"You need to make the second round's popularity happen yourselves. We can't just rely on our plants. Be more enthusiastic and down-to-earth during the live interactions."
"What does 'down-to-earth' mean?"
"It means mingling with the working class. When they ask questions, don't use high-brow terms. Be more approachable during the live interactions. Also, the second round is in your hometown, Jiangcheng. If you lose again in terms of popularity, that would truly be a huge embarrassment."
Originally, the level of popularity had little to do with celebrities.
They got paid to do their job, and as for the specific outcome or live popularity, at most it was a matter of face.
But unfortunately, Tan Jincheng slyly arranged all three city events on the same day and guided public opinion online.
This created an invisible competitive relationship among the three.
Everyone cared about their reputation, and if the popularity was too low, neither the celebrity nor their fans would be able to save face.
For the first event, Tan Jincheng truly didn't expect Ningbo's popularity to be the lowest.
He had always thought that a small city like Yicheng didn't have many star chasers, but the feedback from the live event was incredibly enthusiastic.
Sales data indeed showed Yicheng performing the worst, but the live popularity truly surpassed Liu Yifei.
After the event, Tan Jincheng shamelessly used this to provoke them, which made Liu Xiaoli lose a bit of face.
The second round of events were in Xiangcheng, Jiangcheng, and Hangcheng.
Jiangcheng was Liu Yifei's hometown, her home turf, but Xiangcheng was also considered Chris Lee's home turf, and Jay Chou's popularity was undeniable.
Liu Yifei truly wasn't confident she could beat these two.
So, she sought advice from Tan Jincheng, wondering if there was any way to make the event more lively.
Tan Jincheng, ever so cunning, had the other party share some of the publicity burden.
Liu Yifei's team knew this was Tan Jincheng and Flash Motor's little scheme.
In terms of popularity, Liu Yifei in 2006 might not have actually lost to Jay Chou, and she was certainly more popular than Chris Lee, which could be seen from purchasing power.
However, her fans were too laid-back, and it wouldn't work without some stimulation.
Although Liu Yifei's side knew this was just a small scheme by Tan Jincheng and Flash Motor's publicity department, making her teeth itch with frustration, she also had no choice.
Losing too badly was simply not an option.
Asking Tan Jincheng and Flash Motor's publicity department not to set the pace online? Impossible.
After the results of the first round of promotions came out, Liu Yifei was so angry she wanted to curse Tan Jincheng for playing dirty tricks, but Tan Jincheng silenced her with one sentence.
"Where do so many conspiracies come from in life? There are only countless overt schemes."
Putting all three promotional events on the same day, wasn't it precisely to exploit the competitive psychology of teams and fans?
What if you saw through it?
Would you not compete just because you saw through it?
This was clearly an overt scheme.
"I stood by you for the first event; for the second, you're on your own. I have to go to Xiangcheng. I can't play favorites; after all, you're all my employees."
"Ah, won't that mean an even worse loss? Many people came for you last time,"
Liu Yifei said helplessly over the phone.
Liu Yifei was absolutely right.
This young billionaire's wealth creation process was not only legendary, but his handsome appearance also aligned with popular aesthetics, and given his age, both mothers and peers held him in extremely high regard.
Elsewhere, it was hard to say, but in Ningbo, an industrial city that idolized business, Tan Jincheng's popularity was definitely on par with any celebrity.
At the Ningbo event, a large portion of the crowd came specifically for Tan Jincheng, wanting to see what this young billionaire looked like with their own eyes.
Many of them had traveled from Beicang.
For the second round of promotions, Tan Jincheng would appear in Xiangcheng.
Xiangcheng's popularity certainly wouldn't be as high as Ningbo's, but it could still attract a crowd and boost the live atmosphere.
Moreover, Xiangcheng was where Chris Lee rose to fame, voted for by the public, one vote at a time.
Coupled with the ongoing Super Girl competition, the event in Xiangcheng, a province known for its talent shows, was bound to be extremely popular.
Compared to the first round, Liu Yifei faced even greater pressure.
Tan Jincheng's trip to Xiangcheng wasn't just to support his endorsers.
This time, Tianyu did not organize anything, and even provided great cooperation to Flash Motor's marketing department in terms of publicity.
The plan to hype Tan Jincheng's popularity was proposed by them, which led to Tan Jincheng's plan to appear in three cities.
It can only be said that when it comes to hype, Flash Motor's marketing department was still a junior compared to Tianyu, who had gone through several large-scale talent show trials, and Liu Yifei's management team was even more of a novice.
Apparently, the Super Girl's planner later opened her own entertainment company? Tan Jincheng wasn't very clear on this.
Besides supporting Chris Lee, another purpose of this trip to Xiangcheng was to discuss contract renewal.
The one-year term was almost up, and both Tianyu and Flash Motor hoped to settle the renewal as soon as possible to proceed with the next promotion plan.
On the evening of July 9th, Tan Jincheng appeared at Huanghua International Airport.
Aside from Flash Motor's Xiangcheng staff, Tianyu's staff were also there to pick him up.
After a night's rest, the event began the next day.
"Xiangcheng truly lives up to its reputation as an entertainment hub. This scene is a bit frightening,"
Tan Jincheng exclaimed.
Standing with him was the current head of Tianyu, also the planner and producer of Super Girl, who had successfully launched batches of talent show artists.
"Wasn't Ningbo like this? Has Mr. Tan never seen such a scene before?"
"I have indeed never seen a scene with so many people. Thank you very much for Tianyu's cooperation; otherwise, to be honest, I'm afraid our company's publicity department wouldn't be able to control this, and chaos would ensue."
"The people of Xiangcheng are quite enthusiastic, coupled with Mango TV's broad promotional reach, and also because Chris Lee is very popular,"
Long Danni replied with a smile.
She then asked Tan Jincheng,
"Mr. Tan, are you really not considering recording an episode of Happy Camp?"
"Let's skip that. I'm not a celebrity, and appearing on a variety show isn't really suitable,"
Tan Jincheng replied with a smile, politely declining again.
Last night, the Happy Camp team had asked Long Danni to invite Tan Jincheng to record an episode with Chris Lee.
Long Danni clearly intended to facilitate this, but Tan Jincheng did not want to record any variety show, not even a national one.
Appearing on a variety show has its pros and cons.
Overall, for Flash Motor at this stage, it would be a good thing.
It was not uncommon in previous lives for founders or actual managers of companies to personally participate in promotions.
However, at present, entrepreneurs appearing directly on variety shows are relatively few, and Tan Jincheng did not want to be too unconventional.
Additionally, Tan Jincheng knew that even if he recorded Happy Camp, he would only be a supporting role for Chris Lee.
Being a supporting role for an impressive figure among entrepreneurs was fine, but being a supporting role for a celebrity and fully cooperating was something Tan Jincheng disdained.
One must maintain a certain level of gravitas.
Tan Jincheng refused again, and Long Danni was somewhat disappointed.
She wanted to push Tan Jincheng onto Happy Camp, also with the purpose of making him a foil for Chris Lee—a self-made man, the youngest billionaire.
Chris Lee endorsed the brand before her official debut, and Flash Motor grew with Chris Lee.
Tan Jincheng was a visionary patron and an important partner, full of talking points.
But unfortunately, Tan Jincheng was unwilling, and she couldn't do anything about it.
He wasn't an artist under her, and such things couldn't be forced.
The scene in Xiangcheng was extremely lively, and Jiangcheng and Hangcheng were equally impressive.
Liu Yifei's team, who had been at the bottom in the previous round, put in a tremendous effort to avoid continuing their last-place fate.
Back in her hometown, they meticulously planned everything from designing live questions to paying out of pocket for ringers.
And Jay Chou's side was not without effort.
With the three endorsers vying for supremacy, no one wanted to be surpassed, and even with his highest popularity, he dared not be careless.
Furthermore, he was currently in the promotional period for his new album, so how could he miss a chance to promote it directly to fans at the event?
Tan Jincheng didn't care if they used the event to promote their albums or other things.
As long as the popularity was high enough, the event was lively enough, and there was enough buzz online, Flash Motor would still make a huge profit, even if not a single car was sold that day.
If not a single car was sold, it would actually be better.
Flash Motor could then use self-deprecating humor for reverse promotion.
The offline excitement was mirrored by intense online activity.
On its fourth day online, Kaixin001's Flash Motor Tech account would collaborate with Flash Motor Tech staff at the three venues to provide real-time photo and text updates, attracting netizens' attention in this way.
Compared to the first round of promotion, the second round of offline promotion was more popular, and fan rivalry was much higher.
Kaixin001 set up a voting event.
Fans voted for their idols, and the endorser with the most votes would have 1 million yuan in scholarships donated to schools in impoverished mountainous areas in the name of their fans.
Not in the idol's name, but in the idol's fans' name, which greatly stimulated the fans' enthusiasm for voting.
"Vote, vote, vote for Chris Lee! We vote, Flash Motor pays!"
"What a pity, it would be even better if there were live videos or video streams."
"One vote from you, one vote from me, we collectively make our debut."
"Believe in Chris Lee, gain eternal life!"
"Ensure the server runs smoothly. Today is our first real test,"
Gu Qingqing instructed with a hint of nervousness.
This kind of real-time interaction between online and offline businesses was relatively new in 2006.
Photo and text live broadcasts usually only appeared during some sports events.
The technical team was also quite nervous.
Yesterday, Kaixin001 had 40,000 registered users, but today, a large-scale event was going live in real time.
How many people would flood in was still an unknown.
These were three of the biggest celebrities, and the technical guys weren't sure how crazy the fans could get.
"Don't worry, boss, there won't be any accidents."
Cheng Hao wasn't there, so his deputy, Zhang Yunyang, temporarily took over the project team.
Everything else can be soft, but the mouth must be hard!
(End of Chapter)