That evening, at Lin Zhiyan's house.
After more than an hour of intense discussion, Lin Zhiyan held Nanase Mayumi in his arms, lying in bed and entering a mode of deep contemplation.
The fact that Lelouch had sold 45,000 units at launch and averaged 72,000 units cumulatively in another timeline proved its immense potential.
In this timeline, Lelouch was a faithful adaptation, its production quality on par with the original. With no strong competitors in the DVD market, both internal and external conditions were exceptionally favorable. The fact that it still lagged far behind the original's sales indicated that a vast amount of potential remained untapped.
How could he unlock the animation's remaining potential?
In other words, how could he make Lelouch become a phenomenal anime sooner?
"Senior, what are you thinking about?" Nanase Mayumi asked, unable to resist asking when she saw Lin Zhiyan's serious, contemplative expression.
"I'm thinking of a new trick," Lin Zhiyan replied casually.
"Huh?"
Nanase Mayumi blinked in surprise. "We already have so many tricks. We still need new ones?"
"This isn't enough," Lin Zhiyan sighed. "With just these few tricks, how can we expect to soar? We need something truly groundbreaking to make this animation a phenomenal success."
Nanase Mayumi was silent for two seconds, then, uncharacteristically, blushed. "You're not seriously planning to come up with all 108 techniques, are you?"
Lin Zhiyan: (⊙_⊙)?
What the hell?
Are there really 108 promotional tactics for an anime?
He stared blankly for a moment before realizing. "I meant new marketing strategies for Lelouch, not... not what you're thinking."
Nanase Mayumi blinked, her face suddenly flushing crimson to her ears. She quickly shifted, tucking her head under the covers.
After a few minutes, she peeked out again, her face back to normal. "Senior," she said, "Lelouch is already doing very well. Aren't you satisfied?"
"Not quite."
Lin Zhiyan answered honestly. "This animation could do even better, especially the DVD sales. They shouldn't be this low."
"But... I feel like our promotion is already pretty solid. Even if we pour more money into it, I don't think it'll significantly boost our popularity. Besides, the plot gets more exciting in the latter half, and the popularity should rise steadily on its own then," Nanase Mayumi analyzed seriously.
"That's true, but we still need to find a 'boom point'."
"A boom point?"
"Something that sparks widespread audience discussion and dramatically increases the animation's popularity and buzz."
"Isn't the plot enough?"
"The plot is important, of course, but it's not enough."
"Not enough?"
Nanase Mayumi pondered seriously. After about a minute, she said:
"Then, what about this...
During our promotion, let's focus on the opposite direction. For example, the next arc involves Shirley. She'll discover Lelouch is Zero, and he'll use his King's Power to erase her memories. We'll actively steer audience expectations toward the idea that Shirley and Lelouch will end up together. When the episode airs and they realize it's nothing like that, it should generate massive discussion, skyrocketing the animation's popularity and buzz."
"So, you're suggesting we use deceptive advertising?" Lin Zhiyan mused.
Guiding the audience's expectations toward Shirley and Lelouch getting together would be a disaster. It wouldn't just fail to boost popularity and buzz; many viewers would likely abandon the show in disappointment before the plot twist even happened.
After all, given Lelouch's character, he wouldn't fall in love with any girl until after he'd destroyed Britannia. This very trait was one of the reasons Lelouch's character attracted so many female viewers.
Moreover, based on what had aired so far, Shirley was little more than a decorative piece. Even if we guided the audience toward the idea of Lelouch eventually ending up with C.C., we absolutely couldn't push the Lelouch x Shirley pairing.
This approach was fundamentally flawed.
However, deceptive advertising itself wasn't a bad direction.
If the animation quality were truly abysmal, deceptive advertising would backfire spectacularly. When the actual content aired, the audience would likely drown the show in criticism, forcing the creators into a defensive shell.
However, if the animation itself is of exceptionally high quality, then deceptive marketing isn't a problem at all. In fact, it could even spark massive discussions and significantly boost the animation's popularity and buzz.
The most classic example of this is Puella Magi Madoka Magica from another timeline in 2011. Before its premiere, it was advertised with the tag "healing." The first two episodes had an odd style that only made viewers feel something was amiss. But in the third episode, when the Senior's head was bitten off by a witch, "healing" turned into "heartbreaking," causing the animation's popularity and buzz to explode.
If this animation had been advertised with the "heartbreaking" tag from the start, viewers would have lacked the element of surprise. Even with the exact same content, the discussions when the third episode aired wouldn't have been as massive, and its popularity and buzz wouldn't have been as explosive. This is also why some viewers who got into Puella Magi Madoka Magica later didn't find it as impactful.
In summary, deceptive marketing is a viable strategy.
As for how to implement it specifically:
Lin Zhiyan seriously considered this and decided to focus on the "satisfying" tag.
While the male lead, Lelouch, does face his share of setbacks in the earlier parts of the story, the overall experience is incredibly satisfying, leaving many viewers thoroughly entertained.
However, the animation is about to enter its more agonizing phase, featuring a slew of heart-wrenching plotlines.
"Code Geass is an exhilarating anime"—that's how audiences previously described it. Lin Zhiyan had never actually promoted Code Geass as an exhilarating anime.
If he wanted to stir things up now, he could go all out emphasizing the "exhilarating" label, deeply ingraining that perception in viewers' minds. When the heart-wrenching plot twists eventually emerge, they'll completely subvert expectations, likely sparking massive discussions and even spawning related memes.
Of course, Lin Zhiyan didn't need to get his hands dirty with this. He could simply let the company's marketing department handle it.
He once read a web novel by the author "Yihuo" titled My Anime Made a Million Viewers Cry. In that story, the protagonist only creates depressing anime, yet personally engages in deceptive marketing every time, leaving viewers furious and calling him "Old Man Takagi."
Lin Zhiyan would never do such a thing.
The ones committing fraud were the animation's official team, not him.
He had no desire to become Old Man Takagi!
With his mind made up, Lin Zhiyan gave Nanase Mayumi a fierce kiss on the cheek. "Mayumi, thank you. I know what I need to do now. As a reward, tonight I'll let you experience my three divine techniques."
Nanase Mayumi: (?????)
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