, and a brand specializing in sports equipment.
That’s why Zhou Yun’s income alone could account for a third of Chengqian Entertainment’s annual revenue.
The income of a top celebrity was completely on a different scale compared to other ordinary celebrities; not even in the same unit.
Regarding "Under the Grand Dress", today’s production meeting was mainly about discussing some product placements for the drama.
VX is the producer of this drama, and you can tell from the name that it’s VX’s runway show.
But aside from clothing, this fashion-themed TV drama was quite different from others; its main audience was fashion-conscious, beauty-loving women, and coupled with Zhou Yun’s main role, brands with a keen sense sensed it early on and proactively inquired about partnership opportunities.
Such partnerships, of course, refer to product placements.
Now, advertising product placements in dramas are commonplace; it’s all about whether the advertisement looks high-end or tacky.
At the beginning of the meeting, Zhou Yun made her stance clear: "First and foremost, product placements are fine, but I absolutely refuse to read promotional scripts in character; it’s not just me who rejects this - no actor should do it. I hope this kind of mouthpiece placement does not appear in this drama."
Once Zhou Yun spoke up, Chengqian Film and Television folks blew up.
Especially those responsible for coordinating product placements.
"Lots of brands demand verbal mentions, otherwise they won’t sponsor."
"Then let them leave." Zhou Yun said, "Everyone, when you watch a drama and see an actor performing well, and suddenly a jarring verbal ad comes in, doesn’t it break the immersion?"
Everyone looked at each other.
Of course, it broke the immersion, but now so many dramas were doing this, and everyone had come to accept it as normal.
Zhou Yun: "Those requesting verbal advertisements, go negotiate with them. I’d rather have less sponsorship money, or whatever, but if they insist on verbal advertisements, then we should just refuse."
"This would cause our drama to lose a lot of revenue," said someone from Chengqian Film and Television frankly.
Zhou Yun said, "If you do this, it’ll also cause our drama to lose a lot of viewers. Wouldn’t a decrease in viewers mean a decrease in the drama’s revenue?"
"The numbers don’t work like that. Advertising revenue is originally a big part of this drama’s income."
"Have you even talked to them? How do you know for sure they wouldn’t accept it?" Zhou Yun said, "Do the brands believe our drama will definitely be a hit and can achieve their desired publicity effects through our drama, or do they choose our drama for product placements just because we can include verbal ads?"
People from Chengqian Film and Television wanted to speak.
Zhou Yun didn’t give them the chance, continuing: "Any brand should be able to calculate this - the more viewers a drama has, the better its word of mouth, the more beneficial it is for their brand placement. Otherwise, if it affects the viewer’s opinion and breaks immersion, people will actually start to resent the advertising brand. If they don’t understand this, please ask them to do some research. Product placements in fashion dramas aren’t something to mess around with like brainwashing ads; if they want to play that game, they should copy the Brain Gold’s advertising methods."
Zhou Yun’s speech was as rapid-fire as a little machine gun, rattling off a long string of words.
People from Chengqian Film and Television temporarily decided to dodge her sharpness and first went to discuss with the brands.
"What brands aren’t insisting on verbal promotions now?" Zhou Lan directly inquired.
Chengqian Film and Television took out a list.
The group began to go through each brand one by one, determining if they were suitable for placement in the drama; if not, they would have to forgo them.
The morning passed quickly.
At noon, boxed lunches were called in, and everyone ate together, continuing to go over the list.
The meeting lasted until three-thirty in the afternoon, and eight brands were preliminarily confirmed for placement.
There were still over a dozen to be further negotiated.
After the meeting, Zhou Yun stretched and yawned, "Sitting here for a whole day of meetings has my back aching."
Zhou Lan said with a smile, "I often live through days like this, one meeting after another, and I have to use the break time to touch up my makeup in the restroom."
Zhou Yun: "It’s really tough."
"Are you heading back now or?"
"I have an appointment with Yuk Chu."
"Yuk Chu? Didn’t she start filming with the crew?" Zhou Lan asked.
"She took a day off from the crew today for an official charity event, and she has time to have a meal with me before she heads back," Zhou Yun said with a smile. "I haven’t seen her in so long. It’s good to catch up with her."
"Do you know when Yuk Chu’s contract expires?" Zhou Lan suddenly asked.
"Huh?" Zhou Yun looked at her in surprise, "Why do you ask that?"
Zhou Lan said, "If it’s fitting, we could sign Yuk Chu over to us. The company she’s with now is really not up to par, and her agent, while nice, has too many artists under her to give Yuk Chu enough attention. As a result, even the slightly better opportunities she gets are thanks to your introductions or her own efforts."
Zhou Yun thought that if Yuk Chu could sign with Chengqian Entertainment, it would be a good thing.
At least in terms of resources, with Zhou Lan there, she wouldn’t lack opportunities.
"Then I’ll ask her," Zhou Yun said, "I’ll first see what she thinks. If she doesn’t want to sign with us, then I won’t force her."
"Alright."
Zhou Yun drove herself to the appointment.
When Zhou Yun relayed Zhou Lan’s intentions, Yuk Chu did not immediately indicate her stance but fell into contemplation.
"Don’t overthink it. Just make the decision based on what you want. I’m only conveying Sister Lan’s thoughts," Zhou Yun said, "Joining Chengqian has its pros and cons. Of course, no matter where you are, you’re still my friend."
Yuk Chu smiled, "Thank you, Xiao Yun. I’ll think about it. I’m indeed not quite satisfied with my current company, which is probably related to my own laziness before; I never got enough attention. Now I want to develop my career properly, so I hope to find strong support and don’t want to rush my decision."
"Sure, whatever your decision is, just speak directly to Sister Lan," Zhou Yun said, "I’ll always support you."