Chapter 76: The Concept of the Second Album

Pepsi Reasserts Dominance as Xie Tingfeng Joins in Force!

Coca-Cola Finally Awakens—Can Master Zhou Yi Stand Alone?

As two truly international corporations, Pepsi and Coca-Cola’s spokesperson choices are annually a focal point for entertainment and even economic media.

Having tasted the success of the star strategy with Michael Jackson, Pepsi has always pursued a star-driven approach.

Since entering the Chinese market, they’ve signed every top-name singer—Zhang Guorong, Liu Dehua, Guo Fucheng, Wang Fei—whomever had the highest popularity. Their strategy is pure star bombardment, maximizing buzz, Kancheng the Real Madrid of the beverage industry.

As Pepsi’s longtime rival, Coca-Cola, which markets itself around family, care, and warmth, has been far left behind in spokesperson selection.

Continuous data declines forced Coca-Cola China to seek innovation after entering the new century, attempting to sign young, popular stars to expand brand influence and not let Pepsi monopolize the spotlight.

“Coca-Cola originally wanted to sign Xie Tingfeng—they even reached the point of imminent agreement; all it needed was his signature to make him Coca-Cola’s first spokesperson since the new millennium.”

“But the hype around you and Xie Tingfeng was simply too high. Seeing that buzz, Pepsi immediately stepped in and cut in.”

Watching Zhou Yi frown at the headline “Can Master Zhou Yi Stand Alone?”, Qian Jiang revealed the inside story of how he snatched the Coca-Cola deal: “You know how many Hong Kong artists Pepsi has signed—they offered the same endorsement fee, and their endorsement environment was better than Coca-Cola’s.”

“Afraid we’d be poached by Pepsi, Coca-Cola immediately contacted me, saying they could loosen terms—any issue, we could sign.”

“But they had one condition: as their only domestic singer spokesperson, you must compose an advertising song matching their new promotional theme.”

“Here’s their new campaign concept—take a look. Can you write it?”

Facing this work demand, Zhou Yi finally put down the gossip magazine he’d been engrossed in and reached out to take the file Qian Jiang handed him—

“Youth, freedom, joy, recklessness?”

Zhou Yi raised an eyebrow, surprised: “Has Coca-Cola abandoned its family-friendly image?”

“Not at all. If you sign, Coca-Cola will still shoot family-friendly ads for you—they want it all.”

Qian Jiang shook his head and added: “So, writing an ad song shouldn’t be a problem, right? They don’t demand lyrical depth or vocal technique.”

“Just make the melody upbeat, rhythmic, catchy—something that appeals to young Chinese people your age.”

“No problem. When do you need it?”

Zhou Yi nodded without hesitation—he had zero pressure about delivering songs.

This was a ten-million RMB deal for the millennium—even if the company took 40% after he signed, and he paid taxes, it still exceeded all the money he’d made from zero-start investments over the past few years.

The entertainment industry really does make money fast.

“Coca-Cola’s deadline is after the New Year—February. After filming the commercial, paired with your promotional song, they’ll launch it in March with the new theme.”

Qian Jiang counted out Zhou Yi’s post-New Year schedule on his fingers: “So in March, as spokesperson, you’ll need to appear at several major domestic events for Coca-Cola.”

“By late March, I suggest you start preparing your second album.”

“That way, once recording and MV production are complete, you can release it no later than June.”

“Perfect timing—summer is always the peak season for the music market. If your album quality is high, with Coca-Cola’s marketing advantage, you could capture the largest market share of the year.”

“Oh, by the way.”

Planning next year’s schedule, Qian Jiang snapped his fingers and asked: “Will you include the ad song in your album, or save it for a greatest hits or EP later?”

“I have no interest in releasing greatest hits.”

Zhou Yi immediately set down the file and shook his head: “EP? We’ll see. When I have time, I can collect songs I’ve sung but never officially released—then slip the ad song in. EPs don’t need themes anyway.”

The songs in his head suitable for Coca-Cola’s ad had little to do with his current R&B, hip-hop, drama, or Chinese-style music—forcing one onto an album would create jarring dissonance.

“Have you decided on a theme for your second album? Keep with R&B and hip-hop? Or a transformation?”

Talking about the album, Qian Jiang’s expression turned serious—this was critical to Zhou Yi’s future popularity: “I know songwriters love challenging themselves with transformation, but my advice is to stick with stability for your second album.”

“Why not do both?”

Zhou Yi blinked and asked in return.

“?”

“Do you know why I wrote ‘Flower Field Mistake’? It was just groundwork for the second album.”

He’d personally brought hip-hop into the mainstream of Mandarin music—he couldn’t abandon his title as “godfather.”

His first album laid the foundation with ‘Flower Field Mistake’; his second album should feature ‘At the Plum Branch,’ the perfect fusion of hip-hop and Chinese style.

With ‘Flower Field Mistake’ as foundation and ‘At the Plum Branch’ as bridge, he could naturally introduce the Chinese-style concept in his second album—‘East Wind Break,’ a pure Chinese-style song, was ready to debut.

Thus, with R&B, drama, and Chinese-style ‘Flower Field Mistake’ already established in the first album;

the second album adds hip-hop, drama, Chinese-style ‘At the Plum Branch’ and the most complete pure Chinese-style ‘East Wind Break.’ This continuity and development of his core artistic theme across two albums is perfect.

Now the issue is hip-hop.

As the genre that launched his first album, ‘Happy Worship’ succeeded mainly because it was a new type—its lyrics weren’t remarkable, just fitting the era.

To show musical growth and development, the second album’s hip-hop track must at least include one song with lyrical breakthrough—ideally one that resonates with the times—to serve as the centerpiece.

Pondering, spinning his pen, Zhou Yi suddenly froze—then remembered a song—

‘Drifting North.’

As one of Wang Lihong’s few breakout hits after the traffic era arrived, ‘Drifting North’ was a resounding success in both lyrics and concept.

Most importantly, Zhou Yi himself had been ‘forced into the northern drift’ for years—he’d witnessed countless musicians and actors come north seeking fame before his debut; writing it would be effortless.

With the core thematic songs now clear, the rest was simple—just ensure high singability within each theme.

A concept album with both depth and breadth gradually took shape in Zhou Yi’s mind.

(End of Chapter)