Rebirth is fine, but I get eight hundred dollars right from the start?

"Alright." He sat up straight and said to Zou Lin, "Use this standard to transfer the funding for the second phase to them. Let them finish the first episode first, and then send back all the video drafts for the first three episodes."

"Should we upload it directly?" Zou Lin asked proactively.

"No." Lin Shu shook his head, gently twitching his fingers twice. "No rush, let's wait a little longer."

He pointed in the direction of the training room: "Our team has finally been formed, how can we not get any attention? Let's get the team uniforms ready and the official photos taken, then we'll do it all together."

The money has already been spent, so of course we need to find a way to maximize the returns.

Lin Shu's thoughts were rather simple and direct:

The video was uploaded to various platforms, and he reposted it using his personal account—the top player in the Chinese server had that kind of traffic, and each of his hundreds of thousands of fans could generate hundreds of thousands of views with just one click.

At the same time, the news of the establishment of HWG Club was released simultaneously, along with team uniforms, official photos, and player rosters, all released at once.

The popularity of the animation boosts the esports team, and the team's popularity, in turn, supports the animation, creating a mutual flow of traffic.

Not many are needed.

If even one-tenth of the players who watched the video can remember the name "HWG", the club's first wave of attention for entering the LPL will be established.

The rest is up to the competition.

……

YY Era!

YY Headquarters Building, Live Streaming Operations Department.

Gu Feng looked at his assistant with a beaming smile. "What's wrong? Haven't you finalized the deal yet?"

"ah!!"

The moment she closed the door, Gu Xinyue once again forgot her uncle's instruction about using job titles within the company. She slumped onto the sofa and muttered two words in a sullen voice: "No!"

"They absolutely refused to agree."

"Uncle Gu, I don't understand—" She sat up straight, her brows furrowed, "Why do they refuse title sponsorships that other esports teams would kill for? They say things like 'We already have a title sponsor, we only accept regular sponsorships'—huh?"

She grew increasingly agitated, her voice rising several octaves: "Sponsoring my own Taobao store that only makes a million or two a month?"

Gu Xinyue expressed her incomprehension.

She genuinely didn't understand.

As a top student from Stanford GSB, she had analyzed hundreds of business models and memorized investment and financing cases, but she just couldn't get around this one.

A newly established small club rejected a brand sponsorship offer, saying, "We already have a sponsor."

The sponsorship was for "Esports Goodies" displayed on their own Taobao store, generating a monthly revenue of one or two million yuan. That sounds like a lot, but the profit was nowhere near the level of the sponsorship fee offered by YY.

Seeing this, Gu Feng, who was sitting in front of the computer, laughed out loud, "That can only mean that the young Emperor we signed on our platform has very high expectations."

"Xiaoyue, you're a top student who graduated from Stanford GSB." Gu Feng rubbed his neck and shoulders and said slowly, "Put aside unnecessary emotions and think it over carefully—"

"Without connections or initial capital, how long would it take you to achieve a monthly turnover of millions and a monthly income of four or five hundred thousand?"

Gu Xinyue opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything.

Having talent in a particular field is nothing special. There are plenty of talented people in China.

Gu Feng picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and hummed, "It's empty..."

"But those who possess talent, can quickly convert it into real traffic, and can successfully turn that traffic into their own advantage and further extend their monetization are few and far between."

"When a streamer can drive traffic to an online store with a monthly turnover of millions, and when WE wins the championship and Tencent announces the establishment of the LPL professional league, he can quickly realize the higher ceiling of professional competitions and take action. I am not surprised at all that such a person would refuse our title sponsorship."

Gu Xinyue was silent for a few seconds, still unwilling to give up: "But the problem is, aren't title sponsorships all about making money? We didn't ask him to change the team name. If HWG doesn't change, wouldn't he be able to reap double the profits?"

From a normal business perspective, she felt she hadn't done anything wrong. The naming rights didn't conflict, the brands didn't conflict, and they didn't even need to change the team name—Emperor should have had no reason to refuse a sponsorship fee for free.

Gu Feng didn't rush to answer.

He stood up, gestured for his niece to sit in his seat, and then slowly walked to the water dispenser to get hot water.

"Don't rush. Watch this video first, and you might find the answer."

video?

What video?

Gu Xinyue looked at the screen with a puzzled expression.

A media player window has opened on the desktop, the progress bar is stopped at the beginning, and the title reads "La La La Demacia".

"cartoon?"

"Look at the view count in the bottom right corner!"

"Wow, how much? One million seven hundred thousand?"

"Yes, it was just uploaded yesterday, along with the news of the formation of the HWG team."

"In just over ten hours, Emperor's animated video garnered millions of views and hundreds of thousands of shares and downloads. In comparison, how much attention can HWG, this new professional esports team, possibly get?"

Gu Xinyue pressed the play button.

The slogan "Demacia," so familiar to League of Legends players, instantly popped into their minds.

The opening credits are over!

The player meme is over!

Episode 1 is over!

Episode 2... Episode 3...!

Even a real-world logo that shouldn't have appeared in the animation received multiple close-up shots.

"Great Shopping!"

"HWG!"

"Great gaming gear..."

Gu Feng returned with two cups of hot water, placed one in front of her, sat back down on the sofa, and looked at her with a smile: "Have you figured it out?"

Gu Xinyue took a deep breath and slowly uttered three words: "I understand."

The reason why the Emperor would refuse their naming rights was never a matter of how much money was involved.

HWG Esports Club was never an independent money-making project from the beginning; it was the traffic foundation of the entire "Haowugou" e-commerce store in the hands of the other party.

What is the essence of title sponsorship?

Brand sponsorship is essentially "brand rental".

Sponsors pay a sum of money to turn your team name, jerseys, and all visible positions into their GG spots.

When your team plays a match, the audience sees "YY·HWG Team".

When your team members are interviewed, they should say, "Thank you YY for your support."

Every exposure you receive adds value to the sponsor's brand.

And what about your own brand?

Diluting its market share was an inevitable outcome, especially given the significant gap between a behemoth like YY and a small e-commerce store like YY.

"But the problem is, isn't it all about making money? Even if he eventually sets up his own warehousing, how much return can an e-commerce store really provide?"

"I don't understand that either. I can only say that geniuses have their own ideas."

Gu Feng shrugged. "After all, who would have thought of using animated videos to promote their new team before this?"

"The key effect... is also incredibly terrifying."

……