Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Ronald, there are some changes in the Chewels advertising shoot. Now BBDO requires you to shoot one version first, and then compete with the other version shot by RSA Production Company. The winner will continue to shoot the next creative idea." Agent Eddie said to Ronald behind the desk.

Ronald came to discuss casting with Eddie in the morning. Helen Slater was the right person to play the second college student creative idea, but he unexpectedly heard a change in the advertising shoot.

"What does this mean? Is it a competition 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 competition, 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-on competition of creativity is an old-fashioned approach, and few companies use it now."

In Darcy's not very large office, Ronald and Eddie drank coffee brewed by the secretary and listened to Director Darcy explain the meaning of this competition.

In the older days, when the founders of the company still controlled the daily management of the company, they were most concerned about the sales results that advertising marketing could bring.

When a new product is launched, we will find two cities that are similar in population, race, income, etc., and place different creative advertisements in each city. Then we will compare the sales results of the two cities within a period of time to test the quality of the advertising creativity.

"In America, we usually use Cleveland and Cincinnati to test new advertising creativity, because the number of residents there is roughly the same, the proportion of blacks is similar, the occupations and incomes of the residents are similar, and they are not far away. So the residents there will eat a lot of new products." Darcy Maguire smiled.

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

Now we are all in the same boat, you must give 200% of your ability, so we can beat Dan's creativity."

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

"We have a set of internal calculation methods in BBDO Advertising Company. Simply put, it is to measure the goods distributed through commercial channels once, and then at the end of a month, measure the inventory of all channel terminals again.

The total amount of goods distributed once is 100%, and generally more than 60% is a good chance of success."

"Do you want to sell so much?" Eddie interrupted.

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

"Do we know the other party's creativity?" Ronald asked again.

"Of course," Darcy Maguire smiled, "I also have supporters in the company."

She took out a document and threw it to Ronald. "Of course, I can't fully guarantee that this is not a false target thrown by the other party."

Ronald opened the document, and in fact, the creativity of Director Maguire's group was not much different.

Dan's team's idea was that Chewels gum was doing outdoor advertising, and the painter forgot to add the word "sugar-free" when painting the advertisement, because Chewels gum was so delicious that he forgot the word "sugar-free".

Maguire's team's idea was relatively direct, that is, a gymnast girl jumped off the uneven bars and took out a box of Chewels gum from a bag. The voice-over asked why the gymnast girl didn't eat CareFree gum (the old sugar-free gum brand of Hershey Company) but Chewels gum?

The gymnastics girl answered, "Because Chewels tastes better."

"I think our idea has a good chance of winning because the slogan is more direct." Ronald said, "Advertising is an art of listening rather than watching. Not many people in America really watch ads. We all take advantage of the ads to relax and wait to watch the next TV show or sports game."

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

Ronald saw that her reaction was a bit big, so he continued to explain, "So we are not competing for whose ads are beautiful and creative, but for whose slogans can be remembered by the audience when they are not watching the TV screen."

Darcy kept nodding and wrote down two ideas on the mobile whiteboard in the office with a pen.

On the left is Ronald's "Chewels tastes better".

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

"Then we will see who can understand what you are saying better and who can remember your brand better when the audience hears these two slogans?" Ronald crossed his hands and finished his summary.

"Of course our team is more creative. Even if you don't see the pictures, it doesn't affect your understanding of the content of the advertisement. Dan's team must understand the meaning of the advertisement by combining the pictures, which is an extra detour." Eddie echoed Ronald's meaning.

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

"What?" Ronald thought Director Maguire disagreed with his idea.

"Why is this kind of common sense not taught in advertising majors in universities? And I, a graduate of Boston University's advertising major, don't understand consumer habits as well as you do?"

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

"Common sense." Darcy Maguire did not ask any more. Perhaps common sense is what people in the workplace lack most.

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

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

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

"But don't relax. Dan used a lot of the connections he accumulated on a daily basis. This version hired RSA's Hugh Hudson to direct and built a large 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, the advertising industry is still a world dominated by men. Dan has many friends in the company. As long as he tells them that this is to prevent a woman wearing pants from getting to the top, he can always get resources."

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

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

"How's the casting going?" Director Maguire asked Eddie.

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

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

Darcy Maguire turned over a few pages of storyboards, "So she took out an old version of CareFree chewing gum at the beginning, and then switched to a new version of chewing gum with fruit filling?"

"Yeah, that's what's called dramatic effect. Make people remember that Chewels is Hershey's new chewing gum." Ronald explained his idea.

"Okay, let's do it."

The audition on the second day was arranged in a public high school near CBS, which had a ready-made gymnasium and uneven bars.

"How about it? Is there any suitable one?" Darcy Maguire now believes in Ronald's vision. In the advertising industry, the most scarce thing is people with consumer common sense. After an advertiser becomes successful, his income increases, he lives in a big house, and he drives a nice car, he unknowingly starts to distance himself from the views of ordinary people. We can no longer think from the perspective of ordinary consumers as we did when we started.

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

"Because Chewels gum tastes better."

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

"Because Chewels gum tastes better."

This one is too pretty and doesn’t quite fit the girl-next-door look. For this kind of daily consumer product, it is best for the average appearance of the model to be similar to that of the user, but slightly higher. This way consumers can be more confident in the efficacy of the product.

If the chewing gum is being chewed by 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, clear articulation, a strong body, and neat teeth. At first glance, 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 here on my own. I heard from my friends that I earn a lot from advertising, and I'm just about to earn money to pay for college tuition." The blond girl, wearing a middle school uniform, answered.

Ronald thought to himself that he had made a mistake in his judgment. If he wanted to earn money to pay for tuition like himself, he did not seem to be from a wealthy middle-class family.

"Can you put on your gymnastics clothes and do a lift on the uneven bars?" Next to him, Eddie saw Ronald ticking the box and asked the girl to try her gymnastics skills.

"No problem." The girl said nothing, picked up her bag and went to the dressing room.

The girl put on gymnastics clothes, swung twice on the high bar, and did a group backflip. Ronald nodded to express his satisfaction.

"Where are your parents? We need to talk to them about signing the contract. You are not yet 18 years old."

"I am 16 this year. You can call my mother. This is her phone number. My father and mother are divorced and now she is my guardian."

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

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

"Elizabeth," the girl threw her ponytail behind her back and smiled happily. She also knew that she had a great chance of getting the role.

"The full name is Elizabeth Shue."