2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 278 Official Announcement of Countermeasures!

April 26, Beijing, cloudy.

While fiddling with the autographed item from Brother Long in his hand, Tan Jincheng calmly said to Zhou Ao on the other end of the phone, "You can start promoting now. I've already discussed it with them, and they'll cooperate with you."

The contract was negotiated by Tan Jincheng himself. It was 8 million yuan per year for a three-year term, from May 2006 to the end of April 2009. FlashTech had the right of first refusal to renew the contract after it expired.

In addition, if FlashTech chooses not to renew the contract after it expires, it can exchange a one-time cash payment of 800 million yuan for the right of Jay Chou's side not to sign contracts with similar brands for three years.

The two clauses that Tan Jincheng was most satisfied with were the priority renewal right and the three-year non-compete agreement, which at least guaranteed that competitors would not be able to sign with Jay Chou before 2012.

After 2012, FlashTech's business focus will definitely shift to the automotive sector.

I don't know if it's because Jay Chou's songs are too profitable or what, but in Tan Jincheng's imagination, Jay Chou always seemed to have a particular fondness for money, even though he was a fan of his. However, in the actual conversation, it didn't seem so bad.

He and his team possess the shrewdness of Taiwanese people, but they also know when to compromise. For example, after explaining why he made these two requests, the other party was able to accept them.

After all, both of these are reasonable demands. If a brand has just finished endorsing another brand, it would be detrimental to the brand's value to immediately accept an offer from another similar brand. In that case, it would be better not to sign the contract at all.

"That's true. This guy owns all the song copyrights himself. Whether it's holding concerts or music copyrights, he makes a fortune, especially since he ran into QQ Music, that sucker."

Another reason is that the domestic brands he signed with were mostly affordable brands. It seems that if he asked for too high a price, the other party wouldn't be able to afford it. Otherwise, the endorsement fees he received last year would not have been only 1200 million yuan.

This was revealed publicly by his agent during an interview. Although he himself did not respond, it is unlikely that this is fabricated or downplayed.

"This era is so much better. You can hire superstars for a few million, and even the top ones only cost a little over ten million. Unlike 10 years later, when even the smallest stars cost millions or tens of millions."

Zhou Ao on the other end of the phone immediately responded, "Received, will arrange it right away. Also, boss, could you lend me your mysterious team for a while?"

The mysterious team is actually an online troll team. These people are currently under the direct control of Tan Jincheng. If used well, the online troll team can be very effective, but if used poorly, it can easily cause trouble. Tan Jincheng is also afraid to let his subordinates directly manage this team.

Since the day before yesterday, ChipDay has been generating a lot of buzz about signing with Brother Long. FlashCheer's marketing department is in a very passive position, and the previous posts praising the beautiful design are no longer enough to keep up.

"Sure, I'll get them to cooperate with you. You just need to make sure you get the media coverage. If you can't get the front page headline, you absolutely have to get the second page headline, or even buy the entire page."

The RM Hall, which requires advance booking, is already fully booked. The front page of any major media outlet has probably already been bought by Xinri. But it doesn't matter, Jay Chou's popularity is mainly among young people, and the internet is his biggest platform for popularity.

Once we establish a strong online presence, we can compete on equal footing with ChipJapan.

After receiving instructions from Tan Jincheng, the marketing department of Flashy Technology quickly sprang into action. Zhou Ao led a group of colleagues to start leaking information from entertainment media, and the news that Jay Chou would release a new album in September was already generating buzz.

Meanwhile, the movie "Curse of the Golden Flower," directed by Guo Shishi and co-starring Jay Chou, will be released at the end of this year, and the movie's theme song will also be included in the new album.

It's normal for movies to be promoted a year in advance. Although Jackie Chan is an international superstar, Jay Chou's popularity in 2006 was not comparable to that at the beginning of the century. He wasn't as popular as he was after 2008, but he was definitely a top star of the new era.

Entertainment reporters, as if smelling blood, began to strike everywhere, and the first thing to generate buzz was still on the internet.

This time, the online marketing team didn't need to go out specifically. They just leaked some information on Jay Chou's fan forum and gave it a little guidance, and the fans quickly spread the news.

"New Era Xiao Wangtian signs with a national electric vehicle brand to support the Olympics!"

"Shocking! Jay Chou signs with Fengchi Guanneng, and the reason is surprisingly..."

"Why did they rush to board?"

"New Generation Rising Star vs. International Superstar, Flashpoint Technology vs. ChipSun Group? Challenger?"

"Starting from the Super Girl 'snatching up' opportunity, we recount the experiences of Flash Technology's three spokespersons and delve into Flash Technology's marketing strategies."

"Is the mysterious founder and his rapidly rising FlashTech company just marketing or genuine product development?"

"Electric vehicle leader ChipSun Group faces challenges, and the challenger is surprisingly..."

A series of strange headlines began to appear on the internet, attracting the curiosity of those who were slacking off, even on weekdays. At this time, sensational headlines had not yet appeared, and Tan Jincheng did not use them even when promoting peptides.

Simply put, a car brand without celebrity endorsements isn't really suited for entertainment.

Jay Chou, however, is different. The entertainment industry inherently possesses an entertainment attribute, and as long as it's not malicious, using exaggerated headlines to attract netizens in front of their computers is feasible. By the afternoon of the 26th, the buzz had already started to rise, and some well-connected media outlets had contacted Jay Chou himself, receiving confirmation that he would soon sign an endorsement deal with FlashTech's Windspeed Crown Energy series.

"Yes, their chairman contacted me personally. He is very talented, and we had a good conversation."

"Oh? We haven't met before, but I'm really looking forward to meeting him when we sign the contract. I hope Mr. Tan can be there."

"Any surprises? Of course! Please support my new album, which will be released in September, and also the movie 'Curse of the Golden Flower,' which will be released at the end of the year."

"Why did you sign the contract? Mr. Tan said he is my fan. If my fan can create such an excellent product, of course I have to support him."

"Endorsement fee? I can't disclose that, it's just a normal level."
-
"Holy crap! Didn't this little bastard say he liked signing female celebrities around his age? I even spent ages thinking of which female celebrities would be suitable for him."

Upon receiving a call from his secretary, Zhang Congxun found a computer nearby and was stunned to see the overwhelming amount of news about it!

To be honest, he didn't know much about Jay Chou. He knew that Jay Chou had become very popular in the last two years. When they were choosing a spokesperson, the marketing department recommended him to him. He listened to a few of his songs, but what kind of rubbish was he singing?

In addition, the three girl group members signed by Yadi were also from Taiwan, but their endorsement effect was not good, so they were also rejected.

Deep down, Zhang Congxun didn't think Jay Chou could achieve the same effect as Jackie Chan, but the internet was flooded with news, the forums were constantly being updated, and there was a lot of discussion about FlashTech sparked by the endorsement.

All of this gave him a headache.

The headache wasn't Jay Chou's popularity, but rather FlashTech releasing news and launching a promotional campaign at this time.

The hype is like a cake—it's only so big. If Flash Technology jumps in at this time, the promotional effect of Chip Day will undoubtedly be greatly reduced.

"That kid has no sportsmanship at all. How did he finish it so quickly?" Zhang Congxun said angrily, staring at the computer.

At this moment, he was truly exasperated. On one hand, the other party had resorted to sneak attacks again, and on the other hand, he was somewhat wary of Tan Jincheng's highly efficient actions.

Whether it was the 3D printing method used to unveil the prototype at the auto show, the probing during subsequent conversations, or the information gleaned when contacting the media for coverage, he was clear that FlashTech had no plans to have a spokesperson when the Crown Energy series debuted at the auto show on April 17.

Unlike Xinri, which had already been in contact with Brother Long, Guanneng's appearance only accelerated the process and did not actually affect his spokesperson plan.

It's obvious that Tan Jincheng only started contacting Jay Chou after learning about his endorsement plan. Even though he started preparing on the 17th, it's only been 10 days since then.

They secured a spokesperson in just 10 days, and even got confirmation from the celebrity himself that it was real and at market price!

How did he do it? These big stars from Hong Kong and Taiwan aren't so easy to talk to. If you want things done quickly, you have to pay more, which is the norm for them. They also like to act like divas. But there's nothing we can do about it; these days, Hong Kong and Taiwanese stars are still more popular.

Mainland Chinese celebrity endorsements, in terms of both fees and popularity, are significantly less competitive, except for the two celebrities who previously endorsed Flash, but this was only during periods of peak popularity.

Just as Zhang Congxun was getting annoyed, the phone rang again.

It was Dong Jinggui calling; needless to say, the old man was here to laugh at him. Ever since the district expressed its support for Xinri's participation in this Olympic design competition, the old man has seized every opportunity to make fun of himself.

This is especially true after the emergence of Guanneng.

"What?" Zhang Congxun answered the phone irritably.

Dong Jinggui's undisguised laughter came from the other end of the phone: "Hahaha, have you seen the news online?"

“If you, an outsider, saw it, how could I not have seen it? This little bastard is really too troublesome,” Zhang Congxun said through gritted teeth.

"Hahaha, he got ambushed again. But this kid is really tight-lipped. I spent half the day trying to get information out of you at your press conference, but I couldn't get anything out of him. Oh, right, after the press conference, he shamelessly went to your spokesperson to ask for a photo and autograph."

"Alright, stop talking about it. It makes me angry. That kid must have been trying to trick me when he visited us last time. Now that I think about it, I think I fell for his trick."

"Oh? Is that so? What's going on?"

Then Zhang Congxun recounted the conversation from that day and also shared all the information he had gathered about the Guanneng series endorsement.

He then exclaimed, "I was thinking that it would only be a few days, and we also needed to promote it in advance. Even if he wanted to sign a spokesperson, there wouldn't be enough time. Who knew that this kid would be so efficient? How did he manage to secure a spokesperson in just a few days?"

(End of this chapter)