2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 609 The Domineering Declaration at the Dealer Conference
After Tan Jincheng left, Jay Chou and the other two were still in a daze.

"President Tan was so generous this time, he was like a fake."

The first contract was also negotiated personally by Tan Jincheng, and he was very strict about the price and terms, which is completely different from today's situation.

"Maybe it's because I'm happy today. FlashTech officially changed its name and went public today, and the stock even hit the daily limit."

Mainland brokers have been paying attention to A-shares. Around 10:30, FlashTech hit the daily limit, and the limit was not broken by the midday close.

His net worth soared by nearly 3 million yuan in a single day, and FlashTech raised another 12 billion yuan in funding, completely disregarding the 2000 million yuan annual offer.

"Haha, this is good news for us. President Tan is very accommodating. I thought he was going to bring up that three-year exclusivity agreement, but I didn't expect him to not even mention it."

Having suffered from the information gap, this three-year exclusivity agreement is truly like a sword hanging over their heads. This was a mistake by their legal department, and they must pay more attention to these clauses in the future.

"They really gave him face. The interviews with those big shots all gave Tan a good evaluation, so Tan must be an easy person to get along with."

Aside from the occasional teasing about Mr. Tan's somewhat underhanded business practices, the interviews with the bigwigs were generally very positive. Suppliers also consistently expressed their satisfaction with doing business with Shanchi, noting that payments were always made on time.

"Then let's arrange the signing and promotion. Let's work hard in the new year!"

With a three-year contract, being a celebrity is essentially a short-lived career. Jay Chou, who is already 30 years old this year, has a reputation for being a perennial runner-up at the Golden Melody Awards. Although he has been extremely popular in mainland China in recent years, it's hard to say how many more years he can remain popular.

Unlike Tan Jincheng, he doesn't have a hindsight perspective. Securing a three-year contract is the greatest respect he can show to his career.

To be honest, he was quite envious of Liu Yifei's ten-year endorsement contract; it was really quite unusual.

He knew what the entertainment industry was like; signing a 10-year contract at once posed a very high risk to the company.

Let's start our new year's promotion with the renewal of our contract with Flashpoint Technology.

Tan Jincheng stayed in the tea room for less than an hour. After finalizing the contract price, he had a general discussion with Lao Zhou's team about the promotional direction of Flashcar this year. 2009 could be described as the Warring States period for the electric vehicle industry.

With the implementation of the new national standards, the barrage of advertisements, and the proliferation of brands, the two-wheeled electric vehicle industry during this chaotic period is not actually competing on design, range, or quality, but rather on marketing and celebrity endorsements.

FlashTech invested a total of 8400 million yuan in Jay Chou's endorsement fees over six years. Was it expensive? Yes, it was very expensive. This was 8400 million yuan before inflation.

Is it worth it? Absolutely. In terms of brand effect, the 8400 million yuan investment over 6 years is worth at least 30 billion yuan, making it the most profitable investment among the three spokespeople.

"Celebrity endorsement + channel expansion + cost-effectiveness" was FlashTech's marketing strategy in 2009.

There are currently nearly 2000 electric vehicle brands on the market. Whether it's using TV stations to advertise or painting advertisements on rural walls, it's all about brainwashing consumers and doing ideological work with dealers.

In 2009, FlashCheer used this traffic-covering strategy, employing the image of three brand ambassadors to launch a full-scale campaign, thus establishing its position as the industry leader in one fell swoop.

FlashTech's plans for this year are quite ambitious. In addition to building one or two more industrial bases, it also plans to expand the number of stores from 3000 to 5000.

The commissioning of the Tianjin Industrial Base and Wangjiang Industrial Park has given Flash Motors great confidence.

Furthermore, since its listing, FlashTech has already far surpassed its peers in terms of financing channels. With its deep pockets, large amount of funds, and information advantage, FlashTech can be described as ambitious this year.
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Saturday, October 1.

It was the same Tiangang Hotel, a familiar place with familiar faces. Zhao Chuanbing had once again come to Ningbo to attend the dealer conference held by FlashTech. Since FlashTech's inception, their dealer conferences have always been closely watched by their peers.

Many industry insiders even send undercover agents to participate in order to gather information as soon as possible.

In terms of status, FlashTech's dealer conference is already somewhat like Apple in the mobile phone industry.

It's funny to think about it, but these days marketing is more about competing for celebrity endorsements, but a car's design is also very important, and in terms of design, the Flash can be said to be the best in the industry.

Big brands are too embarrassed to copy directly; they have some self-respect. Besides, if they actually copied without their own design elements, it would be tantamount to suicide.

However, smaller brands don't care about all that. Every time Flash releases a new design, they immediately copy it with their business acumen and sell it quite well.

Even if it's not a particularly blatant copy, Flash can't really do anything about it. Design patents for plastic parts are really dispensable; a slight modification and you have a new product.

"This hotel has practically become the designated hotel for FlashCars."

Zhao Chuanbing, who attended the listing ceremony of Flashpoint Technology, is quite a prominent figure in the retail stores. Many people recognize him and greet him.

Zhao Chuanbing looked radiant. Hu Xiaoyong looked at him with a hint of jealousy. Damn it, I was also among the first batch of terminal stores, how come this guy is the one ringing the bell? Why didn't President Tan think of me?

I've been asking for Jay Chou's autograph for years, but he still hasn't given it to me.

As Tan Lixin's brother-in-law, Hu Xiaoyong, who has a "laissez-faire" mentality, has suffered a lot over the years. His brother-in-law keeps a close eye on him every day for the sake of this store, which has forced him to get involved.

Over the years, the store has done quite well, at least it has escaped the bottom. Hu Xiaoyong got married last year. Although he is married, he is still the same old personality. Now that his wife has joined the store, he is thinking about taking a break again.

With powerful connections, a house, a car, and savings, Hu Xiaoyong didn't have much ambition. He was content with just getting by. As for the old man's talk about leaving some property for his son, why bother with that? Couldn't he earn it himself?

He attended the dealer conference alone this year. After the store got on track, Tan Lixin didn't pay much attention to him anymore, since he also had his own business.

Speaking of Tan Lixin, his business has grown bigger and bigger in recent years. He is in the steel business and has caught a good market in recent years. He also has the connections of his nephew, who can help him out when he is short of money and borrow some money from his younger brother.

Over the course of two years, Tan Lixin moved his small shop to the Guangcai Market, occupying a large area. The company's business scope has also expanded significantly, and he has even become a representative of the district people's congress.

Now, Tan Lixin is worth over 100 million yuan and is a very prominent figure in his hometown.

"Boss, you absolutely have to go up and say a few words today. It's the first dealer conference since the IPO. If you don't say something, it'll be a bit disrespectful to the current stock price."

Lin Yumin has also learned to flatter. Today, he was scheduled to speak, about the company's new models, this year's strategy, and sales targets. It seems more convincing for the boss to say these things.

Using stock price as an excuse is also to please the boss. Five trading days after the name change, FlashTech's stock price rose by more than 20%.

周五收盘报收12.34元的闪驰科技市值达到了63亿元，相比起前身的股价已经回到了2008年三月份，市值更是接近1月份大盘5500点位之时。

"It's no big deal to say a few words, but I'll still let you explain things. This year, I'll be handing over the specific tasks to you step by step. I'll only be responsible for the strategic matters."

Tan Jincheng hadn't actually planned to speak today, but Lin Yumin's flattery reminded him.

The fact that the boss, who is the key figure in the company, didn't take care of the first dealer conference after the company went public will inevitably give the secondary market a bad impression. It has only been a week since the name change, and the company should indeed try to maintain the stock price trend.

Being a listed company is actually quite troublesome. If it weren't for expansion and the government's prestige, Tan Jincheng really wouldn't like going public. For him, making a fortune quietly is the best way to go.

The benefits are obvious, but the constraints are also clear. If Flashcart wants to follow its own path, Tan Jincheng will have to learn from Ms. Dong's assertiveness at the shareholders' meeting.

9 points.

As Tan Jincheng and executives from Flashpoint Technology entered the venue, the previously noisy space instantly quieted down. The decor of the Tiangang Hotel was becoming increasingly sophisticated and closer to Tan Jincheng's aesthetic.

Tan Jincheng nodded with some satisfaction and walked straight to the booth, where the distributors and store owners below smiled knowingly.

That's typical of this young business owner; he doesn't like small talk and gets straight to the point.

"Dear colleagues, distributors, store owners, staff, and media friends, I wish you all a Happy New Year in advance!"

Today is the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, and the Chinese New Year is just half a month away. There are noticeably fewer pedestrians on Beicang Street.

On a time when others are going home and they are out and about, it's not easy for them to travel from all over the country to attend the dealer conference and earn some money.

"Let's get straight to the point and get down to business so everyone can go home for the New Year. Let's talk about our goals for this year. As you all know, we've gone public and raised 12 billion yuan. Many people want to know how we'll use this 12 billion yuan."

"Yes, Mr. Tan, tell us how FlashTech plans to spend this 12 billion. We wouldn't even dare to dream of spending so much money."

The atmosphere at the dealer conference was relatively relaxed. Some familiar reporters started making a fuss, wanting to know how the 12 billion yuan would be spent. There were also some undercover agents from other companies who wanted to know the details.

FlashTech is now incredibly wealthy. In the context of the global financial crisis, they have a large cash flow and the full support of the Beijing government, so they can't help but feel uneasy.

“12亿我们会在2009年一年之内全部花完！具体的投资方向就是再建一到两家生产基地，另外2009年闪驰计划再增加2000家终端门店，将门店的数量提升到5000家！”

Damn, just what I feared most has come to pass.

Not only will the 12 billion yuan investment be spent within a year, but they also need to add 2000 new stores. How are we supposed to survive?!
"Friends, with the implementation of the new national standard, the two-wheeled electric vehicle market will enter a Warring States period in 2009, with nearly 2000 brands, making the competition increasingly fierce. FlashTech has no way out but to expand!"

(End of this chapter)