Generation Z Artists

Chapter 177【Live to sing in ecstasy】

When Fang Xinghe returned to Japan, Kadokawa Bookstore was already plastered with promotional posters for his photobook.

As Fang Dacai's fourth and only photobook, it received an extremely enthusiastic response from the Japanese market.

When Fang Xinghe was passing by Kadokawa Bookstore in Asakusa Ward, he saw a group of little girls who had just finished school gathered outside the store, pointing at the posters and jumping around.

"Your Highness, the pre-sale figures are fantastic!"

Kadokawa was overjoyed, becoming even more obsequious as a large sum of money was about to be deposited into his account.

Pre-sales are a cutting-edge practice in capitalist countries at this time. The environment for this is not available in China at the moment. Only regions such as the United States, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore can implement it on a small scale.

The problem lies in the imperfect registration system and prepayment management scheme; the word "manual" is enough to illustrate the difficulty.

Even so, the pre-sale figures in Japan are still quite impressive.

"By this afternoon at the latest, we will definitely break 10!"

Fang Xinghe didn't quite understand the significance of this number, but instead of asking directly, he guided Kadokawa to share it voluntarily.

Do you know why I chose Japan as my first stop?

Kadokawa, with practiced ease, bowed and flattered, saying, "I dare not presume to guess your wisdom!"

"Because Japan is the best market for photo books, and because Kadokawa Shoten is the best place to start."

Fang Xinghe gazed at him quietly, his tone calm.

"Now it seems that you have not disappointed me and have done the best you could have imagined."

Kadokawa wouldn't lose its composure over such a small encouragement; what hasn't a seasoned Japanese businessman seen?

But he was genuinely excited by Fang Xinghe's positive recognition; this was the first time since they started working together that Fang Xinghe had expressed extreme satisfaction with his work.

He even made a decision on the spot: "Your Highness, I will settle accounts with you separately at the end of each month, without delay!"

This is a promise more precious than giving away one's own daughter.

The most disgusting thing about dealing with capitalists in Japan, South Korea, Europe, and the United States is delaying settlements and falsely increasing deductions.

Because of settlement difficulties, it is normal to settle accounts once a year. If the contract states that the settlement is at the end of each year, the transfer date will be at the end of January or mid-February. This is the most trustworthy partner. Untrustworthy partners can drag it out until the second half of the year.

In fact, books are products that can be sold and generate revenue at any time. Distributors can use your cash flow to engage in short- to medium-term financial fixed-income operations, not only making an extra profit but also potentially passing on other costs to you.

Liu Cixin has learned this lesson the hard way, Zhang Yimou has learned it too, and it seems Xiao Gangpao is in the same boat—many celebrities' overseas collaborations are the same.

That's why everyone "likes" buyout partnerships so much; it's something they have to like.

A mere profit-sharing settlement reveals Fang Xinghe's importance in Kadokawa's eyes, or perhaps it can be described as... his status in Japan.

Those who cheat him out of his share of the profits will surely suffer the consequences.

Because Brother Fang can write and curse people, and he can curse them so harshly and hurtfully that the media is still willing to publish it.

The triple backlash from the literary world, fans, and the business community is something no one can withstand.

Fang Xinghe has always maintained a superior attitude towards Japanese and Korean businesses precisely because of the protective layer formed by his commercial value and cultural influence.

Top-tier tycoons wouldn't even look at this little bit of stuff, and those who covet it can't afford to mess with them—it's perfectly safe.

Therefore, Kadokawa never showed any greed; he did his best, focusing primarily on flattery.

He knew exactly how to get along with the strong-willed God of Wealth, and his position became more and more secure, leaving his peers in deep despair...

"40 photo books have already been printed in the factory."

Lick Kawa excitedly announced the good news: "At most one week! It will sell out in one week! You will create a sales miracle in the history of Japanese idols!"

"Oh!" Wang Charlie was taken aback. "Then wouldn't that mean at least 100 million copies could be sold throughout the year?"

"I can't be sure about that," Kadokawa shook his head, "but reaching 70 copies within a month is definitely not a problem."

Wang Chali continued to joke, "What, even an expert like you has moments of uncertainty?"

Kadokawa tried to explain: "The main problem is that the pricing is a bit expensive, and past experience is not very applicable. It is difficult to calculate the sales curve after a burst of enthusiasm for consumption."

Wang Charlie couldn't help but feel a little disappointed: "Wouldn't that make it very difficult to break Rie Miyazawa's record of 155 million copies?"

"Forehead……"

Kadokawa was in a very difficult position.

In his heart, he was unwilling and unable to dampen Wang Chali's enthusiasm, but in reality, it was indeed unlikely.

"There should be a chance... After all, His Highness will continue to be popular in the future... Of course, we don't need to have too high expectations right now..."

Upon hearing this, Fang Xinghe nodded slightly, indicating his understanding.

"The price is indeed not cheap. We'll try to set records when we have the chance, but it doesn't stop us from making a lot of money even if we don't."

His photobook sells for 9999 yen in Japan, which is about 606 yuan, almost three times the price of Morning Musume's.

Ayumi Hamasaki's photobook, released at the end of last year, has over 50 pages, is of slightly lower quality, and was priced at just over 5000 yuan.

What does it mean to "harvest leeks"?
Offering the highest prices and selling the largest quantities, burning through hundreds of millions in one go—that's what you call profiteering!

Just like that, most die-hard fans in the Japanese region will probably have to find odd jobs.

As for whether they'll go all out... don't worry, the last support event was a mess, and Fang Xinghe publicly criticized them, so they're all holding their anger in now.

The reason why we started advertising and pre-sales in Japan first was precisely to take advantage of their eagerness to redeem themselves.

Otherwise, why would Fang Xinghe have nothing better to do than put on a cold face for a simple fan support event?

They're all tactics.

Once the Japanese fans go all out and achieve high sales, the arrogant Korean fans will definitely not be able to resist going all in. Next will be the poor but Southeast Asian fans who can join in the buying, the Taiwanese fans who love to follow in Japan's footsteps, and finally the Hong Kong fans who look down on the mainland but are afraid of being left out.

Let me reiterate: when it comes to marketing, Brother Fang is the most professional.

Since this photobook was entirely led by Fang Xinghe, who self-funded its production and commissioned its distribution, he kept the lion's share of the profits—just like Rie Miyazawa's "Santa Fe".

The specific revenue sharing model is that Kadokawa, as the Japanese agent, also provides the Japanese distribution channels, so it takes 25% of the revenue after deducting costs.

Fang Xinghe pocketed the remaining 75%, then paid a 20.42% withholding tax, and made the final settlement at the end of the year.

The costs include four items: production, photography, printing, and promotion. LV and Cartier jointly undertook the production and photography costs, printing costs decreased as the volume increased, and promotion costs were borne by Kadokawa.

After conversion, Fang Xinghe can get about 60% of the price, and the higher the sales volume, the more he can get (before tax).

This amount of money was so large that Wang Chali used [Galaxy Culture] to establish branches in Japan, South Korea, Europe and the United States, converting the sales revenue from this photo album into operating income, and then converting the remaining business into labor remuneration + portrait authorization + franchise fees.

Finally, by utilizing the China-Japan Tax Agreement for partial tax reductions and exemptions, the tax burden on Japan can be controlled below 20%, thereby achieving the goal of repatriating a portion of personal income.

Earning money abroad and paying taxes back in China—that's pretty impressive, isn't it?
……

The Red Team started working frantically as soon as they arrived at the hotel.

The endorsements that had been delayed and unconfirmed are now ready to be secured.

It's all Japanese money, so no matter how hard it is, it's not hard work.

The first major group, consisting of six food companies, once again signed short-term contracts with Fang Xinghe for six months.

The average price is $150 million for six months, which is roughly equivalent to 1200 million RMB.

Compared to the previous price of 750 million for half a year, the increase is nearly double, but compared to the price offered by beauty and health products, it is still much lower.

The reason is that the consumption logic is different. Beauty, cosmetics and health care are the product categories that can best benefit from Fang Xinghe's good looks, so they have a huge premium.

However, only South Korea's GEO dared to offer such a high price of $500 million.

The Korean version of Brain Gold only dares to offer 400 million won a year, which is still less than the genuine domestic version, showing that this is the upper limit.

Food companies have a cap of 150 million per month; any more than that and they'll collapse.

Unless Fang Xinghe is willing to reduce the number of similar endorsements, he can sign a long-term contract worth $3.6 million per year with just two.

"That's impossible."

Brother Fang, determined to fleece the Japanese and Korean markets, firmly waved his hand and instructed, "150 million for six months, take as many as you can get."

Kadokawa gave a wry smile and hurriedly explained, "The last endorsement was quite successful, so even after raising the price to $1.5 million, some businesses are still willing to take the gamble. However, at this price, these six are basically all we have..."

Even the most famous celebrities, once they've already endorsed a large number of similar food products, will deter businesses from joining the fray.

The same principle applies all over the world, unless you offer discounts and promotions like Teacher Yang.

"Alright, the food category totals $900 million, that should be enough to pay the taxes."

Fang Xinghe sighed regretfully, making Kadokawa break out in a cold sweat. He thought to himself: You only come once a year, yet you can earn tens of millions of dollars each time, and now you're even engaging in tax avoidance. This government will have to shut you down sooner or later…

At this time, Koizumi, the so-called radical reformer, had taken office, and the current government was seriously right-leaning. Fang Xinghe's good days were basically coming to an end.

Kadokawa certainly didn't want to see this happen, so he chose to cooperate with Prince Fang, cutting and slicing relentlessly...

“Your previous eight long-term endorsement companies have all been upgraded, and you now hold the highest global title for these products.”

"It wasn't much more money..."

Fang Xinghe was still not very satisfied. The upgrade of the original endorsement only brought in less than $700 million in revenue, an average increase of only 25%.

"Forget it, I guess I won't get anything from scratching it. Let's just sign it."

Then there are the next heavyweight brands – beauty and health products.

At the beginning of the 21st century, Japan was also experiencing a health supplement craze.

Nattokinase products are undoubtedly the king, followed by DHA/EPA fish oil, blueberry/lutein eye care products, enzyme products, and finally brain-boosting products, which are equivalent to brain supplements.

A small manufacturer, using the name of "Prodigy Brain Tonic," offered Fang Xinghe an exorbitant commission of 25% of sales, with the advertising slogan: "Drink Prodigy Brain Tonic, and you too can have my talent!"

Damn, this is a scam!

The other companies, whose products were essentially black market goods, offered up to $1000 million, waving checks and trying to sign him.

There are also all sorts of random beauty devices, ranging from 500 million to 800 million yuan; they're really willing to spend money on them.

Fang was too concerned about saving face and ultimately only chose a legitimate fish oil capsule brand.

$4 million a year, a three-year contract, that's not bad.

With this, Japan has secured 15 domestic endorsements, generating an additional $2000 million in revenue.

The contract signing alone took two days, followed by a joint press conference, then an appearance on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's talk show, and finally reshoots for commercials and shopping mall appearances...

After a busy and hectic process, it took a full eight days to finally come to a basic conclusion.

The basic idea is that one thing is still missing—the final negotiations between LV and Cartier.

These days, signing contracts with luxury brands is extremely complicated. The complexity of the contracts themselves is one aspect, but another major point is exclusivity.

No one can endorse two high-end luxury brands at the same time. Gong Li only signed a global ambassadorship with L'Oréal, and Chanel immediately stopped contacting her.

When LV and Cartier were shooting a photoshoot for Fang Xinghe, they worked together to help him, but when it came to the actual signing of the contract, they immediately resumed their competition.

“Fang Dian, this is the most important part of your business empire, and Cartier can only offer so little help.”

Louis Vuitton's Asia President, Oguri Tō, launched a scathing attack on the other side.

“Dear SR, Cartier has never had a global ambassador before. If you are willing, you will be the first. We will give you unprecedented treatment.”

Cartier's Executive Vice President, Hina, was making outrageous promises.

In fact, the endorsement fees offered by the two companies are about the same, $300 million per year, with a maximum of less than $350 million.

Luxury brands are known for their high-end image and relatively low price because they can help celebrities gain fame.

Moreover, we are now in an era of "long-term muse relationships" and "single-season advertising," and high-end luxury brands do not have standardized global ambassador contracts.

The system of celebrity endorsement titles that would be common in later generations—from brand ambassador to brand friend, to regional spokesperson, to single-line global spokesperson, and finally to global brand spokesperson—did not exist at this time.

For example, this year, LV's latest global store billboards feature a photo of tennis stars Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf sitting on an LV suitcase.

However, this couple are not LV brand ambassadors; they are only celebrities who collaborate on a single season's advertising campaign.

For example, Cartier has been using supermodels like Naomi Campbell and Gisele Bündchen in recent years, but they are not brand ambassadors; rather, they are long-term muses.

Oguri Tō pointed to the large photo above the flagship store and said emotionally, "As long as you are willing to sign a contract, you will be the protagonist of every special advertisement for the next three years!"

Fang Xinghe wore LV's off-season haute couture at the talent show and made it look like he was the most stylish person in the world. Even without considering his fame and influence, LV still decided to make an exception based solely on his sense of fashion and how well he suited the look.

But Fang Xinghe wanted more than that.

Based on the principles of maturity established by later generations, he put forward five requirements.

First, the "Global Ambassador" status must be officially announced in the advertisement, using the formal term "Global Ambassador" in English.

Second, billboards in stores worldwide must use advertising videos and photos approved by Fang Xinghe.

Third, all kinds of big shows, events, and banquets clearly define Fang Xinghe's identity as the spokesperson and give him the highest level of courtesy—even if a prince or president goes to a show, the level of hospitality must be ranked after mine.

Fourth, there are as many as 200 detailed rules for cooperation, including prohibitions on promotion, such as not using Fang Xinghe's autograph as a gift to induce fans to make purchases, and not building a customer base for LV stores in Fang Xinghe's name, etc.

Fifth, disclaimers.

One of the clauses is: if anything happens that hurts the feelings of the Chinese people, the contract will be terminated unconditionally, and reputational damages will be paid according to the severity of the incident.

This is an unprecedented inverted endorsement contract.

In my previous life, before 2010, no luxury brand had ever offered similar treatment, not even Hollywood stars had received it.

In China, the first male and female celebrities to receive similar conditions were Xia Ge and Fei Xian, respectively. The conditions that Qianqian received from LV were still due to the strong influence of the brand.

It was only 2001, and the Chinese market was nothing at all.

Therefore, LV and Cartier firmly refused, even though they were vying for it one moment and then shook their heads in disapproval the next.

"Impossible! Fang, this is absolutely impossible!"

"OK." Fang Xinghe nodded. "Then, that's enough."

He terminated the negotiations for the second time.

By this point, the high-end luxury brand and Fang Xinghe had been in contact for a year and had reached a consensus on many issues, but were stuck at the last hurdle.

This final point of disagreement is something Fang Xinghe cannot overcome given his current influence.

The arrogance of high-end luxury brands prevents them from accepting a celebrity who surpasses them; this is a fundamental issue, a clash of business philosophies.

Fang Xinghe still has a long way to go to become the world's first "global ambassador for a high-end luxury brand strategy".

But he had to do it; he couldn't back down, because high-end luxury is the crown jewel of the endorsement world, the shortcut that determines whether he can stand at the top of the fashion industry.

The fashion world raved about him, yet remained reserved, waiting for him to pledge his allegiance.

Chinese people have to actively curry favor with the West in order to be accepted by the mainstream fashion industry in Europe and America.

This is not okay.

But Asia really doesn't have a voice in fashion, and China even less so; they're both weaklings that don't even rank among the top in Asia.

Why not just ignore the fashion industry and give up any say in fashion?

No, that would be tantamount to watching the entire Chinese fashion industry frantically pander to Europe and America, distorting the aesthetics of the Chinese people, and acting as traitors.

Moreover, the lack of fashion authority means it is difficult to resist the visual stage and idol dramas of the Korean wave, and even more difficult to resist the fashion bullying from Europe and America.

In the next decade or so, China will face significant challenges in the arts and culture arena.

In the music industry, Chinese pop isn't the most awesome; Korean pop is. If you remove covers, only Jay Chou can hold his own.

In the realm of idol dramas, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan have repeatedly dominated mainland China, making it difficult for them to withstand even a little bit of pressure.

In the film industry, it goes without saying that Hollywood blockbusters only gradually faded into the background twenty years later, and the path of exporting domestic films overseas has never been successful. Even Nezha only managed to pry open a small crack.

Fang Xinghe couldn't stand this situation; he was unwilling to accept it.

Some things are hard to achieve even with a cheat code, so start with what you can do, take it one step at a time, and get through it all by sheer willpower.

Setting a fashion benchmark and regaining some of the discourse power in fashion is precisely such a step.

With time running out and the task at hand, he had to tame high-end luxury brands and then use them to launch his subsequent campaign.

Making money is never the goal, but merely a means.

The sales figures of his photobook conceal his unspoken ambitions and shrewd tactics.

On July 15th, the day of the final battle in the Japanese region, a huge billboard was erected above the Tokyo Budokan.

Fang Xinghe

[Shengdang Mad Song]

【live to sing in ecstasy! 】

(End of this chapter)