Chapter 424: The Great Wall of Advertising

The Great Wall Award judging committee chairman, Lao Shuang’an, was still on stage introducing the upcoming awards.

Xie Bingran glanced at Xu Chen and asked quietly:

“What award are you up for?”

Xu Chen: “I’m not sure yet…”

Theoretically, getting an official invite and landing a VIP seat means at least a bronze award.”

That was a reasonable guess, after all, there were probably a few hundred ‘entry awards,’ and this second-row VIP section couldn’t hold them all.

Those who squeezed in here must be winners of gold, silver, or bronze.

After the guest speeches wrapped up, a long segment of Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau ethnic performances followed.

During this song and dance, they also promoted some tourism projects in Yunnan Province and Kun City.

It seemed Kun City, as the host for this year’s China Advertising Festival, had let the cultural and tourism bureau sneak in some promotional work.

Once the applause died down, the two hosts returned to the stage.

The official award ceremony finally kicked off.

Since the Great Wall Award had only announced the entry award nominees earlier and not the specific winners, it created huge suspense for everyone attending today.

Some creatives in the audience clearly buzzed with nervous excitement.

Winning a Great Wall Award was a massive honor in the industry, after all.

Snagging a gold or silver would give you serious leverage for a better salary when job-hopping in advertising circles.

That’s why so many ad pros fought tooth and nail for awards at home and abroad.

It wasn’t just about prestige—it translated to real cash.

They started with the ‘entry awards,’ naturally.

A total of 660 works made the cut.

The presenters were Liang Weifeng, a creative from Southeast Asia, and a female leader from Kun City’s cultural and tourism bureau.

With so many entries, the two kept it brief, just covering the overall distribution before saying, ‘Please see the big screen…’

So, info on those 660 ‘entry award’ works scrolled across the LED screen in a loop.

Meanwhile, the audience erupted with applause, cheers, and even some disappointed groans.

For creatives with high hopes, seeing their work land an ‘entry award’ meant they were out of the running for gold, silver, or bronze.

Xu Chen scanned the list; the ad agencies that got entries were about half international 4A firms and half local ones.

That was pretty standard every year.

In the ‘entry awards,’ they always tried to give more chances to local and smaller ad agencies.

Because, as expected, the gold, silver, and bronze would mostly go to those big international 4A companies.

Next up: the 2006 China Advertising Great Wall Award bronze works…

Please welcome the reveal and presentation guests: Professor Lin Ruyang, dean of Tonghai University’s Creativity and Design College and honorary Great Wall Award judge…

And Chen Yaofu, creative partner at LOWE Yangshi Advertising!

Amid waves of applause, the two guests took the stage.

Xu Chen spotted Dean Lin walking up slowly and clapped earnestly for the esteemed leader.

And without turning around, he knew the group of seniors in the back corner were probably clapping until their hands went numb!

This year’s Great Wall Award had seven main categories.

Each category awarded six bronze works, totaling 42.

Lin Ruyang and Chen Yaofu announced them one category at a time.

The winning creators came up, and they handed out the awards all at once…

The presentations rolled on.

Just as Xu Chen expected, by bronze level, most winners were from international 4A companies.

A parade of stylish, distinctive creatives headed up to claim their prizes.

Xu Chen glanced at his dean on stage, who carried himself with a scholarly elegance right then.

It was a stark contrast to his more childish, quick-to-anger side in private.

This public versus private persona had a charming, old-mischief-maker vibe.

After the last category’s bronze awards, Xie Bingran turned to Xu Chen and whispered:

“No entry or bronze for you, so that means at least silver—maybe even gold.”

Xu Chen paused, surprised that the little heiress had been keeping track for him all along.

“Thanks to our presentation guests—Congratulations to all the winning creatives!”

The two hosts stepped up and delivered a segment like a comedy routine.

They mixed in recent ad industry gossip and fun stories, mostly from the foreign 4A scene.

Like how some 4A agency’s big client got poached by another…

They even interviewed the creative directors involved, sparking waves of laughter.

“Up next: the 2006 China Advertising Great Wall Award silver works…

Please welcome Professor Jin Changhai, dean of Xiamen University’s Humanities College and expert in domestic ad creativity…

And Lin Junming, Dentsu’s creative director for Asia!”

Amid a burst of noisy applause, the two guests smiled and took the stage.

Xu Chen turned and saw Dean Lin Ruyang in the front row, looking visibly annoyed and clapping half-heartedly.

Lin Ruyang handled the bronzes.

But Xiamen University’s Jin Changhai was presenting the higher-level silvers.

And at yesterday’s University Advertising Competition ceremony, Jin Changhai was the head judge while Lin Ruyang was just an honorary one…

Xu Chen felt a bit helpless; in academic circles, it seemed Professor Jin Changhai outranked Lin Ruyang.

As he clapped, Xu Chen couldn’t help stealing a few more glances at Dean Lin Ruyang.

From his side profile, it was clear the old man was sulking, puffed up with indignation.

Professor Jin Changhai and the renowned Hong Kong ad man Lin Junming began announcing this year’s Great Wall Award silvers.

Seven categories, three silvers each, totaling 21 Great Wall silver trophies.

The two guests went through the categories one by one.

As they announced, the corresponding ad works, agencies, and creative directors popped up on the big screen.

Xu Chen noticed it was almost all international 4A companies now.

When they revealed an award for a Unilever toothpaste ad, the two people to Xu Chen’s right suddenly cheered.

Turned out those colleagues from Yangshi Advertising had just won a silver.

The silver announcements and presentations took over twenty minutes.

The ad pros who received their awards and headed off stage couldn’t hide their excitement.

A Great Wall silver trophy carried serious weight in China’s ad world.

Professor Jin Changhai stepped down and took a seat right next to Dean Lin Ruyang.

Xu Chen caught Lin Ruyang turning away, crossing his legs so his back was half toward Jin Changhai, clearly not in the mood to chat.

These old academics and their petty rivalries were kind of amusing.

In the VIP section.

With bronzes and silvers done, a few ad folks who hadn’t won yet were buzzing with anticipation.

Surrounding colleagues tossed out congrats left and right.

Missing out on bronze and silver meant they were in the running for the seven Great Wall golds!

Xie Bingran caught on and turned to Xu Chen with eager eyes:

“Gold?”

Xu Chen shrugged, wearing a mix of helplessness and cocky grin.

In the third-row guest seats.

Assistant Miao Xiaoyu looked at her boss Zhao Ling and whispered:

“East Morning Star Advertising isn’t about to snag a creative gold, is it?”

Zhao Ling glanced at Xu Chen’s back and smiled:

“What a surprise!”

She thought back to the East Morning Star Advertising website she’d browsed earlier, wondering which project had landed a Great Wall gold…

After a transitional music piece, the LED screen played a promo reel.

It recapped past Great Wall gold winners and the ad creatives who’d claimed them.

Xu Chen spotted plenty of industry bigwigs among them.

Some were even sitting in the front-row judge seats for this Great Wall Award.

For instance, Liu Wenqin’s boss, Liang Weifeng, the executive creative director at BBDO Advertising, had won a gold a couple years back.

“The moment we’ve all been waiting for!

Seven Great Wall golds—the most impactful and influential works of 2006…

Who will take them home?

The 2006 China Advertising Great Wall Award golds, coming right up…

Please welcome the presentation guests:

Tencent Net President Liu Shengyi…

And Mo Kangxun, general manager of McCann Bright Advertising and renowned Hong Kong ad man!”

Tencent Net’s president was tonight’s biggest sponsor—the ‘golden daddy.’

And Mo Kangxun, like Lao Shuang’an, was a legendary figure in the Chinese advertising world.

These heavyweight guests added real prestige to the seven Great Wall golds.

They didn’t drag it out, pulling the list from golden envelopes and announcing winners one by one.

As they did, the big screen synced up with clips of the corresponding ad works…

“Print category gold: Nike’s Annual Progress Ad, W+K Advertising, Creative Director Chen Rumeng…”

“Video category gold: NetEase News Brand Ad Insight Series, Ogilvy Advertising, Creative Director Yang Xinxin…”

“Media marketing category gold: BMW MINI Cooper Roof Media Campaign, GroupM Marketing…”

Each announcement triggered thunderous applause.

In the VIP section where Xu Chen sat, the gold winners dashed up amid joy and congratulations.

There was even a funny moment:

This year’s main sponsor ‘golden daddy,’ Tencent Net President Liu Shengyi, actually presented a gold to ‘NetEase News.’

Keep in mind, 2006 was still the era of portal sites, and Tencent Net and NetEase News were fierce rivals.

Tencent’s president handing a gold to NetEase probably had the NetEase team celebrating hard.

The seven Great Wall golds were announced and awarded in no time.

As expected, they all went to international 4A companies.

Xie Bingran frowned in confusion and looked at Xu Chen.

She hesitated a bit but asked:

“Why… not you?”

Xu Chen showed a hint of helplessness and muttered to himself, “No way?”

At the same time.

Baidu’s marketing VP Zhao Ling looked puzzled.

Assistant Miao Xiaoyu couldn’t hold back:

“Why no East Morning Star Advertising?

They didn’t win anything…

Then why the VIP seats?”

Zhao Ling glanced at Xu Chen’s back and chuckled inwardly.

She must be stressed from her projects lately.

Robin Li had been pushing her hard at the company, and now she was fantasizing about a student-run ad agency…

Amid the ongoing applause and laughter, the guests and winners left the stage together.

That wrapped up the entries, bronzes, silvers, and golds for this Great Wall Award.

The two hosts stayed off to the side of the stage, bridging to the next part:

“Let’s give it up for China Advertising Association President Chen Yuming.

And this year’s Great Wall Award judging committee chairman, Mr. Lao Shuang’an!”

They will reveal the final award…

The 2006 China Advertising Great Wall Award Grand Prize!”

After the thunderous applause faded,

The Hong Kong-based ‘ad father’ Lao Shuang’an paused and began:

“Reach…

This year, this ad spread across the land, and almost everyone knew it.

Sales power…

In just over half a year, it turned a niche beverage into the third-best seller in the entire category.

Insight…

It deeply understood the Chinese people’s ‘cooling down’ needs and used seven simple yet ingeniously crafted words to connect precisely with billions.”

“The 2006 China Advertising Great Wall Award Grand Prize:

Annual Integrated Marketing Case: Wang Laoshun’s ‘Afraid of Getting Heated’ Campaign!”

When ‘East Morning Star Advertising’ was announced, Xie Bingran was holding Xu Chen’s hand.

Bing Ge suddenly gripped Xu Chen’s left hand tightly on instinct, and he winced in pain, nearly crying out.

His face twisted as he thought, Bing Ge’s grip was insanely strong—almost broke his hand…

When Creative Director ‘Xu Chen’ was named, Dean Lin Ruyang in the front row froze.

He furrowed his brow, remembering that student with the same name.

That Xu Chen was a mixed bag—helped the school win two first prizes at the University Ad Competition but was always skipping classes, showing zero respect for his dean!

He’d have to find a way to set that kid straight when they got back!

In the third-row guest seats.

Assistant Miao Xiaoyu looked totally baffled.

She pulled out that business card, double-checked the ‘East Morning Star Advertising’ and ‘Xu Chen’ on it, then stared at her boss in shock.

Baidu Group VP Zhao Ling gazed at the big screen showing the ‘Afraid of Getting Heated’ case and smiled softly:

“So it’s this project!”

In the back corner of the venue.

Zhao Siting and the group of seniors heard ‘Xu Chen’ too.

They paused briefly.

But didn’t think much of it—’Xu Chen’ was a pretty common name, after all.

Until Xu Chen rose from his second-row seat and pulled Xie Bingran up with him.

“Come on, let’s go get that award!”