Extraordinary Genius

On 1st July, many advertising slots on CCTV’s channels were changed to Wind and Rain VCD players and Aiwa VCD players commercials.

All the viewers felt that these commercials were entertaining. A small VCD was placed into a player, and clear videos were played on the TV. It was just like Video Cassette players.

The most surprising part that wow the audiences was the VCD. It was much smaller than Video Cassette Tapes and LaserDisc, and the image was clearer than cassette tapes, and the quality was almost on par as LD.

The VCD could be stored in a small box for easy storage. The audiences also noticed that there was karaoke function in the VCD player.

Sun Nan and Na Ying were happily singing along to their song, and their Music Videos was playing on the screen.

Wind and Rain VCD’s advertising slogan was: Wind and Rain Electronics, Technology can change our lives.

Aiwa VCD’s advertising slogan was: Aiwa Electronics, Master of Core Technologies.

These two brands were both promoting similar products and gave the feeling that these two were rival brands. Although there were many advertisements, there were not a lot of people who had bought the VCD players.

Two weeks after the launch of the VCD player, Feng Yu knew that no distributors that had placed orders for next month. The market’s response was not as enthusiastic as he expected.

Feng Yu was very curious. Could it be that the VCD was introduced earlier than it was supposed to be and that’s why no one was interested in this product? In his previous life, only about 10,000 units were sold by Wan Yan VCD player in the first year, when they launch this VCD player. Most of these players were bought by other electronic companies to research on it. VCD players became popular was also after 3 to 4 years!

Among those companies that had bought the VCD players, Japanese were the first ones who managed to break the code and had applied for the patent. They had snatched the profits away. But it was still the same. Japan had not applied for a license in China, and this was why there were still many companies competing in China.

Wan Yan was soon beaten by its competitors in China. Among these Chinese companies, Shinco and Aiduo VCD players were the more prominent ones. They were also out of this industry due to the introduction of DVD. The main reason was that these two companies did not know how to upgrade their technologies.

Based on history, VCD players should be introduced into the market next year, and there were only about 10,000 units sold. After that, the sales will increase rapidly and, in a few years, later, it will replace the traditional video cassette players. Feng Yu felt that his commercials were shot well, and the marketing was aggressive. He also had engaged celebrities to endorse his products. How come the sales was not picking up?

It seems that it would be good if 10,000 units were sold in the first month. But just the Wind and Rain VCD players, the monthly production was about 50,000 units. There will be too many units left in the warehouse. He might even have to stop the production.

The marketing was not enough? Do the consumers still do not know about the benefits of this VCD technology? Feng Yu wondered if those distributors had promoted these players based on the right selling points? They should be selling these players to those video lounges. These places were the first few that had bought VCD players in his previous life.

Feng Yu called Fu Guangzheng. Fu Guangzheng was relived. Feng Yu had finally appeared. These VCD players were not selling as they had expected.

Fu Guangzheng had wanted to discuss with Feng Yu if they should also advertise overseas to generate interest and at the same time, lower the production rates of their factories. They should at least not make losses now.

……

“Could it be that we had positioned our products wrongly? We position out VCD players as karaoke machines. But in fact, this is a new type of video players.” Jian Wanmeng asked.

Feng Yu slapped his forehead. Maybe he had made a mistake. Feng Yu knew how to position his products. The families overseas placed particular emphasis on family values. It was because most people were not living with their families. It was only on weekends when they have family gatherings.

This VCD player can be sold as a family cinema!

It was cheaper than LD, and the pictures were clearer than Video cassette players. The VCD was also smaller than LD and Cassette tapes. This should be the selling point.

Should a commercial about the comparison between VCD and Videocassette tapes picture quality be filmed? Or a comparison between the size of VCD and LD?

“Brother Fu, how can we let others know about the benefits of our products fast?” Feng Yu asked Fu Guangzheng.

Fu Guangzheng was surprised. All this while, Feng Yu was the one making all the decisions. This was the first time Feng Yu was asking him for advice. He was feeling proud. The Fu family have several ways to market products.

“The fastest way will be aggressive marketing. But we have already placed several advertisements on CCTV, and although the number of advertisements is not a lot, it can be considered sufficient. If possible, change the primetime advertisement slots of Wind and Rain Super fans, and Aiwa Walkman advertisements with the VCD players’ slots.”

“No problem. I will speak to CCTV tomorrow.” Feng Yu nodded. Since these were all his products, it was normal to switch the commercials about. Anyway, these products were all from the same brand.

“Actually, the fastest way for a new electronic product to be accepted by the consumers is to let the rest of the players in the electronics industry to accept this product and make they praise the benefits of the product.”

“Let our competitors praise us? How can this be possible?” Jiang Wanmeng frowned. Who would praise their competitors? If it was him, he would never do that.

Feng Yu suddenly ask: “What if the reporters filmed them praising or surprised unknowingly by reporters? Or we can force them to praise us?”

“Brother Feng, you have an idea?” Fu Guangzheng looked at Feng Yu. Feng Yu could think of a solution so fast?

“What do you think if we organize an exhibition? We can also showcase our products in some overseas exhibitions.”

“Exhibition? There are no exhibitions relating to this industry overseas. But there is some in China. However, the scale is not big and could not attract those big brands from overseas.” Jiang Wanmeng was more familiar with this industry. He had attended some related products exhibitions in China more than once.

Feng Yu smiled and said: “If there are no exhibitions, then we can organize one ourselves. Brother Fu, can you invite some electronics brands from Europe, the US, and Asia to participate in it? It would be best if you can get some big brands. I will liaise with Japan and Eastern Europe. Manager Jiang, you will invite those electronic companies in China.”

If Feng Yu were to invite the Japanese companies through Aiwa, those companies would most likely participate. For Eastern Europe, he can get Kirilenko to help. Kirilenko will not reject doing Feng Yu this favor.

With the domestic companies, there will be more than 100 companies participating. It does not matter if the company was big or small. Most importantly, there must have enough participants.

Huh? Such a big scale and there were still oversea companies participating? This can be on a national level scale, and it should be reported on CCTV news.

The exhibition can be held at Bing City. Maybe the City will provide the venue free of charge. The exhibition booths could be rented out, and this was a profitable business.

But when Feng Yu suggested Bing City, Fu Guangzheng shook his head. He felt that there were only 3 places that were suitable. Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. Bing City was too out of place, and its development could not be compared to the other 3 cities.

Feng Yu had also considered about this. But he felt that this would be the fastest way for Bing City’s development. If it was Beijing, Shanghai or Shenzhen, he would still have to deal with the government. It would be best if the government were one of the organizers for this exhibition. This would increase the quality of the exhibition.

If it was Bing City, he only needs to tell Zhang Ruiqiang about the benefits of organizing this exhibition, and he will support him. The other cities might not be so supportive. Furthermore, this was an excellent opportunity to promote Bing City.

The three of them settled on the venue, and they started to invite the participants. Feng Yu had also returned to Bing City on the very day to persuade Zhang Ruiqiang……

“What? You want to host an electronics appliances exhibition? An international exhibition?”

“No, it is the City or the Province that is organizing. If you are about to use our country’s name for this exhibition, it would be better.”

“What is the use of this?” Zhang Ruiqiang looked at Feng Yu. Was this rascal thinking of using the City to help him advertise his products?

“Promote our city. Think about this. Many companies from overseas and other provinces will be coming to Bing City. This is a great opportunity.”

“Great opportunity?” Zhang Ruiqiang looked at Feng Yu with slanted eyes. He felt that this was not as simple as what Feng Yu said.

“Of course. Now, the companies that have agreed to participate in this exhibition are Japan’s Sony, Panasonic, Aiwa, Toshiba, Fujitsu, etc. There is also TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited), Acer, etc. from Taiwan. The companies from the US are…… These are all the top international electronics brands in the world. With these brands participating in this exhibition, how grand do you think it will be?”

Zhang Ruiqiang was stunned. Although he had not heard of most of the brands mentioned by Feng Yu, he had heard of Sony and Panasonic. These were all MNC, and Feng Yu could invite them?

These Japanese companies had no intention to participate in the first place when they received Aiwa’s invitation. But Heitaro Nakajima announced on their TV program that his company had developed a new product which will be introduced into the market soon. He claims that this product will change the future and Aiwa will be way ahead of the other Japanese electronics companies.

This was too arrogant and attracted the fury of the other companies. Sony and the rest of the companies were also curious about VCD technology. Was it really as good as what Heitaro Nakajima claims?

Another reason why the companies had agreed to participate was to showcase how advanced Japanese products were. They want to show the Chinese that the Japanese were the smartest people on earth. The products they produced are the best in the world.

At the same time, they want to promote their brands and products, and also break the Chinese confidence. They can also take the opportunity to penetrate into the Chinese market. This was killing many birds with one stone!

This was especially so when the Japanese companies had that the big brands from Europe and the US will be participating. They want to see the technologies from these companies and let these western companies know how great Japanese products were!

So, arrogant Japanese agreed to participate in this exhibition.

Fu Guangzheng then told those Western companies that the top Japanese companies will be participating in this exhibition. Don’t you want to attend? Western brands saw that Sony had agreed to join and confirmed that this exhibition’s level was not low. Furthermore, this was an opportunity for them to enter the Chinese market. There were more than 1 billion Chinese, and this was a huge market.

Within 5 days, more than 50 companies responded to the invitations and had agreed to participate. They will also be arriving at the venue earlier.

“Leader, this will be China’s most successful industrial exhibition ever organized. If this exhibition is successful, we can carry on organizing it next year and make it into a brand. This will be helpful for Bing City’s development. Think about it, those big companies coming to our city and they will see our traffic conditions, industrial developments, etc. These companies might invest in some factories or our local companies.”

“Is this really this simple?” Zhang Ruiqiang dare not to believe Feng Yu. The picture Feng Yu painted was too beautiful.

“Of course it is simple. Furthermore, even if these companies did not invest in factories here, they will also be bringing a lot of people here. The city can also earn from the food, lodging, traffic, etc. Also, the exhibition venue’s booth will not be free for them to use. They will need to rent those booths. This rental will also be a sum of money.” Feng Yu start to entice Zhang Ruiqiang.

“But our Bing City does not have such a big venue to host this exhibition. You said that there will be more than 100 companies participating? If one exhibition booth is 5 SQM, then the venue will need at least 1,000 Sqm if you include the walkways. Where can we find such a big space?” Zhang Ruiqiang frowned.

He was already interested in this exhibition, but Bing City does not have such a big convention hall. How can they host this exhibition?

Feng Yu sighed. The Bing City now still does not have an Exhibition Center. Hosting such a big exhibition will be hard. The only solution now was to build a shed over a football field. But this will be too low class and will affect Bing City’s image. It will also affect China’s reputation.

Secretary Liu just happened to enter the office with Feng Yu’s tea, and he hesitated for a while before saying: “Leader, I knew a place that is big enough to host this exhibition.”

“You know? Where is it?”

“At the Dongli area, there is a newly constructed mall. There are 5 stories and have more than 500 Sqm on every floor. Now, the construction has just been completed, and it is not in operations. It should be enough. But that is considered the Provincial Government’s assets.”

Zhang Ruiqiang was overjoyed: “I will settle that! Help me get all the City’s leaders here. We will have a meeting in 30 minutes. Also, get the leaders from the China Investment Promotion Agency, Ministry of Urban-Rural Development, Police Department, Ministry of Environment, Foreign Trades here for the meeting.”

“Wait, Mayor Zhang, there should be no need for Ministry of Urban-Rural Development. Bing City Pharmaceutical’s subsidiary Real Estate Developments is also good with renovations. We can let them set up the venue.” Feng Yu stopped Zhang Ruiqiang’s secretary.

Zhang Ruiqiang shook his head: “You will not miss any chance to make money. Fine. Don’t notify the Ministry of Urban-Rural Development. Go and call them. tell them that I will punish whoever that is late!”

Zhang Ruiqiang asked Feng Yu a few more questions like which countries were participating and if any countries had bad relationships with China. Was there anything he needs to look out for, etc.

Feng Yu was sweating. He did not know that it was so troublesome to organize an exhibition. Luckily, he did not try to hold the exhibition himself, or he might get into trouble.

The ground floor will be empty, and the 2nd to 5th floors will be the exhibition areas for the companies. Feng Yu reserved the best location near the stairs for his companies. The remaining booths will be arranged after the representatives from the companies arrived.

Feng Yu’s request to hang banners was rejected by Zhang Ruiqiang. If you start to hang banners, then the rest will follow. The exhibition will be very messy.

Feng Yu felt it was a pity. But it should not be a problem if he were to sponsor two huge balloons, like lanterns, outside the entrance. It’s free and has a festive feel.

“No banners!”

“No problem.” Feng Yu replied immediately.

Does he need to hang banners? He can just print Wind and Rain’s logo on the balloons. This should be considered home ground advantage.

Oh yes, red carpet should be laid at the entrance leading to the exhibition hall, and there will be rolls of flower baskets beside. This will make the place look better. I will also sponsor that.

Not allowed to print wordings on the carpet? No problem. I also do not want people stepping all over my companies’ brands.

No one had said anything about not allowing wordings to be on the flower baskets. The company that oversaw setting up the venue belongs to Bing City Pharmaceutical Corporation. Do they dare to go against Feng Yu, their deputy General Manager’s orders?

Hmmm… must get them to make sure that Aiwa, Wind, and Rain, etc. booths were setups differently from the rest. Our booths must leave a deep impression with the visitors and prominent.

Zhang Ruiqiang left for the meeting, and Feng Yu returned to Tai Hua Trading to prepare for their booths……