Recently, many people in the Ice City have noticed a strange phenomenon: a page in the Longjiang Daily now only contains a few sentences every day.
Today it says, "In the scorching summer, a gentle breeze blows." Yesterday it said, "Under the blazing sun, gifts are given." The day before, it said...
But at the bottom of each page, there is always the same advertisement: "Fengyu brand electric fans, your best companion in summer!"
For five consecutive days, everyone who reads the newspaper sees this unique page, which has quickly become a topic of conversation during tea breaks and after meals, even surpassing the news of a murder case solved by the legal department, which used to be the focus of everyone's discussions.
When Feng Yu heard people talking about the Fengyu brand electric fans on the street, he knew his advertisement was successful. Now, whenever someone mentions electric fans, they instinctively think of the Fengyu brand!
On the fifth day, 20,000 electric fans had already been completed by the motor factory, and 80% of the payment had been made. However, Feng Yu did not take all the fans, only 2,000 of them.
The people at the motor factory found this strange. Even with 80% of the payment, they were still making a profit. This Mr. Feng had paid but did not take the goods—was he planning to return them?
The factory manager Li and the director Zhao discussed it and decided that if Feng Yu were to request a return, they would firmly refuse. They also specifically notified Feng Yu that he must settle the remaining payment by the end of the month, or they would seize all the goods!
If these defective products couldn't be sold, they could still be given to the workers as part of their wages, since the cost had already been recovered!
Feng Yu completely ignored the motor factory's notice. His warehouse was already full, and after delivering to various stores and supply cooperatives, he still had 600 fans left in the warehouse. If he took all 20,000 fans, he would need to expand his warehouse at least ten times. With the motor factory providing free storage, why not use it?
On the sixth day, a real advertisement finally appeared in the newspaper. It featured an image of a table fan, with large red letters saying: "Fengyu brand table fan, shockingly low price of 59 yuan!"
In the evening, Feng Yu held a meeting with his company staff in the warehouse.
"How did the statistics go today? Which stores are selling well, and which are not? Are there any stores deliberately not displaying our fans, or adjusting the prices?"
This consignment model is most afraid of agents playing tricks. They might deliberately say the product isn't selling well to get a bigger discount, or raise the price because the product is selling well, or use your product as a prop to promote higher-margin similar products.
Feng Yu had clearly written these terms in the contract. If there was a breach, not only would the agreed commission not be paid, but the deposit would also not be refunded, and the other party would have to compensate him at least 10,000 yuan.
Feng Yu thought they would say someone had breached the contract, or everyone had. In this era, state-owned units were all arrogant, and no private company would dare to sue a state-owned unit.
But things were not as Feng Yu had expected. No one had breached the contract; the fans just weren't selling at all!
"Mr. Feng, the supply cooperative only sold three fans today. I saw it clearly; they were trying hard to sell, but no one was buying!"
"The First Department Store is the same. They placed the fans in a very prominent position in the electronics section, but very few people bought them. They only sold five today."
"Yours is still better. The Power Department Store only sold one."
"At least you made a sale. The Peace Department Store didn't sell any!"
"Mr. Feng, are these fans going to be stuck in our hands?"
Everyone was talking at once, and Feng Yu listened carefully, nodding. They had all done their due diligence and no one had slacked off.
"Mr. Feng, these fans aren't selling at all. What should we do?"
Feng Yu smiled. "Wait, in three days, you'll see the results! Tomorrow, you should..."
On the seventh day, the last day of the newspaper advertisement, it featured a 49-yuan fan with two pictures: one showing the fan on a desk and another showing a truck leaving the motor factory.
In the afternoon, the supply cooperative manager, Mr. Su, frowned. The fans weren't selling as well as he had hoped. The price was more than half off, but the brand had no recognition. Wasn't Feng Yu supposed to be advertising? Just a few pictures and sentences in the newspaper—was that really advertising?
"Hello, what would you like to buy?"
"Do you have the Fengyu brand electric fan?"
"Yes, we have two models, each with multiple colors. Which one would you like?" the salesperson said listlessly.
"The one in the newspaper, really 49 yuan?"
The salesperson looked at the newspaper and pulled out a fan that matched the picture from under the counter. "Yes, 49 yuan."
"Alright, I'll take one, no, two. I'll buy one for my father-in-law too."
"Sure, what color would you like?" The salesperson was happy; Mr. Su had said that for each fan sold, she would get a one-yuan commission!
"Any color, hurry up and give me the change!" The customer slapped ten 10-yuan notes on the counter, and the salesperson quickly collected the money and handed over the two fan boxes.
"Wait, why are the boxes so small? They can't even fit the blades!" The customer looked suspiciously at the salesperson, as if she were trying to deceive him.
"Look, the blades are separate. When you get home, just open the box and tighten the screws. Even a child can do it."
"Hey, that's pretty interesting. I can take it home and use it as a toy for my son."
Mr. Su finally smiled when he saw someone buy two fans at once. He was curious why this person bought two.
He had an idea and quickly flipped through today's Longjiang Daily, which featured a photo of the truck leaving the motor factory. It turned out that people trusted the quality because they knew it was a product of the motor factory.
Mr. Su didn't know that there was more to it than that.
Feng Yu had his company staff spread the word in crowded areas today, making everyone believe that the Fengyu brand electric fans were produced by the motor factory.
What's wrong with plastic? Plastic is just as sturdy! And it's just for blowing air; plastic doesn't produce less wind than metal. Besides, how much do those fans cost? This one only costs a fraction of that. With the money to buy one before, you can now buy several!
And there's another benefit: plastic doesn't rust! Not only does it look good, but it can be easily cleaned with a damp cloth. Also, this small fan is easy to store when not in use, unlike the larger ones that take up a lot of space.
Another benefit is safety; if you stick your fingers in, it will only hurt a little, with no real damage!
The newspaper has been running for a week, so how could this be a low-quality product? Besides, can the motor factory produce low-quality products? Listen, the old Wu's son bought one for him, and old Wu bragged about it for over an hour yesterday. He's enjoying it at home right now!
After this encouragement, some people were convinced and went to the stores or supply cooperatives to ask if the fans were really that cheap. After seeing the samples, some people bought them on the spot, while others decided to buy them the next day after going home to think about it.
That afternoon, the city's major stores and supply cooperatives sold over 100 electric fans, and only three were of other brands; the rest were all Fengyu brand!
There was no way around it; after a week of newspaper ads, whenever people thought of electric fans, their first thought was the Fengyu brand. Even those who hadn't planned to buy the Fengyu brand changed their minds.
The Fengyu brand electric fans became a hit!