Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 114 This is not a pitch, it's office politics

"Ronald, the Chewels commercials have changed a bit. Now BBDO requires you to make one version first, and then compete with the other version shot by RSA Productions. The winner will continue to shoot the next creative." Agent Eddie said in Speaking to Ronald from behind his desk.

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

   "What does this mean? Is it an advertising pitch?"

   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 isn't a draft 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 approach. Very few companies are using it now.”

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

  In the old days, when the founders were still in control of the day-to-day management of the company, they were most concerned about the sales results that advertising and marketing could bring.

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

“In America, we generally use Cleveland and Cincinnati to test new ad creatives, because they have roughly the same number of residents, a similar percentage of black people, and residents have similar occupations and incomes, and they’re not too far from each other. So the residents there will eat a lot of new products." Darcy Maguire laughed.

Then she immediately turned serious, "Ronald, this kind of creative testing is usually done within the project team, but Dan had his supporters at the top, so it became this two project team competition now. situation.

   Now we are all in the same boat and you have to give 200% of your ability before we can beat Dan's creativity. "

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

   "Our BBDO advertising company has a set of calculation methods. In simple terms, 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 one-time distribution is 100%. Generally, if you need to achieve more than 60%, you have a good chance of winning. "

   "Are you going to sell that much?" Eddie interjected.

"I mean there is a chance of winning." Darcy Maguire squinted 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 ones. of new products, so 60% is definitely a necessary number.”

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

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

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

   Ronald opened the file, in fact, it was not much different from the creativity of Director Maguire's group.

The idea of ​​Dan's group was that Chewels chewing gum was advertising outdoor, and the painter forgot to add the word "sugar-free" when painting the advertisement. Because Chewels chewing gum was so delicious, he forgot "sugar-free". .

The idea of ​​Maguire's group is relatively straightforward, that is, a gymnast girl jumped off the uneven bars, took out a box of Chewels chewing gum from a bag, and a voiceover asked why the gymnast girl didn't eat CareFree chewing gum (the old Hershey company's no-nonsense chewing gum). sugar gum brand) while eating Chewels gum?

   Gymnastics girl replied: “Because Chewels taste better.”

"I think our creative has a good chance of winning because the slogan is more direct," Ronald said. "Advertising is an art of listening rather than seeing. Not many people in America actually read ads. We all take advantage of them. Take it easy and wait for the next TV show, or a sports game."

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

Ronald's reaction to her was a bit big, so he continued to explain, "So we don't compare whose advertisements are good-looking and creative, but whose advertisement slogans can be seen by the audience when they are not watching the TV screen. remember."

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

   Left is "Chewels taste better" on Ronald's side.

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

   "Then just look, when the audience hears these two slogans, who can better understand what you said 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 see the picture, it doesn't affect your understanding of the content of the advertisement. But Dan's group, who must combine the picture to understand the meaning of the advertisement, also took an extra turn." Eddie helped. Said what Ronald meant.

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

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

   "Why is this common sense not taught in the advertising major of the university? And I, a graduate of the advertising major of Boston University, don't understand the habits of consumers yet?"

"Maybe I'm just a consumer?" Ronald said with a smile, "so there is no professional prejudice, just thinking from the perspective of ordinary consumers. Besides, isn't it common sense among American people that advertising time does something else? ?"

   "Common sense." Darcy Maguire didn't ask any further questions. Maybe common sense is the thing most people lack in the workplace.

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

"I'm going to shoot the uneven bars version of gymnasts 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 a gymnastics competition, I will stop and watch it for a while before changing. tower."

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

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

   "Where did they get so much budget? Are the budgets of our two teams equal?" Ronald wondered.

   "You know, the advertising industry is still a world dominated by men. Dan has a lot of friends in the company. Just tell them that this is to prevent a woman in pants from ascending, and he can always get the resources."

   "I see, how about the location of the shoot?"

"We will rent the CBS studio to shoot the gymnastics girl scene, you don't have to worry about this." Darcy Maguire talked about the shooting plan, "In addition to you, other shooting teams, we will also borrow the power of CBS, After all, you don't want to 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 selected dozens of female students based on the photos. If Miss Maguire is free, we will go to casting together tomorrow." Eddie replied.

   "This is the storyboard I drew." Ronald handed over the advertisement storyboard he drew. "The back is the version of the college student, just look at the gymnastics girls in front."

  Darcy Maguire flipped through a few pages of the storyboard, "So she first took out an old version of CareFree chewing gum, and then switched to a new version of Chewels chewing gum with a fruit filling?"

   "Yeah, that's what's called the dramatic effect. Remember that Chewels is Hershey's new gum." Ronald explained his thoughts.

   "Yes, just do it."

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

   "How about it, is there a suitable one?" Darcy Maguire now believes in Ronald's vision. In the advertising industry, the most scarce people are people with common sense of consumers. After an advertising person succeeds, his income will increase, he will live in a big house, and drive a good car. You can no longer think from the perspective of ordinary consumers as you did when you started.

"Actually, the requirements for gymnastics ability are not high. I only ask to do an uneven bar. 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 ticked his name.

   "Because Chewels gum tastes better."

   This one looks too beautiful, it doesn't quite fit the look of the girl next door. For this kind of daily consumer goods, the best models and users are close to the average appearance value, slightly higher. In this way, consumers can be more confident in the efficacy of the product.

  If the chewing gum is a beauty like Marilyn Monroe when she was young, consumers will feel that this product is far away from themselves and belong to the upper class, and will look for cheaper alternatives.

   "Because Chewels gum tastes better."

  This girl has a loud voice, clear articulation, strong body and neat teeth. At first glance, she looks like a child from an upper-middle-class family. Ronald is very satisfied.

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

   "No, I came by myself. I heard from friends that I make a lot of money from advertising, and I'm about to make money to pay for college tuition." The blonde girl, wearing a middle school uniform, replied.

  Ronald thought to himself that he had made a mistake in his judgment. He had to make the same money as himself to pay for tuition. It seemed that he was not from a wealthy middle-class family.

   "Can you put on a gym suit and do a play on uneven bars?" Eddie next to him saw Ronald tick and asked the girl to try gymnastics.

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

  The girl who put on the gym uniform swung twice on the high bar and did a group backflip for a week. Ronald nodded in satisfaction.

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

   "I'm 16 this year, you can call my mother, this is her phone number. My father and mother divorced, and now she is my guardian."

   Ronald sighed in his heart, it seems that the divorce has caused the family's economic ability to decline. After all, learning gymnastics and trimming teeth are not small expenses.

   "What's your name?" Eddie picked up the form to find the girl's name.

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

   "Full name is Elizabeth Shue."

   (end of this chapter)