July 5, 2005, Tuesday, Sunny.
Hushi, HP District.
Tianyu Media, established in May 2004, was located on the 12th floor of Huasheng Building on Jiujiang Road, very close to Jinling Road, a street also known as Ermalu.
Most people thought this agency, which had strong ties with Mango TV, was based in Star City, but its registered address was actually Hushi.
The reason for this was unknown, but it was likely because Hushi was an international metropolis with convenient transportation, where many celebrities gathered, making it easy to conduct business.
At 11 AM, Man Yang groggily walked into the office; she had slept too late last night.
After dozing off for a while at her workstation, her little assistant walked over with a suspicious look:
"Sister Yang, there's a commercial endorsement invitation here."
"A commercial endorsement? How did it find its way to me?"
Man Yang said, equally surprised.
She currently had no famous celebrities under her wing, just some talent show contestants who weren't even officially debuted.
How could a company be looking for an endorsement? Could it be a scammer?
"Hehe, it's an electric vehicle company. The local government issued a letter of introduction, so it should be real. Take a look,"
The little assistant said with a chuckle.
Man Yang took it, glanced at it, and smiled:
"Oh, they're looking for our Chun Ge. They have some good taste."
Man Yang hadn't been an agent for long; she used to be an assistant.
With the popularity of Super Girl, Tianyu Media suddenly found itself short-staffed, and she was promoted internally.
However, as a professional, she still had good judgment; at the very least, Chun Ge's fans were very dedicated, with exceptionally strong cohesion.
This was her first official commercial endorsement invitation, but why was it an electric vehicle company?
What did they see in Chun Ge?
Fan purchasing power?
Also, there was no quote provided; they just asked her to give a price range.
"What should we do? Should we accept it?"
The little assistant asked from the side.
"Of course, we'll accept it. Why wouldn't we? With a letter of introduction from the government and an official endorsement invitation, why refuse?"
Man Yang said without hesitation.
However, before accepting, she needed to understand the company.
It was her first endorsement invitation, so she had to be cautious.
"Find someone to investigate this company. See if it's legitimate, how big it is. If necessary, a site visit is fine too; Yongcheng isn't far,"
Man Yang told her assistant.
"Okay, I'll go arrange it now."
After the assistant left, Man Yang stared at the fax for a while longer, chuckling:
"It looks like we're open for business. Money to be made!"
An agent's income is directly linked to a celebrity's commercial performances and endorsements.
The more the celebrity earns, the more the agent earns.
For an agent like her, who had just been promoted from an assistant and lacked connections, it was somewhat difficult to secure official endorsements based solely on her own abilities.
Mostly, she only handled commercial performances, but currently, the competition was still ongoing, so commercial performances couldn't be accepted.
Moreover, Chun Ge had to return to school to study during the break.
If an official commercial endorsement could be secured before her debut, it would be extremely beneficial for both Chun Ge and herself.
But the premise was that it had to be a legitimate brand, and the company couldn't have any issues.
As for other aspects, as a complete newcomer, she wasn't qualified to discuss them yet.
No matter how promising or talented she was, it was all useless until it materialized.
About half an hour later, the little assistant returned, placing the information about Shanchi Vehicle Industry in front of Man Yang.
As an agency with state-owned background, its network was quite extensive.
Since an endorser required an official contract, they placed considerable importance on background checks for the company.
"Whoa, an electric vehicle company established just this year, with a registered capital of 10 million yuan, and trademark registration not long ago, with an estimated annual output value of 100 million yuan?"
Man Yang exclaimed as she read.
She didn't quite understand all this business information yet, but celebrity endorsements were quite chaotic at the time, with people daring to accept any endorsement.
Moreover, for a company with complete qualifications and an annual output value of 100 million yuan, which counted as a medium-sized enterprise or above, it was quite a catch for a talent show contestant who hadn't even debuted.
Huh?
The founder is only 19?
That can't be right, can it?
"The boss of this company is only 19? Is that written correctly?"
Man Yang looked at her little assistant with a puzzled expression.
"It's not wrong. I was also very confused when I first saw it, thinking it was a mistake, so I specifically double-checked."
Man Yang stroked her chin, wondering if this might be an endorser found by a fan for their own company.
There was indeed such a possibility.
Generally, endorsement fees for undebuted newcomers weren't high.
Those without talent or prospects were mostly ignored, and even a lucky shot wouldn't fetch a very high price.
For someone like Chun Ge, with relatively high popularity, the fee would be slightly higher, but not by much.
At that time, endorsement fees for first-tier celebrities generally ranged from 5.0 to 20 million yuan, second-tier celebrities from 2.0 to 5.0 million yuan, and third- and fourth-tier celebrities from 500,000 to 2.0 million yuan.
These prices were for a two-year contract period.
Currently, the highest-paid male celebrity endorser was Brother Fa, at 12 million Hong Kong dollars every two years.
Among female celebrities, it was Wang Fei, whose endorsement fee was 20 million yuan every two years.
The most popular Zhao Ling'er's endorsement fee was around 3 million yuan.
Female celebrities' endorsement fees were relatively higher than male celebrities'.
Although Chun Ge had high popularity, she hadn't officially debuted yet, and the outcome of the subsequent competitions was unknown.
If she failed in the competition, her popularity would quickly vanish, and she wouldn't even count as a fourth-tier celebrity.
Should they take advantage of the fan now, or wait until after the competition results were finalized?
"How about it? What's a suitable price to quote? They want a reply within two days,"
The little assistant asked, seeing Man Yang's silence.
"I'll contact Chun Ge first. We still have time."
Man Yang was also hesitant.
She wanted to accept it, but she wasn't sure what price to quote at this moment.
If she quoted 500,000 yuan, she felt it would be a bit of a loss.
But if she quoted 2 million yuan, the top price for a third-tier celebrity, she was afraid of scaring them away.
Even if it was a company boss who was a fan, they wouldn't be fleeced that way.
For 2 million yuan, they might as well spend a bit more and invite Zhao Ling'er.
A company with an annual output value of 100 million yuan wouldn't be short of an extra 1 million yuan.
It was better to ask Chun Ge for her opinion first, as she was the one involved.
This was the weakness of a rookie agent.
If it were a big-name agent, encountering such an opportunity where a suspected fan sought an endorsement, they wouldn't care so much and would go straight for the kill.
"Hello, Chun Ge? Is anyone around you? No one? Good, I have great news..."
After a half-hour phone call and discussion, Man Yang told the assistant who was still waiting nearby:
"Let's try quoting 1 million yuan. If they don't agree, we can lower it a bit, but the bottom line is 800,000 yuan."
500,000 yuan was definitely unacceptable.
With her current popularity, regardless of the finals' outcome, she could at least make it into the top 10.
Her short-term popularity wasn't much worse than Zhao Ling'er's.
Quoting the lowest price of 500,000 yuan would be too much of a loss.
Although the other party was a suspected fan, they weren't brainless.
Choosing to make an endorsement invitation at this point and only giving two days to reply was very clever.
Not accepting was fine, but accepting involved a gamble for both sides; it just depended on who won the bet.
But no matter what, from their perspective, they couldn't lose.
Getting an endorsement invitation before debuting was a great selling point, showing that they didn't have low commercial value due to image issues, as some outsiders claimed.
Tan Jincheng, on the other hand, only saw the email in the afternoon.
"1 million yuan? Not an outrageous demand at all, haha,"
Tan Jincheng laughed.
He had also looked into celebrity endorsement prices these past few days.
At that time, celebrity endorsements hadn't inflated yet and were relatively cheap.
Xiao Liu's endorsement started at 3 million yuan, so the future Fengchi series could actually consider her.
Fengchi and Shanchi had different market positions.
Fengchi was more aimed at urban groups, and Xiao Liu's image was relatively suitable.
If he had money, he would invite Chairman Zhou and her for a double endorsement.
Unfortunately, he was still poor now.
If funds were more abundant, he could directly invite Xiao Liu.
Regardless of whether she fit the brand image, her recognition would at least be significantly higher.
Who the hell cares if your product matches the celebrity's temperament these days?
Didn't my Brother Long even dare to endorse a Subor game console?
The other party's email included the agent's contact information, and the 1 million yuan quote was reasonable.
Moreover, for a two-year contract, he'd be raking it in!
However, he needed to find a different way to pay this 1 million yuan; he couldn't just agree to it directly.
Thinking of this, Tan Jincheng immediately dialed the agent's number.
What did people in the entertainment industry call them?
Teacher?
That felt a bit awkward.
"Hello."
A female voice came from the other end of the phone.
Huh?
How is it a woman?
Looking at the name, he thought it was a man.
"Hello, may I speak with Agent Man Yang? I'm Tan Jincheng from Shanchi Vehicle Industry, the one who sent the endorsement invitation."
Man Yang's eyes lit up.
Wow, it seemed he was definitely a fan.
The boss himself contacting her meant this endorsement deal should be secured without much trouble.
"Hello, Mr. Tan. This is Man Yang."
"1 million yuan is fine, but I have a proposal regarding the contract terms. I don't know if you can accept it."
"Please tell me, Mr. Tan,"
Man Yang said calmly.
"First, may I ask how many people are currently in Chun Ge's team?"
Tan Jincheng asked, stroking his chin.
"Currently, there are only three: me, and a little assistant. When Chun Ge is at school, the assistant is with me."
Only three people?
Damn, celebrities these days were truly "simple."
In later generations, those 800th-tier minor celebrities would hire a whole entourage of bodyguards for travel.
But thinking about it, Chun Ge was still a student right now.
Although Tan Jincheng didn't particularly appreciate Chun Ge, he admired her professional ability, work ethic, and personal image.
Having been in the entertainment industry for over a decade with no major scandals was impressive, even if it was just an act.
"The 1 million yuan is still 1 million yuan, but in our contract, the endorsement fee will be 800,000 yuan. If Chun Ge wins the championship, the extra 200,000 yuan will be paid entirely to her personally. Additionally, I'll give Agent Man an 80,000 yuan bonus, and the little assistant 20,000 yuan. These additional amounts are after-tax income and can be written into the contract terms. What do you think?"
200,000 yuan, that's enough to buy a small apartment in CD, right? As for the agent's income, it's linked to the celebrity's income.
80,000 yuan might not be much for an agent, but it's a matter of attitude.
Man Yang was stunned.
Was winning the championship that easy?
This was decided by audience votes; you couldn't manipulate it even if you wanted to.
Wasn't this just a veiled counter-offer?
However, getting 800,000 yuan was already good enough; it was her and Chun Ge's bottom line.
Plus, this way of bargaining was quite comfortable for them.
"Is Mr. Tan a fan of our Chun Ge? Otherwise, your bargaining method is quite unique,"
Man Yang chuckled.
"Ah, yes, yes, yes, I am a fan of Chun Ge. I'm not bargaining; I absolutely believe Chun Ge will win the championship. I'm doing this simply to ensure my idol receives the maximum benefit possible, after all, the bulk of the contract goes to your company, and I understand that."
I wouldn't even dare to be absolutely confident!
Alright, but he's not wrong; the company gets the bulk of the contract, so let's go with it.
The company also agreed to 800,000.
"Haha, thank you very much, Mr. Tan, for having such faith in our Chun Ge. Then it's settled. I'll send a contract template over shortly, and we can communicate promptly about any necessary revisions."
"No problem. We'll also discuss the schedule for shooting the commercial. Also, Agent Man, do you have any advertising companies you could recommend? I'm not very familiar with these things."
Man Yang's eyes lit up.
Interesting, this young man was quite interesting.
(End of Chapter)
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