September 24!
Like a bolt from the blue, National Cotton Mill No. 2 announced via newspapers and public notices: To thank the general public for their support of Feixue Apparel, the factory has decided to launch a prize-winning sales event at all its direct-operated stores nationwide over the next week, along with a detailed event plan.
According to the plan, from September 25 through October 1, anyone in the country who purchases clothing at any Feixue Apparel flagship store for over 100 yuan would receive a scratch-off ticket—the more you buy, the more tickets you get.
After scratching off the ticket, customers may find various prizes listed inside.
Prizes ranged from daily necessities to furniture and home appliances, and the Second National Cotton Mill guaranteed that there would be no fewer than 1,000 first-prize Yanjing brand black-and-white televisions.
After this news was reported by the *Workers’ Daily*, *Beijing Daily*, and *Legal Evening News*, it quickly caused a sensation.
At the same time, to achieve the desired promotional effect, the Second State-Owned Cotton Mill worked through the night to print a large number of flyers, which were then distributed to its direct-sales stores across the country.
With the vigorous promotion by the print media, the campaign quickly attracted the attention of the general public.
After all, the vast majority of the public had never heard of or seen anything like winning a prize for making a purchase.
More importantly, the idea that buying 100 yuan worth of clothes could win a 400- or 500-yuan television seemed like a fairy tale.
Whether or not they actually intended to buy clothes, everyone was eager to check it out in person.
Consequently, after the announcement on the 24th, nearly all of Feixue Apparel’s flagship stores were swamped, with crowds flooding in.
Their goal wasn’t to buy clothes; they were all there to ask about the promotion.
Some were asking if the promotion was real, others were skeptical about whether buying clothes would actually get them a TV, and still others wanted to know when the promotion would start and if the number of raffle tickets could be combined…
In short, even before the event had begun, Feixue Apparel had once again become a massive sensation.
Over a hundred stores nationwide are now packed to the brim with frenzied shoppers…
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And just as the Second State-Owned Cotton Mill was heavily promoting this prize-winning sales event, a rather inconspicuous section of the *Workers’ Daily* quietly published a report:
“Recently, a Yanjing-brand television that had been submerged in the Yellow River for a month—having endured the scouring of rapids and the pounding of silt—was salvaged looking like a ‘mud egg.’ However, after technicians performed a simple repair—replacing only the speaker’s paper cone and voice coil—the TV still produced clear images, vibrant colors, and pleasant sound, with viewing quality virtually indistinguishable from a brand-new unit…”
This news item seemed rather unremarkable amid a flood of major international events, but the accompanying photos were quite eye-catching.
The set consists of three photos: one shows a television completely encased in mud and silt, with the Yanjing brand logo barely visible—nothing else is discernible.
The second photo shows a stunningly beautiful woman repairing the television. The striking contrast between the attractive, focused technician and the filthy set is truly memorable.
The third image shows the repaired TV now playing a program. The picture is crystal clear, and paired with the beautiful young woman beaming beside it, the entire scene is warm and serene—truly captivating.
That’s right—this was Li Yi’s plan to make the Yanjing TV brand a hit!
Of course, this wasn’t his original idea; he simply copied the approach used by the neighboring Beijing TV Factory.
On August 25, 1984, the *Beijing Daily* published an article titled “Peony Color TV Sinks into the Yangtze River.” The article detailed how a Peony TV, after sinking into the Yangtze River for a month, could still function normally following a simple repair.
As soon as the report was published, it immediately sparked a buying frenzy, instantly making Mudan TVs synonymous with durability and reliability in the public’s mind.
Furthermore, with domestic goods in short supply at the time and televisions—as luxury items—in high demand, this publicity sent Mudan TV sales soaring overnight. People across the country rushed to buy them, with long lines forming everywhere. Convoys of trucks hauled televisions straight off the production lines, and sales were booming.
By 1993, Peony TV had sold 600,000 units annually, with revenue reaching 1.2 billion yuan, and at one point held a 50% market share in China, effectively dominating the market.
However, the good times did not last. With the widespread adoption of televisions in the 1990s and the resulting oversupply, a price war erupted as companies sought to clear inventory. Unable to keep pace with market competition, Peony TV began a steep decline and gradually faded from the market.
Nevertheless, it is undeniable that the rise of Peony TV was directly linked to that meticulously planned marketing campaign.
After taking over the Yanjing TV Factory, Li Yi had been constantly thinking of a way to break the deadlock. Recalling this success story, he decided to take a gamble using the Yanjing TV Factory’s banbanhaobang inventory products.
Although this plan had an element of risk, after careful analysis, Li Yi believed the chances of success were quite high.
The reason was that the domestic television industry was still in its early stages of development and was at a critical juncture of industrial upgrading, presenting a rare opportunity for the Yanjing Television Factory.
Although color televisions had already begun to spread widely abroad, some domestic television factories had also started importing color television production lines from abroad, such as the Hucheng Television Factory.
As early as 1979, they had already ordered a color television production line from the Japanese. Currently, the factory’s “Golden Star” brand color televisions have gone into production and have been widely accepted by the public.
However, with domestic color TVs often costing two or three thousand yuan, they are not affordable for the average household. As a result, the vast majority of ordinary families still use black-and-white TVs.
This indicates that black-and-white TVs still have a market in China at present!
Moreover, black-and-white TV technology isn’t particularly sophisticated, and the production lines at various factories are even quite similar; the only significant difference lies in the TV casings.
To claim that the best-selling Jinxing TV is significantly superior in technology to the Yanjing TV is pure nonsense—they’re essentially the same product.
When there’s no significant difference in quality, marketing becomes crucial.
Li Yi is confident that once the media and TV programs extensively report on the “rock-solid quality” of Yanjing TVs, coupled with the National Cotton Mill No. 2’s promotional campaigns offering prizes, Yanjing TVs will inevitably become the top brand in the national TV industry in a very short time.
At that point, the TV factory’s sales department would simply ride the wave to clear inventory and recoup funds—it would be a piece of cake!
His only concern was that Yanjing TV Factory’s inventory was too low, and this wave of demand was simply too massive for them to handle, which could disrupt subsequent plans.
But since things had come to this, he had no other choice but to proceed step by step according to the original plan!
And so, a jaw-dropping marketing spectacle began…
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