raknovel Chapter 75: We're going to win without lifting a finger!
Chapter 75: We're going to win without lifting a finger!
In September, Beijing is blessed with clear skies and gentle breezes.
Chang'an Avenue stretches straight eastward, and the leaves of the locust trees on both sides are beginning to turn yellow. The Santana drives at a moderate pace, blending into the tail end of the morning rush hour, gliding forward along the lane.
Li Si'an sat in the back seat, wearing a white shirt and dark trousers, and her hair was neatly styled. Lawyer Liu sat next to her, dressed in a suit and carrying a black briefcase.
Zhou Weidong gripped the steering wheel and glanced back in the rearview mirror. "I called Lawyer Liu along too. When it comes to signing contracts, you need someone knowledgeable to be there and overseeing it."
Li Si'an nodded.
The Santana turned onto Jianguomenwai Street, and the Motorola Building was there. Zhou Weidong parked the car and removed the keys.
"arrive."
The three entered the lobby, where the receptionist handed them three visitor passes. The elevator went up to the twelfth floor, where Zhao Hongyu's assistant was already waiting at the elevator entrance and led them inside.
Zhao Hongyu stood at the office door, wearing a short-sleeved navy blue shirt, his hair neatly combed.
Seeing them approach, he greeted them with a smile, shook hands with Zhou Weidong, and patted Li Si'an on the shoulder.
"You're here? Come in and have a seat."
The office wasn't large, with a row of sofas against the wall and several bottles of mineral water on the coffee table. Zhao Hongyu gestured for them to sit down, and his assistant poured water and brought it over.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Zhao Hongyu picked up a black contract folder from his desk, opened it, took out two documents, and placed them on the coffee table.
"The contracts are out. Two copies. One is a buyout agreement for the Asian broadcasting rights of GG films plus the global usage rights of promotional slogans, for $100,000."
The other document is a sponsorship agreement for the music video – as previously agreed, we will sponsor you 50,000 yuan to shoot the music video, plus two mobile phones.
In consideration, you grant us the license to use this music video on Motorola's promotional channels for a period of three years.
Attorney Liu put down his water glass, put on his glasses, picked up the contract, and began to flip through it.
Zhao Hongyu leaned back on the sofa and waited a few minutes. Only after Attorney Liu had finished flipping through the papers did he speak.
"Xiao Li, there's something I need to make clear to you. From a purely commercial perspective, the benefits you gain from this music video licensing contract far outweigh your costs."
Li Si'an looked up at him.
"You guys probably know about Tai Zhengxiao's song 'I Want You to Hear My Heart' from last year. We promoted it as a pager anthem, and the Hong Kong company invested almost a million dollars to shoot the music video."
"After GG was launched, pager sales increased by nearly 20% throughout the year. This figure directly influenced the decision-making level at the Asia-Pacific headquarters—they now highly approve of the 'music + brand' approach and are willing to continue investing resources."
Zhao Hongyu picked up his water glass and took a sip.
"Your music video and video have been reviewed by headquarters. Their assessment is that these two pieces of material can be used together."
For any TV station that airs our Motorola GG, we will simultaneously recommend your music video and arrange for it to be broadcast on music programs.
This coverage includes major television networks in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, as well as Japan and South Korea.
Zhao Hongyu put down his water glass, looked at Li Si'an, and tapped his finger lightly twice on the coffee table.
"For the mainland portion, I specifically communicated with headquarters several times. Our proposed plan is to primarily target CCTV and provincial TV stations in economically developed coastal provinces."
I told headquarters that CCTV's "China Music Television" program has nationwide coverage and the greatest influence. If your music video could be broadcast on that program, the promotional effect would be the best.
He paused.
"Getting in through CCTV is difficult, but our Motorola GG is there, so we have some influence. I'll handle this."
After listening, Li Si'an leaned back on the sofa, going over the names of those programs in her mind several times.
"China Music Television." He'd heard that name before. In the mid-to-late 1990s, countless singers across the country had their songs heard on this program.
Where others would fight tooth and nail to get in, Motorola was now going to help him get in. He picked up his water glass and took a sip; his palms were a little damp, leaving a wet fingerprint on the glass.
After listening, Zhou Weidong put his water glass on the coffee table and sat up straight.
"Mr. Zhao, I don't know how to say this. You've helped us so much, we really need to thank you properly."
Zhao Hongyu waved his hand. "President Zhou, there's no need for us to talk about this."
"This is not just polite talk." Zhou Weidong looked at him. "We know very well that there are countless people who would kill to get into CCTV."
"Coastal provincial TV stations, Phoenix TV, TVB—any one of them, we could work ourselves to death and still not get in. You've opened up all of them—this is more than just a matter of money."
Li Si'an chimed in from the side, "Mr. Zhao, my uncle is right. The distribution channels you've helped us establish are something we couldn't buy ourselves no matter how much money we had."
Zhao Hongyu leaned back on the sofa and smiled.
"Alright, alright, you two don't need to thank me like that." He picked up his water glass and took a sip. "Let me tell you the truth—this is what you deserve."
He put down his water glass and looked at Li Si'an.
"Your music video was really well made. The people at headquarters weren't just giving me face; they asked about it after watching the video."
They said the music video perfectly matched our brand image. The scene of the flip-open piano lid and the shot of the phone sliding out of the hospital room—those two visual symbols felt very natural and weren't forced together.
He paused.
"That's why I said, you deserve it. Without that, I wouldn't be able to help even if I wanted to.
After listening, Li Si'an put down her water glass and nodded to Zhao Hongyu. "Thank you, Mr. Zhao."
Zhao Hongyu waved his hand, put the water glass back on the coffee table, leaned back on the sofa, and looked at Li Si'an.
"Alright, enough with the thanks. Since everyone's here today, let me go over the press conference from the 18th with you again."
He leaned forward and placed his hands on his knees, folded over each other.
"The press conference was short. First, the representative from the Asia-Pacific region gave a speech, and then I went up and said a few words, focusing on the origin of this slogan."
I'll mention your name then—"Li Si'an, a first-year student at Beijing Normal University and the creator of Motorola's new global slogan."
He glanced at Li Si'an.
"Then you go on stage. No need to prepare a long speech, just a few sentences will do. The media isn't interested in how much you say, but in you as a person. An eighteen-year-old student who wrote a global slogan for Motorola—that topic alone is enough."
Li Si'an nodded.
"The key is the Q&A session with reporters." Zhao Hongyu slowed his tone a bit. "There will definitely be people asking—how did you come up with the phrase 'bringing hearts closer'?"
He paused for a moment and looked at Li Si'an.
"Just say it the way we talked last time. It comes from Nokia's 'Connecting people' slogan—connection is the means, bringing hearts closer is the goal."
Nokia talks about connectivity; you talk about what comes after connectivity. Let's be honest and say it the way it should be said.
Li Si'an thought for a moment, then smiled. "Mr. Zhao, you're... asking me to step on Nokia's back for you?"
Zhao Hongyu picked up his water glass and took a sip. "Just tell me, is what you said the truth?"
"It's the truth." Li Si'an leaned back on the sofa. "That's where I originally came up with the idea."
"Just tell the truth." Zhao Hongyu put down his water glass. "Tell the truth, what's the problem?"
Li Si'an smiled. "Yes, there's no problem. However—I'd like to change one sentence."
Zhao Hongyu looked at him.
"Nokia focused on connecting people, while Motorola aimed to go a step further, bringing hearts closer together," said Li Si'an. "Don't you think that's a more accurate way to put it?"
After listening, Zhao Hongyu paused for a moment, then smiled. He reached out and tapped Li Si'an twice in a suggestive manner.
"Okay. Very clever."
Zhao Hongyu stood up, picked up the contract folder on the table, put it back on the desk, and turned around.
"It's settled then. See you on the 18th."
Li Si'an stood up and extended her hand. "See you on the 18th."
When I came out of the Motorola Building, the sun was almost overhead.
The traffic on Jianguomenwai Street was much heavier than in the morning, with horns blaring incessantly. Attorney Liu left first, saying he had other matters to attend to at the firm.
Zhou Weidong and Li Si'an stood on the steps at the entrance of the building. The September wind blew by, carrying the smell of car exhaust and locust leaves.
Zhou Weidong took out a cigarette case from his pocket, pulled one out, put it in his mouth, struck a match, lit it, and took a puff.
"Phoenix TV, TVB, CCTV, provincial TV stations in coastal areas, Singapore, Malaysia." He exhaled a puff of smoke. "Anzi, you're really going to be famous this time."
Li Si'an stood on the steps without moving, and only spoke after a long while.
"Uncle, I feel like we're going to win this time without even having to lift a finger."
Zhou Weidong turned to look at him. "Winning by doing nothing?"
"You can win just by lying down." Li Si'an put her hands in her pockets, a slow smile spreading across her face.
"This time, catching Motorola's coattails has been incredibly worthwhile. We basically don't need to worry about promotion ourselves—just the TV exposure alone, which record company can match that?"
He paused.
"Especially the overseas part. Mainland singers have no chance of getting exposure in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. Now, they're paving the way for us. There are so many people who would kill to get into CCTV, but Director Zhao said, 'I'll take care of it.'"
Zhou Weidong understood. He took the cigarette out of his mouth, threw it on the ground, and stubbed it out with the tip of his shoe.
"Alright, even if you win by doing nothing, you can't just lie there now. Hurry up and go, we still have a lot to do today."
Li Si'an smiled, turned around, and went down the steps. The two opened the car door, got in, started the Santana, and merged into the traffic on Jianguomenwai Street.