Reborn since 1993

Chapter 367 In full swing
"So, we have sold out all the goods in Hanxi Province?"

The director of Pingyang Cigarette Factory asked Xu Bowen in disbelief. The leaders of Pingyang Cigarette Factory also had mixed feelings about the news. This was supposed to be a happy thing, but this had never happened before, which made them a little worried and they didn't know what was going on.

"Distributors in many cities in the province have sold out all the goods that were supposed to be sold until next month!" Xu Boen said.

Several leaders of the Pingyang Cigarette Factory looked at each other and asked Xu Boen, "What is going on?"

"I……"

Xu Bowen opened his mouth. He was still a little confused at the moment. He had no idea why the products of Pingyang Cigarette Factory were suddenly sold out.

But if he said he didn't know in front of the factory leaders, then wouldn't his work as the head of the marketing department be in vain?
Just as Xu Boen was racking his brains to think of an excuse, a staff member from his department ran in sweating profusely, handed him a statistical form, and muttered, "It's the Torch Group's lighter!"

Xu Boen took the list in a hurry, but after reading it, he became even more confused. The goods from Pingyang Cigarette Factory were selling so fast, just because of that lighter?

Just a few days ago, Xu Boen was still muttering that this was completely "nonsense", but it actually helped the Pingyang Cigarette Factory's products to sell out directly?
Seeing Xu Boen holding the list without saying a word for a long time, the director of Pingyang Cigarette Factory could not help but directly took the list and looked at the sales statistics on it. The sales volume, especially for goods from other provinces, increased by more than 40% compared to usual, and in some places, it doubled!

"It seems that the city government and the provincial government have a keen eye for talent!"

The director of Pingyang Cigarette Factory had no control over Xu Boen's mood, but looking at the list in his hand, his face was full of joy. "I didn't expect that the lighter advertising demonstration project that our factory cooperated with Torch Group would have such an effect!"

Just one look at the data on this list will make you understand why Pingyang Cigarette Factory's sales volume soared. It was basically due to its cooperation with Torch Group. Buying tobacco gave away a lighter, which on the surface meant adding an extra lighter, but the effect was really unexpected.

"The key is the increase in sales outside the province, which is an opportunity for us!"

Another Pingyang Cigarette Factory leader said this, and then all the Pingyang Cigarette Factory leaders' eyes lit up.

Over the years, the biggest problem that has plagued Pingyang Cigarette Factory has always been how to promote its several brands of tobacco to more remote areas.

Be it tobacco, alcohol, or even today's health products, the profits seem to be very high, but almost every province has its own brand. How to promote your own brand to other regions and get people in these places to buy it has become a difficult problem!
Now, the cooperation between Pingyang Cigarette Factory and Torch Group is not only effective within Hanxi Province, but also outside the province. This has allowed the leaders of Pingyang Cigarette Factory to see opportunities.

“We should increase our cooperation with Torch Group and order another batch of lighters from them. As long as you buy our cigarette factory’s products, we will give you lighters for free!

In addition, we will pay some advertising fees to the advertising department of Torch Group, so that Torch can print our advertisements on lighters sold to other provinces!"

The advertisements on Torch Group's lighters are divided into four levels: national, provincial, city, and county. That is, the advertising fees are different, and the distribution range of Torch Group's lighters is also different.

If the advertising expenditure is high enough, the Torch Group will put the company's logo printed on lighters in various domestic markets. If the advertising expenditure is low, the company will print advertisements on lighters sold in urban areas and county towns.

The director of the Pingyang Cigarette Factory spoke with great determination, without any intention of discussing it with Xu Bowen, and gave the order directly.

After all, the benefits of cooperating with Torch Group are obviously greater than the investment, and there is an opportunity to promote the Pingyang Cigarette Factory's brand to other provinces. Naturally, they don't want to miss such an opportunity.

"Yes!"

At this time, Xu Bowen had no right to speak at all. The order was given by the factory director himself, and he had no room to refute it.

Xu Bowen didn't dare to refute at this time. He never thought that the products of Pingyang Cigarette Factory would be sold out just because of the lighter. This was completely beyond his expectations.

This was totally inconsistent with his previous experience for so many years. Pingyang Cigarette Factory had advertised on TV and spent money in newspapers. It had been effective after so many years of advertising, but compared with this time, it was almost a dwarfing of his own. Just a lighter could have directly caused the company to fly. Xu Bowen felt that his brain was not enough for a moment… The leader of Pingyang Cigarette Factory gave the order in person. Xu Bowen did not dare to neglect it and immediately began to contact Torch Group. He was even afraid of delaying things, so he went directly to the logistics department, asked for a car, and rushed to Torch Group in person.

At the same time, everyone in the production department of Pingyang Cigarette Factory also received news of overtime work, which was not common in Pingyang Cigarette Factory. However, the complaints disappeared after the factory announced the payment of overtime pay and bonuses.

After the statistics of lighter sales were released on the first day, Torch Group continued to proceed as planned. Media including Pingyang City Newspaper and Hanxi Province Newspaper only reported the successful trial production and gratifying sales of Torch Group as usual. The rest was not reported in detail and did not attract much attention.

However, when the sales statistics were released the next day, the Torch Group, which had been operating as usual yesterday, was in chaos.

"Today, the total sales of lighters in Hanxi Province and other provinces is 1.09 million!"

In Zhang Xiaocheng's office, Li Dongling, Zhou Wenyan, and Hanxi Guotou's general manager Wu Yaoguo were all present. When they looked at the marketing department, which was holding the sales figures of various regions and the sales statistics, Zhang Xiaocheng's office fell into silence for a moment.

Even Li Dongling had a hunch that lighters would be in demand in China, but he didn't expect that they would sell so well.

Lighters are nothing new. They started to appear in Dong'ou City a few years ago, but what they made were mainly imitations of Japanese benzene metal lighters. The main market was also America and Europe. The cheapest lighter cost more than ten yuan.

A company like Torch Group has built a lighter base with a full industrial chain, compressed the cost of lighters to the extreme, and reduced the selling price to one yuan. This has never happened in China before. This is almost equivalent to activating the huge demand for lighters in the country.

How great will the demand for lighters be in a market with a population of more than one billion? At the moment, Torch Group can only be said to have just gently shaken the curtain of this market, and it has not even been opened. The explosive demand and purchasing power in Hanxi and several surrounding provinces and cities alone have made Zhang Xiaocheng, Wu Yaoguo and others feel a little uneasy.

"I think Torch Group is going to add more production lines and personnel!"

After a long while, Wu Yaoguo put down the paper in his hand and said to Zhang Xiaocheng.

On the second day of sales, sales more than doubled. Wu Yaoguo didn't even dare to guess what sales would reach tomorrow.

But he had a hunch that investing in Torch Group might become the most successful investment so far for Hanxi State Investment, which he was in charge of. Torch Group might not lose money. According to the current momentum, it might even far exceed the expectations when it was first established, let alone meet them. Coupled with the jobs it provided, such an investment would be one of the top investments in the entire state investment circle. He, Wu Yaoguo, might become a god in one fell swoop!

"I'm afraid it's too late!"

He Yunxing, the marketing director of Torch Group, ran in, picked up the water on the table and drank it all in one breath. Then he spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Xu Boen from the Marketing Department of Pingyang Cigarette Factory came over just now. They want to order another one million lighters for a promotion where you can get a lighter for free if you buy a cigarette.

Moreover, they invested another 800,000 yuan in advertising fees and asked the advertising department of Torch Group to print advertisements of Pingyang Cigarette Factory’s brand on the lighters shipped nationwide by Torch Group!
Supply and marketing cooperatives in Hanxi, Shanxi Province, Shandong Province and other places have called us and asked us to deliver more lighters. Shopping malls, supermarkets, stations, restaurants, hotels and other retail outlets that cooperate with us have also asked us to deliver goods to them. Even if we send out all the inventory now, it will not be enough to meet these orders!
In addition, since the start of sales, the Torch Group’s advertising department has received approximately RMB 280,000 in advertising fees for lighters.

But since the launch of the product, we have received requests from many advertisers, including Pingyang Cigarette Factory, to place advertisements in the next few days. The additional advertising has exceeded one million!"

When Wu Yaoguo heard that the money from advertising was almost catching up with the money from selling lighters, he couldn't help but be surprised. Then he looked at Li Dongling. He knew that the strategy of advertising on lighters was proposed by Li Dongling, but he didn't expect that it would have such an effect. A one-dollar lighter could almost earn the Torch Group two dollars in profit!

"Now, we should expand production capacity immediately. I think it won't be long before Torch Group will receive more orders!" Li Dongling said to Zhang Xiaocheng at this time.

As long as Pingyang Cigarette Factory cooperates with Torch Group and the news of its brand of cigarettes selling well spreads, there will probably be a large number of tobacco factories that smell the fishy smell and come running to cooperate with Torch Group without Torch Group having to shout about it itself.

Moreover, it may not just be tobacco companies. Alcohol, health products, and even industries and companies such as television, air conditioning, and large shopping malls that need to expand customer flow will also come to join in the fun and fight on the new advertising platform!
(End of this chapter)