Who was the hottest in 2005?
Of course, it was the Super Girl contest, which was in full swing at the time.
The Super Girl contest, which began in 2004, ushered in the era of domestic talent shows.
The second season, held this year, along with the 2007 Super Boy contest, is considered the pinnacle of male and female talent shows in history.
Back then, preliminary rounds truly were preliminary rounds.
The winner of the grand final was decided by off-site SMS voting, with each SMS costing 1 yuan for information fees, and each mobile number could only cast a maximum of 15 votes.
Not only was the internet undeveloped, but mobile phones were also considered semi-luxuries back then.
This year, the champion received over 3 million votes.
Many students secretly took their parents' phones to vote.
Tan Jincheng, who was selling lunchboxes at the time, was even asked by passing students buying lunchboxes to lend his phone for voting.
It was truly crazy.
Currently, champions from several divisions have emerged, but the champion from Chuanfu isn't the final overall champion.
This is definitely a good opportunity to pick up a bargain.
The Super Girl grand final is on August 25th.
Today is July 2nd, so there's still nearly two months.
Chuanfu's divisional competition has ended.
Getting Chun Ge, who isn't the divisional champion, as a spokesperson at this point shouldn't cost much, right?
However, Tan Jincheng really couldn't appreciate the Super Girls' current styles, but if he actually signed one, it would be a true bargain!
Spend the smallest cost to maximize market visibility.
After the grand final, promotions can be launched extensively.
This is something we can do!
"What do you think about signing a Super Girl as a spokesperson?"
Tan Jincheng said with a smile to Gu Qingqing.
"Ah? We'd have to wait until the champion emerges to sign them, wouldn't we? Without winning the championship, there wouldn't be much buzz. Besides, Super Girl is held annually; look at last year's champion, they've lost all their popularity."
Super Girl is very popular now, but Gu Qingqing didn't quite agree with the suggestion.
Furthermore, there was something she found difficult to mention: Gu Qingqing couldn't quite appreciate the Super Girls' stage outfits.
"How about you, Boss Tan, become the spokesperson yourself? With some makeup, you could probably impersonate Bai Gu,"
Gu Qingqing chuckled.
When they first met, Gu Qingqing thought Tan Jincheng resembled Bai Gu, but she was too shy to say it.
Now that they were more familiar, they could joke about it.
"That would lead to a lawsuit; we can't do that."
Tan Jincheng rather appreciated Gu Qingqing's disapproval of inviting a Super Girl to be a spokesperson.
In terms of commercial endorsement value, Super Girls indeed didn't have high commercial endorsement value.
Being an annual event, very few managed to truly make a name for themselves.
Last year's hugely popular champion was almost forgotten this year; their popularity lasted a year or two at most.
It could be said that Gu Qingqing was considering the issue very rationally, especially since the champion hadn't even been determined yet.
From a contemporary perspective, unless a group is signed, it generally won't have a significant promotional effect.
But Tan Jincheng knew that this season's Super Girls were destined to be different.
The top few would have a place in the music scene for the next 10 years or more, especially Chun Ge.
Although Chun Ge's stage presence was exaggerated, her public reputation was genuinely good.
Furthermore, she would remain a first-tier singer in the music scene for the next decade or so.
In the short term, signing her as a spokesperson before Chun Ge won the championship would be very cost-effective, both in terms of cost and other factors.
In the long term, Chun Ge would maintain her status in the music scene, and the Flashy Ride series, as Chun Ge's first endorsed product, would undoubtedly be frequently mentioned.
This wave of marketing would truly be a win-win.
Let's do it!
"I want to sign Chun Ge, I think she'll be popular,"
Tan Jincheng stated confidently.
Tan Jincheng's incredibly confident tone made Gu Qingqing stunned:
"Huh? She's not even a divisional winner, how can you be so sure she'll be popular?"
"Um, Boss Tan, you don't watch Super Girl, do you? Logically, you shouldn't have the time."
"I occasionally watch when I'm on business trips. I think her stage style will definitely be popular, and she has many fans. She might even win the championship."
At this time, the term 'fans' wasn't commonly used yet, so 'song enthusiasts' seemed more appropriate.
"Are you sure?"
Gu Qingqing looked at Tan Jincheng with some suspicion.
It could only be said that Boss Tan had a truly unique taste in celebrities.
For men, he liked Jay Chou, and for women, he actually liked someone like Chun Ge.
"Don't overthink it, I'm not particularly interested in Super Girl. You're right that their popularity won't last long, but currently, we're not strong enough. Using the hottest topic right now to increase visibility is the best approach."
I'd love to sign Xiao Zhao or Xiao Liu, these two post-85 actresses, right now.
But the problem is Xiao Liu, who has been in the industry for two years, despite being only 18, has already starred in several hit TV series.
This year's Chinese Paladin has propelled her to the status of a national goddess.
As a fan of the Chinese Paladin game, Xiao Liu's portrayal of Zhao Ling'er perfectly matches the image in every gamer's mind.
If we were to use the term "traffic," this year Xiao Liu would be the absolute top celebrity.
Chinese Paladin was simply a massive hit.
As for Li Xiaoyao, the co-star, he could also be signed, but the problem is he gets into a car accident later.
A celebrity who has been in a car accident isn't a good choice for an electric vehicle brand.
And Xiao Zhao? She hasn't even debuted yet, we don't even know where to find her.
"That's true in principle, but isn't signing just one too risky? If they win the championship, it's definitely a huge gain, but if they don't, wouldn't it be a wasted signing?"
"Even if they don't win, it wouldn't be a wasted signing. As long as they make it into the national top ten, we won't lose. Our goal isn't for the spokesperson to generate a lot of sales, but to increase product visibility."
"That's not wrong, but this way, Boss Tan gets a chance to meet celebrities, doesn't he?"
Gu Qingqing laughed.
"Hehe, you're right. If we get through this year and establish ourselves in the market, we'll definitely sign more celebrities in the future, and I'll bring you autographs then,"
Tan Jincheng burst into laughter.
"Then can we sign Mayday? Bring me along to watch when you shoot the commercial,"
Gu Qingqing joked.
"No way. For male celebrities, I'll definitely sign Jay Chou. You pick a female one."
"???"
Uh, I was just kidding.
I didn't expect you to actually answer me so seriously, and even refuse?
"Are you serious, Boss Tan?"
"Of course. As long as we can establish ourselves this year, I'm confident that next year, or the year after at the latest, I'll sign Jay Chou as our spokesperson."
I remember Aima signed Jay Chou in 2009.
The endorsement fee at that time seemed to be 30 million yuan for two years.
If we signed Jay Chou before 2008, it shouldn't cost that much.
Another advantage would be that competitors wouldn't be able to sign him anymore.
Gu Qingqing was shocked by Tan Jincheng's ambition.
She didn't know how much it would cost to sign a first-tier celebrity as a spokesperson, but it definitely wouldn't be cheap.
Several million yuan would certainly be needed, and a more expensive one could even cost tens of millions.
What courage it was to set such an expectation at the very beginning of starting a business! To think he was just worrying about whether the company would go bankrupt, how should one put it?
From Tan Jincheng's eyes, Gu Qingqing saw no trace of joking; what he said was what he thought.
"Alright then, Boss Tan, good luck! I like Zhao Ling'er from Chinese Paladin, so let's see if you can sign her then,"
Gu Qingqing encouraged with a light laugh.
"Okay, I'll try my best. You work on the QQ Zone marketing plan first. I'll make a few calls. We'll grab a quick lunch at the cafeteria, and I'll treat you all to dinner tonight."
Internet + celebrity endorsement, increasing brand awareness, offline retailers offering concessions—with this one-two punch, Flashy Ride should be able to quickly open up the market, right?
"Brother Sun, please come up to the room next to my office. I'll be waiting for you there."
The room next to the general manager's office was considered a secretary's office.
Sun Yuming's desk was also placed here, but he rarely had the chance to stay there.
New staff would be added in the future.
All major decisions for Flashy Ride Vehicle Industry were made by Tan Jincheng.
Major decisions could not be delegated.
The company's initial structure was relatively rough; he could work a bit harder himself or have Sun Yuming notify others, which wouldn't be an issue.
Once the company grew, more secretarial staff would undoubtedly be needed.
Before long, Sun Yuming came panting up the stairs.
As soon as he entered, Sun Yuming asked,
"Boss, what's up?"
"I'm planning to find a spokesperson for our Flashy Ride. Please notify all suppliers to send us dozens of sets of components as soon as possible, and then arrange for the workshop to assemble several sets of Flashy Ride series samples at the fastest speed. They need to be fully functional."
"Okay, no problem. Some components have already started shipping, using their existing stock, and the workshop has also test-assembled some parts."
"Good. We must see the samples before next Friday, no problem?"
Definitely no problem.
Even if there were a problem, there couldn't be one.
If worst came to worst, I'd drive to the supplier myself and pick them up.
"No problem, Boss, rest assured."
"Okay. Also, find a way to contact Chun Ge's management company. Tell them that our Flashy Ride series electric vehicles would like to sign her as a spokesperson and ask them for a quote."
Whether it was a preliminary round or not, contestants who made it to the finals and gained some fame would definitely have already signed with a management company by now.
Mango TV wasn't running such a big talent show out of charity; all the contestants who debuted initially were signed to their affiliated management companies.
They were too ruthless; many tried to terminate their contracts.
However, this was considered fairly normal in the entertainment industry.
Tan Jincheng couldn't control that; as long as the quote was reasonable and they didn't overcharge, it would be fine.
Sun Yuming was stunned:
"Huh? Flashy Ride is signing Chun Ge? Boss, are you sure?"
Sun Yuming naturally knew about the hugely popular Super Girl contest, and he had heard of Chun Ge, but wasn't very familiar with her.
"Confirmed, it's her. Also, for contacting them, you can find someone higher up to help. Their involvement would be better than us approaching them directly. Spend what needs to be spent, don't be frugal. Just make the connection. If you need money, go to finance to withdraw it."
"Okay, I'll get right on it. Is there anything else?"
"No, you can go."
The boss speaks, and the subordinates run themselves ragged.
Sun Yuming quickly left to find a solution.
"Hmm, I'll ask the neighborhood committee first. Lately, they've been dropping by occasionally to ask if there are any difficulties that need solving. Well, here's a difficulty now."
As he went downstairs, Sun Yuming pulled out his phone and searched for information about Chun Ge.
"The boss's taste is really unique. I heard he also likes Jay Chou, tsk tsk."
(End of Chapter)
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