Chapter 629 June 29, Friday

Pei Qian was in the living room of his apartment, sighing as he faced his laptop.

He hadn't been to the company for the three days since he'd returned from Chihang Studios. Instead, he'd holed up at home, seriously considering the VR glasses promotion plan for next month.

Although he had maintained a calm demeanor in front of the others at Chihang Studios and Meng Chang, only he knew how panicked he really was.

He had managed to fool Meng Chang with his god-tier acting skills, but that was only temporary. Whether he could fool Meng Chang for the long term, keep him working for him, and retain the only good brother in the entire Tengda Group depended on whether the upcoming promotion plan was successful.

This was too difficult.

VR already had its own built-in hype, and coupled with the Tengda Group's golden brand, it naturally attracted attention.

Pei Qian had also seen the VR glasses prototypes and played the game demo, all of which were top-notch in the industry.

No matter how he looked at it, it was an impregnable dead end.

Even if he gave this promotion plan to someone who knew nothing about it, and they casually did it, the effect wouldn't be bad.

Meng Chang knew this very well, so he quit.

It wouldn't be easy for Pei Qian to clean up this mess.

Fortunately, Pei Qian was exceptionally talented in this area, coupled with his deep understanding of the Tengda Group and the experience he had accumulated in his three years of fighting wits and courage with the system...

Thinking about it now, he finally had a glimmer of an idea.

"To achieve this goal, I basically have to go through a 'three-step' process. Rushing to promote it will definitely result in a complete disaster."

"The first step is to separate Tengda's reputation from this product."

"The players are all bewitched now. As soon as they hear the words 'Tengda Games,' regardless of the game type or product, there's a group of people who blindly buy, buy, buy."

"That's very bad."

"After DoubtVR glasses and *Animal Island* are released, everyone will hear that it's a Tengda game, and with someone like Teacher Qiao shouting about it, no matter how hard I try to dissuade them in the promotion plan, it will be drowned out by the players' voices of 'buy, buy, buy.'"

"So, I have to let the players know that these glasses and the game are all made by Chihang Studios, and that Chihang Studios and Tengda are merely in an investment relationship. I need to keep their expectations low."

"Promote this for a while, and when some doubts start to emerge, I can proceed to the next step of the plan."

Pei Qian stood up and walked around on the large balcony.

"For the second and third steps, I have to think of a special method."

"The reason why Meng Chang failed so many times in the past was that he turned it into a reverse psychology trick. He kept things too low-key at the beginning, and as a result, the game or product exceeded everyone's expectations as soon as it came out, and he couldn't control it anymore."

"So, I have to try to create a 'reverse reverse psychology' effect!"

"First, I have to find a way to raise everyone's expectations without limit, and boast about it wildly and unreasonably, so that when the actual product comes out, it won't meet everyone's expectations, and the effect will naturally be greatly reduced."

"The second step is to raise everyone's expectations, and the third step is to find a way to reduce the influence and effect of the product after it comes out."

Pei Qian sat back down in front of the computer and quickly recorded his thoughts.

"For the second step, I need to shoot a very avant-garde, very cool promotional video. In this video, I have to show everyone the ultimate, most outrageous scenes of virtual reality."

"And then add some suggestive promotional slogans like 'The future is here,' and use exaggerated descriptions such as 'One of a kind,' 'Unprecedented,' and 'No product will surpass it in the next three years.'"

"Then buy some shills and blow it up."

"In this way, everyone's expectations will be raised infinitely. Even if they don't imagine brain-computer interface technology, their mental image will definitely be completely higher than the actual effect of DoubtVR."

"At the same time, the more I brag, the easier it will be to attract haters."

"What's more, I've already separated Chihang Studios and Tengda Games in the first step, which will give people the impression that Chihang Studios is doing things frivolously, using clickbait, and over-marketing, further reducing their score."

"Then comes the most critical third step: to ensure that the VR glasses don't meet players' expectations when they are released."

"I must launch a batch of VR glasses for sale within two weeks, but definitely not too many."

"Although I could choose not to release any products at all within two weeks, the promotion plan will still have a promotional effect. If I brag too much, I might not be able to control it."

"So, it's best to release a batch of products at the press conference three or four days before the deadline, at a point where the hype is relatively high. This way, most players will see it but won't be able to play it. They will be very disappointed, and there will be a lot of doubts online, and the promotional effect will naturally be poor."

"Moreover, my promotion plan only targets the glasses, not the game."

"So, it's perfectly reasonable to release the glasses first and then release the game a week later."

"And the first batch of glasses released must not be too many, because if too many products are released, and more people buy them, the online reviews will tend to be fair, and it will be difficult to muddy the waters."

"It's best to designate gifts to some players, including up-loaders. Find some up-loaders with a history of accepting money for black material, and give them some money to say good things."

"Although what they say is indeed good, in the eyes of the players, they are awkwardly blowing it up for money."

"If too few products are released, they will be scolded for 'monkey business'."

"Finally, I'll pay out of my own pocket to find some shills to create momentum online and incite the players' anger. Wouldn't that be perfect?"

"Although it's impossible to get a full commission for a month, it shouldn't be a problem to stick to it for two weeks."

"But... I wonder what Meng Chang will think after witnessing this whole operation."

"Forget it, I don't care what he thinks, as long as he continues to stay and be the head of my promotion department."

Thinking of Meng Chang, Pei Qian suddenly had a new idea.

"And... can I take advantage of the bad impression Meng Chang left on everyone before?"

"Although many people inside Tengda already know the news that Meng Chang is working and 'reforming' at Tengda, and there have been some similar statements online before, most people's impression of Meng Chang is still stuck in the initial 'cold-faced girl' period."

"Everyone thinks he is still the kind of person who has no bottom line for the sake of popularity."

"So, if everyone knows that this promotion plan was actually done by Meng Chang, and Chihang Studios has reached a cooperation with Meng Chang, they will naturally have a prejudiced view of the entire promotion plan, and even the product itself!"

When the two cooperate, the one with the greater reputation will ultimately affect the one with the lesser reputation.

If it's a collaboration between Tengda Group and Meng Chang, then everyone will think that Meng Chang might be turning over a new leaf.

But Chihang Studios is a newly established company and doesn't have much reputation at all. If they cooperate with Meng Chang, everyone will only think that this company is colluding with Meng Chang and acting like jackals of the same tribe.

Taking advantage of Meng Chang's stereotypes in everyone's mind will indeed make this plan more likely to succeed.

As for whether Meng Chang is willing or not...

What's there for him to be unwilling about? This was his initial style of doing things in the first place. Besides, even if he's unwilling, he has to be willing.

Pei Qian checked his plan from beginning to end again.

Although it's not perfect, it's already the best plan he can use at the moment. If this plan fails again...

Then let it fail. Pei Qian can't do anything about it.

The result of failure is nothing more than Meng Chang insisting on running away. He'll think of another way at that time. Anyway, his debt is still in his hands, and there will always be a way to arrange him properly.

Now that the task has been set, he should seize the time to carry out the first step: clear the relationship with Chihang Studios.

The most direct and effective way is for Tengda Group to issue a statement.

But the timing of this statement must be carefully considered.

If there is no reason, issuing such a statement for no reason would arouse the players' suspicion.

Everyone is not paying attention to Chihang Studios, why are you issuing a statement saying that you have a relationship with it? Oh, great, let's take this opportunity to learn about Chihang Studios!

That would be the end of it.

Therefore, this operation must be cooperated with by someone, singing a double act.

He should try a miniature version of the reverse psychology routine to test the effect.

He could hire shills to promote that Tengda's new game, *Animal Island*, is about to be released. The system would reimburse this kind of positive promotion, so he could do it casually.

Of course, he couldn't overdo it and should be moderate.

After simply promoting it for two days and the popularity has risen slightly, he should immediately arrange for Tengda officials to issue a statement: Tengda officials have not developed the game *Animal Island*. Tengda Group and Chihang Studios have an investment relationship.

Although everything said is true, it will give the players the illusion that Chihang Studios is trying to蹭 (cèng - freeload, latch onto) the popularity of Tengda Group, and Tengda Group is seizing the time to issue a statement to clear the relationship.

In this way, it can not only reduce everyone's expectations, but also affect Chihang Studios' first impression in everyone's mind!

Hmm, it feels like it's going to work!

He should first find a way to clear the relationship, and at the same time, starting next Monday, arrange for Meng Chang to shoot a promotional video for the VR glasses. The more avant-garde, the better. He must trick the players into being confused and dazed.

Before the promotional video is released, he should first let Meng Chang post a message on his Weibo, saying that he is cooperating with Chihang Studios and is responsible for shooting the promotional video.

After the promotional video is released, everyone will naturally feel that this is another project that only brags and doesn't do practical things because of their stereotypes of Meng Chang.

Hmm, very perfect!

The more Pei Qian thought about it, the more suitable it felt. It's Friday now, so he should seize the time to arrange the preliminary preparations, and next month he will usher in the real challenge!