Frontiers in Business, Economics and Management ISSN: 2766-824X | Vol. 9, No. 1, 2023 54 Analysis of the Strategy of Advertising Implantation in Online Variety Shows -- Taking "Escape from the Chamber of Secrets" as An Example Ziyi Wang1, a 1International Department of No. 2 Secondary School attached to the Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100000, China amariposagao@163.com Abstract: With the development of modern media technology, online media has become one of the main channels for people's leisure and entertainment with its characteristics of rapid transmission and two-way interaction. Among them, online self-made variety shows have developed rapidly on major video websites, and their wide audience and high ratings have attracted the attention of many advertisers. The success of advertising implantation in online variety shows depends on its placement methods and strategies to a large extent. Successful advertising placement will bring benefits to the brand, while taking into account the feelings of the audience. This article will analyze the different strategies of advertising placement in online variety shows by taking the case of Mirinda’s advertising placement in "Escape from the Chamber of Secrets" broadcast by Mango TV as the reference object. Keywords: Online variety; Advertising implantation; Strategy. 1. Introduction Implantable advertising is a form of advertising that has emerged with the development of media such as film and television, games, etc. It refers to the promotion of certain representative audio-visual brand symbols or specific related elements into film and television dramas or stage works, and the use of certain scenes or plots to showcase this product, leaving a deep impression on the audience. Currently, the advertising implantation industry in China has reached a considerable scale, and audiences are also accustomed to implantable advertising. Advertising has gradually evolved from being rigidly embedded in program content to being naturally integrated into program content. However, with the rapid development of advertising, there are also some problems, and the negative impact of advertising is also significant. These problems and negative impacts have gradually attracted social attention. In the work, this article mainly studies the successful advertising placement strategies in the variety show "Escape in the Chamber of Secrets". Mainly studied strategies in three aspects: brand naming, scene implantation, and plot implantation. Explored the success of embedding innovation in advertising in online variety shows. 2. Background of Advertisement Implantation in "Escape from the Chamber of Secrets" In 2019, Mango TV launched the live decryption experience show "Escape in the Chamber of Secrets", which has been broadcast for four seasons so far. Mango TV is a new media audio-visual comprehensive communication service platform with 50.4 million effective members at the end of 2021. In the first half of 2022, Mango TV's Internet video advertising revenue was 2.163 billion yuan, accounting for 41% of its business revenue. Self-made variety shows are the main programs of Mango TV to maintain its reputation and traffic. According to Yunhe data, in 2022, Mango TV has six independent variety shows that will enter the top 20 effective broadcast volume of China's network variety shows. Mango TV's self-made variety shows have a large audience, a certain social impact and topic degree. In 2019, "Escape in the Chamber of Secrets" took the first place in the Mango TV broadcast volume list within one week of its launch, with nearly ten million topics related to microblogging. On the day of its premiere in 2022, the broadcast volume has reached 145 million times. "Escape in the Chamber of Secrets" has become a treasure show attracting a large number of fans of the chamber of secrets game. Each episode of the program consists of six guests in a closed space with different themes, relying on reasoning, solving problems, and unlocking various mechanisms to open new spaces layer by layer until all the members escape. Under the audience centered communication pattern, the traditional indoctrination communication of advertising is gradually declining, and advertisers are constantly seeking advertising forms that can balance advertising effectiveness and audience experience. The native advertising used in online variety shows is centered around the advertising audience and can balance the relationship between the advertiser, media, and audience. Therefore, it is continuously applied in various advertising practices. With the popularity of "Escape in the Chamber of Secrets", the brand side represented by Mirinda began to advertise it and expand its brand influence by using variety entertainment implantation. The advertising mode of "Escape from the Chamber of Secrets" has changed from the previous single implantation to the more complex cross-multiple implantation, and through the combination of implicit advertising implantation and explicit advertising activities, the effect of advertising has been maximized [1]. 55 3. Advertising Implantation Strategy in "Escape from the Chamber of Secrets" “Implantable advertising refers to integrating the representative audio-visual brand symbols of products and services into the film and television or stage products, leaving a certain impression on the audience, in order to achieve the publicity effect and achieve the marketing objectives.[2]” From the perspective of advertising placement strategy, it mainly uses brand naming, scene placement and puzzle plot placement. 3.1. Brand naming Brand naming is a common way of advertising investment in variety shows. However, too dense patch ads can easily destroy the watching feeling of the program, reduce the popularity of the audience, and make the brand buried in the popularity of the program and celebrity guests by conventional oral broadcasting and other implantation methods. In this regard, in the title of "Escape from the Chamber of Secrets", it is based on the attribution theory, imitation theory and classical conditional reflection theory in marketing [3], using of the inherent relationship between program features and products to establish a reasonable connection, making the brand of Mirinda become a part of the variety script and making full use of IP to empower the brand, it has harvested the good feelings of the audience. In the four consecutive years of exclusive title advertisement of "Escape from the Chamber of Secrets", Mirinda adheres to the core idea of increasing brand exposure in the program. First of all, the visual logo should be exposed. In the program publicity period, there are the appearance of the Mirinda elements on the program logo and the posters. The Mirinda logo occupies a prominent position in the promotional materials. During the broadcast of the program, the implanted information of Mirinda appears at any time in the screen corner marker, material design, host oral broadcast, intermediate advertisement, and product stack, which strengthens the related cognition of Mirinda and the program, and makes the degree of integration higher. Secondly, according to the key elements of "declassification" and "escape" of the program, the differentiated slogan has been continuously launched, from "one mouth of Mirinda, the fruit flavor explodes, to" one mouth of Mirinda, there is a way to escape ", and the program content has been continuously optimized and upgraded, which not only highlights the characteristics of variety art declassification and escape, but also creatively expresses the unique" explosion "taste characteristics of the product itself. When the guests brainstorm and decrypt in the secret room, the slogan with " one mouth of Mirinda, there is a way to escape " will appear on the screen. This fixed associative memory of "slogan with action" makes audiences associate with Minolta in similar scenes, thus guiding the audience's consumption habits. In addition to the program, the online applet page design of "Escape in the Chamber of Secrets", which the audience participated in the interaction, is also the theme of Mirinda, which subtly deepens the audience's memory. The program IP is bound to the product image and is deeply rooted in the hearts of the audience. Through the repeated brand information in various forms, it strengthened the brand memory points and achieved the ultimate potential of brand naming. 3.2. Scene implantation Situational advertising is a form of advertising that embeds product or representative functional information into movies, TV shows, and small theaters, leaving a certain impression on the audience through soft implantation methods to achieve the goal of promoting products. "Escape from the Chamber of Secrets" adopts the scene implantation method of hard advertising and soft implantation. Based on the game scenario, the product information is implanted, and the brand information is skillfully immersed in the scenario. Combining with the real plot of the program, the natural implantation scene achieves the effect of "moistening things with silence", and the reasonable publicity avoids the audience's disgust. In the program, variety guests will decrypt in the real scene, find clues for reasoning and analysis, and then enter the next scene link. In the process of setting up the scene, the program team often arranges the Mirinda products in the obvious position in the picture according to the plot, and at the same time ensures that the layout and tone of the products will not interfere with the promotion of the game, which not only brings enough immersion to the audience and guests, but also provides reasonable advertising and publicity, and also provides convenience for the guests to insert a short oral broadcast in the program. The program has established a supply station link for Mirinda drinks. Prior to the declassification activity, guests will be able to obtain drinks from the Mirinda shelf. Through oral communication and MC dialogue, the program aims to showcase the inspiring and successful experiences of guests who have consumed Mirinda's explosively flavorful drink. This approach aims to create a strong association between Mirinda and the concept of inspiration, emphasizing the communication aspects of Mirinda that promote new ideas and open-mindedness. As the program unfolds, the focus will shift from the taste of the product to the taste experienced by guests after drinking it. By inspiring viewers with the rich fruit flavor explosion, the program hopes to enhance decryption performance and integrate the Mirinda brand throughout the entire program, ultimately strengthening the audience's connection to the brand. In addition to the deep integration of scenes, in order to fully reflect the characteristics of Mirinda's products, "Escape in the Chamber of Secrets" also cooperates with Mirinda to create various themes and props, such as the orange safety room combined with the classic colors of Mirinda, the Mirinda LOGO wall in the scene of the Chamber of Secrets, and the interior wallpaper with different flavors of Mirinda stickers. When the guests feel nervous or are fully involved in the game, they can easily open the Mirinda at hand and use "one mouthful of Mirinda" to relieve the tension on the scene. 3.3. Puzzle plot implantation Establish the internal relationship between program characteristics and brands, make the brand become a part of the variety script, and then use the variety IP to empower the brand, which is an important part of the variety program advertising implantation. As a declassified live variety show, the plot and puzzle play an extremely important role in the program. The program deeply integrates the mystery plot of Mirinda with the Chamber of Secrets Escape, uses Mirinda products as clues throughout the plot, promotes the 56 development of the plot, and allows the audience to experience immersion from beginning to end. "Escape in the Chamber of Secrets" has increased the implantation of brands in the game plot. In the plot customization process, it will integrate the characteristics of the Mirinda product into the main plot and the mystery. Through the continuous innovation of the form of game level, it will open up the new products of Mirinda to the decryption process, "bind" the products of Mirinda with the concept of escape in the Chamber of Secrets, and highlight the brand memory points, making the iterative upgrading of brand products be combined with the innovative upgrading of variety shows. The form is relatively new and it can let the audience form "associative memory", deepen the brand image memory. In the latest season of the secret room game, the product of Mirinda has become the key to solve the mystery. Many famous scenes of passing games in the program are related to the product of Mirinda. In the fourth issue of "The Phantom of the Theater", the different tastes of Mirinda have become the key to the decryption. Guests need to combine the contents of the alphabet with the new beverage flavors of the naming company Mirinda. When all guests are at a loss, the guest Huang Minghao, because of his familiarity with the products of Melinda, found the clues to solve the final mystery. In addition, the program also designed to hide the password that can help pass games in the weight of Mirinda beverage. Drink the Mirinda beverage to keep the balance stable, and guests can get the key and other puzzle designs. Through the unmarked embedded product selling points, it fully displayed the products of Mirinda, which made the audience unconsciously deepen their impression on the taste of Mirinda products while fully engaged in the puzzle. Making Mirinda brand directly link with decryption and escape, it jumps out of the setting limit of "drinking", extends to the role, helps the plot, and it also provides more opportunities for the brand to appear in the program, let the audience recognize that it is "worth buying". 4. Conclusion The brand side represented by Mirinda, through the multi- dimensional advertising implantation strategy of brand naming, scene placement, puzzle placement in the "Escape from the Chamber of Secrets", makes the cooperation between the two sides not only limited to the surface, but also deeply integrates the brand and the variety show, branding the variety IP, and endowing the spirit attributes of courage and wisdom presented by the variety show to the brand of Melinda. Focusing on the users behind the industry with the popularity of the Chamber of Secrets has created an immersive marketing experience for the brand's target users, enabling more young consumers to form the behavior habit of drinking Mirinda when playing the Chamber of Secrets game, and finally forming the consumption awareness of "Mirinda can’t be replaced". The successful advertising implantation also boosted the sales of products to a certain extent. According to the O2O carbonated beverage performance report in the first half of 2022 of China's home retail big data platform, the sales of Mirinda beverages in the Meituan takeout platform increased by nearly 60% in this year, and the sales performance of Mirinda non-orange soda was excellent, with a year-on-year increase of 26.7%. So far, Mirinda's advertising implantation strategy in "Escape from the Chamber of Secrets" has completed the co-creation and sublimation of brand as well as program content IP, achieving the ultimate goal of brand promotion, product promotion and social communication. References [1] Han Yalan (2021). Research on Native Advertising Communication Strategies of Online Variety from the Perspective of Scene Theory. Master's Thesis of Anhui University of Finance and Economics, 10:58. [2] Ma Yue. (2017). Analysis of the Development Trend of Advertising Implantation in the New Media Environment. New Media Research, 09:75-76. [3] Zhai Li. (2011). On the Techniques of Advertising Implantation. Market Conditions, 2 (1): 116 [4] Ma Jun. (2013). On the Embedded Advertising in the New Media. Decision & Information, 8:188-189. [5] Liu Hongbo (2022). From Implantation to Integration: Analysis of Advertising Status in Language variety show. Voice&Screen World, 13:98-100. 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