September 12th.
Only one day left until school starts.
Inside Xingnai Media Company.
"President Li, President Gu, both of our Douyin accounts have gone viral. The 'Xingnai Street Photography' Douyin account has surpassed 2 million followers, and the 'Shanghai's Little Sweetie' Douyin account has exceeded 5 million, and it's still rising."
Yan Xiaobo's face couldn't hide his joy. This is the company's first project, and starting with such a big bang is a great omen.
Gu Bai remained extremely calm. Little Sweetie's explosion was within his expectations. In his past life, Little Sweetie was already a massive hit. In this life, he had boosted it with millions of investments. If it didn't go viral, that would truly be strange.
Zhao Weiwei, sitting next to Gu Bai, asked with a puzzled look, "Old Gu, you don't seem excited at all. This project was entirely managed by you."
Gu Bai straightened up and stubbed out his cigarette.
"Is there any reason to be excited about this? We three invested a total of two billion in the company. If we're excited over this small achievement, won't we die of happiness at the bigger ones?"
"Alright then, only you can pull off this act. But it seems like you completely predicted this project would be a hit. Share some of your thoughts with us, would you?"
Li Zhun timely interjected.
"You two live in the clouds and don't understand the mindset of ordinary young people today. Let me explain it to you like this: if you open Weibo or Douyin and look at the comments section, you'll find many people arguing or complaining.
As for what they're complaining about.
It's nothing more than girls being materialistic, difficult in-laws, high housing prices, and the difficulty of making money."
"These things have become commonplace in society. Now, when we suddenly introduce a pure, non-materialistic persona like Little Sweetie, it completely hits the sweet spot for modern young people. So in my eyes, Little Sweetie going viral was inevitable."
Li Zhun and Zhao Weiwei might not worry about the troubles of today's youth, but it doesn't mean they are unaware of the current social situation. They both had expressions of realization.
"So what should the company do next?"
Li Zhun continued to ask.
"I've thought about it carefully these last two days. Our company currently has two paths to take. The first is to continuously create both major and minor internet celebrities through various hot topics and then monetize them. It's like casting a wide net. As long as we have enough major and minor internet celebrities under our banner, the company will start to truly profit once we monetize the traffic.
The second path is simpler.
Completely abandon the minor internet celebrity route, and channel all resources into creating a top-tier internet celebrity IP. This path has both pros and cons. The downside is a longer development cycle. After all, it takes considerable resources and time to truly push an internet celebrity to the top.
The upside is that once the timing is right, the monetization efficiency of one top-tier internet celebrity can match hundreds or thousands of minor ones.
It's essentially deciding whether to go high-profile or low-profile.
I've proposed the plan, but the final decision is up to you two. Regardless of the path we choose, making money is a certainty."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Weiwei didn't even need to think.
"We'll definitely go the high-profile route. Previously, my modeling company took the low-profile route, raising a bunch of small models, but never making money, and having to invest millions every year."
Compared to Zhao Weiwei's haste, Li Zhun pondered for a while.
"The route doesn't matter, as long as we have sufficient funds. We can even develop on dual fronts. What I worry about now is that our initial two billion investment might not suffice in providing the resources needed to promote a top-tier internet celebrity IP, especially since we've already invested nearly 5 million into the Little Sweetie project, and it's just getting started."
Gu Bai smiled, reassuring Li Zhun.
"Don't worry about that. The development cycle won't be that long. Take Luo Yaqian, for example; I plan to turn her into an internet celebrity with tens of millions, even tens of millions of followers within two months. Come the Double Eleven, that will be our first step to monetizing traffic."
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"You all should remember my talk about internet celebrities doing promotions, right? Over the next period, I'll have the planning department draft a complete plan, aiming to collaborate with Ali Baba before Double Eleven to bring our first batch of internet celebrities to Taobao for promotions.
If an internet celebrity with millions of followers manages to get one percent of their followers to buy, that's an incredibly large figure. If this step succeeds, the company can become self-sufficient and grow using the profits."
Li Zhun nodded.
"Since you already have a plan, let's proceed with your approach."
Gu Bai smiled reassuringly at Li Zhun, suddenly seeming to remember something. He turned to Yan Xiaobo, who was still standing aside, and asked, "Director Yan, have you contacted the signed internet celebrity list I gave you?"
Upon hearing Gu Bai's question, Yan Xiaobo quickly replied, "I've already arranged for people to contact them over the past few days. Most of the names you gave me already have signed companies, but two haven't yet: Dagula K and Modern Brothers. I've arranged for people to contact them, and there should be specific progress within these two days."
"Signing this batch of internet celebrities is currently the most urgent task for the company. Make sure none are missed and get them all signed. Whatever reasonable conditions they have can all be met.
As for those who have already signed with other companies, poach them all. Our company will cover their breach fees."
Gu Bai knew very well how popular these individuals would become in the future. If internet celebrities are compared to the entertainment industry, they are equivalent to the top stars there.
It's not yet the internet celebrity boom of 2018 when these individuals are only slightly influential. This period is the ideal time to sign them. Once they truly rise to fame, signing them would require dozens or even hundreds of times more effort than now.
"I've been watching these people the past few days too, and I don't see anything special. Old Gu, do you really need to take them so seriously?"
Li Zhun was quite puzzled.
Gu Bai couldn't explain this point to him. He couldn't possibly say that he had been reborn from the future and could see their potential, right?
"I believe these people have the potential to become famous."
"Alright, whatever you say goes. As long as it can make money for the two of us, I'm fine with just working as a hired hand."
Gu Bai smiled and didn't continue the topic. Instead, he kept talking to Yan Xiaobo: "In the next few days, draft our future contracts using five different levels. You can decide on the specific content yourself, just let President Li take a look at it later. Divide the contracts into B-level, A-level, A+ level, S level, and S+ level, using Luo Yaqian's contract as the standard for S level.
The S+ level would be akin to a phenomenal internet celebrity contract. If anyone qualifies for this contract, report to me or President Li or President Zhao immediately. You can decide on anything below A+ level on your own."
"Understood, I'll take care of it right away."
"No rush, handle this matter first."
"At your command, President Gu."
Gu Bai took out his phone, opened Douyin, went into the "Xingnai Street Photography" account, and opened the comments below.
This video had only been uploaded the day before yesterday, now not even 48 hours had passed, and the likes had already exceeded 8 million, quickly nearing the 10 million mark. It's estimated that after a few more days of fermentation, it will become Douyin's first video to surpass 10 million likes.
The most popular comment below the video had already broken a million likes.
"All the good girls are in Douyin; you can't find one in real life!"
"Girl, because of your comment, for the rest of your life, you'll have dinner appointments every day, including breakfast, lunch, and late-night snacks..."
"Anyone want to team up to find Little Sweet in Shanghai? Sign up here!"
Gu Bai pointed at the comments and instructed Yan Xiaobo: "See this comment?
Get 1 million from finance, find some accounts with a decent amount of followers, and have them follow the trend and post videos. The content should be about coming to Shanghai to meet Little Sweet. I need you to set this rhythm up, then arrange for Luo Yaqian to meet with some popular video creators. By the time this wave of popularity passes, I estimate Luo Yaqian's Douyin account could smoothly break 10 million."
Yan Xiaobo's eyes lit up.
"President Gu, you truly are a marketing genius. With just this one hotspot, our account could reach six to seven million followers at the most. But with your strategy, it's like you're starting a new trend while keeping the previous one going. We could even create a few more internet celebrities through this trend."
"You handle it yourself however you see fit."
Gu Bai didn't take Yan Xiaobo's flattery to heart.
He wasn't really a marketing genius, at best he just brought about situations that would have happened in a previous life sooner, and turned them into resources he could use.
"Alright then, President Gu, I'll go make the arrangements."
"Go ahead."
Gu Bai waved his hand.
After Yan Xiaobo left, Gu Bai also stood up.
"Brother Zhao, Brother Zhun, I'll leave the company to you for the time being. I've laid out how things should be done, you just have to oversee it. If there's anything really difficult to handle, just contact me."
Li Zhun smiled and shook his head: "You're really set on being a hands-off boss, huh?"
Gu Bai smiled faintly as well: "To be honest, both of you are better than me in running the company. I'm just offering a general direction. Even if I don't get involved, you two can get the company on track. My role at most is just to speed up the process."
What Gu Bai said was his honest thoughts.
Li Zhun and Zhao Weiwei were both top talents from prestigious schools, and they've been influenced by their families for so long. For a company of this scale, they could definitely handle it with ease.
"Alright, alright, no need to flatter us. I feel like you don't really care about this company, do you?"
Li Zhun could see through Gu Bai's little scheme at a glance.
When Li Zhun pointed it out, Gu Bai wasn't embarrassed and laughed freely: "Something like that. What I'm really planning to do is a legit cultural and entertainment industry. Xingnai Media is just testing the waters."
"That's fine then, just don't forget about us when you have good projects in the future."
Gu Bai lightly punched him in the chest.
"Don't worry, I'll definitely show you what it means for everyone to rise together when one person makes it."
"Get lost, you're the dog."
Li Zhun laughed and cursed.