Nobody knows movies better than me

Chapter 114 Brilliant Marketing Strategies

Chapter 113 A Genius Marketing Strategy (Happy New Year's Eve)

The academic pressure in the senior year of high school is extremely high. Some students cannot cope with the pressure and develop varying degrees of depression, or even face tragic consequences.

Zhang Jun's original self also fought hard in the college entrance examination and was eventually admitted to Tsinghua University, becoming the pride of his family. However, the experience of that battle still left a deep impression on him.

Furthermore, that memory helped Zhang Jun better understand the students' mindset when he was making the film, thus creating an emotional resonance when adapting it into a movie.

This time, "Bad Genius" not only collaborated with QQ Space, but also with highly active online communities such as Tianya Community and Baidu Tieba, sparking a huge amount of discussion.

Unfortunately, we are not in the mobile internet era now, and there are no platforms like Weibo or Douyin on mobile phones, otherwise this discussion would be much more heated.

Even so, the way "Bad Genius" used online promotion still provides a standard marketing lesson for today's film company publicity departments.

In a conference room at Bona Film Group, Yu Dong and a group of senior executives were listening to the head of the company's publicity department explain the marketing case of "Bad Genius".

"It can be seen that this was a premeditated and planned marketing campaign, which used the internet and popular community platforms to launch joint activities, initiate related topics, and generate discussion."

Ultimately, this generated discussion will translate into film production, thereby attracting audiences to theaters.

Zhao Peng, head of the distribution department, pointed to the chart and said, "From the data chart, we can see that after the relevant topic discussion was launched, the number of people participating in the discussion on the Internet reached more than 10 million."

Furthermore, we noticed that during the initial stages of the online propaganda campaign, large and organized groups emerged, using similarly formatted paragraphs to guide online public opinion.

"You mean, this was premeditated?" a vice president of Bona Film Group asked.

Zhao Peng nodded: "My guess is this: I believe this is a highly professional online marketing plan by Guanzhi Pictures."

The planner must have a deep understanding of all the key points of online public opinion to accurately plan and implement this marketing campaign.

This is a genius!

The vice president of Bona Film Group exclaimed in amazement, "He's a real talent, Mr. Yu. Should we find out more about him and poach him or his entire team?"

Yu Dong shook his head: "You can't poach this person."

"How so?"

Yu Dong affirmed, "If I'm not mistaken, this person must be Zhang Jun, the core figure of Guanzhi Pictures."

You want to poach him? Not so easy.

The Bona Film Group conference room was buzzing with discussion. The vice president, somewhat puzzled, said, "President Yu, Zhang Jun's talent in film is undeniable, but is this kind of professional marketing—"

Before he could finish speaking, Yu Dong interrupted him: "I understand what you mean, but don't forget that before Zhang Jun made movies, his major was also unrelated to film."

Even so, he has become one of the most prominent commercial film directors in China today. Doesn't that prove that he is a genius?

Moreover, looking at his previous film marketing strategies, they were undeniably ingenious and varied. I believe the marketing strategy for "Bad Genius" was likely also his work.

Bona Film Group executives all knew that Yu Dong's biggest desire was for the young and promising director Zhang Jun. Unfortunately, Zhang Jun had a strong partnership with Guanzhi Pictures, leaving Yu Dong unable to secure his services.

However, this did not diminish Yu Dong's admiration for Zhang Jun, and he expressed his desire for Zhang Jun on various occasions on more than one occasion.

Bona Film Group and Poly Group are currently the same company. Poly Group is a real estate company that ventured into the film and television industry, making it one of the earliest real estate companies in mainland China to enter the film and television industry.

However, Poly's focus is on cinema operation, and they are constantly building cinemas in conjunction with their real estate projects, which is relatively smooth with policy support.

Bona Film Group, on the other hand, is responsible for film distribution and has begun to venture into film production. They have invested in numerous films in recent years, but none have been particularly successful.

Yu Dong decided to contact Hong Kong filmmakers who had moved north, and collaborate with them to invest in and produce films belonging to Bona Film Group.

However, these Hong Kong filmmakers are not easy to work with; they make many demands, some of which are outrageous. Moreover, these people are often arrogant; they come to the mainland to make a living, but they act like they're the bosses.

It's no wonder Yu Dong is envious of Zhang Jun. Not only is he from the mainland, but Zhang Jun's films have also proven that success can be achieved without Hong Kong people.

Of course, some will point to Andy Lau's involvement and the presence of a stunt team from Hong Kong in "Reign of Assassins." But aside from "Reign of Assassins," Zhang Jun's other films have been equally successful.

We can't poach Zhang Jun, but we can learn from his film marketing techniques.

Yu Dong instructed Zhao Peng: "Continue to study the marketing methods of 'Bad Genius' and then write a report. I want to see it."

"Yes, Mr. Yu, we will definitely analyze and learn from this carefully," Zhao Peng quickly assured him.

Bona Film Group wasn't the only one clever; China Film Group, responsible for distributing "Bad Genius," also personally participated in a series of marketing activities.

If there were still some doubts within the company at the beginning, after successful marketing, most people at China Film Distribution Company admired Zhang Jun immensely.

When Cheng Yang, the general manager of China Film Distribution Company, was reporting to Han Sanping, he did not hold back his praise for Zhang Jun.

"Huaqing University teaches everything. The marketing plans that Zhang Jun personally devised are practically textbook-level modern marketing strategies."

Han Sanping shook his head: "Huaqing University probably doesn't teach this. It must be Zhang Jun's own ability and talent. He is good at observation and summarization, and he has a rich imagination."

That's why he doesn't stick to conventions and comes up with unique marketing strategies.

Not only China Film Group, but also Huayi Brothers next door and many other film companies are discussing the highly effective marketing strategy of "Bad Genius", and the name Zhang Jun is mentioned repeatedly.

If Zhang Jun knew that so many film company bosses praised and appreciated him, he would probably be quite pleased with himself for a while.

Although his actions will become standard practice for a blockbuster commercial film in a decade or so, they are considered fanciful ideas in this era.

Despite the lack of mobile internet and platforms like Weibo and Douyin, the marketing for "Bad Genius" still achieved good results.

While the iron was hot, Zhang Jun edited several trailers and created beautiful posters, which were then displayed in cinemas, shopping malls, subway stations, and other locations.

They weren't even released online. Although the video quality wasn't very high, the trailers still garnered a lot of views on Tudou.com.

However, with all the hype surrounding "Bad Genius," it naturally encountered some troubles.

Not to mention Lu Chuan, who has a conflict with Zhang Jun, Zhang Jun's rise in the past two years has also aroused the jealousy of other narrow-minded people.

You can't understand why these people are jealous of Zhang Jun, since Zhang Jun doesn't seem to have offended them. But there's nothing you can do; sometimes these emotions are uncontrollable.

If the other party happens to be someone with some ability, they will try to trip you up and make things difficult for you, which will make them happy.

While the promotion of "Bad Genius" was in full swing, some newspapers suddenly published criticisms of the film.

After watching several trailers, everyone realized that "Bad Genius" is not about gunfights, but about cheating in exams.

These attacks on the film start with the topic of cheating, arguing that the film encourages and promotes cheating on exams.

That's not all. According to reports, many parents have complained about "Bad Genius," saying that the movie has a negative impact on their children.

Upon learning that he had been reported by the parents, Zhang Jun was first stunned, then burst into laughter.

So parents started reporting this so early? Are the parents even aware of this?

Yang Mi was very anxious: "We've all been reported, how can you still be laughing?"

Zhang Jun gestured for Yang Mi to calm down: "Don't worry, baby, these reports won't affect the movie."

Yang Mi clearly didn't believe it: "How could there be no impact? What if the relevant departments think there's a problem and won't let it be released?"

"Zhang Jun said, "Although our film is about cheating on exams, the place and story are not from any exam in mainland China."

If it were the college entrance exam, we'd be doomed, but we're not telling a story about the college entrance exam, so parents reporting it might not be a bad thing.

Yang Mi expressed her bewilderment: "How come I don't see how this could turn into a good thing?"

Zhang Jun didn't explain further: "You'll find out when the time comes."

Despite facing attacks from some media outlets and threats of complaints from parents, the promotion and distribution of "Bad Genius" has progressed steadily. As Zhang Jun predicted, these negative opinions and parental complaints have actually generated some buzz for the film.

At this point, Zhang Jun instructed Guanzhi Pictures and China Film Group's publicity and distribution departments to contact the media and simultaneously generate buzz online.

First, it explained some exam-related cases, both Chinese and foreign. Then it explained the SAT exam mentioned in the video, clarifying its differences from the Gaokao (National College Entrance Examination).

Finally, I'll give a few examples of real cases that occurred during the SAT exam, and say that the film is actually a dramatic adaptation of true stories.

The original film was adapted from the 2014 SAT cheating scandal that rocked Asia, but this wasn't the only SAT cheating incident. From early instances of forged documents to exploiting time zones, there have been several other cases.

By popularizing these scientific concepts and combining them with the hot topics created by parental complaints and criticisms from some media outlets, the story of the film appears more authentic and believable.

When the audience goes to the cinema to watch the movie, they won't think of it as science fiction, but as something that can be done in reality.

With this foundation, some of the incredible feats in the film seem less unacceptable.

Yang Mi was stunned to see that Zhang Jun had used the previous media criticisms and parents' complaints to promote "Bad Genius".

"You can do that?"

Zhang Jun chuckled and pinched Yang Mi's cheek: "Darling, you need to know that sometimes danger can bring opportunities. You have to figure out how to take advantage of it and turn a passive situation into an active one."

Yang Mi's worldview is collapsing: "I can't understand this!"