Chapter 387: Receiving an A-list Celebrity's Endorsement Fee!
It's over!
Things were going bad!
Mom's nerves tensed up.
Dad also could not sit idly. He rushed out and said, "Why did you bring so much? Take it back. We don't lack this type of stuff at home."
Wu Mo hurriedly said, "Uncle, this is just a token of my appreciation."
"Come in first. Come in first." Mom realized that there was no way to dodge the problem at hand. Hence, she brought him in and closed the door. Such ugly matters was not something they wanted their neighbors to hear. Old people wanted to save their face.
Zhang Ye asked in wonder. "CEO Wu, how do you know my address?"
Wu Mo said, "When I called your phone, it was switched off, so I asked my aunt, getting her to find your address through the Peking University registry."
Dad and Mom perked up their ears. See, take a look! He chased you to our house!
Zhang Ye exclaimed. "You must be busy now, why would you come all the way here?"
Wu Mo excitedly grabbed Zhang Ye's hands. As he held it, he shook it forcefully, "No matter how busy I was, I had to come! I'm here to...ask for your forgiveness!"
Ah?
Forgiveness?
Wasn't he here to demand an answer for the wrongs that had been done against him?
At this moment, Mom and Dad were dumbfounded!
"Don't say that. Don't say that." Zhang Ye was spooked as he shook his hands hurriedly.
Wu Mo refused to let his hand go and continued shaking, saying, "I was really dumb. Truly, from your fame in the advertising industry, and all the results in the past, I should never have doubted you. I even angrily called you on the phone the past few days. I even said some words out of anger today. Don't bother with the likes of me, Teacher Zhang. I'm younger than you and just started this venture. I didn't know anything, so please don't bear a grudge for the things I wrongfully said to you."
"It's not that serious." Zhang Ye said, "CEO Wu. You are too courteous. It's expected that you are worried about your company's product. Furthermore, I wasn't that confident in it either."
Wu Mo exclaimed, "No one would have expected such a miracle!"
Mom was stunned. "What are you talking about? What’s going on? Isn't that crappy commercial not okay?"
Wu Mo immediately said, "Auntie, with Brother Zhang doing it personally, how can it be not okay?! That commercial is not some crappy commercial! It's a history creating commercial! Do you know? From this afternoon, a few hours after the first airing of the advertisement, our company has constantly received phone calls from all over the country. They were about rushing us for goods. In the past, some of the supermarkets which could not sell the Brain Gold products had planned on returning it, but decided against it. Not only are they not returning it, they are bulk purchasing it. Our Brain Gold product has been selling like hotcakes since this afternoon!"
Mom said with trepidation, "Such a thing really happened? That crappy advertisement was okay? What taste do people have these days? Ah, I'm not criticizing you, Little Wu."
"It's fine, Auntie." Wu Mo laughed and said, "This time, it was all thanks to my Brother Zhang! If not for him, our company would definitely have gone bankrupt! Now, it is back from the dead! And not only is it revived, if this carries on, the sales in the future might be impossible to imagine!"
Zhang Ye said politely, "It's due to your company's products being excellent in quality."
Wu Mo disagreed. "It's not about quality and function. It's useless even if the product is useful. It's all about promotional campaigns! It's too heaven-defying!" Upon saying this, Wu Mo took out from his bag and flipped it open. He laid out a contract on the table and found a contract they had signed before. He then tore it apart in front of Zhang Ye and his parents. "Brother Zhang, tear the copy of the contract you have."
Mom said in fright, "What's this about?"
Zhang Ye did not understand either. "CEO Wu, what's the meaning of this?"
Wu Mo said, "The endorsement fee we agreed on from before was too low. It's so low that I can’t face you if i give it. We need to sign a new contract. I'll give you three million for a year's worth of endorsement and advertising fees!"
Three million?
This was clearly no longer the endorsement fee commanded by a C or D-list celebrity! This price was not at the S-list level yet, but was definitely at the price of an ordinary A-list celebrity!
Zhang Ye upheld his principles. "No way. We've already agreed on it."
Dad supported him. "Yes, we can't change things that have already been settled. This is hones..."
Mom silently kicked her husband's leg and leered at him, prohibiting from saying another word.
But Wu Mo said, "You need to sign this new contract, otherwise I won't be able to answer to my aunt. The endorsement fee that I had agreed on earlier was not a lot to start with, and I understand that you agreed to do this for me only because of my aunt. Now that the company is experiencing a turnaround, you are a main contributor of it all, and so I definitely have to compensate you the deserved amount. Ignoring anything else, just the fact that you were willing to use your endorsement fee to invest into the marketing budget alone with the option of paying you back in installments, anyone could see that you had the interests of our company at heart. This is why I have to handle this properly, because other people who do business talk contracts and money, but I'm not the same. I talk relationships." Handing him the contract. "The new contract has already been drawn up, so take a look. You have to sign it today no matter what. The endorsement fee of 3 million is written and will be paid out within a month!"
Zhang Ye did not look at the contract. He handed it back and said, "I can't sign it. Let's do it as we agreed before. My dad is right, this is the most basic trust in an agreement."
His father nodded.
His mother winked at him and said, "Son, look. Little Wu's explanation is quite...."
"Mum." Zhang Ye smiled bitterly. Just a while ago, his mother was still under the impression that he had caused their company to lose money and had scolded him, but now, when she knew that their company was making a big profit, she was becoming greedy.
Wu Mo simply said, "If you don't sign this, I won't be leaving today." Then he sat down.
Zhang Ye was almost speechless, "We're about to have dinner. CEO Wu, why don't you have some too, we can talk while we eat."
"Heh, I really haven't had anything to eat yet. This is auntie's cooking, right? It looks really delicious. It looks like I am in for a treat today." Wu Mo did not stand on ceremony and just sat down to eat.
Mom beamed, "Little Wu's mouth is so sweet. Here, have more."
Wu Mo said while he ate, "Brother Zhang, the contract I have is not for nothing too. I've added a condition behind regarding future endorsement and advertisement production, such as the change of commercial in the later half of the year? And things like next year's renewal of contract? Unless there's some mitigating circumstances, we have to renew the contract with you. Of course, this is not included in the 3 million endorsement fee for this year. If there is a need to change the commercial and your endorsement for next year, we will discuss your fees again when the time comes. It might not be 3 million if you become an A-List celebrity by next year. If it's still 3 million next year, even I wouldn't dare to give that to you no matter how thick my skin is. We will definitely need to discuss the terms again when we renegotiate the endorsement contract.”
HIs mother answered like she understood, "That is good, that is good."
His father hit the table and said, "What's so good? Just eat. Let our son decide his business matters on his own."
Zhang Ye was very practical too. If it were anyone else, he wouldn't say too much, but since Wu Mo was Wu Zeqing's nephew, Zhang Ye did not hide anything, "CEO Wu. President Wu has always treated me very well and I feel indebted to her. If there's anyone I wanted to cheat, it would not be you. We can talk about this openly. This commercial does not need to be updated or changed, even after one year or five years, you can continue using the same commercial. It will not go out of style, so don't worry. Of course I can't guarantee that you can use it forever, but in the next five years at least, there shouldn't be any problems, so there's also no need for me to give you a new advertising proposal."
Wu Mo considered for a while, "Use it indefinitely?"
"Yes, keep using it. As long as the sales do not drop significantly, keep using it until it is no longer profitable." Zhang Ye's advertising experience was actually lacking, but his advantage was the experience and knowledge from his previous world. In this, no one could possibly understand better than he could.
Wu Mo nodded, "OK, I will do as you say!"
Zhang Ye said, "Then there's no need to mention the contract anymore."
"No. If this is the case, then that is all the more reason we need to re-sign this contract. For you to tell me all that honestly, it means that you trust me and don't take me for an outsider!" Wu Mo laughed and said, "Besides, your commercial can be used forever, so how can we just pay you for one year's worth. You are gonna get me blamed by everyone. If there are any marketing strategies that we need to tweak, I will still need to seek your advice."
Zhang Ye felt that it was not a big deal, so he said, "I will advise you without a fee."
"That's not right. If you say that, I wouldn't dare to trouble you in the future." Wu turned serious and gave a smack on the contract, "You treat me as a friend and bore the brunt of the pressure and scolding for my company. I cannot stand here and do nothing. You can do whatever you want to do, but if you don't sign this contract, you are only making things difficult for me. Even if you don't sign, I will still transfer 3 million as the endorsement fee payment. If it doesn't go through with the company, I will pay you with my own money!"
Zhang Ye: "..."
His mother prodded him, "Go on and get it signed. In the future, you can suggest more ideas to Little Wu, so that he can expand his business even more."
Wu Mo said, "Auntie is right. This is what I wanted to hear. Everyone in our company is depending on Brother Zhang for more ideas for our marketing!"
Since he was like this, Zhang Ye could not say anything else, "Alright then, but the fees don't need to be paid out so soon. As the commercial has just started airing, it is still not enough. It needs to gather momentum so it would be best if you could pump more money into that area first. continue to air it on regional channels, CCTV, and so on." Not wanting to earn the money for nothing, Zhang Ye continued giving suggestions, "Nothing is considered too much in this area."
Wu Mo asked, "Even air the commercial on CCTV? Isn't that going to cost a lot?"
"If you can't bear to do that, you won't reach your objective." Zhang Ye looked at him, "If you don’t want to make Brain Gold the best selling nationwide health product of the year, you can ignore what I just said."
Wu Mo was trembling by now, "Ah? Best selling?"
Wu Mo was still overjoyed from the fact that Brain Gold had come back from the dead, but.....
Becoming the best seller?
Holy sh*t!
What about that.... there's even a chance for it to become a best seller?
They'd only been selling health products for how long now, maybe a year or two? How were they going to compete with those health supplement companies that had been on the market for more than 10 years? How could they compete with those big corporations with large sums of investment money? Wu Mo had never thought of surpassing those big brands, but, but, those were just his own thoughts, but now, Zhang Ye was telling him that he could make it a best seller?
Mom said to her son, "Don't blindly brag like this to him!"
Dad also felt that his son was talking big now. Because even now, he did not understand how that "crappy commercial" could increase sales!
Zhang Ye smiled bitterly, "Anyway, if you trust me on this, just do it according to my marketing campaign."
"Of course I will believe you!" Wu Mo clenched his teeth, "OK, I will go back and have a meeting with the shareholders. I will discuss with them about this and come up with a new plan!"
Zhang Ye's father tried to caution him, "Be careful, be careful about it!"
Wu Mo laughed, "Uncle, if Brother Zhang says so, then there’s no way it can go wrong."
Zhang Ye knew that even now, Wu Mo still had doubts. He did not believe that Brain Gold would really become a bestseller in the country, but Zhang Ye knew. At least the Brain Platinum in his world successfully been the best seller for 7-8 consecutive years. Whether this history would repeat itself in this world, Zhang Ye did not know, but based on his past experiences, the chances of it happening was very high!
Zhang Ye signed the contract.
Wu Mo also signed it.
The new contract was sealed!
His mother was beaming with joy, staring at the figure amounting to three million Yuan, smiling non-stop. She took some food and put it onto Wu Mo's bowl for him to eat.
After two random bites, Wu Mo suddenly said, "It's so delicious, thank you Auntie. I'm full now. The contract has been settled, so I won't intrude on you all any longer. I still need to rush back to the office."
Zhang Ye's mother said, "Stay a little longer."
"I really can't, Auntie." Wu Mo wiped his mouth and stood up, "There's still a lot of work to be done back at the company. Now that the sales have soared so much, I still have to head over to the production factory to supervise. There's also the sales statistics compilation that I need to do. The follow up promotions also needs to be planned out. The festive season is an important time for health products, so I really need to grasp this opportunity in the next few days. There's simply no time at all. If there's a chance in the future, I will come again to pay you and uncle a visit."
She said, "Alright then, come often whenever you have time."
Wu Mo said with a smile, "Sure, I'm sorry about today. I turned up without first informing your family. I had thought that Brother Zhang was angry with me because his cellphone was off. I felt guilty about it, so I hurried over to see if I could make it up to him. Lucky for me, Brother Zhang has a large heart and did not take it badly."
Zhang Ye was tickled, "You were thinking too much."
His mother also smiled and said, "I was the one who asked him to switch off his cellphone. He was busier than the president today, receiving calls all day. I couldn't take it anymore, so I made him switch it off. There were so many people cursing at him online, so I thought that it would be better for him not to be bothered by others. This son of mine is not so petty. There's nothing to fault with when it comes to his friends. And this is related to work, so how can he have any misgivings with you?"
When he heard her say that, Wu Mo quickly assured, "Uncle, Auntie, Brother Zhang, don't worry. When the sales figures are out, I will redress Brother Zhang's reputation. Those that scolded Brother Zhang online are just doing it for the fun. They do not understand the reality and the exact situation. This sort of godly commercial should be listed in the annals and be used as teaching material. It's just that they do not understand it!"
Zhang Ye happily said, "Go back and busy yourself, CEO Wu. There's still a lot to be done. I don't think you will be able to enjoy this Chinese New Year."
Wu Mo laughed heartily, "Even if I can't spend this Chinese New Year properly, as long as the sales can be maintained, I wouldn't mind even if I have to work for the whole year without rest!"
Wu Mo used to be one of those who had criticized the commercial before, as he did not understand the value that a crappy commercial like that had. Until today, until this moment, did he finally see and clearly understand the value of this advertisement proposal that Zhang Ye had given to him!