mijobooks Chapter 008 Public Relations
Chapter 008 Public Relations
Yang Du put on his headphones, clicked the link, and joined the remote meeting.
The computer screen flashed and split into several images.
Before he could even see everyone clearly, an extremely serious male voice came through his earphones.
"...That's the situation. In the last ten minutes or so, I read that blog post from beginning to end myself, and my public opinion analysis team also analyzed it word by word."
Upon entering, Yang Du was immediately struck by the sight of Jinshi Music's elite public opinion analysis team solemnly analyzing his own idiotic and melodramatic novel. He felt a wave of dizziness wash over him.
He silently reached out and pressed the computer camera down to minimize his presence.
Fang Lei was delighted to see the person come online: "Hey, our master of emotional literature is online, discussing your article. Aren't you happy?"
A few soft laughs came through the earphones, and the previously tense atmosphere suddenly lightened considerably.
"I really didn't expect that a guy like Xiao Yang could write such a moving story about a man who lives off a woman and catches his mistress," Sister Hong added jokingly.
"Seniors, please let this go..." Yang Du coughed twice, pushed the camera back to its original position, "Let's talk about how to end this."
On the screen, the middle-aged man with a receding hairline cleared his throat: "The good news is that this blog post does not involve politics or pornography, does not contain any sensitive content that crosses any regulatory red lines, and does not allude to any real celebrity with a bad reputation in the industry."
"From a public relations perspective, the risks are completely manageable."
"However!" the PR director abruptly changed the subject, "Manageable risks do not mean there are no negative impacts."
"The biggest problem is that these kinds of family ethics and emotional articles, which are most loved by middle-aged women, are seriously inconsistent with Tao Cheng's carefully cultivated image as an intellectual, cutting-edge, and sophisticated musician."
"If the brand sees this, they will likely question it on the grounds that it is inconsistent with the brand's image."
"Based on the public opinion we've been monitoring and the tone we just discussed: do not cancel likes, do not delete Weibo posts, take action, guide public opinion, and divert attention."
"The male protagonist in the article who lives off his wife and uses her bank card to support his mistress is an absolute scoundrel, and I felt indignant after reading it."
"What we need to do now is to get the online trolls involved to stir things up and shift the focus of netizens' attention from why Tao Cheng is reading this kind of article to just how awful this scumbag really is."
"When women and netizens with a sense of justice across the internet are fiercely condemning the scumbag, who will care whether Tao Cheng accidentally clicked the button? Everyone will just think, 'Oh, so Chengzi is also a person of strong character.' This kind of down-to-earth behavior is actually more likely to solidify her fanbase in today's online environment."
As soon as the PR director finished speaking, the microphone icon of the marketing director lit up.
She pushed up her glasses, her tone heavy with excitement: "I completely agree with Lao Xu's PR strategy, however, I have to add one thing—"
"Before the meeting, Sister Hong also confided in me. The reason Tao Cheng read this... well... emotionally bizarre article wasn't because she was just gossiping, but because she needed it for emotional purposes while recording her single during the day."
She raised her voice two octaves: "Since we're trying to shift the focus, why not leverage this wave of tens of millions of views for a zero-cost pre-release hype? We can take advantage of this to announce the upcoming release of our new single, 'Flammable and Explosive'!"
"Just imagine, a female singer, seeking to create the right emotions for her recording, angrily praised an article tearing apart a scumbag boyfriend late at night—'Flammable and Explosive' is about to be released!"
"How much buzz does this gimmick generate? Isn't this a million times better than spending millions to buy those dry, uninteresting trending topics on Weibo? We should, and must, maximize our profits!"
"Um..." Yang Du quietly turned on his microphone, "Since we're aiming for maximum profit, why not just release a single while we're at it? Just riding the wave of popularity is pointless; let's monetize this entire surge of traffic directly!"
The PR director gave Yang Du a deep look and nodded approvingly: "Great minds think alike; I had the same idea before. However, I must remind you that the golden lifespan of a Weibo trending topic is only 72 hours!"
"In this era of fragmented information, no matter how sensational an event is at the time, once more than 72 hours have passed, netizens' attention will be drawn away by the latest gossip, and the previous popularity will just deflate like a punctured balloon and be completely forgotten."
"If we're just sending out a message to generate buzz, that's fine. But if we're aiming for a direct, surprise release of the song, it means the product has to be launched within 72 hours."
The marketing director took a deep breath: "The question is, can 'Flammable and Explosive' be released within 72 hours?"
Yang Du replied, "We just started recording the vocals today. If all goes well, we can finish recording the remaining main vocal tracks tomorrow, and then have the other singers in the studio coordinate the harmonies. That means we still have 48 hours to complete all the post-production."
Yang Du looked at Fang Lei as he spoke: "The premise is that all resources in the recording studio must be prioritized for 'Flammable and Explosive'."
When Yang Du suggested taking the opportunity to release a song, Fang Lei immediately opened the schedule for "Flammable and Explosive" on his desk and quickly calculated the time.
Audio editing is a meticulous and physically demanding task; mixing requires repeated refinement of details; and finally, a master tape must be produced.
According to standard procedures, for a singer of Tao Cheng's caliber, post-production would take at least a week of meticulous work and rigorous quality control.
But Fang Lei's ability to hold onto this position clearly demonstrates his strong leadership qualities.
"Let's do it!" He slammed his hand on the table. "Activate the S-level contingency plan! All other resources in the recording studio must be put aside. All mixing engineers and mastering engineers will work in three shifts, bringing their own sleeping bags to sleep in the recording studio, on standby 24/7!"
"Producing the master tape within 72 hours is theoretically entirely feasible."
"Great!" The PR director was completely excited. "Then let's proceed with this plan."
"In that case, for the first phase, which is tonight, we'll temporarily take a low-key approach," the PR director concluded. "No response, no explanation, let things play out for a while, and see which competitors can't resist taking action."
"In the second phase, by tomorrow morning, the hype should have reached a peak. Hongjie, you can issue an official statement on behalf of Tao Cheng. The content should follow the tone we just set. Our PR department will draft the specific text and send it to you."
"In this way, we can use this statement to ignite public opinion again, execute a brilliant off-peak public relations strategy, and buy Director Fang and Producer Yang another day of buffer time."
"The third stage is the final battle. At the tail end of the golden 72 hours of trending topics, Tao Cheng must personally post on Weibo, with an audio link, and release the song directly."
The publicity director couldn't help but chime in, his voice excited: "At that time, those netizens who are indignant for the scumbag, the onlookers who are curious about Tao Cheng's emotional needs, and the fan groups will all flock to major music platforms immediately."
"With the help of many parties, this song's first-day performance is absolutely poised to break all of Kingstone Music's records from the past few years!"
"What should we do?" Fang Lei made the final decision. "Everyone, thank you for your hard work tonight. Lao Xu, keep an eye on public opinion. Director Chen, prepare the materials in advance. I'll call the operations directors of Tencent and NetEase Cloud Music later. Since we're releasing the song out of nowhere, the regular review process is definitely too late. We need to get them to open a fast track."
"And Xiao Yang, you need to get some sleep. Be in the shed on time tomorrow morning. We're about to have a tough battle ahead."
"However, just in case, Lao Xu, you should prepare a backup plan in case we can't go online on time."
"no problem."