Chapter 096: Sponsor [Eighth Update of the Promotion Surge]

The eighth update is here, and once again I ask for your recommendation votes! And to thank all our readers, Dreamed Life has made it onto the weekly recommendation chart in its category. Though we are still at the very bottom, we have at least made it up there at last. Thank you all, and please, lend us a little more strength!

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The excitement brought by the King of Fighters 98 tournament left Zhang Zhi and the others overjoyed. Business at the internet cafe had been booming to an extreme degree. The event had not even begun yet, and the momentum was already this strong; once the tournament actually ended, how much greater would it become?

Everyone around Zhang Zhi felt that if things continued like this, by the end of the year they could open four more branches.

Yang Tian, however, was not especially happy. There had always been a knot in his heart, and that knot was the issue of how the tournament’s earnings were to be divided.

He had already agreed with Zhang Zhi earlier that the profits from the tournament would be split evenly between them. Yang Tian would take full responsibility for running the event, while Zhang Zhi would cover all of its operating costs.

In the end, that would not leave Zhang Zhi with much profit, because promotion for the tournament, the arrangement of the venue, and all the other expenses would cost a great deal of money. Most importantly, for the entire month the tournament was being held, Crimson Universe Internet Cafe would be unable to operate normally, since it would have to be cleared out and turned into the competition venue.

By Yang Tian’s estimate, the tournament would bring in around three hundred thousand yuan. His own share of one hundred and fifty thousand would be almost pure profit, while Zhang Zhi’s one hundred and fifty thousand would probably be cut in half.

That was the source of his unease. He was making money by using Zhang Zhi’s cafe; it was already generous enough that Zhang Zhi had agreed to a fifty-fifty split. How could he possibly earn more than the owner himself? His conscience would not let him rest.

Still, he had come up with a good way to make it up to Zhang Zhi. Quietly, he had asked Zhou Bing to send out more than a dozen letters of inquiry.

That day, Yang Tian and the others were gathered at the entrance designing the tournament logo when a middle-aged man in a suit walked over briskly and asked with a polite smile, “May I ask which one of you is Mr. Zhang Zhi?”

“I am!” Zhang Zhi said, somewhat surprised. Zhou Bing and the others nearby were equally baffled, not knowing what was going on.

“Mr. Zhang, hello. I am Ye Haiwen, manager of the publicity department at Siemens’s Binhai branch. I have come at Mr. Yang Tian’s invitation to discuss cooperation with you!” The middle-aged man extended his hand and shook Zhang Zhi’s. Then, with an air of delighted excitement, he continued. Clearly, he was rather stirred.

“Yang Tian? Cooperation?” Zhang Zhi was still somewhat puzzled, but his face quickly broke into a smile. He seemed to have already guessed that this was another one of Yang Tian’s new ideas.

“Hello, Mr. Ye. I am Yang Tian. Please come inside; we can talk there. Zhou Bing, bring tea!” After smiling at Zhang Zhi, Yang Tian led Ye Haiwen quickly into the internet cafe.

The headquarters of Crimson Universe Internet Cafe had long since been expanded, and Zhang Zhi had also bought the second floor. This time, it was no longer being renovated as part of the cafe, but as an office area, complete with a meeting room, a manager’s office, and a place for Zhou Bing and the others to sleep temporarily. It was very considerate.

Yang Tian took Ye Haiwen straight to the meeting room, where Zhou Bing cheerfully brought in several cups of tea.

“Mr. Zhang, Mr. Yang, let us speak plainly. According to this inquiry letter from Mr. Yang, if Siemens wants to secure all the advertising positions at the final venue of the King of Fighters 98 tournament, we would need to provide a sponsorship fee of thirty thousand yuan. Is that correct?” Ye Haiwen asked with a smile. On meeting Yang Tian, he was greatly surprised. He had originally assumed that the Mr. Yang who had come up with this brilliant sponsorship idea would be a middle-aged man with broad experience, much like himself. He had not expected him to be a child.

In foreign countries, sponsorship had already developed into a very important form of cooperation. It was still rare in Binhai. For a child to think of such a thing, and to dare to ask for such a high price of thirty thousand yuan, was truly no small feat.

“Thirty thousand yuan in sponsorship?” Zhang Zhi, Zhou Bing, and the others were all shocked. They could understand exactly what Ye Haiwen meant: nothing more than placing Siemens advertisements at the final venue. To be able to exchange that for thirty thousand yuan in sponsorship was simply too worthwhile. They could not help but begin admiring Yang Tian in secret. This kid could really think of anything.

“Oh, Mr. Ye, yes, that is correct. However, that thirty thousand yuan in sponsorship would only buy the wall advertising space and banner advertising space at the final venue, and at most the desk-and-chair advertising positions as well. As for the gaming computers, keyboards and mice, the host’s microphone, the host’s clothing, and the competitors’ clothing, those would all be sponsored by specialized companies,” Yang Tian said, showing no surprise at all. He knew Siemens would certainly sponsor the event this time. He remembered clearly that in 1998 Siemens was heavily promoting a low-end mobile phone and desperately needed powerful advertising. Their King of Fighters tournament was, at present, the best advertising channel available.

“Then what about the advertising positions on the floor and the flags? Can we secure those? If you are willing, we can also sponsor a giant screen to broadcast the final live, though during the breaks we would need to play Siemens’s latest commercial several times!” After thinking for a moment, Ye Haiwen pressed forward with a generous offer. He seemed to have already realized that Yang Tian had a very large appetite, but fortunately Siemens had already decided to spend heavily on promoting its new product, so he had no reservations.

“The giant screen is fine. It is just that we would like to continue bidding for the floor and flag advertising positions, after all. This competition is on a very large scale, and every advertising position at the final is highly attractive,” Yang Tian said with a calm smile.

On the side, Zhou Bing and the others grew restless. Thirty thousand yuan in sponsorship! Forget those advertising positions; even if they gave Siemens the advertising spaces at the preliminary venues, they would still think it was worth it.

At that moment, Zhang Zhi was no longer overly excited. He sat steadily in his chair, smiling at Yang Tian, unable to help admiring him inwardly. This youngster was becoming more and more formidable. No wonder his sister had wanted so badly to poach him from me; he really is a treasure.

“How about this, then? We’ll add another ten thousand yuan in sponsorship, and the floor and flag advertising positions will belong to us,” Ye Haiwen said after a brief pause. In the end, he still chose to go all out. At present, Siemens’s biggest rival in mobile phones was Nokia, and he did not want to leave the last two prime advertising spots to them.

“Well then... all right. Since Mr. Ye is being so sincere, we have no choice but to cooperate!” Yang Tian exchanged a glance with Zhang Zhi, who immediately understood and said with hearty laughter.

Siemens’s triumphant opening quickly let the other brand sponsors see hope. The computers and keyboards and mice for the finals were all sponsored free of charge by Founder Computer.

The competition clothing was sponsored by Only Apparel. Only was originally a famous European women’s fashion brand, but this time, in order to sponsor the King of Fighters tournament and make a name for itself in Binhai, it specially produced a batch of personalized outfits for the contestants and the hosts of the event.

The French cosmetics brand Vichy and the well-known Japanese children’s footwear brand Little Bobdog had both entered China in 1998. They were in urgent need of advertising to promote their brands, and all of them became targets for Yang Tian’s sponsorship efforts. Knowing both himself and his opponent, he naturally found it easy to secure their generous sponsorships.

In just half a month, Yang Tian had brought Zhang Zhi more than one hundred thousand yuan in sponsorship money, along with many sponsored items such as giant screens, computers, clothing, beverages, vehicles, and parasols.