My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 897 Do you still remember the ten-year promise?
You Qili was like an army of peasant uprisings.

He has the ability to instigate and organize uprisings, and to succeed by seizing a weak link.

However, they can never establish a base to expand their scale, and always just strike once and then wander around.

Chiang Kai-shek didn't even need to organize several encirclements; his own forces were enough to wear him down.

Wei Dong, however, recruited people from universities, essentially setting up a recruitment department next to the Whampoa Military Academy.

Then, steadily and surely, establish a base and conquer the world.

The main force consisted entirely of college students, and the highly prestigious college graduates of the 1980s had already recruited the most capable young people with the best learning and thinking abilities.

Now, when I hear Wei Dong talk about his ideas for promoting the basketball industry, I can draw inferences from his ideas and apply them to my own work in the region!
"Back when we were developing the university market, selling cameras and sanitary napkins, we used the basketball court as a marketing tactic. Why can't we expand on that now?"

What Wei Dong displayed at this moment was domineering presence.

This pioneering spirit of "I can do what others cannot" is not even a matter of divine insight; it is simply the confidence that, after several years of success, has propelled my skills to the level befitting a lord.

"Initially, we simply rented ordinary dock warehouses to use as basketball courts, attracting young people from all over Hong Kong. Local amateur teams from various districts signed up to play in competitions, with prize money ranging from several thousand to ten thousand Hong Kong dollars per week. This quickly attracted young people from all over Hong Kong, drawing media attention and generating buzz. Eventually, we partnered with real estate developers to build basketball courts worth hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars and commercial centers worth tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars. Compared to the appreciation of the real estate and the influx of people into the commercial center, the initial investment was a huge profit. So, what can you learn from this case?"

They really taught us step by step: "There's no room for real estate speculation in the mainland, and there aren't as many newspapers, magazines, or TV stations reporting on it, so don't just copy it blindly. But if we could organize some competitions in local middle schools, universities, government agencies, and enterprises, and use our products as prizes, wouldn't that effectively expand our brand influence?"

This is actually a common practice for many products such as cola, sports drinks, and youth apparel: "Even without real estate involvement, our basketball court at the pier in Hong Kong has gathered more than a dozen sports brands, forming a night market for young consumers. If we can operate our company as a gathering place for local fashion, trend, entertainment, and hobbies, wouldn't that make sales twice as effective?"

This is a marketing-driven approach that transcends the ten-year timeframe and even considers brand popularity promotion models thirty years from now.

But someone on the scene immediately concluded: "If we can organize a team to play games in factories, mines, and schools for publicity, it will be easy to cause a sensation. Some counties only have basketball as a public entertainment activity now, so there's plenty of room for this!"

"County government, police, and industry and commerce departments can all use basketball to build relationships! That's a great idea, boss!"

Wei Dong had to suppress his laughter and scolding, "You guys are really a bunch of clever devils!" "Uh... otherwise, how do you think I became the president of the HK Basketball Association? Of course, each region should act according to its means in terms of organizing basketball teams. I'm betting on a real estate scale of hundreds of millions or even billions. The players can be found from the undrafted talents in the NBA draft this June. In the end, these two top players led the team to win the Asian Championship at the end of October, helping HK qualify for the Olympic basketball competition next year!"

The audience gasped again, as if a treasure trove had been opened.

Wei Dong avoided discussing whether or not he would go to the national team, and only mentioned his idea of ​​promoting the entire basketball industry: "Everyone mentions Hong Kong and thinks that things are still going on as usual. I hope that in the future, Hong Kong can become a temple that basketball fans in Asia yearn for, where they can go to the magnificent basketball arena to watch an exciting game and listen to a concert by a famous singer, bringing substantial sales profits to the basketball arena and its surrounding area. So, can you also do similar small-scale operations in various places?"

Someone has already shouted: "That's right! Let's have these sales companies in our province each set up a team and compete against each other. Winning or losing doesn't matter; what's important is finding a reason to make things exciting!"

"Haha, I just remembered the scene when the boss went to Guangzhou to organize a basketball tournament earlier this year. It's something to do! We don't need to spend money to build our own teams. Organizing a few college basketball teams to play against each other can cost very little money. The attraction and the crowds it brings are the most important things!"

Indeed, things were different at the end of 1987 compared to 1983.

With fewer restrictions on commerce, economic demand and consumer spending have surged across the country.

After the boss said that, the branch offices and sales companies across the country realized that some details and changes had been overlooked.

“In the past few months, while visiting the market, I’ve noticed that there are more clusters of basketball courts and billiards courts in counties and cities. Even simple basketball courts are surrounded by shops, but no one dares to rent them out yet. We could make use of them!”

"Basketball courts are for gathering people, so we prepare the storefront and merchandise in advance. With so many people, there will always be more sales, right?"

Honestly, Wei Dong hadn't planned to discuss the promotion of Hong Kong basketball in detail at the sales conference, as he felt the two markets were incomparable.

This could easily lead to a situation where someone tries to imitate another poorly.

But what I didn't expect was that these regional managers, who had been fighting for years, were also constantly growing.

Wei Dong essentially inspired them to think beyond simple intermediary sales and expand their thinking towards brand marketing, live-streaming sales, and trend promotion.

It doesn't even have to be limited to basketball; any local folk custom can serve as a medium.

The entire sales conference then fully activated the thinking, with each province discussing and figuring out how to apply this approach to their own sales work.

Of course, by taking advantage of discussing work strategies and development directions with the boss, quite a few guys from various places started hesitantly admitting their mistakes and tampering with things to Wei Dong. These days, things are generally simpler; graduating from university has essentially weeded out those born bad.

At most, it's just the euphoria that comes with sudden wealth.

Dong Xueqing used digital templates to control the accounts, which added a layer of "high-tech" guise and deterred them from falsifying information with the head office.

The problems that have been exposed are not yet serious, after all, there aren't many opportunities for corruption and high consumption in various places right now.

Wei Dong kept a straight expression and adopted the demeanor of a leader to show that he was listening.

Anyway, I won't offer any advice or guidance. We're all adults. If we have faults, we'll correct them; if not, we'll strive to improve and see how things go.

However, inventory checks and investigations across the country, as well as job relocations in different locations, are imperative.

For the remaining two or three days, we were constantly receiving numerous individual reports from various departments.

It made Wei Dong look like a penitent priest.

I complained to the second child's mother later that these guys from different places were really into it!

Eating, drinking, and having fun are the focus of repentance.

Then there were quite a few people playing cards and gambling, and surprisingly, there were also two other things involved!
Of course, the proportions vary greatly, with the most serious cases, consisting of only two or three cases, concentrated in a few provinces.

So on the last day, we had no choice but to find a rural cinema near the electronics industrial park and show the film reel of "The Chess King" that Leung Ka-fai had brought himself.

Of course, what gave Wei Dong the courage to publicly screen the film was a notification from the Shanghai Municipal Government the very next day, instructing him to contact the Shanghai Film Studio to resolve the issue of "settling down" the film and release it in mainland cinemas under the name of a co-production with the Shanghai Film Studio.

Liang Jiahui immediately sent the master copy over to be printed for more copies, and also sent the videotapes to various departments for approval.

Wang Zhiwen, who was originally from Shanghai, brought several members of the film academy team to help him travel around.

So this can be considered an internal screening.

Before the movie started, Wei Dong briefly said a couple of sentences: "I went from selling cured meat with only a couple hundred dollars in my pocket to now, and it has taken me four years. The combined financial returns of everyone here are not as high as mine. I bought a seaside villa in Hong Kong worth tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars, and I also have a mansion in Los Angeles worth several million US dollars, as well as yachts and luxury cars."

The migrant workers only stayed for one day before returning to Pudong and throwing themselves back into their work.

The sales staff here were all staring wide-eyed at their boss, utterly astonished.

Wei Dong had no intention of hiding it: "The organization also asked me why I bought it. The reason is simple: the money I earn at Citibank will be taxed anyway, so I might as well spend some of it to form assets. Having luxury homes, yachts, and luxury cars in Hong Kong is the way to enter the circle of the rich and gain influence. The most important thing is that this is money I earned legally and legitimately, and how I spend it is my freedom."

The simple factory cinema was very quiet, with rows of plywood flip-up seats, terrazzo floor, and dark red curtains.

It was a cinema environment that perfectly matched the standards of cinemas across the country in the 1980s.

But then he heard a voice that seemed to belong to another era: "This is change. A few years ago, even this kind of consumer freedom or private property was not allowed. But do you think I'm addicted to these things? I organized and promoted the karaoke bar next to the hotel. Am I wasting my time on frivolous pursuits?"

"I'm not saying this to demand that you all be like me, but to offer you some lessons. Since you're already fortunate enough to be standing at the forefront of the reform wave, has such a small scene defeated your ambition to continue fighting? Has a little sensory stimulation replaced your desire to conquer cities and fight all over the world? Those who are defeated by this little material enjoyment are not worthy of being my subordinates. The key to our ten-year agreement is whether you can become the master of your desires, instead of being swept away by them like a walking corpse!"

Learning is against human nature.

Only a very small number of people can find enjoyment in learning; most people have to resist the urge to be lazy and play around in order to immerse themselves in learning.

Therefore, college students have at least been successful in controlling their desires.

But when new temptations arise, how many people can resist them?
At this time, the film "The Chess King," which was released in mainland China, seemed to be interpreting precisely Wei Dong's question.

(End of this chapter)