Chapter 118: Clever Strategies in the Shadows
by xennovelXu Chen stood up alone and walked over to the two foreigners.
And they were both executives from Shengshi Great Wall…
Fang Jun had no idea what Xu Chen was up to and didn’t dare follow right away.
She glanced back discreetly and saw Xu Chen had already reached the two foreigners.
Xu Chen spoke in English, his words too faint to catch, mixing in some Chinese here and there.
Then Fang Jun watched as Xu Chen pulled out his phone, opened the camera, and seemed to snap photos and videos of the two foreigners.
After taking the photos and videos, Xu Chen chatted with them, laughing and joking.
Before long, a colleague of the two foreigners approached and handed them each a cup of coffee.
Everyone got up, and the two foreigners followed the other three out of the coffee shop.
Xu Chen said goodbye to them, thanking them in both English and Chinese.
…
Xu Chen returned to the table, looking smug, and picked up his flower tea for a sip.
Fang Jun couldn’t hold back her curiosity:
“What did you just do?”
Xu Chen chuckled and pulled out his phone, opening the two videos to show Fang Jun.
On the Nokia N70 screen, the blonde foreign woman appeared.
She smiled at the camera and said in a heavy accent:
“XI XI GengJianKang~”
In the other video, the foreign man did the same, speaking into the screen.
Fang Jun paused, then frowned in thought.
She had seen Xu Chen’s proposal PPT yesterday and remembered that slogan.
“Wash Well for Health…”
She widened her single-lidded eyes, looking incredulous as she said:
“You got those two foreigners to record your ad slogan?!”
Xu Chen laughed.
Fang Jun: “But they’re here to compete too, right? Part of the pitch battle against us…
Why would they help you record an ad slogan?”
Xu Chen smiled and lowered his voice:
“Foreigners aren’t always that sharp…
They didn’t realize I was recording an ad slogan for them.”
Fang Jun: “So what did you tell them to get them to say ‘Wash Well for Health’?”
Xu Chen:
“I told them I’m a high school senior in Shanghai, about to graduate, and we’re preparing for the graduation ceremony.
Each class needs to make a ‘thank you to our teacher’ video.
My teacher’s name is Geng Jiankang.
The students in my class have to get a hundred people—men and women, old and young, Chinese and foreigners…
To say 【Thank you Geng Jiankang】 into the camera.
We’ll edit all those thanks into one video and play it for the whole school at the ceremony.”
Fang Jun listened in silence, her mouth hanging open in surprise.
Xu Chen: “Foreigners all have accents anyway…
So when they say 【Thank you Geng Jiankang】, it sounds pretty much like 【Wash Well for Health】!”
Fang Jun swallowed hard, looking totally baffled.
Her single-lidded eyes were filled with huge confusion.
“You can pull something like that?”
Xu Chen burst out laughing:
“Those two foreign friends almost teared up when they heard about the video for my teacher!
They said my idea was so heartfelt and creative.
They figured Teacher ‘Geng Jiankang’ would be touched when she sees it!
If they weren’t rushing to their pitch, they might’ve called more people right then to help record.”
Fang Jun took a big gulp of her coffee and shook her head, saying:
“Is this what a pitch battle is…”
Xu Chen laughed again, getting a bit cocky.
A pitch battle was like any business war.
Straightforward and raw.
Fang Jun: “So how are you going to use these two videos? Put them in the proposal?”
Xu Chen frowned in thought:
“That’s a good question…”
In his past life, he’d seen many Fuyan Jie ads, each hitting different angles and strategies.
One used foreigners saying ‘I use Fuyan Jie too’ and ‘Wash Well for Health’.
But in Xu Chen’s current proposal, it wasn’t the main strategy.
From a promotion standpoint, ‘Foreigners use Fuyan Jie’ was for the second phase.
The first phase just needed to push ‘Wash Well for Health’.
So he had to think carefully about how to incorporate these clips.
…
…
Around 10:45, another small team of three entered the lobby.
They didn’t linger and headed straight for the elevators.
Fang Jun glanced up, recalling yesterday’s schedule with Gu Xinxi, and said:
“Is that Meigao Creative’s team?”
Xu Chen nodded…
A little later, a group came out from the elevators.
It was the early morning Shengshi Great Wall pitch team, including those two foreign friends.
They chatted in English, laughing as they walked out.
Fang Jun said: “They look like their pitch went well…”
Xu Chen pondered and replied:
“Not a big threat. Aside from Renhe Group’s boss favoring foreign ideas, I worry least about Shengshi Great Wall.
Foreign 4A agencies do creative work like Hollywood makes movies—with fixed formulas.
And those formulas don’t suit many domestic products or consumers.
For something like Fuyan Jie, they won’t come up with a solid plan.
The client’s boss might favor foreign stuff, but they’re not idiots.
They have to answer for sales, so they won’t pick that creative direction.”
Fang Jun: “Are you that sure?”
Xu Chen: “Sometimes, you can guess the style of a proposal just by looking at the presenters’ appearance and clothes.
Those folks are so ‘Westernized’—their ideas won’t connect with everyday people.
Products like Fuyan Jie need down-to-earth ads to sell; anything else won’t move merchandise!”
Fang Jun stayed quiet, feeling like Xu Chen’s words had her hooked.
Around noon, a crowd poured out of the elevators for lunch.
Xu Chen and Fang Jun still sat in the coffee shop, watching the elevators.
Soon, three people emerged together—it was Meigao Creative’s pitch team.
There was a refined middle-aged man with a young man and a young woman.
Fang Jun said: “From their expressions, their pitch didn’t go well…”
The three wore furrowed brows, looking like they’d just taken a hit.
They didn’t stop in the lobby and headed straight outside, but paused there.
The young man pulled out cigarettes and lit one for the refined middle-aged leader.
They stood outside smoking and talking.
Xu Chen said:
“I’ll go eavesdrop—might pick up something useful…”
Fang Jun felt a bit speechless, but also found it amusing.