Chapter 548 The way to break the situation
Upon hearing Xu Kun take on such a big responsibility, Liu Qiangdong's first reaction was not happiness, but a pang in his heart.
Could it be that Xu Kun's words "You want to sell to me" were not just a misunderstanding, but he really had this idea? !
Although is currently at its weakest, Liu Qiangdong firmly believes that this is the last darkness before dawn and there will be light as long as they can hold on. Therefore, no matter how difficult the past six months have been, he has never thought of giving up the control of .
This is also one of the important reasons why he failed to attract investment even after looking for more than 40 investors.
What he said at the beginning about letting Xu Kun have "his own online mall" was just empty talk for Xu Kun. could only be his, Liu Qiangdong's, online mall.
But looking at Director Xu's momentum...
Liu Qiangdong showed a look of gratitude, took the initiative to shake Xu Kun's hand and said: "Mr. Xu, I knew you were far-sighted! But this is 2000 million US dollars, please don't force it, let's..."
"Don't force it."
Xu Kun said decisively: "My net income this year is about 250 million. Although a considerable part of it needs to be cashed out slowly, it will not be a problem to make up 100 million in bits and pieces. The remaining 50 million will be more than enough to get the endorsement advertising fees from overseas brands in January."
Liu Qiangdong: “…”
Is it true that you can make so much money in the entertainment industry?
Although he is confident about the future of , he estimates that it may not be possible to make a net profit of million yuan a year within three or four years.
"It seems that I underestimated Director Xu's financial resources."
After a moment, Liu Qiangdong sighed: "No wonder Director Xu donated more than 20 million yuan during Taobao's Double Eleven event."
In fact, before hearing about Xu Kun's income, Liu Qiangdong always thought that the 20 million was just a gimmick. After all, the highest donation from a mainland star was only two or three million.
The more than 20 million was beyond Liu Qiangdong's understanding.
But after knowing Xu Kun’s real income, this donation of more than 20 million yuan is not so incredible.
After all, Xu Kun only suddenly became the number one in mainland commercial films near the end of the year. His commercial value has not yet been fully developed, and there will inevitably be an explosive growth in 2009.
But this is very different from Liu Qiangdong's original idea.
After hesitating for a while, he smiled and said, "Director Xu, to be honest, I didn't expect you to be able to do this at first... So some of the quotas here have actually been... For example, Capital Today, our got its start with investment from Capital Today, and recently Mr. Xu from Capital Today has been running around for us..."
This was not the first time that Xu Kun became a shareholder of the company. After listening to Liu Qiangdong halfway through, he realized that his generosity might have scared Brother Dong, making him start to worry that he would take over the company's position.
Tsk~
Originally, Xu Kun wanted to take advantage of the low period of to make a big profit, but Liu Qiangdong's attitude clearly showed that he did not want to see a situation where only he was the only dominant company in .
"Mr. Liu."
Xu Kun said seriously: "I think you may have misunderstood something. The reason why I want to invest in is that I am optimistic about the development of this industry and I appreciate your heavy warehouse storage and logistics strategy, Mr. Liu.
Before the birth rate drops sharply, even if 's online business fails to make a breakthrough, its overall assets will continue to appreciate, supporting to persevere until the dawn."
Liu Qiangdong was not surprised that Xu Kun could see this, after all, he was a financial expert in the entertainment industry.
But the phrase 'before the rapid decline in the number of newborns' aroused his interest, and he couldn't help but ask curiously: "Director Xu, what is the standard for your judgment?"
"1000."
Xu Kun gave the answer without hesitation: "If the population growth drops below 10 million per year, it will definitely have a huge impact on the real estate economy. I estimate that when it approaches 10 million, the signs will be very obvious."
"That will probably have to wait many years."
Upon hearing this figure, Liu Qiangdong was somewhat indifferent. The birth rate has remained at around 1600 million for several years, and the downward trend is not obvious. In fact, as those born in the 80s are gradually entering their childbearing period, a slight increase is expected.
Seeing his attitude, Xu Kun did not discuss the topic in depth. After all, before the data really dropped rapidly, most people would not have thought that it would collapse so quickly and so severely.
He went on to explain: “I rejected Alibaba CEO Ma’s invitation because, firstly, I was very satisfied with my current life and had no intention of changing careers; secondly, I did not think I had the ability and energy to manage and control a large company for a long time.
So even if I invest heavily in , I will not focus my main energy on it, but will focus more on my main business. "
After a pause, he continued, "Of course I know that financing is not only about raising funds for business development, but also a way to pledge loyalty and exchange benefits.
But I think if wants to break through as soon as possible, in addition to the indispensable political resources, the support from the entertainment industry is also extremely important, and even far greater than the commercial support boasted by those external capitals. "
When Liu Qiangdong heard this, he couldn't help but frown and ponder.
He chose Xu Kun as the breakthrough point mainly because Xu Kun successfully planned the Taobao Double Eleven and was not a complete outsider in the online shopping industry.
Xu Kun is no stranger to the investment circle for his previous efforts in helping LeTV get started and his prediction of the CD crisis.
As for his status as a great director and Venice Film Festival winner, it is just an extra advantage for Liu Qiangdong and is something that is dispensable.
But now Xu Kun suddenly tied the entertainment industry and together, which made Liu Qiangdong a little confused. It’s not that the two sides are completely unrelated, but to say that the support provided by the entertainment industry can be greater than that provided by international capital, Liu Qiangdong certainly doesn’t believe it.
But Xu Kun's words were so certain, so obviously they were not groundless.
So Liu Qiangdong asked sincerely: "Director Xu, you said that the entertainment industry is the key to 's breakthrough, but I don't know where to start with this breakthrough?"
Xu Kun asked back, "Is Mr. Liu familiar with blogs?"
Liu Qiangdong smiled and said, "I'm not old, and I'm in the Internet industry. I know a little about blogs. In fact, I often post my opinions on them."
Because he was going to give a long speech next, Xu Kun first took a sip of tea to moisten his throat. As soon as he put down the teacup, Liu Qiangdong attentively refilled it and then stared at Xu Kun with burning eyes.
He has encountered too many setbacks recently, and every time he has to try his best to explain to others 's future plans and bright prospects.
But he was met with indifferent faces countless times after speaking with dry mouth. Gradually, even he himself began to lose confidence.
Before meeting Xu Kun today, Liu Qiangdong never expected that someone would come and give him advice. This made Liu Qiangdong feel novel, and he also eager to know whether Xu Kun, an entertainment economist who was once valued by Ma Yun, could come up with a way to break the deadlock.
Xu Kun did not keep the topic in suspense and said directly: "Blogs can have a few hundred words at the least, or thousands or tens of thousands of words at the most. Logically, it is most suitable for cultural people or industry experts to display their talents, but in the past two years, it was Xu Jinglei who became the queen of blogs. Xu Jinglei was able to become the queen of blogs because of various coincidences and her own efforts, but her status as the leading actress in the entertainment industry is a key point that should never be ignored - celebrities naturally have the effect of attracting traffic."
Xu Kun said this and threw a new question to Liu Qiangdong who was thinking: "Have you noticed the recent Fanfou?"
"Did you eat?"
Liu Qiangdong thought for a moment before answering, "Is it the simplified version of the blog that can only post more than 100 words?"
“Perhaps Weibo would be more appropriate.”
Xu Kun said: "If I say that Weibo will soon replace blogs and become a newer and larger social platform, what would you think?"
"This……"
Liu Qiangdong hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I don't see any such trend for now. What can you do with just over 100 words? Unless you are publishing a poem, it can't even be considered an article."
This is also what many people think nowadays.
In the blog era, the most attractive things are always those carefully crafted articles, and the long and powerful articles are most likely to spark heated discussions.
So it is hard for people who are in the situation to imagine that Weibo will replace blogs so quickly.
Xu Kun smiled and said, “Mr. Liu, you can’t see this trend because you have never thought about things from the perspective of the entertainment industry, and you don’t know much about the overall situation of the entertainment industry.
Xu Jinglei's talent may be a little exaggerated, but among celebrities, she is definitely one of the more educated ones. Most celebrities do not actually have the ability to write articles.
But if you want them to share their latest updates in a hundred words or so and complain about what they encounter at work after work, then that's still fine.
Now, fan economy is a force that cannot be ignored in the entertainment industry, and many celebrities are in urgent need of finding a channel to contact their fans.
As long as this layer of window paper is broken, Weibo and celebrities are a match made in heaven! Celebrities can bring huge traffic, and enough popularity will attract more celebrities to join!
In the blog era, only Xu Jinglei stood out, but in the Weibo era, countless celebrities started fighting! They would interact with fans here, they would argue with their peers here, and they would inadvertently expose all kinds of big gossips...
Besides fans, these things will also attract a lot of passers-by who come to watch the fun - more importantly, the risks of these things are controllable and will not cross the red line like those political topics. "
After all, Liu Qiangdong is not an ordinary person. When Xu Kun mentioned traffic, he had already grasped some of Xu Kun's ideas.
When he heard Xu Kun describe the star-studded scene on Weibo, his eyes lit up and he couldn't help but interrupt, "Director Xu, are you saying that we at can find business opportunities from this?!"
"of course can!"
Xu Kun said: “Once Weibo has accumulated enough attention, the Weibo account of every popular star can actually be regarded as an independent advertising platform.
Nowadays, people are actually immune to advertisements on TV and websites. But if celebrities personally promote products and package them as rewards to fans, the effect in a short period of time will definitely be much better than traditional advertising with high investment and low results!"
“Yes, yes, yes!”
Liu Qiangdong slapped his thigh with his eyes shining. Although most advertisements are shot by celebrities, the public nowadays basically does not take what the celebrities say in the advertisements as their own opinions.
However, if the model is changed to Weibo, with celebrities personally recommending the product, it will definitely attract a lot of fans in a short period of time and bring huge traffic to .
The way out of the impasse is indeed a way out of the impasse, and it is a practical way out!
More importantly, with Xu Kun's huge influence in the entertainment industry, once he acquires a stake in , this solution to the problem will be tailor-made for .
It's not that other people can't imitate, but even if they do, the price they have to pay and the benefits they can get will definitely not be as good as that of Xu Kun, the 'originator'!
Liu Qiangdong was excited for a while, but when he saw Xu Kun drinking tea leisurely, he gradually calmed down and imitated the people of Jianghu to clasp their fists and said, "Listening to your words is worth ten years of reading. Director Xu, if you have any other tricks, please feel free to teach me!"
"Easy to say."
Xu Kun said: "In fact, letting celebrities directly advertise for on Weibo is actually a bad idea. My idea is to open a group buying model for celebrities, and then let the celebrities count the approximate number of people in need in advance in the name of giving back to fans, and then use this number to negotiate preferential policies with manufacturers.
As long as the quantity is large enough and a preferential price can be negotiated, it will be a win-win situation for , the celebrities who attract traffic, and the fans who purchase the items.
This model is more flexible than the Double Eleven Shopping Festival and can be carried out more frequently - of course, the scale must be controlled, otherwise it will be bad if it damages the reputation or causes resentment. "
At this point, Liu Qiangdong has completely understood Xu Kun's thinking. If Weibo and celebrities are a perfect match, then allowing celebrities to promote products in the form of giving back to fans is a great opportunity for to overtake others.
If it does well, may really have a chance to dethrone Taobao, or at least keep pace with it!
At this point, Liu Qiangdong was determined to get Xu Kun into the game.
This is a way out for and the best opportunity to overtake others. However, if this method is revealed to Taobao, may never have a chance to make a breakthrough in the next few years!
He stood up, paced back and forth for a few steps, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "Director Xu, can invest 1 million RMB, and the remaining million needs to be explained to others."
He actually had some ambushes set here. If Xu Kun wanted to bargain, 120 million would be the final bottom line - but when that time came, he might need to increase the total investment amount.
But Xu Kun raised his hand without thinking: "Then it's settled. I can give you ideas, but the specific operations still have to be done by you, Mr. Liu. I wouldn't trust anyone else."
Xu Kun knew that there was much more to talk about.
But this kind of thing is not a one-time deal. If he shows enough goodwill now, he will be able to get more returns when continues to raise funds in the future.
In this regard, Brother Dong should be more reliable.
Moreover, Xu Kun left part of the money for another use. When he just analyzed to Liu Qiangdong that Weibo and celebrities were a perfect match, he came up with the idea of investing in Weibo.
Compared with investing in , investing in Weibo will undoubtedly bring him more returns in a short period of time.
However, he couldn't quite remember which portal website came up with the blog, was it Sina or NetEase?
It’s definitely not Sohu!
Of course, it doesn’t have to be these two, there may be better options.
(End of this chapter)
