Hermione, join me as Minister of Magic!

And this game is too much to complain about—in the first event, the audience can barely see the performance of the warriors on the field, only the heroic appearance of Harry riding a broom cannot be appreciated by the audience.

But starting from the second project, the audience is forced to stare at a water that can't bubble up for an hour, which is a bit outrageous.

And the third project was carried out in the maze, not to mention the audience, even Dumbledore didn't know what happened inside, no wonder no one knew that the Goblet of Fire was replaced by a Portkey.

Lockhart doesn't know which genius designed this kind of game. Maybe Ludo Bagman's brain full of gambling only considered how to facilitate his black-box operations, so he didn't think about the game from the beginning to the end. Ornamental issues.

Lockhart believes that the idea of ​​​​fighting fire dragons and underwater competitions is worth learning, but he cannot allow the audience to face the air 0B all the way, which is not in the long-term interest.

In his plan, the five-wizard competition is divided into welcome ceremony, opening ceremony and warrior selection, opening match, Quidditch friendly exchange charity competition, second event, Christmas ball, third event, skiing exchange competition , the fourth project, the Easter entertainment, the finals and the closing ceremony, these projects can fill up the Warriors' itinerary from October to June next year.

For a large-scale event, the popularity of its activities must be maintained by constant exposure. Otherwise, in terms of human memory, after the novelty passes, the heat may fade faster than it sweeps in.

Like the original work, the difference between the two projects is 4 months, which is simply the rhythm of fearing that it will not be cool.

It's not that Jones doesn't know this truth, but the reason why she hesitated just now is because holding so many activities requires money.

But Lockhart answered her question—the sponsors weren't worried about him at all.

They spend too much money, and they only worry about too few projects, which leads to the event's lack of enthusiasm in the end.

Enough, and business activities on the Muggle side have long proved this.

"It's really unimaginable that someone would spend so much money on advertising." Jones sighed, even if the Uyemen didn't spend this money, they were already well-known. "

"You are wrong, Jones." Lockhart is familiar with this, "These businessmen are eager to spend this money, to them, this is not money

"What else could it be called spending money?" Jones thought he was joking.

"It's called saving money." Lockhart didn't seem to be joking at all, "Muggles realized the role of advertising and the essence of wealth earlier than us, so they can figure out a truth- That is, spending money to advertise a brand is not consuming at all, but saving money.”

If Jones could understand the first half of the sentence, she couldn't understand the second half.

Seeing that she didn't understand, it was difficult for Lockhart to explain. This was not only because she was specialized in surgery, she might not understand it, but more importantly, even if he explained it clearly, the other party might not be interested.

Wealth can be gold, but it can also be real estate, stocks, factories and connections, all of which can be understood, but these are all tangible.

But advertising is very special, because it does not exist as an entity, but an "influence" relative to people, or an impression or neurotransmitter in the brain.

But these virtual things are also wealth, because all wealth is relative to people.

Only when people think that something is valuable, it is really valuable; only when people think that something is wealth, it is really wealth.

So, how can more people think that their products are valuable?

— A bottle of Coca-Cola, just a little leaf extract, plus sugar, soda, and coloring, it can sell for several dollars, but in fact, if you only look at the raw materials

In other words, it is only worth a few cents.

Similarly, a bottle of "fruit flavored dairy products", the thickener, essence, coloring, and emulsifier in it together cost less than [-] cents, but it costs more than [-] yuan for consumption in supermarkets.

Another example is diamonds. This kind of stuff that is neither scarce nor has a special crystal structure can be sold so expensive. It can only be said that everyone who has participated in marketing is responsible.

Why are they so expensive?Isn't it because advertisements have an impact on people, making people "anchor" the value of this thing in their minds?

In other words, for a large company, the money spent on advertising is not called spending money, it can only be regarded as storing spare funds in another place.The money spent has become an "impression" in the minds of his target customer group, and it also belongs to the company's assets, and it is also a core asset.

This is why Coca-Cola is not afraid of the factory being burned-the real value of their brand lies not in this, but in the so many stars who compete with Pepsi every year

As long as these stars are not dead, the money they spend on advertising is actually stored in the brains of the star fan base.

Small and medium-sized merchants in the wizarding world may still be ignorant of this concept, but international chain stores like Fengya wizarding dresses are undoubtedly aware of it, so they pay so happily.

As a traditional wizard, Haisijia Jones may not be aware of this problem for the time being.However, Lockhart is going to find an opportunity to let the wizards learn what business and social thinking is after he is ready to take over.

Chapter 270 IX

The belatedness of Ministry officials has been a boon to Lockhart, as they are generally inexperienced, so now Lockhart can do whatever he wants.

The news of the Big Five Tournament has already spread in the wizarding world. Not only the wizarding media at home and abroad have followed up on this hot spot, but even the sponsors' stores have begun to hang promotional posters for the Big Five Tournament.

It is a good thing that there are many stakeholders involved. All participants will help you promote this event spontaneously, because the hotter the event, the more famous their products will be

Lockhart felt that it might be right to keep news of the schedule a secret, since wizards had already begun to speculate in their own way about the players, the events of the tournament, and who the eventual champion would be.

"Hogwarts champions win at three to one; Durmstrang wins at four to one; Beauxbatons and Ilvermorny are at six to one, and Waggadu is at eight to one...everyone Do you look down on Africans so much?"

He just glanced at it and threw the newspaper with the odds aside, and decided to ignore it for the time being. Before the Warriors were selected, the odds had no reference.

He had more important things to do now—before the people from those schools arrived at Hogwarts, he had to deal with the private affairs entrusted to him by the Prime Minister.

The recent news of the sudden recruitment by the Extraordinary Pharmacist Association caused a small earthquake in the wizarding world.

After all, the job market is so big, it is a big deal for them to suddenly recruit dozens of people as apprentices.

But the point is that there are not so many suitable people, especially fresh graduates from Hogwarts

Shengsheng, the number is really too small.

Although the "NEWTs" exam for the seventh grade was held in June, logically speaking, there should be no shortage of recruits, but Extraordinary Pharmacist ^] will recruit apprentices this time, so these people don't need to live in the vegetable garden." , you only need to get the Potions class "Writing the Eagle" is enough.

If students who have passed the owl still can't make hair growth potions, it can only be said that there is indeed a problem with Hogwarts education.

But the problem is that these students who don't need to take the "butterfly money" have all found a job before March without exception, and there are very few students who wait until the final test results come out to start looking for a job.

For this reason, Mr. Granger had to let go of the criteria for selecting candidates, and selected candidates from previous graduates. He even hired the retired old slug Slughorn as a supervisor, and managed to get enough to start working. number of people.

Seeing that it was so difficult for him to even recruit production workers, Lockhart took advantage of the opportunity and proposed to change all the packaging glass bottles and paper labels of the tonic potion to "import" from Muggles.

Of course, Mr. Granger could only agree. Not only was the cost of using a crystal bottle too high, but the wizarding world simply didn't have the ability to produce [-] crystal bottles a week. Being able to outsource it to Muggles would save him a lot of trouble.

Although the shelf life of the potion will be greatly reduced after being bottled in a glass bottle, considering that the Muggles who buy it may not wait until the shelf life expires before using it up, so it doesn't matter, as long as the label says that the shelf life is only one month.

Then, Lockhart came to London with the first batch of hair growth spirits produced by them: and met the royal family's butler under the introduction of Major.

As a steward, of course he must strictly scrutinize all things that try to get close to the royal family, even if there is an introduction from the prime minister.

Fortunately, in order not to embarrass the masters he served, the old butler also

He also went bald early, so the first test product of this medicine was the butler himself

In order to obtain the license as soon as possible, the potion given to him by Lockhart was only diluted by one-third.

The butler dubiously took the medicine produced by the "Extraordinary Pharmaceutical Company" that he had never heard of before, and then asked Lockhart to wait in London for three days.

Three days later, when Lockhart saw the butler again, he was already waiting for him with a happy face and curly gray hair.

"It's amazing. I cut a part of it in the morning, but it grew back in the evening... It's like magic!"

"Of course." Major flattered, "Mr. Granger of the Association of Extraordinary Pharmacists has been immersed in the field of human biology for many years. He is a rare expert in pharmacology. The University of Manchester is planning to award him an honorary professor degree." It's..."

The butler didn't care much about Major's bragging, he just wanted to complete his task as soon as possible.

He turned to Lockhart, and his tone was a little more earnest and less domineering:

"Your highnesses are very satisfied with the effect of this potion. I hope you can provide a batch of medicine as soon as possible out of respect for the royal family. Your highness has already promised that he is willing to give you a suitable reward for this..."

"Remuneration?" Lockhart pretended to be surprised, "Why do you think we are such shameless people? The honor of serving the royal family is already our greatest reward."

The butler raised his eyebrows, noncommittal to Lockhart's words.

It's not that he doesn't know that the royal family has long been reduced to a kind of mascot in the UK, and he absolutely doesn't believe in paying homage.

Even if it was His Royal Highness, didn't a bunch of officers run over to kick his ass when he was serving in the military?

So the old butler straightened his hair, which had grown a little longer in just a few minutes, and said solemnly: "You don't have to refuse like this, no matter what kind of compensation you want, it is not good for the royal family." What is it, but the principle of 'reward for meritorious service' is more important to the royal family, we will not lose this glorious tradition for any petty gain... I hope you can understand."

"Understandable." Lockhart said hastily, "but we really only have one request—I mean, let the world know that we have also served the royal family."

The old butler finally understood what Lockhart meant: "You mean... publicity in the name of the royal family?"

"Yes." Lockhart confirmed his statement.

"Since this is the case, I think you must also know that there are currently 800 royal licensed brands in Great Britain, and all royal licensed brands are members of the 'Royal Licensed Owners Association'.

If you want "Extraordinary Pharmacy" to become an authorized brand, I am willing to write a letter of recommendation to the association for you. However, only the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales or Her Majesty the Queen are eligible to issue a letter of appointment. About this... I don’t know you Are you 'ready'?"

After saying the word "preparation", the housekeeper rubbed his white-gloved fingers lightly, as if implying something.

"I know the rules..." Lockhart tried to keep smiling, "I'll get a lawyer to sign an endorsement...ah no, a power of attorney."

"Very good." The old butler seemed very satisfied, "One more thing, the authorization from the royal family is only valid for five years, and it needs to be re-examined after five years."

Lockhart tried his best to resist the urge to pluck all that white hair off, and sent the butler away with Major.

What's more, it is worthy of the British royal family, and the ability to pluck the wild goose's hair is not much worse than it was hundreds of years ago.Queen Elizabeth II is also worthy of the name. Compared with Queen I, the policies are indeed in the same line.

Lockhart felt like those pirates in the time of great voyages. No matter if you robbed goods from Spain or Holland, you would eventually give a share to the Queen.

Never mind though, the wool comes from the sheep anyway, and British Muggle consumers will pay for it.

Lockhart wants to tie the Extraordinary Apothecary Association to his warship, then he must show his strength, and if he wants to show this kind of strength, he can add a ^RyalJ to the label, which is undoubtedly the best good proof.

As for the money... it's all outside the body.Lockhart's heart was bleeding.

So Lockhart found a lawyer, brought the medicine and the license plate obtained by the Prime Minister's secretary, and found the door again, and got the authorization document issued by Charles himself.

After finishing all these, "Extraordinary Potion" can finally be sold legally.

It has to be said that the face of the royal family is still easy to use. After Lockhart showed the royal authorization certificate, the managers of United Boots, TLC and other chain pharmacies not only agreed to sell this hair growth agent in their own pharmacies: they were even willing to sell it in their own pharmacies. Provide certain promotional window resources in the pharmacy.

It’s just that they expressed dissatisfaction with Lockhart’s pricing—they thought that if Lockhart’s products were really as miraculous as they said, and could turn a bald man’s head into a waterfall within a week, then Pricing should definitely not be £5.

"You can only supply 3000 bottles a week, that is to say, only 4 men can enjoy the treatment of this drug every week. But there are more than 20 million men in the UK, and the baldness rate is close to [-]%. In this case, you can consider setting the price at [-] pounds." That's what the other manager said.

Lockhart hesitated: "Will no one buy it because it's too expensive?"

"No, no, on the contrary, if it is only sold for 5 pounds, then no one will dare to buy it," the managers vowed.

Therefore, Lockhart set the selling price of the medicine at 20 pounds, and the wholesale price at 10 pounds, leaving enough profit margin for the pharmacy.

Drugstores are of course overjoyed—they also sell things, of course they like to sell best-selling products that don’t take up inventory and high-margin luxury goods, and this hair growth potion takes up both.

Therefore, they promised in front of Lockhart that they would definitely give him the best publicity resources, and at the same time, before the sales data of the first week came out, they had already started to urge Lockhart to make up for the second week goods.

Lockhart secretly inquired, and found that all the pharmacies in London had sold out of the hair tonic produced by Extraordinary Pharmacy.

In other words, a bottle of hair tonic that had been diluted several times, and the cost of the medicinal materials was almost less than one Sickle, sold for nearly 1.5 Galleons in Lockhart's hands.Even after excluding the authorization fee to the royal family and the tax to be paid by the Muggles, Lockhart can still get 1 Galleon from it.

According to his agreement with Granger, he only needs to pay Granger the price of 8 silver Sickles for a bottle. If all these medicines can be sold, Lockhart can earn 5 Galleons a week. , and the same goes for the Association of Extraordinary Pharmacists.

Lockhart didn't intend to make a lot of money from it, but the situation is better than he imagined, and the supply is still in short supply for a bottle of 20 pounds, so he has no choice but to "take the money".

He didn't immediately tell the Pharmacists' Association what he had calculated. Instead, he called Granger out after the next week's shipment was out of the factory, and showed him the bank's remittance certificate.

As one could imagine, Granger was completely insane.

"All sold?" he asked.

"It's all sold out." Luoha^[Si nodded.

Granger first slapped himself, then smashed everything he could see in the room in front of Lockhart, then took out his wand and began to bleed himself.

Lockhart had to use a Binding Charm to tie him firmly to the floor before he did any more stupid things, just to keep him a little quieter.

Granger was lying on the dusty ground, but his face was still filled with a smirk: the words "satisfied" were written between his eyebrows, and he was still talking nonsense

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:oo I'm going to buy 10 Sorcerer's Stones, 5 for potions, and 5 to attach to my new car and turn everything I can see into gold! "

Lockhart didn't bother to say to him: "Okay...but before that, shouldn't you think of a way to expand the production capacity of the tonic?"

The question was so down-to-earth that Mr. Granger took it to heart at once.

"You're right, I want to call people from the association to a meeting... Tens of thousands of Galleons a week... They will all go crazy."

As soon as Mr. Granger said that, he went to write a letter, preparing to send an owl. I believe that with such a huge dividend figure, all potion apothecaries will not be tempted.

—The profit of tens of thousands of Galleons a week is more than 200 million Galleons a year; more than 1000 million pounds, which is considered the profit of a large enterprise even on the Muggle side.And in the wizarding world; this amount of money is already enough to turn the Extraordinary Apothecaries Society into a big fight: it has become a behemoth far exceeding the size of several broomstick manufacturers, and even the Ministry of Magic may not be richer than them.

Lockhart could already imagine what kind of earthquake this would cause in the wizarding world

To put it bluntly, what did the Association of Extraordinary Pharmacists do in this matter?What they paid was the raw materials for potions that couldn't be cheaper, hair growth spirits that even first-year students could make, and recruited a few potion apprentices. There was no threshold at all.

Will anyone be jealous?

There will definitely be, not only those shabby households, in the face of such profits, even those few purebloods that are still bright will not be able to control themselves.

Will someone interfere?