Respawn Entertainment: Days of Glory

Chapter 882 Woodstock's Dilemma
Agnelli wasn't joking. Although the South Korean market looks impressive, it's still far inferior to that of China.

Initially, it was just a group of celebrities from the humanities and sports worlds who were guiding public opinion to boycott the Rolling Stones. Later, after it was amplified, South Korean netizens began to boycott the products endorsed by Byun Rang.

Amir was the first to be affected. As soon as the public opinion stormed, Holly, the person in charge of Amir, approached Evelyn.

Holly was also very shrewd. In the past year, with the rising reputation of Bianlang and Rolling Stone, Amir's sales in China skyrocketed.

Globally, collaborations and limited editions with AC and Rolling Stone have been huge hits, so they don't care about the boycotts and feedback from a market as large as South Korea.

However, now that the traffic has already increased, it would be too out of line with marketing principles for them not to use it.

But the moment Evelyn saw Holly's number, her instinct was to think it wasn't a good thing, though she couldn't show it directly: "Mr. Holly, the Rolling Stones' European tour is already halfway through, and you haven't shown up yet. Will you be coming to the Rome show?"

"Sorry, Evelyn, the huge sales of the Wave and Rolling Stone collaboration items have kept me incredibly busy. But I promise you, I will definitely be there for the last show in Berlin!"

After exchanging pleasantries, Holly got straight to the point: "We took the boycott of the Rolling Stones and Wave from South Korea very seriously after seeing it..."

"As expected..." Evelyn muttered to herself before interrupting, "Wave and Amir's endorsement contracts are for the Greater China region, so this has nothing to do with the boycott from South Korea, right?"

Holly, of course, knew Evelyn would react this way. Although his tone was somewhat unpleasant, he patiently began to explain: "Evelyn, I think you've misunderstood. No one in Amir is questioning Wave's actions. We just want to launch a marketing campaign around this..."

After Holly finished speaking, Evelyn realized what was going on: "So what is Amir's plan?"

"You should know that when faced with this kind of situation, the only solution for us brands is to terminate the contract and sever ties. Other companies don't have relevant case studies to refer to. So I would like to ask if Wave has any other partner brands that have already provided solutions?"

Holly was quite certain that no brand would choose to terminate its contract with Rolling Stone; if one did, it would only be a South Korean brand. But given Bian Lang's level of dislike for South Korea, how could he possibly accept a collaboration or endorsement deal with a South Korean brand?

Evelyn was also speechless, but to be honest, this was the first time she had encountered something like this. In the past, when celebrities made careless remarks that sparked public ridicule, the first step in public relations was to distance themselves from the situation. Who would have thought that someone would try to create a stir like this?

But thinking about it, it makes sense. Bian Lang's move directly broke the defenses of the Koreans, but domestic fans and casual viewers all shouted "Awesome!"
After all, the Korean wave has had the most serious impact on the entertainment industry. Being a fan of Koreans is not just a matter for fans; even some celebrities in the industry have a clear tendency to fawn over them.

So, in the past, the bizarre actions of the Koreans were so numerous that many ordinary people were very disgusted, but there were still people in the circle who helped to whitewash them and would openly or secretly admire them.

But Bianlang never tolerates this. He was unyielding when Bilibili was selecting people, but this time he directly rejected the invitation to the world's number one rock music festival because the venue is in South Korea. He really made the Chinese people proud.

Therefore, as long as brands like Amir follow the trend well, the small setbacks they suffer in South Korea could very well translate into many times the retaliatory returns in China.

“No other brands have contacted me yet, but a brand that hasn’t signed a contract with us has given us a very new proposal…” Evelyn didn’t mention Alfa Romeo, but just gave a general overview of Agnelli’s ideas.

Upon hearing the suggestion to expel the Koreans from Asian citizenship, Holly's eyes immediately lit up with a blazing light of inspiration.

Two hours later, Amir officially announced that it would further strengthen its cooperation with Rolling Stone and Bianlang, and promote Bianlang to be Amir's brand ambassador in Asia (excluding South Korea).

At first, when South Korean netizens saw this news, they didn't know how they interpreted it, but they actually thought that Amir wanted to distance herself from Byun Rang for the sake of the Korean market.

Some self-important individuals even believe that Amir is trying to curry favor by elevating South Korea's status above that of other Asian countries.

However, when someone asked Amir's official account who he wanted to be his spokesperson in South Korea, Amir's answer was simple: "No one is needed!"
Once these muddle-headed guys came to their senses, they started swearing and cursing:
"What a terrible brand! With your eye for choosing spokespeople, Amir should just get out of the Korean market as soon as possible!"

"Amir, you will pay the price for your arrogance!"

"We will resolutely boycott and will not consume any Amir products."

Liang Zi and other domestic Rolling Stone bands love watching this kind of excitement and don't find it inconvenient at all to use VPNs or translation software.

After seeing the message on YouTube, Liangzi chuckled and replied instantly: "Don't make excuses for your poverty! Amir isn't for people like you who eat kimchi like it's a state banquet."

Liangzi originally intended to land a critical hit, but he didn't expect his opponent to be too fragile. This attack directly turned into a group taunt! In this way, Liangzi single-handedly raised his and Ershou's hatred value in South Korea to the second highest level, only behind Bianlang.

Some South Korean celebrities have started trying to capitalize on this wave of popularity to boost their country's recognition, with the South Korean girl group Like a Flower, which has a history of conflict with Byun Rang, being the most relentless in this effort.

The last time the Bilibili (a Chinese video-sharing website) dispute over billing order really made them lose face. This time, Bian Lang (another Chinese internet celebrity) has gone crazy again, and neither they, their agency, nor the conglomerate behind them will let it go.

Then a video of several Like a Flower members tearfully accusing Rolling Stones of workplace bullying appeared on YouTube. It even subtly alluded to events that happened in Berlin last year.

In the past, such unfounded and nonsensical news would have prompted Chinese girl group fans to launch a fierce protest and organize various comment control and targeted attacks.

This time, however, it was organized by someone, but there were very few participants.

Their fans are mostly from Bilibili (a Chinese video-sharing website), and everyone on Bilibili knows Rolling Stones' status there. "The whole workplace bullying thing is a joke; Rolling Stones simply don't want to share the stage with girl groups!"

"This time I've finally seen the true nature of these Korean girl groups. I remember that incident in Berlin was because they bribed the director of Bilibili..."

"Don't talk nonsense. That was an outsourced director, not a decision made internally by Bilibili!"

"They were already second-tier fringe groups in South Korea, probably just leftovers and looked down upon by those rich kids in their own country. How come they've become high-class people in China? I suggest Bilibili just shut them down."

"Yes, Bilibili should just ban it directly, and the 100,000 followers lost will be filled by hippies!"

Before long, Amir never expected that their niche brand, which only had one store in South Korea, would suddenly become a household name in the country.

Like a flower also gained the popularity it wanted, and perhaps feeling that this wave wasn't enough, and thinking that there was no possibility of cooperation anyway, it then announced that it would never cooperate with Amir again and would not purchase any Amir products under any circumstances.

Suddenly, those Korean netizens who had been thoroughly humiliated by Liang Zi, both in terms of appearance and substance, became supporters of "Like a Flower" and began arguing with Liang Zi on YouTube!

Liu Wanting couldn't help but laugh when she saw Liang Zi like this: "I'm really impressed by you guys. You're a Chinese person, and you're facing a bunch of Koreans using translation software, arguing in English on YouTube... It's just surreal!"

Regardless of Liu Wanting's opinion, Liang Zicai was still embroiled in a heated argument and had no intention of stopping: "Sister Wanting, this time we're definitely going to argue to the death. It's a certainty that Woodstock won't come to China. Who knows, their choice to host this time in Korea might be an attempt to attract some Chinese music fans?"

"Huh? Liangzi, you know what, what you analyzed is very likely!" Liu Wanting's professional skills are not bad, what she lacks is only connections in the rock circle and knowledge related to rock music.

If you tell her that Woodstock is the No. 1 rock music festival in the world, her first reaction will be: "That's a music festival even bigger than the Rolling Stones!" But she doesn't have a specific understanding of how big it is or how influential the label is.

But when Liangzi said it was impossible to hold the event in China, she knew just how ruthless this was. Either the scale and number of attendees would be severely excessive, posing a significant security risk; or the content would fundamentally be incompatible with the realities of China…

If both of these conditions are met, then Woodstock might indeed have been chosen as the venue by rerouting it to South Korea specifically for Chinese music fans.

If it's for the sake of Chinese music fans, then inviting Rolling Stones is definitely a done deal. It's normal to start contacting bands now for the music festival next April or May.

Just then, someone shouted something, so the organizing committee decided to play along. But who knew that Bian Lang would actually...

Having figured all this out, Liu Wanting felt incredibly clear-headed. She said to Liang Zi very seriously, "Just reply to those Korean netizens like that..."

After hearing Liu Wanting's advice, Liangzi blurted out, "Sister Wanting, are you planning to get me permanently banned from entering the country?"

"That's not necessarily a bad thing! Korean women are mostly all fake, and their voices sound so sarcastic and unpleasant. The scenery is just so-so... If we don't want to go, we don't have to. What's there to regret?"

Liangzi chuckled and said, "Well, that's true... It's still more important to support Brother Lang in the national war."

Fifteen minutes later, the message Liangzi posted on YouTube was screenshotted by an enraged Korean netizen who used it to question Woodstock officials: "Is that really what you think? If that's what you think, then we don't welcome Woodstock either!"

Woodstock's official representatives were truly dumbfounded when they saw this. They had been enjoying watching netizens argue and insult each other, but when they realized that this drama would eventually affect them, they couldn't laugh anymore.

It has to be said that Liu Wanting's words directly diverted a lot of the firepower that was directed at Rolling Stones and Bian Lang to the Woodstock Music Festival organizing committee.

Does Woodstock want to join China? No!
Because they know it's impossible!
But are they craving the Chinese market? Absolutely… especially after the Rolling Stones revitalized the entire Chinese rock music market!
However, if you say that they chose South Korea this time to attract Chinese music fans, then I really don't have much hope. After all, going to South Korea is not like going to the monkeys' country. You can just walk across the border once you get the border documents.

The expenses for going to Korea, including flights and hotels, are not small. Only a very few super-sophisticated music fans with money and time would go.

Even seasoned rock fans with tight budgets wouldn't choose South Korea for their one and only visit to Woodstock, a must-go destination in their lifetime.

Wouldn't it be better to go to Europe and America with that money and time?
However, the sentence on Liangzi's account is logically flawless: "Your country, South Korea, is so small in terms of land and population. If Woodstock hadn't chosen to be located in your country because you are close to China and wanted to let Chinese music fans experience Woodstock on their doorstep, they would be crazy to choose South Korea!"
"Your country, South Korea, is all about bands and bands. Can you even find a band like Second Hand Rose in the entire music industry? Let alone a world-class band like the Rolling Stones… A country that can't even put together a single rock band, what would Woodstock be doing there?"

The former head of publicity for Woodstock, upon seeing this message, only wanted to kill the lead singer of the band that the Rolling Stones met in Woodstock!
Inviting Rolling Stones was part of their plan, but if this hadn't happened, they would have definitely made contact first and expressed some interest before announcing anything.

The reason I'm going to interact with them today is to ride the coattails of the Rolling Stones' popularity.

But now they know that riding the Rolling Stones' coattails isn't so easy. How are they supposed to respond to this awkward situation?

Whether they agree or disagree, they will offend fans of one side, so they can only bury their heads in the sand and pray that Bian Lang's personal actions will not affect the bands in their lineup of invitees.

Putting everything else aside, given the current relationship between Panama, Hatter, and the Rolling Stones, Ivo and Fimos might very well impulsively refuse the invitation.

This line of troops then extends outwards...

(End of this chapter)