National Tide 1980.

As the former head of the design department of Pierre Caton, Zhao Daqing cooperated with Ning Weimin to open an advertising company after leaving the company, which can be said to complement each other.

Although he has serious deficiencies in his network resources, advertising and marketing are not his strong points.

Like the most important media platform at present, TV station, he doesn't know anyone at all and can't talk to anyone at all.

Even though he had some dealings with newspapers and magazines in the past, it was all for the purpose of cooperating with the company's public relations planning department. He was mainly responsible for technical work and provided some support for these media in terms of advertising content.

But it doesn't matter.

Zhao Daqing lacks the resources in this area, but Ning Weimin has them, and they just make up for it for him.

Don't forget that Ning Weimin also maintained a good cooperative relationship with many newspapers and magazines. In particular, Pierre Catton listened to his advice and began to prepare to create a fashion magazine affiliated with the company. These resources became Zhao Daqing's help and confidence, and directly improved the starting point for his business.

In addition, Ning Weimin has a deep cooperative relationship with the TV drama production center, which means he is indirectly connected to the TV station.

Moreover, Ning Weimin not only acts as a buyer, but also a seller.

Like this time when he returned to Beijing to celebrate the New Year, Ning Weimin brought Matsumoto Keiko's latest Japanese drama "Black Leather Notebook".

Although the subject matter involves special entertainment venues of capitalism, it is indeed somewhat sensitive.

However, the approval department saw that the content was generally critical of human greed, and considering its contribution to foreign cultural exports and its contribution in inviting Teresa Teng to participate in the Spring Festival Gala, it gave it special treatment like "Crazy Rich Asians" and released it.

However, out of caution, the approval department has made it clear in advance and set certain restrictions.

That is to let Ning Weimin broadcast it on the local TV station first to see the public opinion and audience reaction.

After the broadcast, if there is no strong backlash from the public, it can be broadcast on other TV stations, otherwise it will have to be suspended.

So after the opening of the advertising company, the first project Zhao Daqing started was to use the advertising time of "Black Leather Notebook" broadcast on Beijing TV Station to attract external investment.

In accordance with Ning Weimin's wishes, he took the lead in reaching a cooperation with Beijing TV Station.

The specific conditions agreed upon were that in order to avoid risks for the TV station, the TV series could be broadcast free of charge on Beijing TV.

However, Beijing TV also gave them half of the ten-minute advertising time before the TV series was broadcast.

To put it bluntly, it is still unknown how much money this drama will make if it is broadcast in mainland China.

First, we need to look at the publicity and the influence that Keiko Matsumoto has on the audience.

The second is to look at the quality of the TV series and audience feedback.

The third is to rely on your character and luck.

After all, the domestic environment is different. If it is just a short-term effect of a single broadcast, of course you won’t make much money.

Only by completely eliminating the concerns of the approval department can we bring rich long-term returns.

But it’s not a big deal. Even if it’s really not satisfactory and causes trouble, it doesn’t matter.

After all, this TV series has gained such high ratings in Japan that many TV stations in Southeast Asian countries and regions have contacted TBS TV station and asked to purchase the copyright from Mist Studio because they have heard of it for a long time.

Even without the mainland market, Fog Studios can afford it.

Ning Weimin and Zhao Daqing's advertising company is even more of a profitless business. They are just being chased and fed, and do not need to bear any risks at all.

It's all profit, it's just a matter of how much you make.

Especially since they naturally have a big customer behind them - Pierre Catton, which makes them even less worried.

In fact, Ning Weimin's help was not needed. Zhao Daqing went to the public relations department to discuss with his old colleagues and sold the 50-second advertisement at a preferential price of 100,000.

The other party decided to support their old colleague Zhao Daqing and also advertise for the Pierre Catton Building and Menimus Restaurant.

That’s not all. The other party also took the initiative to outsource a portion of the printing business of graphic advertisements to Zhao Daqing at the cost price plus a 30% profit.

He said that the company's design department has been too busy recently and this matter has been delayed for a long time, so he asked Zhao Daqing to help him.

Well, those are jobs that Zhao Daqing is familiar with, so he is naturally familiar with them and there won’t be any problems.

I have to say, nepotism has its advantages.

They know each other well, have established a good relationship, and are extremely efficient.

Of course, having said that, Zhao Daqing’s value is not limited to this. He can’t just rely on his past experience at Pierre Caterpillar and do ready-made outsourcing work.

Ning Weimin highly values ​​his personal ability and rich experience in design and production.

Therefore, Ning Weimin also took great pains to identify the main breakthrough direction for his business, which is outdoor advertising.

The 1980s was the peak period for the development of outdoor advertising in Beijing.

At present, in addition to Xidan and Wangfujing, busy streets such as Dongdan, Jianguomen, Gongzhufen, Qianmen, Chongwenmen, Gulou, Xisi, and Xinjiekou all have huge outdoor advertisements.

Most of these outdoor billboards are converted from billboards that promoted political slogans during the past "movement" period, especially in the Gongzhufen area, where many political slogans once stood.

By 1988, there were more than a thousand renovated and newly built road sign advertisements in Beijing's streets and squares.

The total area of ​​road sign advertisements reaches 23,000 square meters, ranking first in the country.

In addition, outdoor advertising in the capital has developed in depth, and signboard advertisements, light box advertisements and banner advertisements soon appeared in the capital.

It can be said that at that time in Beijing, all outdoor advertising spaces within the Third Ring Road and in major downtown areas were occupied by people, and were divided up by state-owned advertising companies.

Ning Weimin and Zhao Daqing were newcomers in the advertising industry. They jointly founded a private advertising company hoping to get a piece of the pie in the outdoor billboards in Beijing's traditional downtown area, but the opportunity had already been missed, so there was no point in even thinking about it.

But it doesn’t matter. Although the Third Ring Road has been completed and opened to traffic, the area outside the ring road is still mostly deserted.

There are still plenty of opportunities on this road, and they are the most important opportunities in the future.

Before Ning Weimin left, he circled the key areas in front of Zhao Daqing on a map. The section from Sanyuan Bridge to Shuangjing was the first choice, and Dabeiyao was the most important.

He also told Zhao Daqing clearly that these places are surrounded by the embassy district and close to the airport road. In the future, there will definitely be more and more foreigners, and they will eventually gather here and become a new business district.

If the ready-made advertising business that he handed over to Zhao Daqing could keep the advertising company from starving.

Then these new outdoor advertising businesses will be the key for their advertising company to make big money in the future and gain a foothold in Beijing.

As long as Zhao Daqing can get as many outdoor advertising resources as possible on these roads, he will basically be able to make money without doing anything for the next ten years.

The more you take, the more you earn, and you can increase the rent in a few years.

Then wouldn’t Zhao Daqing be hugging her desperately like a man who has been injected with chicken blood?

After Ning Weimin's advice, Zhao Daqing suddenly realized that the first two places he targeted were Dabeiyao and Sanyuanqiao. In those days, there were no complicated procedures for setting up outdoor billboards.

Just apply for approval from the Beijing Propaganda Department, and then go to the Traffic Management Bureau to file a record and say hello.

These two departments are not difficult to deal with.

The only hard threshold that is difficult for ordinary people to overcome is that according to the regulations of the city's propaganda department, all road sign advertisements and outdoor advertisements in Beijing can only be planned and produced by Beijing Art Company.

In other words, this is still a business monopolized by state-owned enterprises.

Moreover, outdoor billboards were all fixed on frames made of welded angle irons. There was no inkjet printing technology in those days, so all the patterns had to be painted manually.

Whether it is the installation workers or the painters, they all have to work at high altitudes, so the cost is naturally not low.

Most people are blocked from this industry because a billboard can easily cost tens of thousands of dollars.

But to be honest, this is actually a good thing for Zhao Daqing, who started with a high base and has more than one million yuan in his account.

It is precisely this harsh condition of high capital utilization that allows him to get ahead of most people and occupy the location he likes in advance.

In addition, it is equivalent to eliminating most of one's responsibilities in terms of safety.

Since the construction is undertaken by a designated state-owned enterprise, if any problems arise, the main responsibility cannot be blamed on their advertising company.

All in all, everything went smoothly.

Just when most businessmen in the capital were staring at approval documents and treasury bonds.

On April 1988, 4, at the intersection of Dabeiyao and Sanyuanqiao in Beijing, few people noticed that a number of iron frames towering into the sky had been erected there, and many people mistook them for new-style electric poles.

However, when the iron plates were installed piece by piece, this super tall and super large billboard took shape, which almost scared passers-by, and the turning back rate was 100%.

It was not for any other reason, but because Zhao Daqing remembered Ning Weimin's instructions, saying that the height and area of ​​their billboard must ensure that it can be clearly seen from the Third Ring Road viaduct.

So their "feat" has broken the current record of outdoor advertising height and area in Beijing.

Their billboards are much bigger than the famous ten billboards in Wangfujing and the entire advertising wall in Xidan, making people feel their own insignificance when looking at them.

Especially at this time, on the Third Ring Road where there are not many high-rise buildings, the contrast seems even more disparate and exaggerated.

But then again, they applied for 24 billboards in four directions at the overpass intersections at these two locations at once, with a total cost of 960,000 yuan, which was really enough to make Zhao Daqing feel overwhelmed.

It’s not that he doesn’t want to get the outdoor advertising at Liangmaqiao, but he really doesn’t have enough funds.

The money he currently has left is at most enough to pay salaries and keep the company running for half a year.

Therefore, if Zhao Daqing wants to expand his territory, he must recover the funds as soon as possible.

In order to achieve this, Zhao Daqing not only used the media resources left to him by Ning Weimin, but also made appointments with reporters from several newspapers to take photos and interview him, using social news as a disguised investment advertisement for himself.

He also did not forget the available resources around him. Manager Sha from Jinpo Liquor Store asked him to come to the installation site.

Zhao Daqing begged and pleaded at the intersection of Dabeiyao to sell a few billboards to this old friend.

"Hey, Lao Sha, can't you take care of me, your brother? You are so mean. Can't you support my work? I have a hard time getting started..."

"Look at what you said. It's hard for everyone. It's hard for me too."

"Your business is not difficult at all. You can earn a thousand or eight hundred yuan by selling a bottle of wine. Among our group at the beginning, no one can do business as well as you do. President Ning gave you the best project. Besides, we all know that the registered capital of your company is five million. Among all of us, you are the one with the most capital. I asked you to pay for some advertising, but you kept complaining..."

"Oh, Daqing, you don't know. Most of the money given by President Ning is tied up in the goods. And to be honest, since my company opened, I have sold more than 500 bottles of wine, but the loans are not so fast, and many people are holding them. And the goods I sell are not all XO, there are VSOP and champagne. In particular, the wines used by Pierre Cardon Company are allocated by Zhang Shihui of Guitan Palace, and I don't make a penny of profit. My life is not as beautiful as you think. Don't laugh at me, I only have about 300,000 yuan in funds in my account. And don't forget, I rent a house in Pierre Cardon Building, and I have more than a dozen people to support. You want me to use money for advertising? My company will have to go bankrupt if it's not done well. Besides, I sell wine only to the public, not to private individuals. I use money for advertising? It would be more effective to use the money to treat guests..."

"Don't say that. It's useless. I just want to ask you if you can help me. I understand everything. You just have more goods now. If you sell the goods, you can get money. Can't you have some class feelings? Do you know what it means to let the meat rot in the pot? Are you brothers? I have never seen such a cunning person as you. Anyway, I tell you, either you buy my 15-second TV commercial, or you rent me a billboard. Otherwise, don't blame me for going to your company every day to find you, so that you don't have time to sell wine..."

"Hey, Zhao Daqing, Zhao Daqing, you are really domineering. Since you left Pierre Cardin, you only care about money, right? Okay, okay, I'm afraid of you. How do you rent this billboard?"

"Don't scold me. Given our relationship, it's nothing to you. How about this? I pay others 5,000 a month for a sign, and I pay you 4,000 a month. If you calculate it for a whole year, I'll give you a discount. 48,000 minus 3,000, so 45,000. How about that?"

"Oh, your price is too high. You want 45,000 yuan a year from me, Daqing. You really have the guts to say that. This is not Wangfujing, this is Dabei Kiln. Don't you see what the Third Ring Road looks like? There are only cars running around, and there are all state-owned factories outside. Except for the lively entrance of my building, there are only a few people on the road here. You are really cheating me. Considering our friendship, I can only give you 30,000 yuan at most..."

"Thirty thousand is not enough. Let's be real. Forty thousand at least."

"Forty thousand? You're dreaming! Forty thousand is enough for you to make such an advertising sign. Damn it, what are you dreaming of? You want to make back your investment in one year! Don't treat me as an amateur. The maximum is thirty-five thousand. If you want to do it, do it. If you don't want to do it, forget it..."

"Look at you, why are you so stingy? Look at how grand my billboard is. If I put your company's foreign liquor on it, it would be so impressive. It can be seen from the other end of Chang'an Avenue. Besides, you said yourself that you sell liquor for the public, not for yourself, so isn't it enough for cars running on the Third Ring Road to see this advertisement? How many people do you care about? How about this, don't argue about the price, aren't you just short of funds? Then you can give me 30,000 first, but I'll make it clear in advance that we'll still calculate it at 40,000 at the end of the year, and you have to pay the full amount then. And you have to rent two billboards from me, and then you can make up to 50,000."

"Ah? Damn, you're really a genius! You can even come up with this idea?"

"That's nothing. We're brothers. We should pay each other back for our care. How about I give you 15 seconds of TV advertising? You can give me 30,000 first, and then another 70,000 by the end of the year."

"No, no, brother, I really can't afford your kindness. So, I'll take the billboards as you suggested, two. One for Sanyuan Bridge and one for Dabei Kiln. I want both facing northwest."

"Okay. It's settled then."

"Don't worry, is that all? I helped you, so you should treat me to a meal at noon, right? That's reasonable, right?"

"Yes, yes, that's what I should do. But to be honest, all my money is still in these advertising signs. I only have a few dozen dollars in my pocket now, so if I want to treat you, I have to go to a small restaurant. Don't be picky. Otherwise... let's go inside the building and you sign the bill first..."

"No, you have to pay for this meal. I don't care what we eat. As long as you pay, I'll even have fried rice. Otherwise, just go there. Look across the street, there's an Erguotou factory. I guess the wine in the store is made directly from the factory. It's not too much to give you some Erguotou..."

Just like that, the two of them walked away together, smiling happily.

But who would have thought that the two of them should never have held mobile phones in their hands and came here to eat, which was so embarrassing.

In fact, in this small restaurant, no one, whether the waiter or the customers who came to eat, expected that these two people would walk in when the door curtain opened.

He was wearing a suit and tie and had a slicked-back hair, and held a mobile phone in each hand.

Especially when the two of them put the things in their hands on the table with a "dong dong dong" sound, it immediately attracted the attention of the entire restaurant.

Looking at their attire, the waiter thought he had met a big boss and was so scared that he didn't know how to greet them.

The boss came over in person and asked enthusiastically what we wanted to eat.

Who would have thought that Zhao Daqing was so poor and had no confidence anymore.

Fatty Sha was very confident about the meal and insisted on not spending a penny.

In the end, the two of them only ordered a few vegetarian dishes such as scrambled eggs with tomatoes and fried peanuts, plus a bottle of Red Star Erguotou, which caused a burst of laughter.

It must be said that this meal was probably the last simple meal they had before they became millionaires. (End of this chapter)