Chapter 242: Marketing to the Heart

Under the night sky, the front plaza of Wanzhong Mall was ablaze with lights.

Amidst the interplay of light and darkness, a PVC board over two meters tall stood at the center of the plaza, its design and color scheme almost identical to the one on Linchuan University’s podium.

However, on this PVC board, Linchuan University’s emblem was replaced by Wanzhong Mall’s logo, and the slogan changed to “Visit Wanzhong Mall, use Group-Buy Service, enjoy 60% off storewide, food fun shopping all in one place.”

With Linchuan University students as the main force, a swarm of students from the four major universities poured into the mall, leaving passersby in the commercial district bewildered.

What’s going on today, some event?

Why are so many young men and women frantically rushing into that mall across the street?

Driven by this question, the passersby unknowingly merged into the student current, entered the mall with curiosity, and instantly widened their eyes.

“Gosh, I haven’t been to Wanzhong in a while. When did it change to this? Am I seeing things?”

“Wasn’t this…wasn’t this selling clothes before?”

“I feel like I’m strolling down the pedestrian street. So much variety, there are even claw machines and photo booths?”

“Look at the floor guide sign ahead. Food, drinks, entertainment, it has everything. Did they move the pedestrian street over?”

“Oh, there’s even a husband storage and baby care center. Wow, I can shop to my heart’s content from now on!”

“What’s on B1? Supermarket and seafood market. Goodness, they actually made a wedding dress for the mannequin out of toilet paper. Whose idea was that?”

Upon entering the mall, whether they were students with discount vouchers or urban passersby joining the excitement, all wore expressions of utter surprise.

Frankly, since the sweeping reforms early in the year, customer traffic at Wanzhong Mall had abruptly halted as if severed.

Young urban white-collars gradually started trying and becoming hooked on online shopping. The trend of consuming at physical stores slowly declined, and older customers also stopped coming due to not finding satisfactory products.

From crowds swarming to desolation, Wanzhong achieved it in just four months.

Of course, there was plenty of speculation in society about Wanzhong Mall’s changes.

How could a flourishing mall suddenly decide to stop selling goods?

Some said this old mall in Linchuan’s city center had started cutting corners and struggling to survive due to cash flow issues.

Others claimed Wanzhong had long been sold, and the new owner had no idea how to run it.

There were even rumors that the owner had eloped with his mistress the day after New Year, taking the money, leaving Wanzhong as an empty shell.

In any case, everyone felt Wanzhong Mall was a collapsing tower, and it was only a matter of time before it went bankrupt.

Business is like this. Although everyone’s ultimate goal is to make money, reputation and credibility are more valuable intangible assets. When gossip spreads nonstop, the remaining trickle of customers will vanish too.

But today, as students appeared as a consumption-driving force, pulling commercial district traffic and forming a cycle, the reformed Wanzhong finally returned to the public eye.

Thus, the feeling of surprise began rapidly fermenting.

These customers who came to join in the liveliness might not spend money and leave empty-handed, but even so, they would remember Wanzhong’s new look and spread the word.

“Hey, did you know? Wanzhong has become…like this now!”

“Honey, let’s go check out Wanzhong Mall. They say you can handle food, drink, fun, everything without leaving.”

“First shop around Central Street, then eat hotpot on Huaxing Road? Too roundabout. Let’s go straight to Wanzhong Mall. Don’t tell me you still haven’t been to Wanzhong lately?”

Rumors spread incredibly fast. Before long, most people would be familiar with the reborn Wanzhong.

Of course, as news of Wanzhong’s stunning transformation spread, the name Group-Buy Service would also ride the winds for a stretch.

You win twice, I win twice – that’s not even considered win-win. Until this night of fading lights, as traffic converged here, the win-win that Jiang Qin had painstakingly planned for months finally came to fruition.

“Manager Yue, the hotpot restaurant on our third floor is full. Many people are lining up at the door.”

Yue Zhu looked at the swarm of people, a little dazed. “Weren’t the Group-Buy combo vouchers sold based on the actual customer capacity of each store?”

The waiter pressed his lips. “That’s right, but the customers aren’t all students. Some followed the buzz in. They’re paying to eat, so we can’t turn them away.”

“Okay, have them take a number first. I’ll go find President He.”

“Yes, Manager Yue.”

Yue Zhu hurried into the elevator, her expression alternating between excitement and nervousness.

After the reform vigorously began, facing the continuously declining customer traffic, she had actually felt very depressed and worried.

What if the reforms killed themselves?

What if the reformed mall couldn’t attract customers?

But all worries vanished tonight, turning into an exhilaration at the arrival of a new era.

She was previously in charge of mall sales. She knew how difficult it was to guide customer traffic. But everything tonight came so suddenly, catching her off guard.

It was as if Jiang Qin casually tossed a cigarette butt that happened to land on a pile of cotton. The tiny spark instantly began wildly burning, turning into a startling sea of raging flames.

Just then, the elevator reached the top floor. Yue Zhu stepped out and went to He Yijun’s office, knocking on the door.

“Come in.”

“President He, food court is at max capacity. Many customers are still continuously coming in.”

He Yijun’s eyes widened slightly. “The online marketing for Group-Buy Service is working?”

“It’s not just working. It’s already exceeded the actual customer capacity of the third-floor stores.” Yue Zhu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“Don’t panic. I remember the manual seemed to mention this situation. Wait for me to check.”

He Yijun opened Jiang Qin’s concise manual and squinted at the screen for a long time. “Found it. Go prepare some snacks, fruits, and tea for the waiting customers. Get some small toys ready for the kids too. Then give them our printed promotional flyers to read.”

Yue Zhu opened her mouth, somewhat stunned. “They haven’t spent money yet. What if they leave after eating their fill?”

“That’s what Jiang Qin’s manual says. Let’s just follow it. Oh right, call over the staff from our nail salon downstairs. Give the waiting customers a basic manicure, free of charge.”

“I understand, President He

Although utterly baffled, Yue Zhu made calls as soon as she left, summoning people, instructing some to fetch the newly made promotional flyers from the warehouse, and others to get snacks and fruits from the supermarket on B1.

About fifteen minutes later, rows of snacks and freshly cut mini fruit platters were brought to the third floor.

The waiting customers widened their eyes, thinking, I haven’t even paid, and I get to eat fruits, snacks, and drink tea first? Is this really okay?

Soon, promotional flyers were also handed out. Gradually, the conversation topics among the unfamiliar crowd began unifying.

“So there’s an arcade inside the mall?”

“Oh, the second floor sells these things. Quite a good variety.”

“The baby care area is a children’s playground. That’s pretty nice.”

“Miss, can I take this flyer? I want to show my colleagues.”

Yue Zhu nodded with a smile, then seemed to suddenly grasp something, her gaze gradually losing focus.

So Jiang Qin had them give snacks and fruits to non-spending customers because, amidst their eating, drinking, and chatting, a marketing campaign aimed at people’s hearts was completed.

As the saying goes, take favors and you’re indebted. These customers might become Wanzhong Mall’s mouthpieces due to a few slices of watermelon and packs of snacks, continuously promoting it to those around them.

One tells ten, ten tell a hundred, a hundred tell a thousand…

Yes, their self-printed promotional flyers were quite exquisite. But if distributed on the streets, passersby would likely toss them without even a glance.

Yet these potential customers who ate and drank on their dime actually read through the contents.

Even if they didn’t take the flyers, if they just told those beside them, “Last time I waited for a table at Wanzhong Mall’s hotpot place, they straight-up gave me fruits and snacks to eat, even brewed tea and did my nails. Guess what? I didn’t pay a cent in the end. I was stuffed!”

With this one line, Wanzhong Mall would certainly not lack future customers.

But…

This was the manual Jiang Qin made over winter break. Back then, Wanzhong had just settled on a reform direction without figuring out where to start, right?

She knew businesspeople were accustomed to thinking a few steps ahea But a few hundred steps, a few thousand steps ahead – that was too terrifying.

Yue Zhu had been doing mall marketing for a long time and had hosted all kinds of exhibitions and events. But compared to Jiang Qin’s methods, she suddenly felt she had been playing house before.

At the same time, He Yijun also arrived on the third floor. Seeing the packed room of customers and the chatting crowd at the door, his heart couldn’t calm down for a long while.

Since the business card collection at Linchuan Business Expo last New Year’s Day, he discovered Jiang Qin was formidable, always beating him.

But only at this moment did he understand that Jiang Qin had been leading him to win all along, first winning against the tide of the times, then winning people’s hearts before others during the discouraged period after the reform.

He might not have told you what he did, but you could see the results plain as day.

He Yijun crossed his arms, suddenly understanding what it meant for a noble person to descend from the heavens.

You should know, Wanzhong Mall actually had a mirror image – Fortune Star Mall on Nanshan Avenue.

According to Fortune Star Mall’s owner, their pure sales business volume severely dropped this year, steadily declining since spring. They also tried all sorts of ways to expand new customer channels, not knowing consumption patterns had already begun changing.

Without meeting Jiang Qin, what would have become of Wanzhong?

Perhaps it could have held on for another three to four years before being acquired due to bankruptcy.

Decisive reforms took courage. He Yijun suddenly realized that the courage to abandon the mature pure sales business was actually also given to him by Jiang Qin.