2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 136 A Spark
Saturday, September 2005, 7.

Chun Ge and her agent Manyang, who had just finished the 10-to-9 competition yesterday, took a plane to Ningbo early this morning.

They have a week-long break between competitions, during which they must complete the filming of the Flash Electric Vehicle advertisement and promotional video as quickly as possible before returning to summer camp to participate in the elimination rounds the following Friday.

Hunan TV is playing a pretty fancy game. Starting from the 15-to-10 round, they will eliminate one contestant every Friday, keeping the competition tense. And the day before Tan Jincheng and Chun Ge officially signed their contract was the day of the 15-to-10 live broadcast.

This is one of the reasons why Zhou Biyu was afraid that her team would raise the price at the last minute. Chun Ge officially became one of the top 10 contestants and was qualified to debut.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly on the day of the signing. The agent, who looked to be under 30, was probably quite inexperienced and didn't cause any trouble.

Moreover, Tan Jincheng had given her many benefits. Not only would she receive extra bonuses for winning the championship, but she was also asked to introduce her to advertising companies. These were tangible benefits, not just empty promises after winning the championship.

Introducing business to others and charging a reasonable referral fee are all legitimate sources of income.

Lishe Airport.

The three of them, including Chun Ge, have always kept a low profile. Fortunately, there weren't the large-scale airport receptions like in later years, and the celebrities' schedules were kept relatively confidential. Although they were recognized by some people, it wasn't a big problem.

After the national finals began, Chun Ge truly experienced what it's like to be a star. Coupled with the tension brought by the live broadcast, his already strained nerves felt immense pressure.

In Manjie's words, taking advantage of the break in the competition to shoot an advertisement is a good way to relax and relieve stress.

Upon arriving at the pick-up area, I saw a young man leaning against the window of a BMW 3 Series, gesturing towards the exit.

Man Yang smiled at Chun Ge: "Let's go, President Tan came to pick us up personally, he really values ​​this."

Little did she know that this BMW was the only car available for picking people up at Flash Motors, and it was practically Tan Jincheng's personal vehicle, used wherever he went. If he didn't come to pick them up, there was really no other way.

The three walked towards Tan Jincheng's direction. When they got closer, Tan Jincheng recognized them and said, "You three sisters have worked hard. The competition schedule is so tight, and you still have to rush like this."

Manyang looked at the boss in front of her, who was a year younger than Chun Chun, and said with a smile, "President Tan, it's been a long time. Aren't you going to congratulate our Chun Chun on making it into the top nine?"

"There's no need to congratulate the top nine. We'll congratulate you after you win the championship. Get in the car," Tan Jincheng said with a smile.

This made Manyang laugh: "President Tan really knows how to talk."

Chun Ge smiled to the side. It was their second meeting. Tan Jincheng found that Chun Ge was alright in the audience. His clothes and appearance were normal, except for his hair, which was a bit hard to stand. He also didn't seem to talk much.

The three of them didn't want to waste time. They were popular contestants these days, and if they lingered in public for too long, they might attract attention and cause some trouble.

"We don't need to go to the factory area; we can just set up the filming location in the city. I've also booked the hotel for you."

"Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Tan. Let's go now."

The Flash series of advertisements are relatively simple. The main channels for placement are the Internet, city TV stations, and provincial satellite TV stations. The TV commercials will be cut into three versions: 5 seconds, 10 seconds, and 15 seconds. This is based on the advertising videos of Aima electric vehicles from Tan Jincheng's previous life.

As for online ads, the ad time can be longer, up to 30 seconds.

The main areas of deployment are concentrated in Anhui and Henan provinces, especially Henan, which is the home base of ChipSun, a populous province, and also a major consumer of electric scooters.

Due to limited production capacity, Tan Jincheng plans to use a point-to-surface approach to open up marketing channels, concentrating the production capacity of electric vehicles in Anhui and Henan provinces, heading straight for Xinri's home base, and engaging in a price war with them!
As the old saying goes, if I sell one more car, you sell one less. I'm cheaper than you for the same range, and I'm even cheaper for a higher range!

It emphasizes a great value for money concept, and I don't believe my simplified version can't beat your deluxe version.

For the past two weeks, since the official signing of the endorsement contract last week, Tan Jincheng has been arranging for Lin Yumin and Wu Zhenping to lead teams to the two provinces respectively to begin low-key promotion.

Meanwhile, with the gradual arrival of parts, the workshop has been operating at full capacity since last Sunday, implementing a 24-hour shift system; to date, it has produced more than 1100 qualified vehicles.

Rows of electric vehicles were parked in the factory area, which was quite a sight.

There are still two weeks left in this month. Based on the current daily production capacity of about 150 units, we should be able to produce about 3500 units, which means that the production capacity in July will reach 3600 units.

By the end of August, we expect to ship more than 8000 units. The production capacity is not large, but if all of them are shipped, based on the lowest price standard, the sales volume will be at least 1200 million yuan.

We still need to increase production capacity. The current capacity is not enough. It looks like we'll need to increase production lines after things stabilize in September.

For the current 8000 units, Tan Jincheng doesn't plan to set up tiered distributors. Instead, he'll adopt a manufacturer-retailer model, having Lin Yumin and Wu Zhenping's teams find some decent-sized retailers, negotiate directly with them, and then ship the goods through a unified system. He recalls that when electric scooters were selling well, a 200-square-meter shop could sell 100 units a month during the off-season for a single brand, and over 1000 units a year.

Therefore, Tan Jincheng set the minimum order quantity for the first batch of Flash Series at 10 vehicles, with a maximum of 100 vehicles; the official distribution will begin in August, and the products will be distributed to more than 100 stores, at least enough to reach 80 stores, which can be considered as a basic opening.

As for marketing methods, in addition to offering discounts to dealers, Tan Jincheng also devised a set of preferential schemes, which included granting relevant store staff authorization to participate in a lucky draw for those who placed a one-time order of 100 units.

The first prize is a trip to Hong Kong and Macau worth 5888 yuan, with a total of 648 winners.

The second prize is a lounge chair worth 238 yuan, with a total of 6480 winners.

The third prize winner will receive a five-piece luxury gift package worth 138 yuan (helmet, lock, raincoat, air pump, and tote bag), with no limit on the number of winners.

In addition, there is a certain chance of getting Chun Ge's autograph; haha, this was added by Tan Jincheng after the endorsement contract was signed. That day, Tan Jincheng shamelessly asked Chun Ge to sign hundreds of photos and made a killing.

People who buy electric vehicles may not necessarily like Brother Chun, but their sons, daughters, grandchildren and grandchildren can't help but like him. Using this as a gimmick can boost sales to some extent.

The lottery draw will end on December 31, 2005. The lottery design is based on the total production capacity for the whole year. Of course, it is impossible to give away all the prizes in August, otherwise there would be no fun later. However, the third prize is equivalent to giving away something directly, so the winning rate can be said to be 100%.

As for its value, those who know, know.

In addition, to motivate Lin Yumin and Wu Zhenping's team, Tan Jincheng also set up an incentive program: the Flash Deluxe Edition terminal is priced at 2299 yuan, and the low-end version terminal is priced at 1999 yuan.

I originally thought the high-end version only covered the cost of the battery and was priced at 2199 yuan. But then I thought, why shouldn't the battery make money? It's reasonable to make 100 yuan by selling a 60V battery to someone who doesn't know anything about it.

Since the terminal price has been raised, the ex-factory price must also be raised. Therefore, the ex-factory price of the deluxe version is set at 1800 yuan, while the low-end version remains at the bottom line of 1500 yuan.

The incentive for the marketing department is based on this minimum price. For every 10 yuan increase in the sales price, the marketing department will receive a certain commission, but the price increase for retailers cannot exceed 100 yuan.

This is to prevent the marketing department from arbitrarily raising prices to reward retailers without considering their interests, which could lead to unsold inventory and a disastrous outcome.
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The filming of the advertisement went smoothly, and there was no diva-like behavior.

The design style, based on the Flash Black series, was agreed upon by the advertising director and Chun Ge's team. They even accepted Tan Jincheng's suggestion to wear a black wig.

"You know what, they actually look quite good together," Gu Qingqing said softly, standing next to Tan Jincheng.

After their trip to Shanghai together last time, the two had gotten closer. Knowing that they were going to shoot an advertisement today in the city, Gu Qingqing took the initiative to ask Tan Jincheng if she could come and watch.

Tan Jincheng readily agreed.

Man Yang, standing to the side, glanced at the two whispering amongst themselves and curled his lip in disapproval.

This Mr. Tan doesn't seem like a good person. He never tells the truth. Judging from the girl's attire and the intimacy between them, he can't possibly be a fan of Brother Chun. I've never seen a fan shamelessly ask their idol to sign hundreds of autographed photos at once!
As for why they signed Chris Lee as their spokesperson, and only signed her, that remains unknown.

In addition, when I asked him at the airport why he didn't congratulate Chun Ge on his 10-to-9 elimination, his answer was quite clever, but it's highly likely that he didn't watch the game at all. Are there any fans who don't watch their idols' live games?
Regardless of the circumstances, it's all in our favor. In the week since the signing, the promotion has indeed boosted Chun Ge's commercial value, in addition to his existing popularity.

In the past few days, the company has received some tentative offers from other brands, but we're not in a hurry to do that yet; we'll wait until after a few more matches.

As she pondered, Manyang's eyes darted around, and she walked straight up to Tan Jincheng, patting him on the back.

"What's wrong, Sister Man?" Tan Jincheng asked with a smile.

"Mr. Tan, how many people are in your company?"

"There aren't many people, less than 200. Why are you asking? Do you want to go for a visit?"

Manyang said with a grin, "No, that's not it. We have limited time and have to go back immediately after filming. What I was thinking was that if Chun Chun really makes it to the finals, could President Tan mobilize all the employees in your company to vote for Chun Chun?"

You get to fleece us, so I'll fleece you too!
“No problem, I have a few friends who can help me out. I’ll have them send you the full amount of money on each phone,” Tan Jincheng replied with a smile.

One text message costs one yuan, and a mobile phone can send 15 messages, which is 15 yuan. According to the two factories owned by Zhang Haiping and Zhang Mingcan, there are about 400 people in total, so 6000 yuan is just a drop in the bucket.

"Really? Then it's a deal!"

"It's a deal, Sister Man, don't worry, I mean what I say!"

(End of this chapter)