When it comes to hit dramas, "Flowers" is well-deserved. As of January 22, "Flowers" has a popularity value of over 31,000 on the Tencent Video site, setting a record for the highest popularity of a non-costume drama on Tencent Video. More than 2.3 million people on Tencent Video rated it 9.3. In fact, "Blooming Flowers" is not the first drama with high popularity. In 2023, Tencent Video's popular dramas "Sauvignon Blanc Season 1" and "Good Things Come in Twos" and other dramas also enjoyed the "glory" of having a popularity value of over 30,000 like "Blooming Flowers".
However, "Flowers" may be the only one that can achieve all-round popularity - not only the work is popular, but the advertisements in "Flowers" are also out of the circle.
On the one hand, "Flowers" has an unparalleled number of ads.
According to incomplete statistics from "Financial Stories", "Flowers" has cooperated with more than 40 brands, and the number of advertisements in a single episode has reached more than 10, making it the investment champion of dramas broadcast in the beginning of 2024. Cooperative brands include Chunzhen, Vipshop, vivo, Meituan, Meisujiaer, Xincontac, RIO, Estee Lauder, Tmall and other industry brands.
On the other hand, word-of-mouth is more telling than the quantity - the advertising placement in "Flowers" has attracted widespread praise from netizens, "The way of placement is so smooth, it is the ceiling of advertising placement", "I don't even think it is an advertisement", "The placement of the scene where Ms. Wang takes the Coke is really amazing, it is smooth, topical and has a sense of atmosphere"...
It has always been difficult to embed advertisements in period dramas or costume dramas that are far away from modern life. If not handled properly, it will cause laughter.
There are quite a few counter-examples, such as the implantation of a "certain leaf" mask in the period drama "Choose Heaven". In the play, the character Tang Sanliu puts a real leaf on his face, and another character asks "Why are you putting a leaf on your face?" to point out the brand, which is full of violation.
In this regard, "Flowers" has set a good example. The background of the story of "Flowers" took place in Shanghai in the 1990s. More than 30 years ago, the times have changed. How can modern brands bridge such a gap in time to implement implants and attract spontaneous applause from users? Perhaps we can find reference answers from this.
01
Implantation in the play: closely following the background of the times and leveraging social emotions
Although "Flowers" is a period drama, the tone of the entire drama is rooted in daily life and is not suspended. This provides a natural "container" for brand implantation.
The brands embedded in the play have also been carefully studied - the brands objectively existed in the background of that era, and many of them were iconic food products of the year, which are very realistic.
For example, Estee Lauder, which Minmin, the foreman of Zhizhenyuan, showed off to her colleagues, entered the Chinese market in 1993 and opened its first sales counter in Shanghai;
The Pepsi-Cola that Ms. Wang drank entered the Chinese market in 1981. On the streets of Shanghai in the 1990s, Pepsi-Cola had become popular, and the advertising slogan was just like the "choice of the new generation" written in the play;
There is also the Cadillac given to Miss Wang by Mr. Bao, which is the representative of luxury cars in the 1980s and 1990s.
It is worth mentioning that in last year's hit Tencent Video period drama "Glory of Our Fathers", there was a similar implantation: when the plot was in the 1990s, old domestic products such as Shanghaojia shrimp crackers and White Rabbit toffee would appear, while when the plot entered modern times, emerging brands such as Nutrition Express would appear.
At the same time, in terms of the implantation method, "Flowers" also carefully restored the life scenes and eating methods of the year. On the one hand, this triggered old memories of many netizens and aroused a wave of nostalgia.
For example, the Lekofu that Ms. Wang ate was a must-have nutritional supplement for many Shanghainese families at that time. Netizens recalled that “the scene of me eating empty food and then getting angry is still vivid in my mind” and “I inserted my hand into it while my parents were not around, and then licked it”;
Another example is Guangming Milk. Back then, Shanghai was dominated by Guangming Milk - the Guangming milk box downstairs of Lingzi's house and the bicycle carrying a Guangming insulated box in the alley. These elements really existed in the lives of Shanghainese back then. In the film, the scene in which Fan Zhiyi's character digs bright ice bricks with a stainless steel spoon also resonated with netizens, saying, "I have always eaten like this."
With the support of this nostalgic emotion, brands can naturally gain "empathy" from users and establish a deeper emotional connection with users. Secondly, the brand's strength across the changing times can also be demonstrated in users' memories. This "moisturizing and silent" effect is far better than straightforward advertising slogans.
On the other hand, due to its very real texture, many users said they did not realize it was an advertisement at all, and thought it was to show the fashion trends of old Shanghai.
On social platforms, there was also a discussion on whether the exposure of certain brands is advertising, which is equivalent to helping the brand achieve free secondary exposure.
In addition, the brand placement in "Flowers" is not only superior to nature. Director Wong Kar-wai, who is good at "borrowing objects to express emotions", also designed the brand as an imagery tool for emotional expression, making the brand placement subtle and charming.
For example, the implantation of Pepsi-Cola. When Ms. Wang was depressed because of the "scandal" between Mr. Bao and Li Li, the owner of the canteen handed over a bottle of Pepsi-Cola and added a meaningful line: "Yellow River Road is like a soda bottle. You It doesn't make any sound unless you open it, but as long as you pick up the bottle and pry it gently, it will spurt out immediately. The bottle is open and can't be closed." At this time, the camera cuts to a scene of foaming Coke, which just symbolizes Ms. Wang's inner restlessness.
Another example is the Cadillac implantation. In the pull of "Mr. Bao gave the Cadillac as a gift - the Cadillac accompanied Ms. Wang to grab business - Ms. Wang wanted to return the Cadillac", the Cadillac became a witness to the changes in the friendship between the two. "What I want has never been a Cadillac" has become a famous line. Many netizens said "Cadillac is the final winner, the implantation is so successful!" "This advertisement is too deeply rooted in the hearts of the people"...
02
Off-drama marketing: Improve the quality of users’ effective attention
Of course, not every brand can find the right fit for in-drama placement. For example, modern brands such as vivo, which was founded in 2011, and Chun Zhen, which was launched in 2013, are not suitable to be embedded in the drama "Flowers". Instead, they need to find suitable marketing levers outside the drama.
A common off-drama marketing method is "hard advertising", including advertising forms such as patches, interludes, and small theaters.For example, brands such as Jabriate Milk Powder, Vivo, and Royal Beauty have placed pre-roll ads for "Flowers", while brands such as Vipshop, Chun Zhen, and RIO have appeared in interstitial ads.
In fact, in period dramas and costume dramas, due to the limitations of the historical background, "hard advertising" that is independent of the plot is the marketing form that most brands rely on.
Yien's "2023H1 Drama Marketing Value Report" shows that among costume dramas, the largest number of brands cooperate in the form of post-advertising, followed by mid-stream advertising. In comparison, the largest number of brands use product placement in contemporary dramas.
But this does not mean that "hard advertising" is the only option for brand marketing of period dramas.
In "Flowers", some brands co-created with Tencent Video and found an innovative way of playing - the brand accompanies users to watch the drama, and uses the user's emotions while watching the drama as a starting point to achieve interaction with users.
Take Chun Zhen's innovative "Fireworks Interactive Barrage" as an example. When the plot enters the New Year moment and the characters in the play celebrate the New Year together, users will spontaneously use this barrage to send New Year blessings. Vertical barrages with Chun Zhen's logo float from bottom to top. When they reach the top of the screen, fireworks will explode, which well echoes the user's current mood for watching the drama.
Among them, many users will also spontaneously bring the pure keywords - "May everyone's wishes come true" and "Everything will come true in 2024"... This undoubtedly brings the distance between users and the brand closer.
During the actual New Year's Eve moment, Chun Zhen specially invited brand ambassador Xin Zhilei, who also plays Li Li in the drama, to airborne barrage, further stimulating users' enthusiasm for interaction, with nearly 15,000 barrage interactions in 23 seconds.
It is worth mentioning that this is not the first innovation between Chunzhen and Tencent Video. In last year's Tencent Video solo drama "Sauvignon Blanc Season 1", the two co-created a new way of inserting corner badges: when the heroine Xiaoyao and the four male protagonists sprinkle candy in the same frame, the corner badge will launch a "Love Moment" CP voting activity to attract users to vote for their favorite CP.
The ingenuity of this move is that it seizes the discussion hot spots of multiple emotional lines in the play and touches the user's psychology of siding with the CP, thereby achieving emotional resonance with the user.
In last year's popular Tencent drama "Jade Bones", there was also a similar innovative gameplay.
Tencent Video customized a paper-shaped barrage emoticon package for the Xinxiangyin brand. When the male protagonist Shiying touches the pain of losing his mother in the play, users can send a paper barrage with one click to "wipe the protagonist's tears."
At the same time, Tencent Video and Nanfu Battery co-created a creative implant - when the plot enters the protagonist's key fighting scene, users can click on the Nanfu Battery icon to assist the protagonist group to increase "energy" and release the nervousness and urgency while watching the drama.
In this interaction, users' awareness of the brand can be naturally strengthened, and the distance between the two will be further narrowed.
03
Peripheral development: Take advantage of the same style as "Flowers" to boost sales
The fire of "Flowers" is all-round, and its influence is not limited to users' enthusiasm for watching the drama itself, but also radiates to real life - the same "food, clothing, housing, and transportation" as in "Flowers" are being "sought after" by users.
In reality, the Yellow River Road has become crowded, and a traffic light was temporarily installed due to too many people checking in; the prototype of Zhizhen Garden, Moss Holy Garden, has become a new Internet celebrity, and private room reservations have been scheduled until after the Spring Festival; many people find the tailor shop in the birthplace of the red gang tailors in the drama, requesting customized versions of Hu Ge's style; Miss Wang's favorite pork rib rice cake, Mr. Bao's steamed rice, Uncle Ye's Dingsheng cake... have also become favorites among users.
This is a good opportunity for brand marketing. Brands can take advantage of the hot spots and launch the same style as "Flowers", which can actually boost sales.
This is the case for Meituan. Meituan Takeaway and Meituan Group Buy have joined forces with many merchants to launch the same set meal for "Flowers" such as pork ribs rice cakes, dry-fried beef river, and rice. They also launched a special food page for the series "Shanghai Flourishes Flavor Illustrated" simultaneously in Shanghai.
According to Ebrun Power, data from Meituan Waimai on January 9 showed that since the broadcast of "Flowers", orders for Shanghai delicacies such as pork ribs rice cake, pao rice, Dingsheng cake, and Youdunzi have all increased. Among them, pork ribs rice cake has become the top search topic, with search volume soaring 937%, takeout orders increasing 300% week-on-week, and pao rice takeout orders also soaring 150%.
Moreover, this popularity is still continuing and did not stop when the series ended on January 9.
According to the Beijing Business Daily, Meituan and Dianping data show that in the past week as of January 17, the search volume of "Fanhua" related keywords in Beijing increased by more than 60% week-on-week. Among them, the search volume of "Fanhua Package" increased by more than 500%, and the search volume of "Fanhua Same Style" increased by nearly 140%.
Heytea, which is good at co-branding, has also seized on this wave of popularity. On January 16, Heytea officially announced on Weibo "Latest news on Huanghe Road: Heytea·Zhizhen Teahouse is about to open" and said that it will be arranged nationwide.
As soon as the news came out, it received enthusiastic responses from netizens. On social platforms, netizens left messages asking for the "Flowers" co-branded items and peripherals, "Mr. Bao's milk tea!!! I'll buy 100 cups", "I'll really queue for this, I want Miss Wang's peripherals", "Ms. Wang's favorite milk tea is arranged with the same model!!!" "Please make sure to get Abao peripherals, I have a cup every day"... From the enthusiasm of netizens, it is enough to foresee the effect of this joint branding.
In fact, users are keen on the same model of "Flowers" because they want to experience the IP more closely. Therefore, in addition to the same model, "replicating" the experience in the show for users is also a marketing method that brands can use.
Bright Milk is well aware of this. Starting from mid-January, Bright Milk has posted the same retro advertisement in the drama on the body of Shanghai’s No. 13 bus. This is also the same bus on which Mr. Bao meets his first love Xuezhi in the drama.
This move attracted many users to check in. As of January 22, the Weibo topic #花花citywalk pursuing a bright future# attracted more than 100 million reads and 97,000 interactions.
Other brands have chosen to co-create the stage with Tencent Video and recreate the same scene of "Flowers" offline for users to have an immersive experience.
In the Tencent Video OpenDay offline event on January 9, Tencent Video "moved" scenes from the play such as Night Tokyo, Zhizhen Garden, Peace Hotel, and Hulian Commercial Building to the market, while brands such as Chunzhen, Meituan, Vipshop, and Remy Martin set up their own stalls.
Among them, Vipshop specially provides users with retro-style clothing from "Flowers". After users join Vipshop's "Offline Welfare Store" community, they can try it on on-site and leave photos of old Shanghai under the "Vipshop Hulian Mall" device. This not only enhances the interaction between users and the brand, but also helps the brand settle in its private domain.
It can be seen that the development of the same style and peripherals of hit dramas can not only bring exposure effects to the brand, but also bring about actual conversion.
04
After "Flowers", bet on the next hit
To sum up, the marketing value of a hit drama like "Flowers" is diverse. Brands have the opportunity to find suitable marketing methods within the drama, outside the drama and in the surrounding areas. This is the marketing advantage of the drama.
Not only that, hit dramas often have a certain long-tail effect, which means longer-term marketing value for brands.
More than 10 days have passed since "Flowers" ended, and the popularity of watching the drama continues - as of January 22, the real-time popularity of "Flowers" on Tencent Video Station shows over 23,000, ranking first among Tencent's 2024 new dramas.
Many users started to watch the show again and discussed the hidden details in the show on social platforms. According to Dong Yong, the actor who plays Mr. Fan, he said in an interview that director Wong Kar-wai is still adjusting the details of "Flowers" to make it more comfortable for users who have watched it for the second or third time, or for those who have not watched it yet.
The above-mentioned advantages determine that dramas will still be the marketing high ground that brands need to pay attention to in the future.
2024 has already begun. Whether it is a brand that has enjoyed the dividends of "Flowers" or a brand that has missed out on "Flowers", the important thing is to seize the next hot opportunity.
From the long video platform's new year's film list, we can see that there are traces of the hit potential of some dramas.
For example, Tencent Video's upcoming dramas include "Sauvignon Blanc Season 2", "Qing Yu Nian Season 2", "Da Feng Watchman", "Traveling with Phoenix", "Rose Story", "In the Blizzard Time" and other different themes.
Among them, "Sauvignon Blanc Season 2" and "Qing Yu Nian Season 2", as the "second generation of dramas", are expected to continue the popularity of the first season - both dramas reached the top after the first season was broadcast, and "Sauvignon Blanc Season 1" has the highest popularity on Tencent Video Station The popularity reached 33144, exceeding the current highest popularity value of "Flowers"; "Qing Yu Nian Season 1" was launched with zero announcement, and it has been at the top of the list of major authoritative ranking platforms such as Maoyan and Guduo for more than 30 days.
Currently, more than 4 million people have made reservations for "Sauvignon Blanc Season 2" and more than 10 million people have made reservations for "Qing Yu Nian Season 2" on Tencent Video. At the same time, on Weibo, topics related to the second season of Sauvignon Blanc had 1.9 billion+ views and 450,000+ discussions, while topics related to the second season of Qingyu Nian had 3.4 billion+ reads and 1.3 million+ discussions.
The potential of the other new dramas "Traveling with the Phoenix", "Rose Story" and "In the Blizzard" cannot be underestimated. Because their respective leading actors Zhao Liying, Liu Yifei and Wu Lei have strong fan appeal and word-of-mouth effect, several dramas have attracted online discussions. The popularity has always been very high. For example, topics related to Fengxing Weibo had a cumulative reading volume of 29.3 billion+ and a discussion volume of 44 million+. During the Blizzard period, related topics had a reading volume of 4.8 billion+ and a discussion volume of 22.2 million+.
Taken together, costume dramas are still the highlight of the new year's dramas, and as mentioned above, this is also a high ground where brand advertising has always been difficult to "soft land". However, now that "Flowers" is proofing ahead, perhaps we can look forward to whether brands and platforms can collide with more diverse marketing solutions on this high ground.