340: Chapter 334: King of Bidding?
340: Chapter 334: King of Bidding?
“Good day, Young Master Chen, my last name is Tan, I’m in charge of CCTV’s advertising business…”
The woman identified herself over the phone.
Upon hearing this, Chen Hai immediately realized what was going on!
Only a little more than ten minutes had passed since he mentioned the Peach Blossom Wine Industry’s ad to Uncle Ban.
He had just finished talking to Uncle Ban, and he hadn’t even finished smoking his cigarette when this Miss Tan had already called him at home!
Uncle Ban’s efficiency was impressive!
It seemed that Chen Hai’s request for help had truly been taken to heart!
Of course, given his status, arranging this matter probably only took a few phone calls.
If not, Miss Tan’s call would not have come so quickly!
“Miss Tan, hello hello, does our Peach Blossom Wine Industry’s advertisement have any good recommendations from you?”
After catching on, Chen Hai asked with great enthusiasm, getting straight to the point and inquiring about the advertisement.
“That’s right, Young Master Chen, our TV station’s advertising business is undergoing a major transformation starting this year.”
“Television ad sales here are conducted in the form of an auction!”
“The notice has already been issued, and many interested enterprises have already hurried to the Capital City.”
“It’s a done deal, changing commands overnight would cause serious damage; there are few people who can bear the severe consequences of doing so.”
“If you want the prime time slot for liquor advertisements, you’ll need to participate in the auction and bid normally.”
“I can only guarantee that if your company’s bid is submitted, it will certainly win, but as for the cost, it depends on how much your competitors bid…”
With a hint of apology, the woman surnamed Tan explained to Chen Hai.
CCTV must maintain fairness and justice, with no possibility of insider trading or backroom deals.
What exactly was Miss Tan’s intention, and how could she assure that Peach Blossom Wine Industry would definitely win the bid just by participating?
Chen Hai didn’t understand and didn’t ask any further.
After consideration, he posed his questions following a brief pause, “When will the advertisement bidding take place?”
“Who are our main competitors in the bidding?”
“Based on your estimation, how much might they bid?”
…
Chen Hai had quite a few things he wanted to clarify, but he only raised a few questions that he was most interested in knowing.
Miss Tan seemed well-prepared for his queries.
No sooner had Chen Hai finished speaking than she promptly responded, “Young Master Chen, CCTV’s ad bidding takes place on November 18th, which is less than half a month away from now.”
“As for liquor enterprises, your biggest competitor should be Kongfu Banquet Wine.”
“I met their President Jiang not too long ago.”
“From what I understood, he is determined to win the title of the first ‘Bid King’ at our CCTV.”
“If they give an offer, a conservative estimate would be upwards of twenty million…”
Miss Tan’s words struck Chen Hai like a cold blast, leaving him breathless.
He had only sought Uncle Ban’s help to get an introduction for the distillery’s TV advertising.
Naturally, the advertising fees were his own responsibility, and he was psychologically prepared for this.
But even so, the advertising cost of at least twenty million mentioned by Miss Tan still scared him so much he couldn’t speak for a good while.
After all, the Peach Blossom Wine Industry he had set up had only invested a million or so.
A small enterprise at the million level spending tens of millions on an advertisement…
For a moment, Chen Hai really didn’t know what to say.
“Young Master Chen, if your Peach Blossom Wine Industry truly intends to quickly establish fame and be known to everyone in Yanhuang Country, competing for the Bid King title is absolutely the best choice.”
“After all, this is the first Bid King of our CCTV!”
“To clearly demonstrate to numerous enterprises in the country the value of the CCTV Bid King,”
“our station will definitely invest as much advertising resources as possible, striving to make this Bid King a benchmark in the industry!”
…
Miss Tan spoke at length, thoroughly explaining all the benefits of winning the Bid King title to Chen Hai.
After being somewhat scared by the sky-high advertising costs of at least twenty million, Chen Hai felt truly tempted after hearing her elaborate explanation.
“Miss Tan, may I ask, once the bid is successful, does the payment for the advertising fees need to be made immediately?”
Hesitant and cautious, Chen Hai asked again after some deliberation.
As soon as he said this, Miss Tan immediately understood what he meant.
With a tactful smile, she said, “This time, the advertising slots being auctioned are all for next year.”
“After the successful bid, you will need to pay at least thirty percent of the costs before New Year’s Day.”
“The remaining amount, you must pay off within half a year.”
“With my authority, I can only negotiate such terms for you.
Other winning enterprises simply wouldn’t get this favorable treatment.”
“Is there a possibility to delay the payment?” Chen Hai furrowed his brows, pondering for a long time.
Finally, he made up his mind, clenched his teeth, and said, “Miss Tan, we’ll trouble you with the affairs of Peach Blossom Wine Industry!”
“I’ll have someone contact you later.”
“On the eighteenth of November, we will definitely participate in the bid for the advertising slot on time!”
Having finished this speech, Chen Hai felt as if he had expended all his energy; his arms and legs felt somewhat weak.
After all, it wasn’t tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, but tens of millions.
Before he had begun his Taoist Skill cultivation, a few thousand would have already been a terrifying number to him.
And now, just to make an ad for his own winery, it’s going to cost tens of millions?
Thinking about such a huge debt on him, even someone as mentally strong as he was feeling somewhat jittery.
Miss Tan, named Tan Meili,
left Chen Hai with her contact information, instructing him to have his appointed contact reach out to her directly, before she finally hung up the phone.
As for Chen Hai, sitting on the sofa, he pulled out a cigarette and casually lit it.
Today was already November fifth, leaving only thirteen days until the CCTV advertising bid.
If the bid is successful, even though Tan Meili could give them some leeway, they still need to prepare a substantial amount of money before New Year’s Day.
Considering the uncertain nature of the winning bid price,
it could be at least twenty million, but it wouldn’t be impossible for Peach Blossom Wine Industry’s bid to soar to over thirty million.
If that result indeed came to pass, Chen Hai realized that even if he was only preparing thirty percent of the advertising costs, it would amount to more than ten million!
Peach Blossom Wine Industry definitely couldn’t come up with such a sum!
After all, even if CCTV dedicated their advertising resources and made Peach Blossom Wine Industry a benchmark in the industry, that would be something for next year, something they’d have to wait until after New Year’s Day to see!
Where would they gather such a huge amount of money?
Would he have to run off to Xiangjiang again, hoping for a windfall?
Without realizing it, such a thought surfaced in Chen Hai’s mind!
He had also considered not advertising on television, giving up the bid for the king of ads and allowing Peach Blossom Wine Industry to grow slowly.
However, based on Tan Meili’s explanation, this bid was indeed a rare opportunity for them.
To pass on it now would mean waiting until next year to compete again.
If CCTV’s making of this year’s ad king is a huge success, the price for Peach Blossom Wine Industry to compete for it next year would surely climb even higher.
“Take a gamble; a bicycle may turn into a motorcycle.”
“Spending such a large sum of money, I hope it will be worth it!”
“I have no high hopes; if Peach Blossom Wine Industry can reach sales of several hundred million after becoming the ad king this term, I’d be satisfied!”
He murmured to himself, pondering in silence.
In the following days, life went on relatively quietly.
Apart from going to Future Information Consulting Company to perform divination for two clients, earning a bit of money, Chen Hai spent most of his time cooped up in Liuhua Alley.
Every day, he would cast a divination or two.
Tian Mingjian and Bai Xiaohang put other matters aside for the time being; they made daily visits to Chen Hai to discuss business.
Chen Hai didn’t plan to personally attend the television station’s bidding.
He had Miss Wang Jinhua from the reception contact Tan Meili for the necessary arrangements.
He also made a phone call to Qiu Dazhi and Sun Jinzhong back home, informing them of Peach Blossom Wine Industry’s involvement in the bidding and asking them to send people over.
Although Chen Hai had barely managed to scrape together eight hundred thousand for the pig farm that Bai Xiaohang and Bai Baoshan were interested in, he hadn’t bought it yet.
However, he did purchase all two hundred or so pigs from the farm.
For the Hongming Blade, which consumed two pigs a day as Blood Food, two hundred pigs should have been enough for three or four months of meals.
But the creature was somewhat dishonorable.
When Chen Hai let it eat ahead of time, two pigs a day wasn’t enough to satisfy its appetite; it insisted on doubling its intake, averaging four pigs a day before it felt content and calmed down.
As for this Master, Chen Hai was helpless.
Four pigs it was; after finishing all two hundred plus big fat pigs from the farm, at least for the next month or two, Chen Hai didn’t have to worry about it.
He stayed in Capital City until the tenth of November.
Finally, Chen Hai and the others boarded a flight destined for Shen City.