Chapter 124: Winning the Pitch with Five Words

In the late ’90s, the couple Ren Jing and Fu Disheng shot to fame with their hit duet “Soulmates,” then went on to release several more duet songs.

They became known as the first-ever “Husband-and-Wife Duet Duo.”

They performed on countless Spring Festival Galas across TV networks, and their songs were sung everywhere—household names.

Most importantly, their image as a loving, sweet couple was deeply ingrained in the public consciousness…

As the melody of “Soulmates” played in the conference room, a few judges even began singing along in their heads.

Xu Chen paused the music video.

“This is the spokesperson I recommend. There are no other options.”

A moment of silence fell over the room.

Then Vice President Lu Wenhua spoke softly,

“Alright!”

Only then did everyone else chime in.

“It’s perfect!”

“A husband-and-wife duo is ideal, and they’re the best choice among couples!”

“Compared to Gong Li, they should cost a lot less!”

…

Xu Chen smiled and said,

“Next is the tagline section.

We’ve agreed on the strategy, so the tagline must follow it.

Use the simplest words to educate customers about what Fuyan Jie is, how to use it, and its benefits.

At the same time, it needs a catchy, memorable hook.”

Xu Chen flipped through his PPT. A line appeared on the screen:

“Fuyan Jie—Wash Well for Health.”

…

The judges looked up, brows furrowed.

Xu Chen didn’t give them time to question it—he knew a small hesitation could lead them into subtle word traps.

He dove straight into persuasion mode.

“‘Wash Well’ tells users what Fuyan Jie is and how to use it.”

“‘For Health’ tells them why to use it and what benefits it brings.”

“Together, those five words complete the product education…”

“Earlier, we talked about subtle suggestion and fear appeal:

if you don’t use Fuyan Jie and don’t wash, you become ‘unhealthy’…”

“These five words are simple and catchy—you see them or hear them once and you won’t forget them…”

…

At first glance,

the judges weren’t dazzled.

After all, on paper it looked plain and unremarkable.

But after Xu Chen’s analysis, they couldn’t help nodding.

It all came down to Xu Chen’s initial strategy buildup.

He’d been selling this tagline from the first word of his proposal.

By the time they reached it, it felt perfectly natural.

Fang Jun turned to look at Xu Chen and suddenly found it amusing.

She’d seen this plan yesterday.

Though not an advertising expert, she’d thought the tagline was as ordinary as could be.

There was nothing outstanding or unique about it.

But after Xu Chen’s speech, it suddenly felt “genius—there’s no other choice.”

Fang Jun laughed helplessly to herself.

What kind of magic did this guy have?

In just half an hour, Xu Chen had basically brainwashed himself with his own words…

Xu Chen finished explaining the tagline and then moved on to the TV commercial plan.

The 30-second ad followed the same strategy—completely logical.

“I’ll show Fuyan Jie’s cooling germ-kill in just five seconds…

fresh, clean, and healthy—Fuyan Jie, wash well for health…”

In no time, Xu Chen flipped to the final slide:

[Thank You for Listening].

Silence hung in the air for a moment.

Then Lu Wenhua raised his hand and began to applaud.

Applause broke out.

Caught up in the atmosphere, even Fang Jun and Yu Mei from the brand side joined in.

Xu Chen smiled, feeling a weight lift off his shoulders.

He’d won this pitch…

He pressed his hands together and bowed in thanks.

Lu Wenhua: “I never expected the biggest surprise would come at the end today…”

Zhao Nan: “Yes. We’d almost settled on the other two options, but when Mr. Xu walked in, he overturned them all…”

…

After a short break,

Xu Chen saw Yu Mei check her watch and said,

“Ms. Yu still has work—she needs to leave first…”

Yu Mei glanced at Xu Chen and smiled warmly:

“Sorry, everyone. I have another consultation to rush to!”

Lu Wenhua stood and said, “Ms. Yu, go on and take care of it! Thank you for your guidance today!”

Liu Kang had already hurried over and helped Yu Mei to her feet.

Xu Chen and Fang Jun naturally stood as well.

Surrounded by everyone, they saw Yu Mei off.

Xu Chen, Fang Jun, and Liu Kang politely escorted Yu Mei to the elevator lobby.

…

The meeting resumed, diving into finer details of the plan.

But Xu Chen was fully prepared.

When two tricky questions arose, his words immediately eliminated the two strongest competing agencies.

Zhao Nan: “Before Mr. Xu’s presentation, our favorite tagline was the one from Black Duke Marketing:

[‘A Quick Wash, Fresh All Day’].”

Zhao Nan: “That line also educates users about the category and shows how to use it with benefits…”

Xu Chen thought for a moment. That tagline did fit Li Fengfeng’s creative style.

“It’s not bad, but it still misses something…”

“Oh? Please explain.”

Xu Chen calmly hit the nail on the head:

“‘Fresh’ isn’t Fuyan Jie’s selling point—shower gel or soap can do that too. Why must it be Fuyan Jie?

You could say it lasts fresher longer, but that doesn’t hit the core.

Here’s the thing:

‘Health’ is essential.

But ‘fresh’ is not.”

Zhao Nan considered and said,

“You make a good point, Mr. Xu!”

Lu Wenhua laughed, “‘Fresh’ isn’t scary enough!”

Everyone burst into laughter and nodded.

Xu Chen added,

“Plus, Black Duke’s line is four words.

In communications, five- or seven-word phrases are catchiest and most brainwashing.

Four- or six-word lines rank lowest…

‘Got athlete’s foot? Pass it on to two more.’

‘Use Dabao every day.’

You’ll find all the most memorable ads use five or seven words.

Even Tang poems follow that pattern.

Black Duke’s line is accurate but just isn’t sticky enough!”

Xu Chen’s words landed and everyone laughed and nodded again.

Li Fengfeng’s “promotion and raise” dream was shattered by Xu Chen’s few sentences…

Lu Wenhua lit another cigarette and said with a smile,

“Actually, I have one more question for Mr. Xu.

We also invited Shengshi Great Wall to pitch today.

Their approach is vastly different from the others.

They tackled it from another dimension…

Honestly, their tone feels more high-end.

They could package Fuyan Jie as a premium overseas brand.”

Xu Chen: “May I ask what their ad concept is?”

Marketing Director Zhao Nan: “Their plan doesn’t highlight product features but elevates it to women’s spiritual value.

Their tagline is ‘Women—Strong Through Love.’”

Xu Chen snorted inwardly—it was exactly what he expected.

This kind of pitch is standard for international 4A agencies.

He also knew that Lu Wenhua mentioned it only because of his filter and reverence for foreign 4A firms.

Xu Chen said,

“Shengshi Great Wall’s concept is very high-end, tone-wise.

But the choice depends on our budget.

If we had a billion in ad spend, we could go with their plan.

If we only have tens of millions to a hundred million, I still recommend a more down-to-earth approach…

After all, sales are the bottom line.”

His words were tactful yet crystal clear.

Lu Wenhua frowned but nodded.

Xu Chen glanced at Mr. Lu and said,

“There’s another key consumer insight we can use to optimize our plan…”

Lu Wenhua: “Oh?”

Xu Chen: “Domestic women generally don’t know what a wash is and haven’t used one.

A simple persuasion is that women in the West all use it!

In Chinese consumer perception, imported overseas products are high-end.

We can tap into this ‘foreign worship’ mindset by featuring foreigners in the ad…

to convey ‘if foreign women use it, it must be good’…”

Xu Chen clicked the mouse and flipped back to the “Thank You” slide.

Everyone realized there was another page in his proposal.

He clicked again, and a video popped up.

A blonde, blue-eyed Western woman spoke the tagline in broken Chinese:

“Wash well for health~”

The judges froze, then burst out laughing in amazement.

It turned out the foreign woman on screen was Shengshi Great Wall’s own expatriate creative director…

Lu Wenhua shook his head,

“Mr. Xu, you’ve gone this far—you’ve won my buy-in today!”

Zhao Nan looked baffled,

“How did you pull this off? Why would their creative director record your line?”

Sales Director Li Cui smiled,

“They must think your idea is great too, Mr. Xu?”

Xu Chen laughed and didn’t explain.

Fang Jun knew how the video was made and nearly burst out laughing.

She finally understood Xu Chen’s intent:

the video playfully defused Mr. Lu’s “foreign worship” mindset

while giving the ad an extra bonus point.

…

With no more questions or objections, East Morning Star Advertising won the pitch.

Fang Jun sat quietly, watching Xu Chen joke with the clients, still in disbelief.

At eighteen years old, he’d beaten out international and publicly traded agencies all on his own…

And throughout the pitch, he’d anticipated nearly every possible issue and prepared solutions.

He seemed to have everyone and everything under his control,

yet he looked so bright and innocent when he smiled.

…