Huayu Shen Gongbao

Chapter 43, First Endorsement

On the other end of the phone, Liu Xiaoli scolded, "Qianqian! Who are you calling 'Daddy'?"

Upon hearing her mother's words, Liu Yifei let out a muffled groan, her whole body tensed, and she immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

She became even more excited, but her voice was soft: "I'm learning acting from the Taoist priest, so I'm not going home tonight."

Liu Xiaoli, having been through it all, knew exactly what Liu Yifei was doing.

She was furious and anxious when her vegetable garden, which she had guarded for nineteen years, was taken over by someone else, but she could only accept reality.

After all, Liu Yifei is getting older, and Liu Xiaoli is preparing to leave the management team. The future is something her daughter will have to face on her own.

She said helplessly, "Be careful, be sure to take precautions."

But there was no reply, only Liu Yifei's rhythmic breathing.

Liu Xiaoli immediately realized that the air conditioner in her home was set too low, and she was sweating from the heat, so she quickly hung up the phone.

She couldn't sleep that night.

Shen Gongbao also didn't sleep much.

The main reason is that the fairy is too tempting. She is delicate, soft, flexible, has great stamina, and is very ambitious.

Although he may briefly back down after a loss, he will launch another attack after a short rest. He is truly a fighter who dares to face the bloody reality.

Shen Gongbao had a great time and didn't go to sleep until very late.

The next morning at 8 o'clock, while Liu Yifei was still sleeping in, Shen Gongbao got up and washed up.

He tidied himself up a bit, had breakfast at the hotel restaurant, and found Da Li Xue already waiting for him in her car at the hotel entrance.

After getting in the car, Shen Gongbao asked, "You said you found me a spokesperson, what brand is it?"

Li Xue smiled and said, "Have you heard of Gionee mobile phones?"

Although this phone is a knock-off, it sells seven or eight million units a year, placing it among the top-tier domestic mobile phone brands.

They signed Andy Lau as their spokesperson three years ago, and now that the endorsement is about to expire, there have been some setbacks in the renewal process.

It just so happens that you're very popular lately, and the amount of online discussion about you has surpassed that of celebrities like Li Yuchun.

I used my connections to ask around, and Gionee seems very interested in you.

According to Shen Gongbao, Gionee is also a major player in the counterfeit feature phone market, and the past two years have been the peak period of its business development.

This endorsement is definitely worthwhile.

Shen Gongbao joked, "So, you're saying I'm going to compete with Andy Lau for endorsements? That's giving me way too much credit."

Li Xue explained, "There is no competition. Gionee's mobile phone business is expanding rapidly, and they want to sign another celebrity spokesperson."

You're incredibly popular right now, generating a huge amount of online buzz. You're also handsome, and you were a top scorer in the college entrance exam. Gionee is definitely interested in signing you.

But they're also worried that your success will be short-lived, so even if this endorsement goes through, it probably won't last long.

Shen Gongbao smiled and said, "A short-term contract is better. Let's sign it first, since I happen to need money to invest."

Li Xue nodded and said with a smile, "That's what I think too. Your future development will definitely be better, and a short contract will help increase your endorsement price in the future."

Besides Gionee, I am also in talks with Delhui and Golden Leopard.

Delhui wants to list on Hong Kong Island this year and needs to build momentum.

Golden Leopard is a high-end buffet chain restaurant from Taiwan. Your nickname is Shen Gongbao, so they want to use that to promote themselves.

It must be said that Li Xue is a very capable agent.

Taking advantage of Shen Gongbao's surge in popularity, she started looking for endorsements to quickly monetize her popularity.

However, when these three brands are put together, Shen Gongbao's statement sounds a bit off.

Gionee is very successful now, but ten years later, the founder lost a lot of money gambling, leading to the brand's bankruptcy.

Delhui apparently failed to go public, its founder passed away, thousands of stores closed, and the company was forced to transfer ownership.

As for Golden Jaguar, the restaurant was popular for a few years, but then it suffered continuous losses and went bankrupt.

Why do the brands I'm interested in seem to bring me bad luck?

Is this the effect of Shen Gongbao's misfortune?

Shen Gongbao shook his head and stopped thinking about it.

He now needs funds to invest in order to accumulate wealth more quickly.

If a brand runs into trouble after an endorsement, that's their own business problem and has nothing to do with Shen Gongbao.

Who cares about anything else, let's get the money first.

Forty minutes later, the car arrived at Gionee Mobile's Yanjing branch.

Gionee's Vice President and Marketing Director, Zhang Gaoxian, personally greeted Shen Gongbao at the entrance, demonstrating their high regard for the newspaper.

After touring the company, everyone sat down in the office to start discussing the endorsement deal.

Both parties were interested in each other and had a clear intention to endorse the product; the only disagreement arose over the amount of money involved.

Li Xue asked for 500 million yuan for two years, but Gionee was only willing to pay 300 million yuan for two years.

Their reasoning was simple: Andy Lau's endorsement fee was only 10 million yuan for four years, while Shen Gongbao, as a newcomer who had only recently emerged, was already receiving a high endorsement fee of 1.5 million yuan per year.

However, Andy Lau's endorsement deal was signed three years ago, and celebrity endorsement fees are rising now. Moreover, the price per contract for a four-year long-term contract is definitely lower than that for a short-term contract.

Li Xue also argued her case logically.

When the two sides were deadlocked, Shen Gongbao changed the subject and said with a smile, "Mr. Zhang, to be honest, the performance and quality of Gionee phones are not particularly good."

GG's slogan, "Golden quality, standing tall in the world," has some effect, but it doesn't really resonate with people.

I think it would be better to change it to "Gionee phones, phones that every Chinese person can afford," which would also introduce the concept of technology for all.

Zhang Gaoxian remained noncommittal, only asking, "Technology for all? Could Professor Shen explain in more detail?"

"The meaning of 'technology for all' is that the benefits and advantages brought about by technological development should not only be enjoyed by the wealthy, but should be truly implemented for the general public."

Making the benefits of technological development and advancement accessible to everyone is what we call "technology for all."

Gionee is often called a knock-off phone brand, so we want to go for a high-quality route and get rid of the knock-off image.

But on another level, counterfeit phones are beneficial to ordinary people.

Nokia and Motorola phones cost several thousand yuan each, which most people couldn't afford.

Gionee phones copied most of their functions, and the cheapest ones were priced at only three to five hundred yuan, making them affordable and usable for most people.

Isn't this what it means for technology to benefit everyone?

If your marketing and Google Ads could approach the issue from the perspective of making technology accessible to everyone, it might resonate with more people and thus completely transform your brand image.

For Shen Gongbao, it doesn't matter what the future holds for the products he endorses.

From the current perspective, he still hopes that the products he endorses will sell even better, thereby proving his commercial value and making it easier to secure more endorsements in the future.

Moreover, Shen Gongbao also wanted to see how his misfortune would develop and whether it was really that strange.

Therefore, Shen Gongbao gave Gionee mobile phones a very pertinent suggestion based on future development trends.

Chang Kao-hsien is a marketing expert who immediately recognized the value of the concept of "technology for all".

But then Shen Gongbao continued, "You can divide the cell phone into two routes:

One company targets the mid-range market, has Andy Lau as its spokesperson, and uses the slogan "Golden Quality, Standing Tall in the World."

The other brand takes a low-end approach, focusing on extreme cost-effectiveness, making phones that Chinese people can afford, and marketing the concept of technology for all. I will be the spokesperson for this low-end series.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Gaoxian nodded repeatedly.

Seeing this, Li Xue quickly praised, "Our teacher Shen is not an ordinary celebrity. He is a genius and academic achiever with strong abilities in all aspects."

On the set of The Forbidden Kingdom, Jackie Chan always listened to Mr. Shen's advice.

Mr. Zhang, you are a successful entrepreneur; you should be able to recognize the value of Mr. Shen's suggestion.

Zhang Gaoxian laughed heartily and said, "Mr. Li, you're too kind. I'm just an employee, not some kind of entrepreneur."

Teacher Shen's idea is indeed very good. How about this, we can offer a two-year endorsement fee of 500 million yuan.

However, the specifics of how the brand will endorse the product and what strategy it will pursue are crucial decisions that require internal discussion and resolution within the company.

For Gionee at present, paying an extra two million in endorsement fees is not a big deal.

Zhang Gaoxian was very interested in the concept of inclusive science and technology proposed by Shen Gongbao, so he agreed.

As for how to conduct brand marketing, that needs to be discussed with the boss; it's not something that can be decided in just a few words.

Regardless, Shen Gongbao secured his first endorsement deal.

Gionee mobile phones, 500 million units sold in two years.

This endorsement fee is definitely a very high starting price for a newcomer.