Many times, as a reborn person, the concept of time is rather vague.
Separated by ten or twenty years, it's as if two time points flow in the mind, one is the past, the other is the present.
Tan Jincheng only remembered Big Brother Long endorsing Xinri, but couldn't recall the specific year.
When surveying the market and collecting information, he subconsciously overlooked this, as Xinri's advertising and marketing had never been top-tier in the industry, lagging far behind Aima.
Thus, a peculiar record was set in this life: an emerging electric scooter company with an annual production design of 30,000 units became the first company in the industry to invite a celebrity endorser.
This was a full year ahead of Xinri in his previous life, and four years ahead of Aima inviting Zhou Jie to endorse, far ahead!
Far ahead!
The "celebrity" invited was none other than Chun Ge, who had the highest buzz at the moment.
In the words of his previous life, it was "riding on the hot topic."
In 2005, television media had not yet declined.
Two major provincial satellite TV channels, several local TV stations, and the internet simultaneously launched advertising commercials, coinciding with the live broadcast of the Super Girl finals series.
Instantly, Shanchi's Baidu search index rapidly rose, also attracting close attention from competitors and the Beicang local government.
Online, because there was little readily available information about the Shanchi series, but the invited endorser generated extremely high buzz, public opinion about this unfamiliar electric vehicle company, Shanchi, was polarized.
"What kind of crappy company is this? They actually invited Chun Ge to be an endorser, that's so damn LOW, isn't it?"
"Hahaha, I'm dying of laughter, what kind of combination is this? An un-debuted talent show contestant invited to be an endorser, are they burning money?"
"Awesome, awesome, awesome, great vision, got an endorsement while still competing, Chun Chun's debut is secure."
"The boss of this company isn't a Yu Mi fan too, is he? Haha, call their company's service hotline and ask if they have autographs."
—
"The public perception is so polarized, and there's so much flaming, aren't you worried?"
During lunch breaks, Gu Qingqing would usually come to Tan Jincheng's office to sit for a while.
Besides asking for advice on operational issues, they would also chat about the recently launched Shanchi advertising commercials.
"I'm too happy to be worried about anything. Online topics need to be controversial to generate buzz."
We're not browsing those "May the OP be a good person and live a peaceful life" websites; what we want is controversy.
It's best if people argue every day, that way the buzz can be maintained.
Wasn't Xiaomi's early stage also full of Mi Fans and haters flaming each other?
Gu Qingqing was stunned after hearing this.
She didn't know why, but she always felt that Boss Tan's views on the internet were different from others.
However, what he said was not wrong.
Recently, online, places like Tieba, Mop, and Tianya all had mentions of Shanchi.
In terms of brand influence, Boss Tan indeed achieved the feat of going from being unknown to being widely discussed across the entire internet.
Fans said this company had good taste and that the commercials were shot very coolly, perfectly capturing their idol's vibe.
Opponents, however, said that no matter how well it was shot, it was useless, and their idol was still a "red-haired monster."
The products of this company must also be as LOW as your idol, we definitely won't buy them.
Neutrals, meanwhile, watched the show, but their comments on the commercials were positive, finding them very cool.
The black body with a lightning bolt logo, the renderings looked very futuristic, but they didn't know how much the car would sell for.
Since Shanchi had not yet officially been released, its online and offline pricing strategies referenced some marketing methods from future Double Eleven festivals.
The pricing maintained a sense of mystery, promoted as ??99 yuan.
Like a combination punch, a dazzling series of promotional methods naturally attracted competitors.
Tan Jincheng had already anticipated this point; anyway, once officially launched, Shanchi's pricing would also capture the attention of competitors.
Although not officially released, Shanchi's pricing was not a secret to those who paid attention; a little diligent inquiry would reveal it.
Currently, not many within the company knew Shanchi's final release price, but there was no guarantee that terminal retailers wouldn't leak it.
If you want to distribute goods, you have to tell people at what price they will be sold.
Once there are many terminal retailers, even signing non-disclosure agreements is useless.
Most shop owners are ordinary citizens, completely lacking this awareness, and will reveal information for a small benefit.
"2299? 1999? Are they f***ing crazy? Is this how you price things?"
Yu Ling, Xinri's Marketing Director, frowned.
A production capacity of 30,000 units a year was not even considered a competitor for Xinri, but this pricing indeed had the potential to disrupt the market.
It could easily trigger a chain reaction across the entire industry, and if other large enterprises followed suit, then it would be troublesome.
Besides the extreme pricing, what attracted Yu Ling most was this company's marketing plan.
Offline marketing plans hadn't been collected yet, but they were nothing more than offering profits to distributors, rebates, favorable payment terms, and so on.
The unique internet marketing approach was something no other competitor currently had.
Utilizing the hottest controversial figure from Super Girl, they placed advertisements on the internet and collaborated with her agency team to create hype, sparking heated discussions among netizens.
In just a few days, the Shanchi brand's online buzz rapidly soared.
Brand awareness went from zero to presence, and from presence to explosion, it happened almost too fast.
Although Yu Ling didn't fully understand the internet, she knew that such buzz had a very good effect on brand promotion.
Another point was the extremely low cost.
From the posts on Tieba, it seemed there might be shills hired by the other party, but more often, it was spontaneous activity from netizens.
Just as Yu Ling was contemplating whether to list this company as a key focus, a subordinate came over with a document to report:
"Director Yu, we found it. This company is registered in Yongcheng Beicang, and the boss is only 20 years old this year, surnamed Tan, from Yicheng, Anhui Province."
With that, he handed over a document.
Yu Ling took it and read it carefully for a while.
As a large physical enterprise that had been an industry leader since 2002, it was not difficult to obtain information about a competitor's boss through proper channels.
When registering a company, this information was essentially no longer a secret.
"Holy shit, at 20, he already has three companies, and his parents are ordinary state-owned enterprise workers. What kind of prodigy is this?"
Unable to hold back, Yu Ling swore.
All three companies were established within these two years.
Debt ratios and such couldn't be found, nor could they ascertain the opponent's actual strength or background.
For a while, Yu Ling dared not act rashly.
"High school graduate, with a one-year gap. This experience is somewhat similar to the boss, but the boss only has a junior high education. This might very well be the next-generation boss,"
Yu Ling muttered to herself.
After some thought, Yu Ling said,
"Keep an eye on this company's moves for now. Report any changes to me promptly."
"Understood."
For now, this was all they could do.
While crushing a competitor when they were weak was the best way in business competition, one couldn't act rashly if the opponent's background was unclear.
However, they could try to poach the person responsible for their marketing.
Nowadays, there are already a hundred million netizens, so it's time to learn about internet marketing strategies and keep up with the times.
While Yu Ling was racking her brains trying to figure out how to poach Shanchi's boss, Shanchi's boss's recent days had been much better.
The brand awareness had been established, and rows of small electric scooters were neatly arranged in the warehouse.
Over 100 workers in the workshop produced day and night.
Regardless of whether the vehicles sold, this down-to-earth attitude towards work was evident.
What's more, he also had two other well-operating trading companies in the district.
Doing practical work and being an emerging industry that could solve employment issues, such an enterprise would certainly receive some support.
Thus, after the street enterprise office conducted an inspection, Tan Jincheng's days became much easier, mainly reflected in the bank's attitude towards Shanchi Vehicle Industry.
The funding problem that had troubled Tan Jincheng for a long time was thus resolved.
Tan Jincheng, happy for half a day, even got carried away and wanted to buy a few days of QQ's splash screen pop-up ads, but after inquiring about the price, he gave up.
That thing was too damn expensive, and the review period was very long.
—
August 11, 2005, Thursday, the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, Qixi Festival.
Approaching 11 AM, Zhang Xupeng carried a cake into Shanchi Vehicle Industry's office building.
At the staircase, he happened to bump into Gu Qingqing coming out of the restroom.
Their eyes met, and Gu Qingqing felt somewhat awkward.
"Long time no see, Boss Zhang, what brings you here today?"
Gu Qingqing greeted him.
"Oh, Xiao Tan's birthday is today. Last year he bought me a cake, so this year I'm returning the favor,"
Zhang Xupeng said with a smile.
He hadn't been here for a long time indeed, because recently, to expand his children's clothing business, Zhang Xupeng often went to Huzhou Zhili.
Otherwise, he would have surely joined in the fun last time Shanchi filmed a commercial.
"Ah? It's Boss Tan's birthday today? I haven't heard him mention it."
Gu Qingqing asked, surprised.
"He probably forgot himself. He's been so busy lately. I'll head up first."
"Oh, okay."
Gu Qingqing said, a little startled.
After Zhang Xupeng left, Gu Qingqing was conflicted.
If she hadn't known, it would have been fine, but now that she knew, it wouldn't be very good as a friend to not show any gesture, would it?
But there was no place to buy a gift at such short notice.
Most Chinese people celebrate birthdays according to the lunar calendar, and Boss Tan should be no exception.
She didn't expect it to be on Qixi Festival of all days.
And these two brothers have such a good relationship, remembering each other's birthdays, it's truly amazing.
In a daze, Gu Qingqing returned to her seat, pondering what to do.
Pretending not to know would definitely not be good; at the very least, she should go up and say "Happy Birthday."
But a dry "Happy Birthday" seemed too insincere.
"What should I do? It's all factories around here, and there isn't a decent shop, hmm?"
Unconsciously, Gu Qingqing's gaze fell upon the Parker pen she was twirling in her hand.
This was a gift her dad had specially come to give her last month for her own birthday.
"Seems okay?"
(End of this chapter)
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