Chapter 848 -306: 200 Million—We Want to Be the Exclusive Sponsor of the Spring Festival Gala!
Such a bold move is extremely rare even for a corporation of New Era’s size these days. When Su Zelin proposed it, even though everyone knew this major shareholder always acted with boldness, Brother Xiao Yang and Kang Baohong were still shocked.
If it succeeds, it might just be another milestone for New Era.
Su Zelin, however, remained calm. In his opinion, apart from a few things like his relationship with Qin Shiqing, there’s nothing that money can’t solve.
Before the plane took off, he even took out his phone and dialed a number in the Yanjing area.
“Hello, old classmate, I’m heading to Yanjing for business today, currently on a Shenghai plane!”
“Su Zelin, what are you doing in Yanjing?”
Zhao Mingxuan’s voice came through the phone, full of surprise.
Su Zelin chuckled: “Just a business trip, handling a small matter, should be done in three days. How about you organize a get-together with our classmates in Beijing?”
Several people from the 982 class went to Yanjing University and stayed to work in Beijing. Though there was a reunion at the recent school anniversary, two classmates from Beijing were unable to attend.
Actually, Su Zelin wasn’t very familiar with those two. His main aim wasn’t really to catch up with old classmates, but rather to use this trip to Beijing to meet Zhao Mingxuan’s girlfriend, to see if he could persuade the guy with glasses to give up on her.
Back in high school, despite their disagreements, it didn’t stop him from appreciating Zhao Mingxuan, especially after he became class president in university and realized how difficult it was to manage a class. So even though he wasn’t really friends with the guy with glasses, Zelin still wanted to help, hoping Zhao Mingxuan wouldn’t end up with a metaphorical Hulun Buir Grassland on his head.
“Is that so, okay then!”
Considering Su Zelin’s current status, taking business trips was quite normal, and Zhao Mingxuan quickly agreed.
“But I have to work during the day, only free in the evenings, and that’s the same case for most others.”
“No problem, we can just wait until after your work hours. Please help me arrange with the others!”
“Sure, no problem!”
They didn’t chat for long and hung up after making plans.
Shortly after, the plane took off.
The business class seat was very comfortable, offering much more space compared to economy class, with a private restroom, more meal options, and movies to watch, though without blasting the volume, as not to disturb others.
There wasn’t much to do on the journey, so Su Zelin put on a Zhou Xingxing movie to pass the time.
“Sir, hello, would you like something to drink?”
A stewardess, with a lovely face and tall, slender build, smiled as she approached him.
Su Zelin casually said, “A cup of tea, please, not too strong.”
“Okay, please wait a moment!”
In no time, the stewardess returned, holding a cup of hot tea.
“Sir, here’s your tea.”
“Ah, thank you!”
As Su Zelin took the cup, he realized something else was in his hand.
A small paper ball.
“I’ll get back to work. If you need anything else, feel free to call me anytime, okay?”
The beautiful stewardess left a tantalizing remark and walked away elegantly without showing a trace.
Su Zelin didn’t even need to open the paper; he knew it would contain a phone number.
This sort of thing had happened many times in his past life.
Many flight attendants are perceptive enough to judge from a passenger’s appearance, speech, and demeanor whether they’re wealthy.
Even though Su Zelin was young and flying business class, not first class, he exuded a subtle air of authority that suggested he was a rich heir from Shenghai or Beijing, combined with his striking looks, receiving such paper notes wasn’t surprising.
Flight attendants frequently encounter wealthy individuals, so it’s not unusual for them to seek connections or extra income; it’s quite common.
Sure enough, the paper unfolded to reveal a phone number.
If he found himself bored in Beijing, he could simply book a room and dial the number; the stewardess would surely come by if she wasn’t on duty.
Yet, the hustler just chuckled and tossed the paper into the trash can.
In his past life, the women he got involved with came in two kinds.
Those whom he had deep emotional bonds with, long-term partners.
And those who were professional JS escorts.
He had little interest in such fleeting flings, as they often led to trouble.
Especially when you don’t really know the other person’s true nature.
If you’re famous and you encounter one who’s overly clingy, it could really get messy.
Two hours later, the plane landed at the Capital Airport, but we’ll skip the taxi ride to the hotel.
The next morning, the trio visited the headquarters of the Central Bank.
This was the old headquarters, not the distinctive arch-shaped building in Yanjing’s Business CBD famously nicknamed “Big Pants” and listed by TIME magazine as one of the top ten architectural wonders in the world in 2007.
Interestingly, later this October, the Central Bank’s new headquarters also began construction.
At the headquarters’ building, they met with Xu Guorong, the top leader of the Central Bank, whose meeting had been prearranged through prior contact.
Even though New Era’s national market strategy had just begun, it was already gaining some reputation.
This notoriety largely stemmed from the previous news of them lavishly spending a billion to acquire land for a gigantic headquarters.
Xu Guorong naturally would have heard of it.
He figured this company was quite flush with cash, hence granting them the courtesy of a personal meeting.
Without this super headquarters plan, given New Era’s current influence, Xu Guorong might not have paid attention to them. After all, sitting in the top spot at the Central Bank, he was quite busy and couldn’t just meet everyone.
So hype and promotion matter greatly, as they can make the impossible possible.
Once in the meeting room, the staff served tea and left.
Then Xu Guorong politely asked, “What can my Central Bank do for executives of New Era today?”
During previous phone conversations, the New Era side had only mentioned intentions to discuss advertising cooperation with the Central Bank, but stated details would be discussed later. So Xu Guorong was unclear about the specifics.
“Our company wants to discuss a naming sponsorship for this year’s Spring Festival Gala with your TV station!”
Su Zelin directly stated.
Xu Guorong was slightly taken aback.
Ideally, the person to mention the agenda should be New Era’s leader, Yang Fen.
“President Su is our company’s Chief Operating Officer, as well as the founder and largest shareholder!”
Yang Fen explained.
Xu Guorong was visibly shocked.
This young man seemed freshly graduated, and already serving as a senior executive was impressive enough, but he turned out to be the true owner of New Era.
“Young’s talents are astonishing!”
Xu Guorong couldn’t help but express admiration.
In his early twenties, with such capabilities and boldness.
Then he hesitated, saying, “I’m afraid you executives should know that our station’s sponsorship for the Spring Festival Gala has been decided through brand partner bidding in recent years.”
Without wasting words, Su Zelin showed two fingers: “Two billion, that’s our sponsorship fee!”
That’s his communication style.
Using the fewest words to achieve the greatest effect.
Rather than dragging on endlessly to finally reveal their offer of two billion, which wouldn’t be as impactful.
Indeed, Zelin’s bold opening move immediately stunned Xu Guorong.
While bids for the Spring Festival Gala were high, they were nowhere near two billion.
This was akin to someone facing you and throwing a bag of money in your face, quite thrilling.
“As I understand, it wasn’t until 2002 that the Central Bank’s Spring Festival Gala marketing revenue officially entered the billion-dollar era. The final bid prices only slightly increased last year, and might go a bit higher this year, but not too much.”
Su Zelin remarked calmly.
Xu Guorong agreed with his words but was puzzled.
Since New Era understood the situation with Spring Festival Gala bidding, why not just offer a normal bid? It would save significant money. Why did they bring two billion to willingly give the station so much extra money?
He knew New Era wasn’t just foolishly throwing money around, so there must be another reason.
Sure enough, Su Zelin quickly added, “But we have two conditions: first, exclusive sponsorship; second, greater exposure during the Spring Festival Gala!”
Xu Guorong suddenly understood.
They wanted to negotiate for exclusive sponsorship and increased exposure.
This young man’s ambition was huge!
In principle, the Central Bank couldn’t substantially change the Spring Festival Gala sponsorship structure like this.
However, they offered so much!
It’s nearly double the normal final bid price!
Xu Guorong couldn’t help but feel tempted.