"Hero Rankings? Who came up with such a rustic name?"
Although he said so, Tan Jincheng still took it very seriously.
This was a direct move by a competitor, and they had chosen the Southwest region, where Shanchi had the weakest foundation.
And it was Yadi who made the move.
Although Xinri hogged all the limelight last year and became the new leader in the electric vehicle industry, Tan Jincheng's most valued competitor was undoubtedly Yadi.
This company, along with the not-yet-established Aima, got better and better in the later stages, with Yadi even becoming the industry leader.
Compared to the high profile of Aima and Xinri, Yadi was the most low-key among the "big three" of the electric vehicle industry in his past life.
For spokespersons, Xinri chose the very famous Brother Long, while Aima chose the then-booming Chairman Zhou.
Yadi was quite perplexing in this regard.
Their spokespersons changed frequently, almost every few years since SHE.
Why Yadi, which didn't rely on celebrities and didn't have outstanding marketing capabilities, became the industry leader, naturally had its unique methods.
Prioritizing technology might be one of the reasons for Yadi's success.
Compared to the other two giants, Yadi placed more emphasis on technology, and their brand marketing also leaned more towards quality.
"What did the marketing department say? Have they provided any proposals?"
It had been a few days since the news came back.
He hadn't paid attention to this area these past few days, but if the marketing department had no reaction at all, it would be a dereliction of duty.
No matter how rustic the name "Hero Rankings" was, people recognized it.
The opponent's blocking method was indeed effective; Shanchi's promotion in the CD region was certainly not as smooth as before.
"The marketing department submitted a proposal, boss, please take a look."
Zhao Xinyi quickly found the response plan submitted by the marketing department from a pile of documents.
After her first morning running errands with her boss, Zhao Xinyi felt that this young boss was simply a workaholic.
From leaving the district government office, he seamlessly transitioned into his work at Shanchi Technology, not at all satisfied with the plan decided that morning.
Speaking of which, the scene that morning still shocked Zhao Xinyi.
The people she met today she used to only see on TV or in newspapers.
Her boss was clearly several years younger than her, yet he could chat and laugh freely in front of them.
Even the final decision on the plan was proposed by her boss.
This feeling was very strange.
The youngest person at the meeting, in front of a group of powerful and influential individuals, was not suppressed by their aura and led the final direction of the meeting.
It felt like watching an idol drama.
Especially since the boss was quite handsome, the sense of immersion was even stronger.
During the meeting, he playfully dealt with the big shots, but after returning to the company, the boss transformed into a cold-faced CEO, single-mindedly engrossed in work, full of contrast.
Tan Jincheng was currently reviewing the response plan submitted by the marketing department, unaware of the rich inner monologue of his new assistant.
The response plan submitted by the marketing department was actually quite simple.
Since the competitor had already gained the upper hand, he couldn't very well collaborate with another newspaper to create something like a "Chivalry Rankings"; that would seem a bit low-grade.
They suggested offering certain preferential policies in CD and surrounding retail stores, and for advertising, following Shanchi Technology's consistent marketing strategy of placing advertisements on the internet, TV media, elevators, bus stop bodies, and other locations.
At the same time, other regions must also learn from this lesson, especially in upcoming promotion areas, to prevent such incidents from happening again.
"Proceed with their plan, and also add one more item: open direct stores in CD and Chang'an. Have them evaluate the specific number of direct stores, and report back to me after coordinating with the general distributor."
Since the businesses there were adopting a wait-and-see attitude, he decided to do it himself and open direct stores.
If product sales were good, the businesses' hesitation would naturally decrease.
Shanchi could sell well in the southeastern coastal and central provinces, so it wouldn't fare poorly in the Southwest region either.
"Additionally, the frequency of TV commercials needs to be higher, especially during times when the TV stations are idle and advertising fees are cheap. Use Shanchi's name to run some long, frequent ad bombardments for me."
During non-prime time slots, TV advertising was still relatively cheap, otherwise there wouldn't be so many "Don't pay 998, only 98!" commercials.
Such ads might have average effectiveness, but over time, they could always make some people remember.
The reason for using Shanchi instead of Fengchi was actually due to their different positioning.
Shanchi was inherently positioned at the lower end, taking the cost-effective route, so a bit "low" was acceptable.
Moreover, the spokesperson, Brother Chun, emerged from CD, giving them a natural home-field advantage.
By the way, Brother Chun's endorsement contract started in July last year, meaning it would be one year by July this year.
The two-year contract term would end before July next year.
He wondered what her thoughts were on renewing the endorsement contract.
Should they discuss it now?
Never mind.
It was only March now, just nine months.
Discussing the contract so early would make them seem a bit too eager.
Ah, being too popular was also trouble.
Tianyu's reputation wasn't very good, and he didn't know when they would fall out.
If they really wanted to renew, they'd have to sign with Brother Chun herself.
Of course, Tan Jincheng had another option: sign Chairman Zhou before Aima did.
Aima signed Chairman Zhou in 2009.
Brother Chun's contract would last until July next year, and by then, the popularity of Super Girl would have significantly diminished.
Chairman Zhou endorsing Shanchi was actually consistent with his image positioning.
Looking at the domestic brand products Chairman Zhou endorsed in his past life, such as Aima, Meibang, Jeanswest, Youlemei, M-Zone, etc., almost all were "affordable" brands.
Endorsing one affordable brand might be a coincidence, but endorsing all these brands could only mean that his fans or consumer base were concentrated in this segment, which was why this happened.
From a competitive standpoint, signing Chairman Zhou in advance and not giving Aima a chance was very reasonable.
Aima's success was mainly in marketing, similar to Shanchi's initial development strategy, and Chairman Zhou as a spokesperson played a significant part in that.
Shanchi Technology, which started with marketing, saw Tan Jincheng primarily learning from the experiences of Aima and Xiaomi in his past life.
Now, Shanchi wanted to take a technology route, developing its own batteries, motors, etc., learning from Yadi's approach.
However, their initial method of building the business shouldn't allow others to "steal their home ground."
With this thought, Tan Jincheng was even less anxious about renewing Shanchi's spokesperson contract.
Besides being too expensive, Chairman Zhou seemed to have no other downsides.
Did Aima spend 30 million yuan to sign Chairman Zhou in 2009?
And it was only for two years, 15 million yuan a year was damn too expensive.
He just didn't know how much Chairman Zhou would ask for in 2007.
"If you have time this afternoon, please help me buy a few Barbie dolls, and some other girls' toys that you think are good."
After finishing the matters concerning the Southwest region, Tan Jincheng remembered what he had promised Jinyue that morning.
"Barbie dolls?"
Zhao Xinyi asked, a bit uncertain.
"Yes, for my younger sister."
Nodding, he took out 2,000 yuan from his wallet and handed it to Zhao Xinyi.
"2,000 yuan is too much, isn't it? I won't need that much."
"You keep it for now. You'll often be buying things later. If you run out of money, just tell me; you don't need to pay out of your own pocket."
In his past life, Tan Jincheng had heard employees mention that what they hated most was when the company arranged business trips or purchases without providing advances.
Some employees, who were financially struggling but too embarrassed to speak up, were even forced to use credit cards, Huabei, and other advance consumption tools for this.
The subsequent reimbursement process was very cumbersome, and if reimbursements were not timely, they would face repayment pressure, which was very painful for them.
Upon reflection, wasn't this just companies shifting a small portion of their operating expenses onto employees?
Tan Jincheng had never actually done this.
Firstly, when he initially partnered with Zhang Xupeng, either he or Zhang Xupeng handled the procurement. Both were bosses, so transferring risk was not an issue.
After the two separated, Tan Jincheng also got married, and his business was run like a mom-and-pop shop, so there was basically no need for employees to pay out of their own pockets.
Tan Jincheng somewhat disdained the practice of shifting a small portion of operational risk onto employees.
Executives had high incomes, so it didn't matter to them, but for salespeople, whose income depended on commissions and whose base salary was meager, it was different.
When encountering off-seasons or bad years, living pressure was already high, and having to pay out of pocket for business trips was just another headache.
For single people, it might be manageable, but for those supporting a family, it was truly a problem.
From Jinpeng Trade to the early days of Shanchi Technology, Tan Jincheng's funds were always tight, but he never had such an idea.
On one hand, he didn't have this concept, and on the other hand, he knew that those who followed him were young people like Li Yanning and Sun Yuming.
Young people are often the most struggling group, especially those working away from home.
Besides inspirational platitudes, they have nothing.
Rent, living expenses, low income – various pressures plague them.
Tan Jincheng had also been young.
Someone who has been rained on doesn't expect you to hold an umbrella for them, but don't take away their umbrella either.
Tan Jincheng's method of paying cash in advance indeed earned him a lot of favor with Zhao Xinyi.
When her boss asked her to buy toys, besides feeling a bit bewildered, her first thought was that she would have to pay out of her own pocket again.
Although her family was local, having graduated only a few years ago, her monthly salary was just enough for her own expenses, and she couldn't save any money.
"Boss, how old is your sister? So I can buy toys according to her age,"
Zhao Xinyi asked with a smile, taking the money.
"One and a half years old."
"One and a half years old?"
Zhao Xinyi looked Tan Jincheng up and down, suspiciously.
How old was the boss again?
His profile stated 1985.
One and a half years old meant born in 2004.
At that time, the boss would have been 19.
Could it be...?
"What are you thinking? She really is my younger sister. Is it wrong for my parents to have a daughter late in life?"
As soon as Tan Jincheng saw her expression, he knew she was getting the wrong idea.
In fact, it wasn't the first time someone had teased him like this, asking if it was his daughter.
After all, the age gap was quite large.
But it really wasn't.
I'm not a celebrity; there's no need to hide whether I have children or not.
(End of Chapter)