Chapter 207: Refining the Ad Campaign

The pool in the shooting scene was clearly Li Fengfeng’s solo decision; he didn’t even check with the producer, Xu Chen.

Xu Chen had a good sense of Li Fengfeng’s character—given his stubborn and self-centered nature, this kind of move wasn’t surprising at all.

Li Fengfeng did have some professional skills, but his main issue was being overly headstrong and looking down on everyone else.

However, changing the pool in the visuals went against Xu Chen’s original plan and absolutely needed to be fixed.

Still, Xu Chen didn’t want to come across as just nitpicking; he needed to get the team, especially the director, to understand and accept the original scheme so the project could move forward more smoothly.

After all, Xu Chen was just stopping by on this trip and didn’t want to waste too much time and energy.

…

He pulled up his original plan, which had already been approved by the client.

Then, he opened a browser on the computer, typed in Renhe Pharmaceuticals’ official website, and linked to the Fuyan Jie brand page.

Xu Chen began to explain:

“The Fuyan Jie brand hasn’t had any major market promotions yet, so user recognition is still pretty low.”

“Our main goal with this campaign is to get users to recognize and remember the Fuyan Jie brand.”

“And ‘remembering’ breaks down into three layers.”

“On a mental level, understanding the product and knowing what it does.”

“On an auditory level, remembering the brand name Fuyan Jie and that catchy slogan.”

“On a visual level, creating an emotional connection with the brand logo and product image…”

“”

He pointed to the pool design on the screen:

“This pool might look like just a background element at first glance, but it’s a key visual symbol in this ad.”

“It’s the core scene where the two endorsers appear, so we can’t waste it—it needs to serve some crucial functions!”

“The pool’s ‘leaf’ shape in the plan is actually based on the leaf shape in the Fuyan Jie brand logo.”

Xu Chen pointed again to the Fuyan Jie’s brand logo on the screen, which featured a prominent leaf shape.

“This leaf-shaped pool and the mint leaf-shaped boats are all meant to build a direct visual association with the Fuyan Jie logo in users’ minds…”

“So, this shape isn’t random—it can’t be changed on a whim.”

After Xu Chen finished, Director Zhu Xiaoming paused for a moment before speaking:

“Xu Chen, that makes sense now!”

“If the pool’s shape carries that kind of messaging, it really can’t be altered.”

He thought for a second and continued:

“I’ll get that changed right away—it’s still doable.”

“Good thing you came by this morning, Xu Chen; we have time to fix it.”

With that, he stood up and headed over to the group of staff still working to give instructions.

Li Fengfeng blinked his small eyes but didn’t say anything; his face turned a bit sour.

Sun Aimi adjusted her round-framed glasses and couldn’t help glancing at ‘Xu Chen’s back.

So he wasn’t just being picky after all—and what he said made a lot of sense, very convincing.

Li Fengfeng, thick-skinned as ever, chuckled and said:

“Lucky Xu Chen showed up and caught that key mistake!”

He turned to Sun Aimi and Chen Xiaolong:

“You two should learn from this—is Xu Chen’s plan something you can just mess with?”

Sun Aimi: “?”

Xu Chen kept a straight face and ignored Li Fengfeng completely.

In no time, Director Zhu Xiaoming returned.

“I’ve set it up—the pool setup will be redone, and we can have it ready by this afternoon.”

He looked around the set: “Xu Chen, check if there are any other issues; let’s tackle them all now.”

“Shooting starts first thing tomorrow, so we don’t want to delay the schedule.”

Xu Chen: “The set looks fine at first glance.”

“But let’s go over the other plans and progress too.”

“The final storyboard, costumes, props, special effects, and all that…”

Zhu Xiaoming nodded: “Let’s head to the side meeting room then!”

He led Xu Chen and the others to a large conference room on the east side of the studio, with windows overlooking the area.

Two of the director’s team members came in and quickly set up the projector to show Xu Chen the current plans and progress.

Xu Chen listened carefully, frowning a few times along the way.

These plans had all been confirmed with Black Duke Marketing by the director’s team.

And sure enough, Li Fengfeng’s stubbornness had led to a lot of advice that seemed professional but actually caused more harm than good.

Luckily, these were just minor details that could be fixed easily.

Xu Chen pointed them out one by one, and Zhu Xiaoming noted them down.

He adjusted his tortoiseshell glasses and glanced at Li Fengfeng, his expression sour.

He should have tried to connect directly with producer Xu Chen from the start—Black Duke Marketing and Li Fengfeng were just too unreliable.

The key was, Xu Chen’s suggestions were all spot-on and clearly needed fixing.

As Xu Chen gave feedback, Sun Aimi and Chen Xiaolong exchanged glances.

This Xu Chen was way more professional than Li Fengfeng!

In expertise, logic, problem-solving, and attitude, he outshone Li by miles.

Yet he was barely twenty—how did he pull that off?

Recalling everything since this morning, the two grew even more curious about ‘Xu Chen’.

…

After double-checking, Xu Chen had covered the main issues, then asked:

“What about the endorsers?”

Li Fengfeng glanced at Chen Xiaolong.

Chen Xiaolong said: “I’m handling the endorsers; we’ve gone over the script on the phone several times. The two are fine with it and will start shooting first thing tomorrow.”

Xu Chen thought for a moment: “I haven’t seen the endorsers’ costumes and makeup plans yet, right?”

Chen Xiaolong: “The two will bring their own makeup artists; Ren Jing has some specific requirements for his look.”

“As for costumes, the director has them ready…”

Zhu Xiaoming: “The outfits are all set; let’s check the dressing room!”

…

The director took them to the dressing room.

There were two racks: one for the male endorser and one for the female.

“The sizes are based on what the endorsers picked, and I’ve checked with Li Fengfeng—we went with these two sets.”

Zhu Xiaoming pointed to the two blue-and-white outfits on the rack.

Xu Chen frowned slightly, feeling a bit exasperated.

He walked up to the rack and pointed to the two pure white outfits:

“Let’s go with these—the pure white ones were in the original plan.”

Zhu Xiaoming didn’t respond, just looked at Li Fengfeng.

Li Fengfeng smiled and said:

“Alright, we’ll go with what Xu Chen suggests…”

“But to explain, when we discussed it, we thought pure white was too plain. We showed it to the endorsers, and they felt blue and white would look better and more eye-catching.”

Xu Chen explained:

“The color in the plan was chosen carefully.”

“The pure white outfits, along with white pillars and ribbons, are meant to convey a ‘fresh and clean’ vibe for the ad.”

“I can explain that to the endorsers; they’ll get it.”

Li Fengfeng gave an awkward smile:

“Right! We’ll talk it over with them!”

Xu Chen smiled but didn’t say more.

Li Fengfeng: “We’ve seen enough; let’s head back to the meeting room to relax!”

…

In the meeting room—whether it was the director or Li Fengfeng who arranged it—there were fruit platters and lunch set out.

Director Zhu Xiaoming had gone back to work, so Li Fengfeng stayed to keep ‘Xu Chen’ company.

Once Xu Chen and Fang Jun sat down, Li Fengfeng said:

“Xu Chen, there are a couple of confirmation documents that need your signature—mainly for today’s plans and changes.”

“Oh, and there’s a cost quote…”

“Due to the rush on these modifications, there’ll be some extra costs, and we need your approval on that.”

Xu Chen nodded and said deliberately:

“As the project producer assigned by the client, my focus is on the content; for any budget increases, you should confirm with the client first.”

Li Fengfeng laughed: “Got it, but you’ll still need to review the cost list—the client wants your signature too.”

Xu Chen just nodded without further comment.

Li Fengfeng: “Once those two documents are signed, if you’re busy, Xu Chen, you don’t have to stick around.”

“For any on-site set or effects changes, I can send photos for your approval online.”

Xu Chen: “That works!”

Li Fengfeng: “You two go ahead and have lunch; we’ll get back to work!”

Xu Chen: “Thanks for the hard work, Li!”

…

Now, only Xu Chen and Fang Jun were left in the meeting room.

Xu Chen grabbed the takeout lunch from the table—four small stir-fries and two portions of rice.

He opened the lids and handed a portion of rice to Fang Jun.

“Dig in, Fang Jun!”

Fang Jun unwrapped his chopsticks, looking a bit puzzled:

“It seems like they don’t really need me here, though?”

Xu Chen smiled: “Of course they do…”

Fang Jun thought for a second: “About that cost quote he mentioned—is there going to be an issue?”

Xu Chen took a big bite of rice: “Based on what I know of Li Fengfeng, probably yes.”

The issues he meant were the shady dealings, of course.

In his past life, Li Fengfeng often skimmed profits from client projects.

Back in the early 2000s, the ad industry was highly profitable, with inflated cost quotes everywhere.

That gave people like Li Fengfeng plenty of opportunities.

Xu Chen remembered clearly: in his previous life, on a couple of small projects with Li Fengfeng totaling a few hundred thousand, Li pocketed over a hundred thousand himself—it was an eye-opener for a newbie like Xu Chen.

Unfortunately, back then, Xu Chen knew but had no solid proof.

For his own career safety, he had to play ignorant.

This Fuyan Jie ad, though straightforward to shoot, involved celebrity endorsers, so the overall budget was high.

Knowing Li Fengfeng, he’d definitely try to siphon some off.

That’s why Xu Chen invited Fang Jun along for this trip—Fang Jun was an expert at checking accounts…

Xu Chen still harbored some resentment toward his former boss Li Fengfeng.

It wasn’t just the overt bossing around and workplace bullying…

In his past life, Xu Chen’s two ad projects were stolen by Li Fengfeng, who used them to win awards—Xu Chen, as the main creator, didn’t even get credited, let alone the bonuses.

That was the main reason Xu Chen left Black Duke Marketing in his previous life.

Now that he’d been reborn and crossed paths again, Xu Chen didn’t mind helping to ‘clean up’ the ad world by getting rid of this ‘Li’ and stopping him from harming more young talents and clients.

As Fang Jun ate, he suddenly asked:

“You said based on what you know of him… Do you know him well?”

Xu Chen paused, then casually explained:

“In the ad circle, I know a few people who’ve told me about Li Fengfeng’s history…”

Fang Jun chewed his rice and murmured:

“Alright… It just seems like you know everything.”

The two quickly finished lunch, cleared the boxes, and tossed them into the nearby trash bag.

Xu Chen picked up a box of cut fruit and offered it to Fang Jun.

Fang Jun said: “Working on projects with you is nice—good food and getting treated well.”

Xu Chen laughed: “Who else would they pamper? I’m the client-sent producer, so they treat me like the client.”

“When I deal with other clients, I’ll probably have to do the pampering.”

Fang Jun: “With your skills and personality, I doubt you’d put up with that.”

Xu Chen replied: “I don’t like buttering people up; I can just take on projects that don’t require it.”

“Or, I could hire people to handle that for me…”

Fang Jun: “By the way, East Morning Star Advertising in Shanghai is almost registered; you can start using it once university begins.”

Xu Chen: “You’re amazing, Fang Jun—got it all done remotely.”

Fang Jun said flatly: “If there are Shanghai projects later, can I join? I could come on a business trip and visit Bing Ge while I’m at it!”

Xu Chen: “??”

His phone buzzed; Xu Chen pulled it out and saw a message from Xie Bingran.

It was a photo, probably from a dessert shop, showing treats like ginger milk and double-skinned milk.

[Enjoying some local sweets here—they’re pretty good. It’d be even better if you were showing me around.]

[Go ahead and eat; I’ll come find you once I’m done here.]

[Okay.]

[Where are you now?]

[With Wu Feifei and Huang Qianqian. Seems like the old district, but I’m not sure exactly where.]

Then, Xie Bingran sent another photo.

Xu Chen looked—it showed some classic Lingnan arcade buildings, clearly in the Lizwan or Yuexiu old district.

[Keep exploring; Bing Ge, don’t eat too much. I’ll take you to something even better tonight.]

[Okay.]

…