1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 451 Strategy (1)

Think about it, when you have hundreds of physical products and a budget of hundreds of millions, how would you market them?

If you are just an agency without any social foundation or ambition, then it is understandable that you use the money to do channel display, promotion, and advertising, and finally reap little.

But if you are a manufacturer, or a regional general agent, and a regional general agent with good social resources, if you only know these basic operations...

Believe me, if you are an employee there, change jobs immediately.

This kind of company has no future.

........................

Taito District, Akihabara.

Contrary to what many Chinese people think, this place, which was later known as the two-dimensional check-in holy land, had not yet experienced the catalysis of the next-generation machine war (PS, SS, N64 war) at that time, and was just one of the famous electronic product sales places in Tokyo.

Of course, although Akihabara at that time was famous for electronic products, especially televisions, refrigerators, and Walkmans, it was actually a very diverse place, so it attracted a lot of young people to go shopping.

“Years later, I dreamed about that day again;”

"The picture is far away, and the rain is drizzling;"

“If the afterlife is too far away to keep promises, it is better to learn to let go of many obsessions;”

"With these fragments of words I pay tribute to the years;"

"In the old days, with the blue sky and water at the edge, who will collect the sorrow and joy~"

Staring intently at the song "Koi-sho" being broadcast on a TV at the entrance of a coffee shop, as well as the Japanese lyrics added later on the screen, Takagi Shinyuki in the crowd sighed foolishly.

As expected, China is the cultural leader of East Asia with a splendid history of 5,000 years. The song "Koi Tsou" performed by China at the open-air theater on the second night of the Sino-Japanese Cultural Festival has lyrics so gorgeous and profound, and the melancholy and free-spirited charm is really irresistible.

Seeing the extremely cunning shop owner quickly switch to the coffee shop's promotional advertisement after playing the song, Gao Shuzhen shook his head in disinterest, slightly adjusted his thin windbreaker, and then quietly left the crowd...

Takagi Masayuki, 28 years old.

Male, single.

Occupation: Freelancer.

Of course, since the mid-1980s, the number of freelancers in the island nation has increased dramatically; the freelancers here are not the unemployed as later generations thought... In fact, in the past decade or so, as long as you wanted to work, you basically had no worries about finding a job, and even those college students from non-famous brands had been snatched up by a number of joint-stock companies before they even graduated.

The reason for the surge in freelancers is entirely because... Even though the salaries in the island country are so high that other countries are jealous, for the people in the island country, unless you become a class dean or above in management, it is better to stay at home and make money by casually investing in a few stocks instead of taking that little salary.

That’s right, the island nation’s stock market in the mid-to-late 1980s was just that crazy.

However, this year, life has suddenly become difficult for freelancers like them who make a living by speculating in stocks and real estate.

After nearly a year of exchange rate fluctuations, Takagi Masayuki's assets suddenly shrunk by 15%.

好容易等到前天汇率跌到了1:160的历史低谷以后，开始顽强反弹，短短一天内就重新回到了1:156的水平，并且大有着不回到1:148的防守线就誓不罢休的架势；

Sadly, the exchange rate went up again, but the dozen or so stocks he held fell even further. Just yesterday, he lost nearly 300 million yen in the stock market, and if things go as expected, he will continue to lose money today.

This is why he, who usually stays at home all the time, went to Qiuyeyuan to relax today.

There is no way. On the one hand, the book assets are shrinking, and on the other hand, the money in hand is becoming less and less valuable. There is probably nothing more annoying in the world than this.

But he has no other means of making a living except stock trading and hoping that stock prices will recover.

No matter what era, as long as the macro wings flap slightly, the trend of the times will be ruthlessly abandoned, and the skills dilemma will follow... Don't think that stock trading these days is very technical. There are many business refugees like Gao Shuzhenzhi who lack both depth and breadth of skills. They only made a little money because of the opportunities of the times, but they are at a loss because of the changes of the times.

………………

"Excuse me, Senior!"

Just as Takagi Masayuki was wandering aimlessly on the street, he was suddenly stopped by a man in a suit.

Subconsciously taking two steps back, Takagi Shinji looked at the man in front of him who looked like a small salesman with some caution: "What's the matter?"

The man in the suit glanced at the expensive pair of leather shoes on Gao Shuzhenzhi's feet, then smiled and looked at him expectantly: "Senior, are you a senior member of Longshengtang Pharmacy?"

Gao Shu Zhenzhi frowned, hesitated for a moment, and nodded: "Are you an employee of Longshengtang Pharmacy? What's going on? Is Longshengtang Pharmacy holding an event or conducting a member survey today?"

Like SUGI, Ryushodo is a very famous pharmacy chain in the Tokyo area, but SUGI focuses more on Western medicine, while Ryushodo focuses more on raw materials and Chinese herbal medicine. In view of the fact that the island country has vigorously promoted Chinese herbal medicine in recent years, Takagi Saneyuki, who has always been rich, has membership in both companies.

The man in the suit was overjoyed when he heard this, and his smile became even more earnest: "Senior, please forgive my impoliteness... Do you have a resident card and insurance card for Akihabara?"

There is no such thing as an ID card in an island country. When you need to prove your identity, you usually use a driver's license, a resident certificate, and an insurance card.

Given the characteristics of an island country, compared with a driver's license, which has a lower threshold and is more universal, in big cities like Tokyo, the value of resident certificates and insurance cards is undoubtedly higher.

When Takagi Masayuki heard the man in the suit ask this, he calmly adjusted his posture, as if he was about to leave in the next second.

Seeing this, the man in the suit bowed deeply again: "Senior, I am the one who is being rude... Don't get me wrong, I have no ill intentions, I just want to ask you for help... Don't worry, I won't let you go in vain."

Hearing "It won't be a wasted trip", Takagi Masayuki's heart moved and he nodded immediately: "I live near Akihabara and I also have a national health insurance card."

This is undoubtedly a direct answer to the question asked by the man in the suit.

The man in the suit suddenly showed an expression of ecstasy on his face, and his waist almost bent to the ground: "Senior, to be honest, although it is very abrupt, I would like to ask you to help me go to Longshengtang to buy ten boxes of Chansu Pills tomorrow!"

As he spoke, the man in the suit raised his body and looked at him sincerely: "Don't worry, as long as you agree, I won't let you help me for nothing... I will pay for the toad venom pills, and after the matter is done, I will thank you for 2000 yen per box!"

2000 yen/box?
Takagi Masayuki looked at the man in the suit in surprise. Although 2000 yen was not a big number for the Japanese nowadays, if he could earn 2000 yen for one box, then ten boxes would be 2 yen, which was already a very high salary... Even if he could earn 60 yen a day, it would be 720 yen a month and million yen a year, which was already a normal salary for an ordinary employee at the moment. If the small employees in Tokyo who could only earn or yen a month in the future heard this number, they would probably cry.

The most important thing is that the other party just wants him to help buy it. It doesn't take much time and effort, and he can easily make so much money. Not to mention ordinary people, even a freelancer like him who has no shortage of money but whose wealth is trapped in the stock market would be tempted.

only……

Toad venom pills?
What is that stuff?
Could it be some contraband?
Hearing Gao Shuzhenzhi's question, the man in the suit patiently explained: "Chansu Pills are a Chinese patent medicine from China. It is said to be made from a series of precious Chinese medicines such as processed toad venom, raw realgar, raw snails, cinnabar powder, cold water stone, frankincense, myrrh, musk, and fragrant ink. It is very expensive, and it is said that there are several formulas for Chansu Pills, and the preparation method and efficacy of each one are slightly different;"

"The Mohua brand Toad Su Pills that I asked my senior to help me buy this time are made by a pharmaceutical factory under the famous Dahua Company in China. Although the main effect written in the instructions is to [remove malignant sores], it is said that it also has very obvious effects on symptoms such as skin cancer, bone cancer, and breast cancer."

At this point, the man in the suit took a greedy breath and said, "This is a secret recipe made according to the ancient Chinese recipe of Shengji Zonglu. It is also produced by the famous Dahua Company, so there is no need to worry about the effect... Although the price is a bit expensive, selling for 28,000 yen per bottle, but it's a good deal if you buy it!"

Gao Shuzhenzhi was a little confused: "Then why don't you buy it yourself?"

Hearing this, the man in the suit sighed with a wry smile: "If I could buy it myself, I wouldn't bother you on purpose."

"To be honest, it is said that the production process of this toad venom pill is extremely complicated, and the output is terribly low. Therefore, although Dahua Company is willing to export toad venom pills to my country at the request of Sankyo Co., Ltd. and Tsumura Co., Ltd., the supply is really pitifully small."

"So they had no choice but to sell them randomly. After each batch of Chansu Pills was produced and exported, they were sold at irregular times and locations until they were sold out."

"According to the latest news, Sankyo Co., Ltd. will select 20 pharmacies in Tokyo to sell this toad venom pill the day after the Sino-Japanese Cultural Festival ends, which is tomorrow... and Ryushodo Pharmacy in Akihabara is one of the lucky ones."

At this point, the man in the suit had a look of distress and helplessness on his face: "Although we knew the news in advance, it didn't help at all... This kind of lottery-style random sales are conditional. If you choose a pharmacy in a certain district to sell it, you can only sell it to local residents, and each person can only buy 10 boxes at a time."

"So I have no choice but to try my luck on the street and see if I can find a few more enthusiastic people like my predecessor to help me buy... There is no other way. According to the regulations, even local members like my predecessor who meet the qualifications and can provide valid certificates can only buy 10 boxes at a time."

Takagi Masayuki glanced calmly at another man not far away who was also wearing a suit and was also glaring at him, and he understood what was going on.

Probably due to the need to maintain stock prices, the concept of anti-cancer has been hyped up by pharmaceutical companies in recent months. Under various anxious marketing, almost every citizen on the island is worried about whether he or she will get cancer in the next second. Therefore, in this process, Coriolus versicolor is certainly the biggest beneficiary, but other types of medicines and medicinal materials with certain anti-cancer effects have also benefited greatly... Anti-cancer has been hyped up into a concept that is almost a necessity. Probably, except for the island country today, there is no other region where such a strange thing would occur.

However, with the overwhelming cultural impact brought by the Chinese side during the Sino-Japanese Cultural Festival, and the promotion of countless media, the cognition of the people of the island country has gradually shown a polarized trend: when it comes to "new" products with high technological content such as computers, electrical appliances, and cameras, they will definitely prefer those from the United States and Japan, as if they are invincible;
But when it comes to "traditional" products related to culture and art, such as cultural and creative products, wood carvings and lacquerware, food, tea, silk fabrics, and traditional Chinese medicine, there is no doubt that China must be the ceiling.

Although this polarization has only begun to take shape, ordinary people on the island have developed infinite awe and yearning for ancient Chinese culture after PUA. As a result, they have a mysterious trust in things that originated from a mysterious ancient oriental country and have been preserved for thousands of years.

Therefore, with all these factors combined, it is understandable that the Toad Su Pills, which I had never heard of before and which was said to have a very low production volume, began to be sought after in some market circles;

Therefore, it is obvious at this moment that there are definitely more than just the man in the suit in front of him who wants to use his qualifications to purchase Chansu Pills.

Thinking of this, some ideas suddenly emerged in Gao Shuzhenzhi's heart. Although the Japanese people tend to follow the crowd, they are still more cautious when facing unfamiliar things. Therefore, he just smiled and nodded, agreed to the request of the man in the suit, and agreed to meet here tomorrow morning.

………………

At seven o'clock the next day, Takagi Saneyuki got up early and rushed to the agreed location. Sure enough, the man in the suit had been waiting for a long time.

Unlike him who secretly breathed a sigh of relief, the man in the suit seemed a little anxious and kept urging him to hurry up and line up in front of Longshengtang Pharmacy with valid ID, otherwise he would not be able to buy it if he was late.

Gao Shuzhenzhi turned his head and saw that there was already a long queue of over a hundred meters long in front of the Longshengtang Pharmacy, which had not yet opened.

This gave Takagi Shinji a big shock. Although Japanese people have always liked to follow trends, since the late 1980s, some businesses have gradually taken advantage of this feature and started to ask for favors to create an on-site atmosphere, but at most they would invite a dozen people to help out on the spot. Where had he ever seen the spectacular sight of so many people queuing up?

Human nature determines that when there are only a few or a dozen people in the queue, they may firmly believe that these people are all agents and only fools will be fooled;
When the number of people in the queue reaches dozens, they will probably be skeptical and then join the queue with a try-it-out attitude;
And when the number of people queuing reaches hundreds, there is no doubt that they will put aside all their doubts and rush to join the queue, and then do everything they can to ensure that their "interests" are not infringed.

Therefore, the reason why some old-fashioned methods are still useful after decades or hundreds of years is because they are effective in themselves. For humans whose brains have long stopped evolving, as long as quantitative changes can lead to qualitative changes, even the most old-fashioned methods can achieve miraculous results.

So, after waiting in line for three hours, Takagi Masayuki finally squeezed out with ten boxes of toad venom pills in his arms, which were packaged in a strong Chinese royal style.

The man in a suit who had been waiting at the store door early took the boxes with excitement. He carefully looked at the seal on the packaging that had not been touched, and the half of the exquisite porcelain bottle exposed in the hollow part. Without saying a word, he counted out a thick stack of Japanese yen and handed it over as agreed.

After receiving the reward he deserved, Gao Shuzhenzhi looked bright on the outside, but in reality he was in a dilemma. He lowered his head and pondered whether he should put aside his pride and make good use of this opportunity...

An anxious voice suddenly came from beside him: "Senior, do you have any Mohua brand toad venom pills? I can buy them for 22,000 yen per box!"

Twenty-two thousand?
Takagi Masayuki turned around in surprise and looked at the man who was holding the receipt in his hand tightly, and his eyes couldn't help but twitch.

MD, I got cheated. That bastard only gave me 2000 yen per box as a labor fee. Adding the selling price of the Toad Venom Pills, the total amount was only 2000 yen, which was yen less than the purchase price!

"no!"

Feeling that he had been cheated, Takagi Mamoru's face flushed slightly. He uttered two words unhappily and then quickened his pace to leave.

He didn't care about the "loss" of 2000 yen. After all, ten boxes together only amounted to yen. Although his stocks kept falling, he still didn't take the mere yen seriously. But he felt like a fool and was played by others. This feeling hurt him as a person who often stayed at home.

As a result, he had just taken a few steps when another somewhat obscene voice came: "Sir, do you have Mohua brand toad venom pills? I'll take them for 23,000!"

Takashi Masayuki's forehead was bulging with veins, and he looked at the middle-aged man in front of him expressionlessly: "No!"

Three minutes later...

"Sir, do you have any Mohua brand Toad Venom Pills? I'll take them for 28,000!"

Takagi Masayuki’s right hand was about to break the receipt from Ryushodo: “No!”

After finally walking out of the street, Takagi Saneyuki's expression was a little grim. No matter who it was, if a box of good things could have earned at least 2000 yen, but in the end only made , no one would be in a good mood.

However, after trying hard to adjust his mood, his eyes gradually became excited.

The only thing retail investors can learn in the stock market is to “buy highs and sell lows”;
and so……

hum.

………………

At this time, in a cafe in Akihabara,

Miss Mu saw all of this, glanced at the scalpers who were trying to attract people to inquire about goods on the street, and nodded with satisfaction: "I have to say that Sankyo Co., Ltd. is still very powerful. It is not easy to find so many people to help in a city like Tokyo, and the performance is so professional."

Zhuo Mali gently put down the coffee cup in her hand and laughed: "In a place like Tokyo where good and bad people mix together, there should be no shortage of people who make a living by illegal means, so although it is not easy for Sankyo Co., Ltd. to gather so many people in such a short time, it should not be difficult either."

After a slight pause, Zhuo Mali asked in confusion, "Sister Mu, I was also in charge of publicity work in Texas for a period of time... I also understand the principle of high-end image, mid-end profit, and low-end sales."

"But what I don't quite understand is that although Chansu Pills have caught the anti-cancer trend and have a very strong technical threshold, it can be regarded as a very good high-end image product. But no matter how high-end it is, is it worth spending a full 1/3 of the budget to find so many people to set up the game?"

Perhaps influenced by Yang Mo's preference for concentrated blasting, Miss Mu spent nearly 200 million RMB to hype up the circulation and added value of the Toad Su Pills this time, and hired thousands of people in several major cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto to act as agents... Even so, this was at a half-sale, half-gift friendly price given by Sankyo Co., Ltd. for Yang Mo's sake. Otherwise, with the current labor costs in the island country, it would not be possible to achieve this scale even if all the budget was invested.

However, even if the products were sold half and given away half, Dahua Company's funding budget was also decreasing rapidly.

You have to know that the most important point in setting up this kind of scheme is to keep the secrets secret, so those agents only know that someone paid them to queue up, and someone paid them to help recycle the Mohua Chansu Pills with intact packaging at a high price... As for why they did this, they absolutely have no idea.

Since there are several price levels for recycling, and those responsible for recycling have to receive sales commissions, the flexibility of this part of the budget is suddenly increased, and the risk of overspending is not small.

However, Dahua Company has over a hundred products that it wants to enter the island country's market, and they have spent so much of the budget just on Chansu Pills. This is something that is hard to understand no matter how you look at it.

Miss Mu just smiled softly when she heard this: "Sister Zhuo, you are wrong. These thousands of people are not just disposable props to help hype the Chansu Pills... People are always looking for profit. Believe me, it won't be long before this team will expand to at least 20,000 people, and we won't need to invest another dollar."

"With a budget of only 200 million RMB, it is still very cost-effective to build a high-quality special channel from scratch in a developed country like the island country;"

"What's more, once this channel takes shape, we will benefit from more than just one toad venom pill."

Zhuo Mali understood immediately: "Are you planning to use this model for all four major Chinese patent medicines for cancer prevention?"

The so-called "Four Anti-Cancer Pills" refer to Chansu Pills, Xihuang Pills, Dahuang Shuchong Pills, and Xiaojindan.

These four Chinese patent medicines, as long as the raw materials and craftsmanship are controlled, can play a good role in symptomatic cancer prevention and treatment;
Among them, except for Xihuang Pills which cannot be mass-produced due to problems with the main raw materials, Dahua Company can provide the other three types stably.

The benefits of this current model are obvious.

On the one hand, it can continuously break through the value ceiling of Chinese patent medicine in the minds of the islanders through a similar hunger marketing approach, thereby feeding back to the value increase of other Chinese medicinal materials and self-owned brand Chinese patent medicines;
On the other hand, this special channel distribution model with a strong financial color also gives Dahua Company an almost defenseless space to reap profits... Of course, for the sake of the overall situation, Dahua Company will not easily swing the sickle unless the situation is special, but once the sickle is swung down, it will not just cut a few spots.

Miss Mu nodded, then shook her head: "Not only the four great kings, but also other high-end products, such as tea, high-end silk fabrics, sculptures and artworks, can all be hyped up in the island market through this channel in the shortest possible time, and then take root... So, Sister Zhuo, now you know that the 200 million budget is not wasted, right?"

Zhuo Mali looked at the increasingly attractive beauty in front of her with a complicated expression, and sighed heavily, "Big sister, I am convinced... It is true that people of the same family stick together. You are just like Brother Yang in your way of thinking carefully before taking one step."

Mu Liya's eyes flashed with an inexplicable emotion, and she smiled more calmly: "There is no way. Yang Mo said that the high-end/ultra-high-end market is different from ordinary products. If you don't set up a game in the secondary market from the beginning to make it have relatively sufficient liquidity and value support, then even if you spend all your wealth on advertising, it's just a castle in the air."

"Besides, thanks to this Sino-Japanese Cultural Festival, we are now being hyped up. With such a great opportunity, if we don't try to intervene in the high-end/ultra-high-end market, which has the most cultural and commercial value, I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep well after I go back."

Secondary market?

Liquidity and value support?
Zhuomali was thoughtful. The secondary market here certainly could not refer to the state and county markets in the fast-moving consumer goods field, but the secondary circulation market like stock market securities... In essence, you can think of it as a second-hand market.

Therefore, the underlying logic here is very clear. Even someone like Zhuo Mali, who is hearing this theory for the first time, can easily grasp the key points.

After nodding slightly, Zhuomali kindly reminded: "Big sister, although being able to gain a foothold in the high-end/ultra-high-end market of the island country does help us establish a voice in some product segments, but things must always be prioritized... Don't forget that we still have hundreds of products waiting to be fed."

Mu Liya naturally knew what she meant. She just gently lifted her cheeks and said calmly with a hint of confidence: "Sister Zhuo, marketing is not just about advertising, and not only those convenience stores standing on the streets can be called channels... Don't worry, low-end and mid-end products have their own ways of playing, and Lao Si (Bao Shuxian) and others are already doing it."

Already doing it?
Zhuo Mali was stunned for a moment, and then an inexplicable feeling of loss and anger rose in her heart.

Didn't you bring me here this time to let me help with the publicity and public relations work? Have those mid- and low-end products, which account for the majority, already started to take marketing actions?

Why don't I know anything about this?
(End of this chapter)