Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 114 This Is Not a Draft Competition, It's Office Politics
"Ronald, there are some changes in Chewels commercial shooting. Now BBDO requires you to shoot one version first, and compete with another version shot by RSA Production Company. The winner will continue to shoot the next idea." Agent Eddie said in Said to Ronald behind the desk.

Ronald came to discuss casting with Eddie in the morning, and Helen Slater was the right person to play the second college student creative, but overheard a change in a commercial shoot.

"What does this mean? Is it a pitch in the advertising industry?"

Eddie shook his head, "I don't know, let's go to Madison Street together and listen to what Miss Maguire has to say."

"No, this is not a pitch, it's office politics within the company." Director Darcy Maguire was still wearing a suit and pants, "I was targeted by Dan. This kind of head-to-head competition for creativity is an old-fashioned way. Very few companies are using it now.”

In Darcy's small office, Ronald and Eddie drank the coffee made by the secretary and listened to Director Darcy's explanation of the meaning of this competition.

In the older days, when business founders were still in charge of the daily management of the company, they paid the most attention to the sales results that advertising and marketing could bring.

When a new product is launched, we will find two cities that are relatively similar in terms of population, race, income, etc., and place advertisements with different ideas, and then compare the sales results of the two cities within a period of time to test the advertising creativity good or bad.

"In America, we generally use Cleveland and Cincinnati to test new advertising ideas, because the number of residents there is roughly the same, the proportion of black people is similar, and the occupations and incomes of the residents are also similar, and they are not far apart. .So the residents there will eat a lot of new products." Darcy Maguire laughed.

Then she immediately turned into a serious face, "Ronald, this kind of creative test is usually carried out within the project team, but Dan has his supporters at the top, so it has become the current competition between the two project teams." situation.

We're all in the same boat now, and you've got to give [-] percent of your power to beat Dan's idea. "

"How much sales do we need to achieve to beat each other?" Ronald asked the first question.

"Our BBDO advertising company has a set of calculation methods. Simply put, it is to measure the goods distributed through commercial channels once, and then measure the inventory of all channel terminals again at the end of a month.

Taking the total amount of one distribution as 100%, generally more than 60%, there is a good chance of winning. "

"Sell that much?" Eddie interjected.

"I mean there is a chance of winning." Darcy Maguire squinted at him, "The company will invest a lot of TV station time resources in the two cities, and the residents of the two cities also have a lot of experience, so they will buy some cheap ones." new products, so 60% is definitely a necessary number.”

"Do we know each other's ideas?" Ronald asked again.

"Of course," laughed Darcy Maguire, "I have supporters in the company too."

As she spoke, she took out a document and threw it to Ronald. "Of course, I cannot fully guarantee that this is not a false target thrown by the other party."

Ronald opened the file, and it was actually not much different from the ideas of Director Maguire's group.

The Dana group’s idea is that Chewels chewing gum is advertising outdoors. When the painters painted the advertisement, they forgot to add the word “sugar-free”. Because Chewels chewing gum is so delicious, they forgot the word “sugar-free”. .

The creativity of Maguire’s group is relatively straightforward, that is, a gymnast girl jumps off the uneven bars, takes out a box of Chewels chewing gum from the bag, and the voice-over asks why the gymnast girl doesn’t eat CareFree chewing gum sugar gum brand) while eating Chewels gum?
The gymnast girl replied, "Because Chewels taste better."

"I think our idea has a good chance of winning, because the advertising language is more direct." Ronald said, "Advertising is an art of listening instead of watching. Not many people in America actually watch advertisements. We all take advantage of the advertisements." Relax and wait for the next TV show, or sports game."

Darcy Maguire stood up suddenly, walked out of the small space behind the desk, walked around the office, and pointed at Ronald, "Go on!"

Ronald saw that her reaction was a bit big, so he continued to explain, "So we are not comparing whose advertisements are good-looking and creative, but whose advertisements can be seen by the audience when they are not watching the TV screen. remember."

Darcy nodded non-stop, and wrote down two ideas with a pen on the mobile whiteboard in the office.

"Chewels Taste Better" on Ronald's side on the left.

On the right is Dan's idea, "Chewels are so delicious, we forgot to write sugar-free."

"Then let's see, when the audience hears these two slogans, who can understand what you said better, and who can remember your brand better?" Ronald crossed his hands and concluded.

"Of course, our group is more creative. Even if you don't look at the picture, it doesn't affect your understanding of the content of the advertisement. But Dana's group has to combine the picture to understand the meaning of the advertisement, and it has taken an extra turn." Eddie chimed in. Said what Ronald meant.

Darcy Maguire looked at Ronald for a long time, "Why?"

"What?" Ronald thought Director Maguire had objections to his ideas.

"Why is this kind of common sense not taught in the university's advertising major? And as a graduate of Boston University's advertising major, I don't have the habit of understanding consumers?"

"Maybe I'm just a consumer?" Ronald said with a smile, "so I don't have professional prejudices, I just think about it from the perspective of ordinary consumers. Besides, isn't it common sense for American people to do other things during advertising time? ?”

"Common sense." Darcy Maguire didn't ask any more questions. Perhaps common sense is what people in the workplace lack the most.

"Which version are you going to shoot first? Ronald?"

"I plan to shoot the version of the uneven bars gymnast first, and I originally planned to shoot this version first. Because gymnasts are more eye-catching than college students, right? Anyway, when I watch TV, when I see gymnastics competitions, I will stop and watch them for a while. tower."

"Okay!" Darcy Maguire threw the pencil on the table, "Let's shoot this version first."

"But don't relax. Dan used a lot of his daily relationships. This version hired RSA's Hugh Hudson to direct and built a big billboard. In short, they spent a lot of money."

"Where did they get such a large budget? Are the budgets of our two teams equal?" Ronald was curious.

"You know, advertising is still a man's world, and Dan has a lot of friends in the company, just tell them it's to stop a woman in pants from getting in, and he'll always get the resources."

"I see, how did you choose the location for the shooting?"

"We will rent the studio of CBS to shoot the scene of the gymnast girl. You don't have to worry about this." Darcy Maguire talked about the shooting plan, "In addition to you, other filming teams, we will also borrow the power of CBS, After all, you don’t have a full production team like Ridley Scott.”

"How is the casting arrangement?" Director Maguire asked Eddie.

"I have notified the gymnastics departments of several middle schools, and based on the photos, dozens of female students were preliminarily selected. If Miss Maguire is free, we will go to the casting together tomorrow." Eddie replied.

"This is the storyboard I drew." Ronald handed over the advertisement storyboard he drew. "The one in the back is the version for college students. Just look at the girl gymnast in the front."

Darcy Maguire flips through a few pages of storyboards, "So she starts out with an old version of CareFree gum, and then freezes and switches to the new version of Chewels gum with a fruit filling?"

"Yeah, that's called dramatic effect. Reminds Chewels of Hershey's new gum." Ronald explained his thoughts.

"Okay, just do it."

The next day's audition was arranged in a public high school near CBS, which has a ready-made gymnasium and uneven bars.

"How is it? Is there a suitable one?" Darcy Maguire now believes in Ronald's vision. In the advertising industry, the most scarce thing is a person with common sense of consumers.After an advertiser succeeds, his income increases, he lives in a big house, and drives a good car, he unconsciously distances himself from the views of ordinary people.It is no longer possible to think from the perspective of ordinary consumers like when we started.

"Actually, the requirement for gymnastics ability is not high. I only ask to do the uneven bars. The important thing is to look like a girl next door, and let them read the advertisement again." Ronald looked at the girls and replied .

"Because Chewels gum tastes better."

That's good, Ronald put a check next to the name.

"Because Chewels gum tastes better."

This one is too pretty, it doesn't fit the girl next door.For this kind of daily consumer product, it is best for the average face value of the model and the user to be close to that of the user, but slightly higher.In this way, consumers can have more confidence in the efficacy of the product.

If the person who eats chewing gum is a beautiful woman like Marilyn Monroe when she was young, consumers will feel that this product is far away from them and belongs to the upper class, and they will look for cheaper alternatives.

"Because Chewels gum tastes better."

The girl had a loud voice, articulate, strong body, and neat teeth. She looked like a child from an upper-middle-class family, and Ronald was very satisfied.

"Where are your parents? Can they come and talk to Miss Maguire?" Ronald asked.

"No, I came by myself. I heard from my friends that I made a lot of money shooting commercials, and I'm about to earn money to pay for college tuition." The blond girl answered in a middle school uniform.

Ronald thought that he had made a mistake in his judgment, and that he had to earn money to pay tuition like himself, so it seemed that he was not from a wealthy middle-class family.

"Can you put on your gym suit and do a dismount on the uneven bars?" Eddie saw Ronald ticking the box and asked the girl to try her gymnastics level.

"No problem." The girl picked up her bag and went to the dressing room without saying a word.

The girl who put on her gym suit swung twice on the high bars and did a round backflip. Ronald nodded in satisfaction.

"Where are your parents? We need to talk to them about signing. You're under 18."

"I'm 16, you can call my mum, here's her phone number. My dad and mum are divorced and she's my guardian now."

Ronald sighed inwardly. It seemed that the divorce had caused the family's economic ability to decline. After all, learning gymnastics and getting teeth trimmed were not small expenses.

"What's your name?" Eddie picked up the form and looked for the girl's name.

"Elizabeth", the girl smiled happily with her ponytail thrown back, and she also knew that she had a good chance of getting the role.

"The full name is Elizabeth Sue."

(End of this chapter)