Two production lines were launched, producing two hundred pieces of inventory for each within a day. This was even with the initial debugging and quality control settings. Once optimized, this production rate would be further increased.
Liu Chen also began his marketing plan.
Within each Meimei product package, a 70% chance of receiving a "buy one, get one free" offer was included. Purchasing Meimei milk chocolate might yield Meimei milk candy, and buying Meimei milk candy could result in Meimei milk beverage.
Of course, this promotion was launched globally.
Secondly, Liu Chen cashed in the reward coupons he had accumulated over time, obtaining 36 million in cash from a Swiss bank. Combined with the previous 24 million, this brought his total to 60 million.
He spent ten million to hire thirty of the most influential Twitter influencers globally, paying for a single tweet from each.
Another ten million was allocated to hire one hundred mid-tier Twitter influencers for soft product placement advertisements. Additionally, one hundred Facebook influencers were engaged to feature the products subtly and clearly in their videos, ensuring the integration felt natural and not forced.
With these arrangements made, Liu Chen then invested the remaining thirty million into outdoor advertising spaces across the United States.
In June 2010, the United States' marketing strategies were still largely limited to influencer promotions, large billboards on New York's busiest streets, or select supermarket advertisements.
New York time, June 13, 2010.
As night gave way to dawn, the old, faded supermarket billboards were replaced with vibrant new ones, featuring a black background with a dominant fuchsia color.
The Meimei brand logo was prominently displayed, enhanced with sequins that shimmered with every breeze, creating the illusion of a twinkling light from afar.
Some passersby noticed the new advertisements, but few were compelled to try the product solely based on them.
New York time, June 13, 2010.
Three top Twitter influencers posted single tweets promoting Meimei milk chocolate. Immediately, the followers of these influencers received notifications about the posts.
'Meimei milk chocolate? Never heard of this brand.'
'OMG!!! I know! It's a brand from Zhonghua!'
'A brand from Zhonghua making milk chocolate? Sounds like it won't taste good!'
'Wow, the chocolate Chris recommended. I think I saw an advertisement for it on a billboard outside a supermarket earlier!'
'I think I saw it too?'
'I'm going to buy it and try it after school today!'
-
Robert was a boy living in a rural part of the western United States. His family owned a vast farm, complete with machinery for harvesting crops. They also raised cattle, ducks, and a wolfdog that had been his companion since puppyhood.
His grandfather was a farmer, his father was a farmer, and everyone in the family said Robert would also become an excellent farmer.
However, under the moonlight, Robert sneaked into his attic hideout. Looking out at the moon through the skylight, he stroked the head of his wolfdog, Luke.
"Books say we all see the same moon. So, do people in big cities like New York see the same moon?"
Luke, hearing his young master's words, also looked confused. Clearly, this was a difficult question even for a wolfdog that had lived eighteen years.
Fortunately, Robert wasn't expecting an answer from Luke.
Robert stood up and opened the skylight. The warm, dry summer night breeze did little to quench Robert's curiosity.
"What are the people in New York eating and doing?"
As he asked this question, Robert sighed and took out the eighteenth birthday gift from his aunt. His aunt had said it was the trendy phone in New York.
Robert had been delighted when he received the gift, and he was still happy now. But he was intensely curious about what people in New York, a city with skyscrapers, were doing.
Guided by the bright moonlight, Robert unwrapped the gift box from his aunt, revealing a white case inside.
"Hmm, it looks pretty cool?"
Tearing off the plastic seal, Robert quickly opened the box bearing the logo of a bitten apple, revealing an iPhone 4.
Following the user manual, Robert soon discovered it was a touchscreen phone!
"Oh! My God! Thank heavens! Aunt Lily is so fashionable!"
Robert marveled at the seamless swiping sensation on the screen, filled with excitement. He then downloaded the top-ranked apps from the app store.
Robert's previous phone was an old Nokia discarded by his father. Besides sending texts and making calls to friends, Robert rarely used it.
He didn't know if other people's phones also required downloading apps according to the instructions, like his did.
Robert downloaded an app called Twitter and then another called Facebook. After a fumbling registration process and following a bunch of suggested influencers, Robert was finally able to explore the app called Twitter.
Soon, Robert noticed that the stylish influencers he followed seemed to have a brand of Meimei milk chocolate in their homes, and some even posed with the chocolate.
He also saw influencers with unimaginable follower counts announcing the new release of Meimei milk chocolate with a great promotion, claiming not buying it would be a loss.
Looking at the Meimei milk chocolate on the screen, Robert made a silent resolve: he absolutely had to try this Meimei milk chocolate that the fashionable influencers were recommending and that everyone seemed to be eating!
With this wish in his heart, Robert quietly tiptoed downstairs with his wolfdog companion Luke, returned to his room, got into bed, pulled up the covers, and drifted off to sleep.
The next day, Robert went to the town's general store, the only one in town that catered to almost all the shopping needs of its residents.
"Oh, little Robert, all the milk chocolates are right here. If it's not here, then we don't have your Meimei milk chocolate."
Robert looked at the milk chocolates on the shelf. He knew for a fact that the Meimei brand, as vibrant as spring flowers, was not there.
Upon returning home, Robert was dejected. His father, who had just finished repairing the cattle pen, saw his only son frowning at the dining table and boomed, "Hey! My little calf! What's wrong? Is the phone Aunt Lily gave you working well?"
Hearing this, Robert turned to look at his father, a robust farmer whose hands could snap a chair leg. As for himself?
Robert looked down at his open hands, then looked up at his father, who had sat down and poured himself some water.
"Father, I want to go to New York and try my luck."
"Pfft! Cough, cough, cough!! Robert! Do you know what you're saying? You want to go to New York? What about our farm? Besides, even if you go to New York, you're only a high school graduate. How will you make a living?"
"Listen, Robert, this world doesn't work the way you want it to. Do you think New York is that great! For people without money there, it's hell! I think you're just too excited after getting your new phone!"
Robert was intimidated by his father's booming voice and hunched his shoulders slightly.
But then, he thought of that ordinary Meimei milk chocolate. Suddenly, Robert straightened his back, his eyes fearlessly meeting his father's, whom he considered a strong man. He pursed his lips and declared loudly,
"Father, one year. Just one year! Let me stay in New York for one year. If it doesn't work out after a year, I'll come back!"
Just as Robert's father slammed the table, ready to retort, his grandfather, the old farmer, who had just driven back, spoke.
"If Robert wants to try his luck in New York, let him go. One year is enough time for him to figure out his future path."
Hearing this, Robert's eyes widened. He turned to his grandfather, stood up from his chair, and couldn't resist giving his grandfather a tight hug.
Three days later, Robert set foot in New York.
Thus, the legendary era of Robert the Great, a supermodel of his generation, officially began.
As for the Meimei brand, although Robert never accepted any advertising fees, it became known to the world as Robert's absolute favorite.
In Robert's own words:
"Meimei milk chocolate gave me the courage to come to New York, and it gave me a second choice in life."
-
Now, Meimei milk chocolate's pervasive promotions had gained nationwide popularity in the United States. People everywhere considered trying the Meimei milk chocolate recommended by influencers a topic of conversation.
Suddenly, major American supermarket chains that had initially dismissed Meimei as a Chinese brand found themselves constantly fielding customer inquiries. They had no choice but to contact Meimei's U.S. distributor – Zhang Jiawang, a Chinese expatriate from Los Angeles.
Zhang Jiawang never imagined he would one day become a supplier for Walmart!
To him, a small supermarket owner, Walmart's scale was like a shark in the ocean.
Yet now, he was earning money from this shark!
Indeed, the contract Liu Chen had provided Zhang Jiawang stipulated a commission of one-thousandth of the total sales amount of all Meimei products.
It seemed like a meager percentage, but Zhang Jiawang looked at Walmart's initial order: a total of one million US dollars!
And this was just for a single order!
As Zhang Jiawang was overjoyed, other major chain supermarkets in the U.S. market, such as Sam's Club, Costco, and Carrefour, also approached him.
That night, Zhang Jiawang's house was filled with the singing of a middle-aged man:
"Love my Zhonghua! A nation of five thousand years!"
News of Meimei's astonishing achievements in the United States within just half a month, with popularity comparable to domestic American products, was reposted by overseas Chinese to Weibo.
Initially, not many people saw this news.
The main reason was…
'Meimei is going crazy with money again!'
This Weibo trending topic had been at number one for nearly half a month, never being surpassed. In fact, the gap between it and the second trending topic was immense.
At the Meimei factory, two new production lines had recently been added for the new products: milk chocolate and milk candy.
Yu Bing, as a manager, watched as these two new lines were installed, debugged, and started. She then looked at Chen Hu beside her:
"Honestly, when the boss's new products were first put into production, I had a tiny bit of doubt, thinking the market for chocolate and milk candy might not be as wide as for previous products. But I was wrong."
Yu Bing paused, remembering the large container trucks waiting in the parking lot.
She thought of the long, nine-meter trucks from distributors waiting outside the warehouse door.
"Good heavens, Chen Hu, from now on, wherever the boss tells me to go, I'll go. Even if it's into a pool, I won't make a single ripple!"
Chen Hu scratched the back of his head, looking at Yu Bing's exclamation with some confusion.
"Haven't we always been like this?"
The spending spree initiated by Meimei finally calmed down after half a month, and then...
'Holy crap! Meimei's promotion is global!'
'Holy crap! Meimei isn't just spending money, they're burning it!'
'Help, so much advertising. How much is Meimei's advertising budget? The head of the advertising department must be having the time of their life!'
'Heh, you only see Meimei's advertisements. Come, let me show you. In our university classes, if there's a drink on the desk, it's definitely Meimei Niu!'
'[Image] [Image]'
The two images showed the backs of students of various ethnicities. However, it was very clear that the drinks on the desks were unmistakably bottles of Meimei Niu beverages!
'Holy crap, Meimei is awesome!'
'As a student studying abroad in Korea, I have to silently share a picture too.'
'[Image] [Image]'
The pictures showed desks in Korean cram schools, each with a bottle of fuchsia-colored Meimei Niu.
'It's required by the cram school to drink one bottle of Meimei Niu daily to sustain the intensity of the studies...'
'Wow, Meimei has quietly gone international!'
At this moment, Liu Chen, the founder of Meimei, who had gone international, was in the laboratory researching new products. Perhaps it was because she had become accustomed to the quiet of the laboratory during the development of milk chocolate.
Even without the pressure of developing new products, Liu Chen now spent her time in the lab. However, without a specific goal, the progress of new product development was much slower.
"Ring, ring, ring."
The phone vibrated. Liu Chen glanced at the number; it was an unknown caller. She was about to hang up but suddenly remembered that there were no such things as phone scams at this time.
She picked up and answered:
"Hello? May I speak to Ms. Liu Chen?"
"Yes, I am."
"Ms. Liu, hello. We are from a financial channel program, and we would like to invite you to participate in our youth entrepreneur interview."
"Oh, I have no plans to participate in interviews for now."
She paused, then added,
"When my products have entered every household in the country, then I believe I will accept interviews."