As consumers grow increasingly immune to traditional advertising, brands face the challenge of standing out while achieving both brand awareness and sales conversion. The marketing industry has quietly entered its 2.0 era, where the key challenge lies in creating advertisements that neither annoy audiences nor fail to drive traffic.
In today's hyper-competitive landscape for consumer attention, success belongs to those who leverage multidimensional digital tools for precise audience targeting and sophisticated operational strategies. The collaboration between brands and platforms through digital marketing creates opportunities for mutual growth in both traffic and business performance.
Scenario-Based Marketing: Precision Targeting That Drives Consumption
The recent success of "A Dream of Splendor" x Heytea collaboration exemplifies effective scenario marketing. Their co-branded tea drinks sold over 300,000 cups on launch day, reaching 1.4 million cups within a week. The drama series, produced by Tencent Video and starring Liu Yifei and Chen Xiao, attracted over 40 brand partnerships by its finale.
Skincare brand MGirl similarly capitalized on the drama's popularity through well-timed mid-roll advertisements, achieving over 100 million impressions and significant sales conversion for their star product.
These campaigns demonstrate how "A Dream of Splendor" revolutionized product placement by deeply integrating commercial elements with authentic Song Dynasty cultural references. Costume brand Shisanyu launched hanfu collections inspired by iconic character outfits, while food and beverage partners developed products mirroring historical tea culture depicted in the drama.
Beyond Digital: Creating Immersive Experiences That Spark Conversations
Tencent Video extended the drama's success offline through a "Elegant Song Dynasty Fair" pop-up event in Changsha, attracting over 10,000 visitors in one week. The immersive experience featured traditional Song Dynasty games, tea houses, and textile workshops, with participating brands like Casarte and Haitian creating theme-aligned activations.
This approach mirrors successful Western models like Disneyland and Universal's Wizarding World, but represents an innovative experiment in China's entertainment marketing landscape. By maintaining strict thematic consistency across all touchpoints, the event achieved both commercial success and cultural authenticity.
Cultural Empowerment: When Values Resonate With Audiences
The drama's cultural impact extended beyond entertainment through educational content about Song Dynasty life. Tencent supplemented the series with expert-led historical lectures and partnered with La Mer for an ocean-themed concert coinciding with World Oceans Day, effectively blending brand messaging with cultural and environmental themes.
This sophisticated approach to content marketing represents the industry's evolution toward deeper audience engagement. As competition intensifies in the post-internet era, brands and platforms that master cultural storytelling while delivering measurable business results will define the next chapter of marketing innovation.