Chapter 248: Creative Hub Strategies

Tonghai Creative Design Building.

The office was mostly set up, with a few appliances like the water dispenser. We could wrap it up today and head out.

Fang Jun had taken Zhao Feng and Fang Tao downstairs for lunch, leaving Xu Chen alone in the office.

In the reception area’s seating, they’d already placed a standing refrigerator.

Fang Jun knew Xu Chen liked keeping fruit in the office, so he had one installed right away.

Opening the fridge door, Xu Chen saw it packed with grapes, apples, oranges, and some of his favorite soda water.

Fang Jun might look stern and aloof on the surface, but he was actually quite thoughtful.

Xu Chen walked over to the ‘General Manager’s Office’ for a quick look; the desks, chairs, and cabinets weren’t fully assembled yet—Fang Jun was probably still handling that.

With Fang Jun’s deep family background, it felt a bit uneasy having her deal with all this.

Luckily, she seemed to enjoy it, so Xu Chen decided not to worry.

Xu Chen thought about buying a fold-out bed to keep here; if the dorm got too noisy, sleeping in the office wouldn’t be bad.

He grabbed a can of soda water, found a spacious workstation, sat down, and plugged in his computer to pass the time.

…

A little later, his phone buzzed—it was a message from Chen Xinyi.

Xu Chen got up and went out to meet her.

As he stepped out, he heard the click of high heels and looked up to see two people walking from the elevator area.

It was Nie Fei and Chen Xinyi.

Nie Fei still carried that powerful aura of a business elite.

Her neat short hair, refined makeup, and tailored suit highlighted her striking figure.

With a high-bridged nose, red lips, and a long, fair neck, she wore platinum earrings that dangled elegantly.

Xu Chen couldn’t help thinking that a woman like ‘Fei Jie’ thrived in the corporate world for good reason.

Her image, charisma, skills, emotional intelligence, expertise, and dedication were all top-notch.

“Congratulations, Teacher Xu Chen!” Nie Fei called out with a smile from afar.

“Welcome, Fei Jie, to guide us!” Xu Chen replied with a smile.

Xu Chen led them into the office and gave them a quick tour.

“It’s not fully arranged yet, so it’s a bit messy,” Xu Chen said with a laugh.

Nie Fei, with her high emotional intelligence, sincerely praised the office layout and setup.

“I’m really envious of you, Teacher Xu Chen—such a young talent.”

Xu Chen smiled and guided them to the rest area’s sofa, then fetched two bottles of soda water from the fridge and handed them over.

Nie Fei took the soda water and continued:

“I heard from Xinyi the other day that you did the ad for Shenbao—it’s quite surprising.

That ad’s influence has grown, and it’s buzzing in marketing circles…”

Xu Chen didn’t play modest; he just smiled and said:

“Actually, I have another pharmaceutical project lined up; it’s set to launch this month and will be even more catchy than Shenbao’s.”

“I’m looking forward to that…”

Nie Fei showed a touch of sentiment:

“When we first did the Wang Laoshun ad contest and met you in Tiancheng, seeing how young you were, I thought it was just luck that you came up with a good slogan…

But now, I see I underestimated you, Teacher Xu Chen!”

Xu Chen laughed, thinking to himself that Fei Jie’s emotional intelligence was impressive—she knew just what to say to make people feel good.

After some small talk, Chen Xinyi pulled out two authorization documents from her bag.

Xu Chen took them and glanced over; they were the entry forms for the ‘Great Wall Advertising Award’ and the ‘Effie Award’.

The brand owner was Jiaduobao Group, the ad creator was East Morning Star Advertising, and the creative director was Xu Chen…

“With my years in marketing, based on Wang Laoshun’s current promotion results, winning a gold, silver, or bronze shouldn’t be a problem,” Nie Fei said.

Xu Chen nodded and signed his name on the authorization documents.

“I heard from Xinyi that our premium water project is moving forward?” Xu Chen asked.

“That’s why I wanted to meet you today—to discuss this project.

We’ve selected the water source and the factory is under construction; we expect the product to launch by year’s end.

We’re working on the launch plan now, so if East Morning Star Advertising has time, you can join in.”

Xu Chen nodded with a smile, waiting for her to go on.

Nie Fei glanced at Chen Xinyi beside her:

“Xinyi, update Teacher Xu Chen on the progress.”

Chen Xinyi acknowledged and pulled out her laptop from her backpack, opening some documents to give a brief overview.

Everything matched what Xu Chen had anticipated; Nie Fei had adopted his initial suggestions for a ‘premium mineral water’ concept and convinced the company executives.

Jiaduobao’s product development team scouted water sources nationwide and settled on one from the Northwest Plateau’s snow mountains.

They built a factory at 4,000 meters elevation with German equipment to create a top-tier domestic mineral water brand.

After Chen Xinyi’s summary, Nie Fei added:

“The urgent parts are the product name, slogan, and endorser.

Then we’ll handle the video and print ad plans.

I’m here to discuss the needs for product name, slogan, and endorser with East Morning Star.”

Xu Chen nodded; he already had solid ideas for these.

But he didn’t plan to reveal them right away.

“Selling ideas” required strategy; sometimes you had to hold back.

It was best to let things simmer so they seemed well-thought-out…

Of course, since it involved business, he’d need to check their offer first.

Nie Fei smiled and said:

“The Wang Laoshun project was a hit, so the company leaders are eager for East Morning Star’s ideas.

The product marketing strategy—covering name, slogan, and endorser suggestions—has a budget of 1.5 million.

If East Morning Star joins, you’ll get 500,000 just for participating, regardless of adoption.

If we use your plan, we’ll pay the full 1.5 million.”

She paused, then continued:

“Teacher Xu Chen, you’re involved in other ads, so you get it…

Normally, projects like this go through pitches.

But thanks to our Wang Laoshun collaboration, we’re reserving that 500,000 for East Morning Star.”

Xu Chen nodded with a smile:

“I understand, thanks a lot, Fei Jie.

East Morning Star is happy to join.”

From his past experience in advertising, Xu Chen knew Nie Fei wasn’t exaggerating.

A 1.5 million budget with a guaranteed 500,000 was generous for 2006, especially just for strategy.

And that guaranteed fee was rare.

Xu Chen knew the perfect name and slogan; he could reverse-engineer the strategy and pitch it.

His only concern was that a common term like ‘Kunlun Mountain’ was probably trademarked already.

Jiaduobao would need extra for that, which meant convincing them to add budget.

In his previous life, they had bought it, so it was doable, but he’d have to argue his case.

Still, it would take some effort.

Nie Fei went on:

“We’re still debating if we need an endorser.

East Morning Star can suggest one and tie it into the name and slogan.

We’ve discussed it internally, but haven’t found the right domestic star yet.”

“That’s fine; I’ll put together a full plan and present it later,” Xu Chen said.

His choice was Xie Bingran, of course.

This project was meant for her from the start.

It seemed straightforward to include her in the plan.

The only issue was her current fame from a national win might not give much leverage.

From Xu Chen’s view, he wanted to negotiate a better endorsement fee for her.

Luckily, an East Asia international competition in mid-September could boost her profile.

“Any timeline for the plan? Does the brand have preferences?” Xu Chen asked.

“The sooner, the better.

The factory’s building, and water production is simple; once it’s done, we can start.

We’re handling permits and approvals; they’ll all be in place this month.

Our distribution channels and sales team are reusing Wang Laoshun’s, so no extra setup needed.

We hope to get the plan by mid-September; if that’s too tight, end of September might work.”

For Xu Chen, he could prep a PPT today and present tomorrow since he had it all figured out.

But he’d drag it out a bit to make the pitch smoother.

He also needed to refine his wording.

Besides polishing the strategy, he’d have to carefully position Xie Bingran to seal the deal in one go.

Her endorsement tied into Sports Administration’s Li Yue, which could affect future Chenfeng Electric Vehicles ads…

Xu Chen thought it over and said:

“I’ll aim for mid-September, but I can’t guarantee it fully.

I’ll keep Xinyi updated on progress.”

“That’s great; we’ll wait for your news!” Nie Fei replied.

“I recall your company’s mainland HQ is in Guangdong Province, right?” Xu Chen asked.

“Yes. We’re a Hong Kong-based company; our first mainland HQ is in Dongguan, but our marketing team is mainly in Yangcheng.

As I mentioned before, we got the Wang Laoshun trademark from Guangzhou Pharmaceutical, so we handle some relations in Yangcheng…

Though leadership is considering moving HQ functions to Beijing eventually.”

Xu Chen nodded, reminded of the future dispute between Jiaduobao and Guangzhou Pharmaceutical over the red can tea.

In his past life, they fought a long legal battle, and Guangzhou Pharmaceutical won the trademark, hurting Jiaduobao badly—they had to launch a Jiaduobao-branded alternative.

Right now, that crisis hadn’t erupted at Jiaduobao, but the seeds were sown—it was just a matter of time.

Xu Chen didn’t want to get involved for now.

The only thing was, he liked Nie Fei, and this would likely impact her career…

Nie Fei continued: “Teacher Xu Chen, once your plan’s ready, coordinate with Xinyi.

We’ll figure out where to present it.

We travel a lot, and we have divisions in North China, East China, and South China…

We can meet at a convenient office.”

“Sounds good; I’ll contact Xinyi then,” Xu Chen said.

…

Nie Fei and Chen Xinyi had a flight that evening, so after a bit more chat, they prepared to leave.

Xu Chen politely lamented not being able to join them for a meal and saw them out.

As they reached the door, Nie Fei suddenly paused.

She glanced at the reception corner and said:

“That box looks like it’s from the national team…”

The ‘box’ she meant was Xu Chen’s little black case.

He’d left it there yesterday and hadn’t taken it to school yet.

Xu Chen hesitated, puzzled.

Then he remembered: last time in Yangcheng, when he met Nie Fei, Xie Bingran was there too…

Nie Fei had casually noted Xie Bingran’s shoes were ‘national team custom.’

Xu Chen had wondered how she knew, but he was in a rush to take Xie Bingran to a movie and didn’t ask.

Xu Chen smiled and said:

“How do you recognize it, Fei Jie?”

Before Nie Fei could answer, Chen Xinyi chimed in with a smile:

“Before joining our company, Fei Jie was the brand director for Nike in Greater China!”

“Exactly, we discussed partnerships with the Sports Administration back then.

But the national team went with a domestic sports brand in the end…”

Xu Chen was surprised, but inwardly thrilled.

He hadn’t expected Nie Fei to have such a big background…

“Ran Bing Sports” was something he wanted to start, and he’d been unsure how, but now Nie Fei was a former industry expert.

As Nike’s Greater China brand director, she knew sports branding inside out and had connections in supply chains.

Brands like Nike and Adidas were mostly manufactured in Fujian Province factories…

In that moment, Xu Chen’s mind raced with ways to leverage this connection.

Luckily, their relationship was solid so far, and Nie Fei trusted him.

He even thought: if he could poach Nie Fei for his company, it might solve everything.

But she was a vice president at the beverage group, earning at least a couple million a year…

That future “thunderclap” with Guangzhou Pharmaceutical could be her exit opportunity.