The promotional activities for “Sea Fortress” were already underway, with promotional materials fully deployed offline. Large promotional posters for “Sea Fortress” could be seen in many theaters.
But Lu Xiaoping wasn’t satisfied; he felt this still wasn’t enough.
Since the current situation showed that “Sea Fortress” had no strong competitors during its release period, box office success was almost a certainty. Therefore, the more money spent on promotion and the higher its recognition, the higher the box office returns would be.
Who wouldn’t want to do business that was guaranteed to make money?
Currently, “Sea Fortress” wasn’t generating enough buzz, and the reason might be that the name was slightly disadvantageous.
Although it was a proper popcorn blockbuster in the sci-fi genre, the name sounded more like a war film, naturally lacking some discussion value.
But there was nothing to be done about this—the translated title had already been set and couldn’t possibly be changed now.
However, Lu Xiaoping had other methods, which could be summed up in one word: ride the wave!
Currently, the most critical issue with “Sea Fortress” promotion was simple: the name didn’t sound appealing, causing audiences to be unclear about the film’s specific content, and their psychological expectations weren’t very high.
Therefore, to further enhance the buzz around “Sea Fortress,” efforts needed to be focused on this aspect.
Lu Xiaoping said to the department head, “This is a heaven-sent opportunity, we absolutely cannot miss it!”
“Leak some information and have the paid commenters spread it around: ‘Sea Fortress scheduled for May Day golden week, sci-fi blockbuster coming in strong, certain domestic sci-fi film caught off guard, doesn’t dare to compete head-on and can only move up its release date.'”
“Also, emphasize that ‘Sea Fortress’ is not a war film but a sci-fi film, with many grand special effects scenes, massive investment—not to be missed!”
“Remember, our official channels must not mention the name ‘Mission and Choice.’ Just have the paid commenters subtly guide the conversation in the background. Keep it clean, don’t cause any trouble.”
Lu Xiaoping’s idea was clear: to increase the film’s buzz and recognition, stirring up conflict and putting down one while praising another was the most direct and efficient approach.
“Foreign sci-fi blockbuster coming in strong, domestic sci-fi film unable to resist and forced to change release date”—throw this topic out there, and it would definitely spark heated discussions online!
Buying some paid commenters at low cost to create such buzz—why not?
Of course, this approach carried some risk. If they talked big before the release but then the box office performance fell short of their competitor’s, it would be quite embarrassing.
But Lu Xiaoping believed such an accident was virtually impossible.
If “Mission and Choice” were truly impressive, why wouldn’t they release during the May Day period instead of choosing an off-peak release window? This clearly showed that the producers themselves lacked confidence in the film.
Given that, what was there to fear?
Moreover, “Sea Fortress” was releasing during the May Day period, which naturally brought traffic. Even if its box office performance was average, it would still be much stronger than “Mission and Choice” releasing during an off-peak period.
By May 1st, “Sea Fortress” would be on its opening day, while “Mission and Choice” would have already been screening for two weeks, practically at the end of its run. The box office would absolutely be a crushing victory.
No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like a sure thing!
The department head immediately nodded: “No problem, Mr. Lu. I’ll arrange it right away!”
……
……
April 10th, Tuesday.
Tenda Group, Advertising and Marketing Department.
When Xia Jiang arrived with the official platform’s interview team, a young man from the Advertising and Marketing Department named Yu Yao was responsible for receiving them.
Meng Chang had deliberately found an excuse not to come today, specifically to avoid this interview.
“Editor Xia, hello, hello, please come in.” Yu Yao welcomed the interview team and arranged for them to be received in the meeting room.
The Advertising and Marketing Department had a similar office environment to other Tenda departments, though it appeared more spacious due to having fewer people.
Xia Jiang glanced around the Advertising and Marketing Department environment, further confirming her previous speculation.
The incubator must have been Mr. Pei’s doing, no doubt about it!
The overall style of the office area was clearly cut from the same mold. Although there were significant differences in some details, the feeling it gave was exactly the same!
This further strengthened Xia Jiang’s determination to do this interview well.
“Editor Xia, Brother Meng had something urgent come up today, I’m really sorry about that. You can ask me any questions, and I’ll answer everything I know,” said Yu Yao.
Xia Jiang nodded, “Alright, then let’s get straight to the point.”
The two didn’t exchange many pleasantries, as everyone’s time was valuable. Xia Jiang had just published her interview with the incubator and Qiu Hong, which had received a good response. Now was the time to strike while the iron was hot and publish the interview with Meng Chang as soon as possible.
Although Meng Chang himself wasn’t present this time, Xia Jiang had prepared thoroughly.
Xia Jiang first asked a few simple questions, including the daily work of the Advertising and Marketing Department and the experience of working at Tenda Group.
Yu Yao answered normally.
Then, Xia Jiang changed the subject and got to the main point.
“Regarding the current head of the Advertising and Marketing Department, Meng Chang, are you familiar with his previous situation at Cold Face Girl? Now that you’re colleagues, what’s your impression of him?”
Yu Yao thought for a moment and said, “My previous understanding of him was limited to some online discussions, and my first impression wasn’t very good.”
“But after working together, I discovered that he’s actually quite different from the online rumors. I think this change probably happened gradually after coming to Tenda.”
Xia Jiang’s eyes lit up. “Oh? Could you explain in more detail?”
Yu Yao explained, “There are mainly two aspects: changes in his conduct and promotional methods.”
“As far as I know, before coming to Tenda, Meng was very flamboyant, even delivering cold noodles in a sports car. But after coming to Tenda, he became extremely frugal, perhaps even the most impoverished person in the entire company.”
“For instance, most people in our department drive to work, but only Meng takes the bus to and from work rain or shine. Even when colleagues offered to give him a ride, he refused.”
“I think in terms of conduct, he seems to have become more low-key, no longer as flamboyant as before, and instead has something of an ascetic about him.”
“As for promotional plans, the ones Meng makes now are vastly different from before.”
“Previously, to create more buzz for Cold Face Girl, he conducted many controversial marketing activities.”
“But after coming to Tenda, all of Meng’s marketing plans have been low-key and restrained. For example, the promotions he did for Tenda’s physical industry and Rabbit Tail Live Streaming completely abandoned the previous exaggerated style, replaced by a sense of practicality.”
“This change is so obvious that it’s hard for me to believe that Meng is the same person who was once in charge of Cold Face Girl.”
Xia Jiang took notes quickly.
Clearly, this was iron-clad evidence of Mr. Pei changing Meng Chang!
If it were the original Meng Chang, he would certainly have continued the exaggerated, attention-grabbing promotional style of Cold Face Girl when creating promotional plans.
But now, Meng Chang seemed to have completely washed away his flashiness, and all his promotional plans appeared very stable, giving people a sense of being low-key and restrained.
People don’t suddenly undergo such a 180-degree change without reason.
Apart from Mr. Pei, who else had this magical ability to completely transform Meng Chang, who had originally been so passionate about and skilled in marketing?
Xia Jiang continued, “Could you talk about the ‘Classic Chinese Game Collection’? How did you come up with the idea to promote this?”
Yu Yao replied, “Why we’re promoting this… actually, I’m not very clear about that either.”
“I only know that although this plan was approved by Mr. Pei, it was initially proposed by Meng.”
“And to do this plan well, Meng has put in a lot of effort. He not only scrutinized and strictly vetted every detail of the entire promotional activity but also specifically requested the game demo from Tenda Games and repeatedly experienced it.”
“Every workday, Meng is the first to arrive and the last to leave. When we pass by his workstation, we can see him seriously playing the game demo, clearly aiming for excellence and perfecting the promotional plan.”
“This spirit has deeply moved everyone in our department, and we’ve all decided to learn from Meng!”
“I think if it weren’t out of genuine passion, Meng couldn’t possibly have reached this level.”
Xia Jiang interjected, “Was Meng Chang a veteran gamer before?”
Yu Yao shook his head, “As far as I know, no. Not only was he not a veteran gamer, he had barely played any games and was completely indifferent to them.”
Xia Jiang immediately nodded, understanding, “I see.”
She began to quickly record in her notebook.
“If he hadn’t met Mr. Pei, how would Meng Chang have found his way back from going astray?”
“When founding Cold Face Girl, Meng Chang’s marketing used every means possible, causing much controversy in his quest for attention and buzz. Cold Face Girl ultimately went bankrupt due to Meng Chang’s emphasis on marketing over operations.”
“But while working at Tenda, Meng Chang’s marketing style has become vastly different, abandoning his previous exaggerated, attention-seeking style to become low-key and restrained.”
“Clearly, Tenda’s work environment has influenced him, and Mr. Pei’s style of conducting business has affected him!”
“Under this influence, a person with no interest in games has begun to care about the development of Chinese single-player games and has proactively proposed to promote classic Chinese games.”
“Even to achieve the promotional effect, he plays the game demo over and over again, just to reach a state of excellence…”
“Under Mr. Pei’s leadership, whether Meng Chang can truly reform remains an unknown. But this change is already happening subtly…”
Writing to this point, Xia Jiang suddenly thought of a question: “You said Meng Chang has been constantly playing the game demo to improve the promotional plan. Do you have any photos or something similar?”
“If we add photos, the effect would definitely be better.”
Yu Yao thought for a moment: “I think I took one before, let me look for it.”
He took out his phone and flipped through his album, quickly finding a picture: it showed Meng Chang’s back as he was fully focused on the computer screen, playing. Although the game screen wasn’t very clear, one could vaguely make out the general image.
Although it was taken with a phone, Yu Yao’s phone was a flagship model with a high-pixel camera, so the photo was relatively clear.
He added, “Because I had never seen Meng play games before, I found it novel and casually took a photo.”
Xia Jiang was very pleased: “Great! This is exactly what I wanted!”
“With this photo added, this interview will be complete!”