Chapter 600: Light Industry Trade Fair
The higher-ups responded quickly. Just one day later, Zhou Rui and Xu Xinmao came calling again.
First, they relayed the response from the higher-ups to Li Yi: the gold, valued at 200 million US dollars, would arrive in full in Guangzhou within the next week.
Due to the agreement we’d reached with Hong Kong, Huang Lixing’s fleet would have to make another trip to transport the gold there.
As for how this gold would be handled once it reached Hong Kong, the higher-ups had no control over that—it was entirely up to Li Yi.
Upon receiving the response from headquarters, Li Yi wasted no time and immediately adjusted his schedule.
He had originally planned to depart for Hong Kong at the end of the month, but now it seemed he would have to leave earlier.
After all, in his eyes, this gold was a hot potato!
The reasons were simple: first, international gold prices were about to experience severe volatility; after reaching their peak, they would soon begin a steady decline, so the timing and method of the transaction were crucial for securing a high selling price.
Second, the quantity of gold was simply too large. Based on current international gold prices, this batch of gold—worth 200 million US dollars—amounted to a full 10 tons.
Such a massive influx of physical gold into Hong Kong would inevitably have a huge impact on local gold prices, which would in turn create significant difficulties in selling it at a favorable price.
Therefore, Li Yi didn’t dare entrust this matter to Lan Xinyi and her team. He feared that if they dragged their feet, the gold price would plummet.
After much deliberation, he had no choice but to go himself!
However, before heading to Hong Kong Island, Li Yi still had a few matters to attend to.
First, he needed to finalize the plan for the trade show and have An Hong and the others begin preparations, aiming to launch the exhibition in November.
Second was the matter of opening a branch store. Although Li Yi had entrusted Long Zhanjun with full authority to handle this, and things were going quite smoothly on their end, Li Yi still wanted to stay until after the grand opening ceremony.
And he wanted to spend some quality time with Jiang Xue and the kids!
Over the next few days, Li Yi’s life followed a very regular routine: he would drive Jiang Xue and his mother-in-law to school on time every morning and pick them up again in the evening.
The rest of the time, he stayed home working on the exhibition plan, and in his spare moments, he helped his older sister look after the children.
In just a few short days, Li Yi took his older sister and the children to every interesting or memorable spot in Beijing, and they sampled every delicious local delicacy the city had to offer.
Li Yi was thoroughly satisfied with this lifestyle, which blended busyness with a touch of leisure. If it weren’t for the mountain of work waiting for him later, he would have loved to keep living like this forever!
Before long, a week had passed, and Li Yi’s proposal was finally ready!
During that time, a sudden craze for prize-based sales had swept through the domestic home appliance industry. From televisions and refrigerators to small appliances like electric fans, everyone had jumped on the prize-based sales bandwagon.
They were all copying the playbook of the Second National Cotton Mill and the Yanjing TV Factory, using the same formula: spend a certain amount to receive a scratch-off ticket, and scratch it to potentially win a prize. The tactics were identical across the board.
As the first wave of copycats, these factories achieved fairly good results, with most of them making a tidy profit.
It couldn’t be helped; people back then were just too trusting.
Of course, the scarcity of goods was also a major factor.
In short, various factors drove the rapid rise of prize-based sales campaigns in the country, turning them into a phenomenon in a very short time.
But the public isn’t stupid; seeing everyone playing this game, they’ve caught on.
Talk of “giving back to the people” or “thanking customers” was all nonsense; these factories were simply trying to sell their products.
Soon, the general public began to show some resistance to this prize-based sales model.
But the major manufacturers didn’t realize this; seeing that the companies that had jumped on the bandwagon earlier had all made a profit, even more companies joined the prize-giving sales campaigns.
More importantly, the companies joining in this time weren’t limited to the home appliance industry—bicycle manufacturers, sewing machine makers, radio companies, and even sunflower seed vendors all jumped on the bandwagon.
Overnight, prize-based sales campaigns of all kinds sprang up across the country, one after another, in an endless stream!
Moreover, to attract the public, the grand prizes became increasingly extravagant.
People had thought that the 10,000-yuan prize from the Yanjing Television Factory was already jaw-dropping, but the grand prizes offered by subsequent manufacturers were even more shocking—soaring from 20,000 to 100,000 yuan, with some factories even offering prizes like cars and houses.
For a time, the entire domestic sales market was a veritable showcase of ingenuity, with every company pulling out all the stops—it was a truly lively scene…
………
State Cotton Mill No. 2. Second Floor of the Factory Office!
In the factory director’s office, Li Yi, An Hong, Jiang Longcheng, and Ye Jianhua were gathered around a small round table drinking tea. In the center of the table lay a thin document bearing a bold, forceful line of penmanship: “National Light Industry Exhibition and Sales Fair Activity Plan.”
Gently setting his teacup down on the table in front of him, Li Yi said, “You’ve all read the document. What are your thoughts?”
No sooner had he finished speaking than An Hong was the first to speak up: “Brother Li Yi, I understand the profit model for this exhibition, but there are still a few points I’m not quite clear on. Could you help me sort them out?”
“Sis, what exactly are you unclear about? Please tell me,” Li Yi replied.
“As I understand it, the main sources of revenue for this fair are participation fees, booth rental fees, and things like sponsorships and advertising. To put it simply, we’re mainly making money off those factories, right?”
“Exactly!”
“But if that’s the case, why are we imposing restrictions on the participating companies? We turn this one away and that one too—aren’t we just pushing people away?” An Hong asked.
No sooner had she finished speaking than Ye Jianhua chimed in, “That’s exactly what I wanted to ask. Since the more units that come, the more we earn, why not accept them all?”
Li Yi immediately replied, “As I’ve said before, our trade fair is different from others. We’re selling the public high-quality, premium goods—not junk from ‘clearance sales’!”
“That’s why we have to act as gatekeepers for the public—we’ll block out any products that don’t meet quality standards right at the door. We absolutely cannot let people pay top dollar for a pile of junk with terrible value for money.”
When it came to product marketing, Li Yi was an absolute expert.
He understood clearly that, regardless of the era, the core of competition has always been differentiation. Only by being different from others can you establish a competitive barrier and stand out from the crowd.
Trade shows are nothing new—they’re essentially just sales events. Why on earth should people choose to buy from your trade show?
The answer is that everything I sell here is top-quality, high-end merchandise, and I can even negotiate a better price for you. Tell me, isn’t that tempting?
At this point, An Hong spoke up again: “If we go with this plan, most of the exhibitors will be large organizations. Their products aren’t exactly cheap—will the general public buy into that?”
“They will!”
Li Yi’s response was unwavering!
When people shop, they’re not just looking for the lowest price—they’re seeking the best value for their money.
The “foundation” of brand competition remains the provision of high-quality products or services.
Consider the live-streaming sales team from a certain educational brand that pivoted to this field in later years. Why were they able to gain consumer recognition so quickly and become a sensation in the already fiercely competitive live-streaming sales industry? The reason was their strict control over product quality, allowing consumers to purchase desirable and affordable goods without leaving home or haggling over prices.
In fact, the products in that livestream weren’t the cheapest online, yet consumers still flocked to them. So, it’s not necessarily true that the cheaper something is, the more it will win over the public.
Just as An Hong and Ye Jianhua were about to ask more questions, Jiang Longcheng suddenly spoke up: “You two stop asking all these questions. When has my brother-in-law’s idea ever gone wrong? With our limited understanding, we might not even grasp it even if we asked. Just follow the plan!”
Although An Hong and Ye Jianhua were tempted to argue back, they realized he had a point.
After giving it some thought, they both obediently kept their mouths shut!
“Brother-in-law, tell us—how exactly should we handle this trade show? We’re all counting on your plan!” Jiang Longcheng said.
Li Yi didn’t beat around the bush. “Third Brother, you find the venue for the trade show. It has to be spacious and easily accessible—and ideally, we should be able to rent it for several years at once!”
“Got it!”
“Sis-in-law, you’ll handle the venue decoration. I’ve already drawn up the plans; you just need to find a team to follow them!”
Li Yi continued, “Also, we’ll need staff for the trade show. Sister-in-law, please recruit some people as soon as possible to put together a temporary team—keep the headcount under eight!”
“Got it!”
“The rest is finding suppliers. Third Brother and Brother Jianhua, you two handle the phone calls. Sister-in-law, you’ll be in charge of contacting them, inspecting their products, and most importantly, negotiating to drive the prices down!”
“Okay…”
………