BXBX NOVEL Chapter 68 - It’s Selling For…
Chapter 68: It’s Selling For...
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In just the warm-up phase of the second wave of publicity, the series of video advertisements titled “Wa-wah robot” had been played more than 20 million times across various video hosting platforms like A site, B site, Youku, etc. This happened within a few short days. The publicity warm-up phase could more or less be ended now.
But, Xing Hai Technologies still contacted famous video uploader-hosts on B site such as “Na Yan,””The Playful Koala,” and well-known review organizations like “Do You Love Technology,” and “Is This Worth Your Money.” They were allowed to conduct various tests on the “Wa-wah” robot which was termed “the best cleaning robot in the world.”
With millions of fans, the uploader “Na Yan” possessed a review style that was objective and stern, with the occasional joke here and there. He was frequently asked if he was paid to do the reviews. In reality, most of his product reviews were sponsored. However, his main source of income was from the audience’s rewards during his live streaming sessions.
For this one time, Chen Jin got the finance department to transfer $200,000 to his account and even sent two “Wa-wah” robots to him. In the conversation over the phone, Chen Jin urged him, “Keep your style. Praise it in areas where it excels and speaks freely when it does badly. As long as its objective, I won’t ask for a refund. You can put this clause in the contract.”
On the other end of the phone, Na Yan said with a slightly grave voice, “Ok, no problem.”
On the other hand, “The Playful Koala,” who commanded the attention of over 300,000 fans, had a review style that was funny and humorous. He was most adept at performing “freehand dismantling of gadgets.” What Koala really focused on was not the exterior features, but the product’s interior materials and workmanship. He liked to take out his tools and pry off the outer shells of various products to check out the interior’s build and components. He was a “hardcore” review host.
Similarly, Chen Jin wanted potential users to be assured of its make and quality. He had also gotten the finance department to transfer $200,000 over to Koala, and made a contract with him. Through his assessments, people would understand the workmanship and materials used in the making of the “Wa-wah” robot.
The famous review organization, “Do You Love Technology,” had slightly less than 500,000 fans. Their review style was honest, objective, independent, and free. In their reviews, they revealed many technical details that were not known by most. They presented the real substance without the fluff! They could explain the product in a very thorough manner. In their program, where they did a side-by-side comparison of similar products from different brands, they could evaluate the pros and cons of each of the products in every segment of comparison.
Their flaw was in their infrequent updates. They only released one episode of a program each month. As their videos were always full of solid, technical information, their video output was thus lowered. This had caused them to be less widely known than they should be.
However, Chen Jin really liked their programs. He had watched many of their videos. Considering the huge number of members on their team and how expensive it cost to make a professional review video, he decided to let the finance department transfer $500,000 over to them. They were then asked to create a video installment about the “Wa-wah” robot in the form of “consumer reports.”
The manager for “Do You Love Technology” replied, “Your call came too late. Recently, we’re doing an installation called ‘A Side-By-Side Comparison of Various Brands’ Cleaning Robots.’ How about this, we’ll accept $300,000 for the addition of your product into our review.”
Chen Jin rejoiced upon hearing this. “Oh, what a coincidence!” He sent someone over to deliver the “Wa-wah robot” to the capital city and then got the finance department to transfer $300,000.
The review organization, “Is This Worth Your Money?” had a style that was funny, silly, and charming. The entire team, including the boss, manager, cinematographer, main female narrator, and even the extra had ugly appearances. Even so, it had an active column that was closely followed by more than 600,000 fans. In addition, they had frequent updates. Their huge quantity of filler videos was loved by many, even if there was little substance and minimal technical information that was of use. Their main source of income was the sales of snacks and small food items on their Taobao shop. The team’s most classic line was “We’ll help you try before you buy.”
Chen Jin also got someone to contact “Is This Worth Your Money.” They would do a review program for a price of $200,000.
The boss, who was wearing a huge gold chain, beat his chest and replied, “No problem, we promise that the video will be completed within a week!”
...
After a week, on B site, four product review videos announced their release one after the other.
Na Yan’s “Aesthetics of Science and Technology: I met the world’s cleanest cleaning robot, its reputation is not for naught!”
The Playful Koala’s “Close-up of Device Disassembling: The interior workmanship takes my breath away; it has a beautiful design aesthetic. Thus far, I’ve been unable to find any flaws in this perfect industrial product!”
Do You Love Technology’s “A Side-By-Side Comparison of Domestic and International Mainstream Cleaning Robots: A cleaning index of 99.7%! The Wa-wah robot is the only model of its kind that surpasses its competitors by an entire era in all aspects!”
Is It Worth Your Money’s “A Robot That Will Shock You: Even though there is no official announcement of Wa-wah’s selling price, 99.9% of audiences think that it’s a ‘Must Buy’ and 0.1% of audiences think that it’s not. I have a hunch that its an outstanding product that will soon become popular.”
After the above review videos were released, the heated discussions by the netizens peaked! The comment sections of the videos were filled with responses such as:
“Stop teasing and quickly announce your purchase link!”
“I’ll buy, I’ll buy, isn’t that enough? But you’ve got to give me a purchase link!”
“I’ve watched that video installation by Koala. He said that the total hardware cost is above $2,000. After it’s introduced in the market, it’s selling price will not be lower than $8,000. But, I’ve decided, even if it’s selling for $10,000 per unit, I’ll still buy one!”
“Damn, the new year has barely begun, and the “Wa-wah robot” has grabbed all the attention. I went to the electronics stores to search for it, but I can’t find one anywhere.”
“All are defeated by the Wa-wah robot! No matter if it’s the Da Mi robot, a Rock robot, or the iRobot from overseas, they’ve all been defeated. I’ve decided that I’ll buy a Wa-wah robot immediately when it’s launched!”
“Good news! The uploader of the “Wa-wah robot” advertisement, ‘Ao You Hai Xing’ has just sent out a video announcement with Wa-wah’s official address, launch date, and purchase link!”
“Great! I’ll hurry and take a look at it now.”
“Damn, their official website looks so high-end!”
“I saw the product’s introduction, the specs listed there are impressive all around. This should be the correct address!”
“Ao You Xing Hai Technologies Private Limited, a new company that has not even been established for half a year, developed the Wa-wah robot?”
“The announcement on the official website: The Wa-wah robot will be released on 23 February 20X9, 8:00pm. Pre-order sales will begin on the same day. The 23rd is also the day of the Lantern Festival.”
“There is also an announcement here that says the selling price of the product will be announced on the 20th of February, 20:00. This is for the convenience of consumers who want to buy one urgently. They can go to the official Taobao shop in advance to keep a closer eye on its news..”
“20th? Isn’t it tonight? So, we’ll know the selling price of the Wa-wah robot tonight?”
“This is great! I’ll be able to know the price tonight; I’m so excited! I wonder what the selling price is for one Wa-wah robot?”
“I’ve prepared pumpkin seeds, spicy beancurd sticks, and a stool. I’ll be sitting and waiting for the announcement of its price!”
...
Following the announcement of Xing Hai Technologies’ official website address, droves of passionate netizens flooded the site, and the number of inquiries instantly exceeded 100,000. After a few more official notices were published, the total number of hits on the page exceeded tens of millions within six hours. It was estimated that there were more than 250,000 messages left by visitors in the official forum. There were more than one million netizens who were closely following announcements on the Wa-wah robot. At the very least, the number of potential customers was in the hundreds of thousands!
In the meeting room of Xing Hai Technologies’ sales department, many people had gathered, including Sales Supervisor Liang Ying, Leader of the Development Team Su You Jie, and even the Chairman of Ling Feng Jing Mi Technologies Wang Quan Long, who specially came for the meeting. They were all trying their best to persuade one person!
“Chief Chen, the price that you set is too cheap! It’s not worth it for the company!”
“Chief Chen, please consider again! We have to sell this model at $5,000 and above. That’s billions of profits!
“Chief Chen, increase the price by $300, please! You can’t undersell such a good product!”
Everyone in the office urgently persuaded Chen Jin, hoping that he would take their advice and revise his decision!
But, Chen Jin had already decided that he would not do any further changes! He gave his reasons. “The purpose of people like us who produce high tech products is not only to let consumers experience the wonder of high technology, but to also price this wonderful experience in an affordable way. I believe that everyone knows the situation in Z country. Once our model is launched, there’ll be droves of cheap imitations flooding the market which will rapidly drag down the entire industry. In the end, ‘bad money drives out good[1]’... I have to prevent this from happening by eliminating any appearance of copycats at the source! Especially for our first product launch, we need to build an excellent and intimate relationship with the consumers! By drawing in a batch of loyal fans and building a solid fanbase, it will allow us to have countless channels for promotion. We will become a company with our own customer base and following. There will be no need to worry that people will refuse to show an interest in our future products!”
Chen Jin continued, “As a company with its own dreams and desires, I hope that Xing Hai Technologies will first pursue this. How else can it actualize its self-worth in such a way as to reach the superior level of Hua Yao and Da Mi, and maybe even surpass them! I hope that we will be a company with conscience and sincerity, not one that got lost in its single-minded focus on making a profit. Moreover, there’s sufficient margin for profit with the price that I’ve set. The sales volume will certainly meet expectations. Once our reputation has spread, the sales volume will still increase and hold a huge share of the market. The total profits will not be much lesser than if we had sold it at a higher price.”
Only after Chen Jin’s explanations did everyone nod their heads in agreement. At the same time, they were shocked by how ambitious he was. He actually wanted Xing Hai Technologies to attain and even exceed the level of Hua Yao and Da Mi. Looking at the young boss who was full of confidence, they could only silently express their respect and admiration in their minds.
...
The time was 7:50pm. All across the country, in millions of homes, countless netizens were either holding their mobile phones or sitting in front of the computer. They were refreshing the purchasing page for the “Wa-wah robot” with great anticipation.
They hoped to see the specific selling price of the robot. Was it an exorbitant price of $10,000 and above, which only the rich could afford to buy? Or was it a price of around $8,000? Something that the middle-class could afford. Or would it be priced at $5,000? A price which the lower class and the poor could still accept even if it pained their heart and pockets? The answer would be revealed in a few minutes.
Very quickly, it was 7:59pm. Many refreshed the page again after silently counting down for the millionth time.
The price of the “Wa-wah” robot was announced!
“Aaaa!!” In an instant, countless mouths dropped open in shock. There were even some who let out surprised yells.
The selling price of the “Wa-wah” robot was...
[1] Quote from Gresham’s Law (economic principle). Essentially, it means that in a market, an overvalued currency will drive out undervalued currency. Used here, it means that the cheap copies will drive the original product out of the market.