Leng Junfei sat quietly behind his large desk, intently reviewing a document. Although it was late, he showed no impatience, only occasionally glancing at the closed door of the break room, a barely perceptible smile playing on his lips.
Meanwhile, in the adjacent meeting room, Zhuang Tao kept checking his watch, his dislike for Chen Yang growing stronger. In his opinion, coming to headquarters tonight was a complete waste of time. The thought of all the work he hadn't finished, and now having to sit here and entertain this country bumpkin who seemed to be a relative of Chairman Ning, filled Zhuang Tao with resentment.
Finally, Zhuang Tao, who had been pacing back and forth, couldn't help but stop and turn to Fan Tianning, saying:
"Manager, it's been almost an hour. Waiting like this isn't a solution. There's a ton of work to do at the company! Maybe I should head back first. Anyway, you, the sales manager, are here!"
Upon hearing this, Fan Tianning quickly grabbed Zhuang Tao, saying:
"Are you kidding me! Even President Leng is waiting for Mr. Fang. What's with you rushing off like this? Are you busier than President Leng?"
Actually, Fan Tianning was unsure of himself. He was afraid that if Leng Junfei suddenly asked him a question he couldn't answer, it would be embarrassing, but losing face in his superiors' eyes would be much worse. That's why he insisted on bringing Zhuang Tao with him to headquarters. Although this young man wasn't very adept at interpersonal relationships, his business acumen was absolutely top-notch, and with him there, Fan Tianning felt reassured. "But..." Zhuang Tao anxiously tried to say something more, but Fan Tianning waved his hand, interrupting him, and said:
"No buts! Young Zhuang! It's good that young people are energetic, but you also need to guard against arrogance and impetuosity!"
As Fan Tianning spoke, he gave Zhuang Tao a meaningful look.
He had always found Zhuang Tao rather annoying. Relying on his status as a highly educated returnee from overseas, Zhuang Tao always carried an air of arrogance, even though Fan Tianning was his direct superior. Although Zhuang Tao wasn't exactly domineering when speaking to Fan Tianning, that undisguised pride in his bones made Fan Tianning uncomfortable. Therefore, taking this opportunity, Fan Tianning subtly gave Zhuang Tao a warning.
Zhuang Tao was completely stumped by Fan Tianning's words, unable to utter a word for a long time. He simply sat down sullenly and gulped down the remaining tea in his cup. He naturally held absolutely no goodwill towards Chen Yang.
Chen Yang, who had inexplicably attracted jealousy, spent another half hour fiddling with his iPhone 4s in the lounge. He glanced at the phone in his hand, a slight sense of smugness creeping into his heart, a smile unconsciously curving his lips.
Chen Yang pushed open the door and came out. Leng Junfei immediately noticed, looking up from his documents and asking Chen Yang,
"Ready?"
Chen Yang smiled and nodded, saying,
"Thank you, Mr. Leng! I'm all ready!"
Chen Yang's gratitude towards Leng Junfei was naturally due to the convenience Leng Junfei had shown him earlier.
Leng Junfei nodded, pressed the speakerphone button, and casually instructed,
"Xiaowen, call Manager Fan and the others in!"
A moment later, Fan Tianning and Zhuang Tao followed Xiaowen into the lounge. Fan Tianning remained obsequious, while Zhuang Tao's patience had been worn thin by over an hour of waiting. His gaze towards Chen Yang was now filled with hostility, but since they were in Leng Junfei's office, he could only express his displeasure with his eyes.
Once the two were seated, Leng Junfei smiled and said to Chen Yang:
"Xiao Fang, you've been thinking for quite a while! So, what are your thoughts? Manager Fan and Assistant Zhuang are both marketing experts; let's exchange ideas!"
"No, no!" Fan Tianning quickly bowed slightly, forcing a smile. "How could we dare call ourselves experts in front of President Leng!"
Leng Junfei smiled slightly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Fan Tianning's words, and turned his gaze to Chen Yang.
Actually, when Leng Junfei saw Chen Yang come out empty-handed after more than an hour of struggling, he had already given up hope on Chen Yang's performance.
Perhaps it's true that everyone has their own expertise! What a pity! Leng Junfei sighed inwardly.
His ability to judge people was always accurate; he could tell that Chen Yang definitely had something extraordinary about him. Therefore, Leng Junfei was now more focused on how to report the results of this test to Ning Kuncheng.
"President Leng, Manager Fan, Assistant Zhuang, let me share my thoughts!" Chen Yang said calmly, showing no sign of panic on his face, as if he were very confident.
"Just you wait! I'll see how I expose you later!" Zhuang Tao was even more furious at Chen Yang's confident demeanor.
Chen Yang, unaware of Zhuang Tao's thoughts, continued speaking eloquently:
"Firstly, regarding the project's positioning, the area around Plot 1 has seen significant development in recent years, with numerous high-end residential communities. In this prime location on Xiamen Island, where land is incredibly valuable, developing such a large plot of land solely for residential purposes seems wasteful. Most importantly, as a new social elite living area, Xiamen's Luwan District lacks adequate amenities. I just checked some information, and within a five-kilometer radius of Plot 1, there isn't a single large commercial district. This clearly cannot meet the high-end lifestyle needs of the newly wealthy. Plot 1, however, is located in a prime location within Luwan District. Besides the sea to its east, the other three sides are surrounded by several well-established high-end residential areas, signifying a huge potential consumer base. Therefore, I believe this project..." "It should be developed into a large commercial plaza integrating dining, entertainment, and shopping, along with supporting residential projects..."
Hearing this, Zhuang Tao finally couldn't help but interrupt Chen Yang, saying bluntly:
"Excuse me, Mr. Fang, I think I must first explain to you that before the bidding process, the government had already specified the land use as residential buildings. So, discussing building a commercial plaza at this point is meaningless!"
Chen Yang chuckled upon hearing Zhuang Tao's words, finding his assistant somewhat endearingly naive. He looked at Leng Junfei and asked with a smile:
"Changing the land use... Mr. Leng, is that even a problem?"
If even this small matter couldn't be handled, wouldn't Ning Kuncheng have wasted decades in Xiamen, building a considerable reputation in both the legitimate and underworld circles? Even Fan Tianning understood such a simple principle; only Zhuang Tao, this naive young man, would consider it a problem. A strange glint appeared in Leng Junfei's eyes. He didn't directly answer Chen Yang's question, but instead urged, "Chen Yang, continue!"
Chen Yang glanced at Zhuang Tao, whose face flushed and paled in turns. After a moment's thought, Zhuang Tao immediately realized how naive his question was. Zhuang Tao was simply inexperienced, not stupid; on the contrary, he was quite intelligent, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to obtain a master's degree from Stanford.
Chen Yang continued, "Okay, regarding the development of a large commercial district, there's another obvious benefit: it will significantly boost the sales of our supporting residential projects. Furthermore, if Qiankun Real Estate wants to grow and become a nationally renowned real estate company, it must first establish its brand, and developing a commercial plaza is a shortcut. From a brand effect perspective, I suggest the commercial district be named 'Qiankun Plaza'!"
Leng Junfei's expression remained calm, but inwardly, a storm was brewing. He never expected that Chen Yang's ideas coincided with his own. When Qiankun Real Estate acquired this land, Leng Junfei had already been considering this issue, and Chen Yang's words just now greatly strengthened Leng Junfei's confidence in his decision.
Leng Junfei had initially thought Chen Yang would only give a general overview of sales, making a few perfunctory remarks, but he hadn't expected Chen Yang to start by analyzing the project's positioning from the perspective of the group's strategy.
"This is interesting!" Leng Junfei thought to himself, watching Chen Yang, who was speaking with great interest.
"The key aspects of developing a commercial district are nothing more than design, tenant recruitment, and marketing," Chen Yang continued. "Given Qiankun Group's strength, I don't need to elaborate too much on the first two aspects, so I'll focus on marketing. First, there's advertising hype. We need to create an overwhelming advertising blitz in a short period of time, with comprehensive, multi-dimensional placements in newspapers, online, radio, television, and outdoor advertising."
Leng Junfei and Fan Tianning nodded frequently, clearly agreeing with Chen Yang's opinion. Although Zhuang Tao remained expressionless, he had to admit inwardly that, at least so far, Chen Yang's performance had been adequate, and he couldn't really find any fault with it.
Chen Yang continued:
"In terms of creating buzz, there's another very important point: the celebrity effect! For the event at Qiankun Plaza, invite celebrities to participate, the bigger the better, whether singers or movie stars, just invite the most popular ones. If possible, I'd suggest inviting former US President Clinton as a spokesperson. Anyway, this guy is currently flying around the world giving speeches to earn his funeral money. I think as long as the price is right, he shouldn't turn down the US dollar! Ladies and gentlemen, just imagine the sensation that would be if we invited Clinton to appear at Qiankun Plaza at the right time!"
In his previous life, real estate companies had overused celebrity marketing; news of them inviting celebrities to participate was commonplace, and everyone was tired of it. But currently, few real estate companies are using this tactic. Therefore, Leng Junfei and the other two couldn't help but light up upon hearing this, especially when Chen Yang proposed having former US President Clinton as a spokesperson. Leng Junfei even showed a rare hint of excitement, clearly deeply attracted by Chen Yang's bold idea.
Although Chen Yang's plan seemed somewhat impractical at first glance, upon closer analysis, the possibility of success was quite high. And once Clinton was signed, it would definitely become a classic marketing case study.
Zhuang Tao's mind was racing: "I didn't expect this kid to actually have some ideas. Could it be that he just crammed online at the last minute?"
Actually, Zhuang Tao was being a bit self-deceptive. As a top student majoring in marketing, if there were similar cases in history, he would definitely be familiar with them. And Chen Yang couldn't possibly have found cases he didn't know online. There was only one possibility: this was all a plan Chen Yang came up with himself, but Zhuang Tao simply didn't want to admit it.
Chen Yang's throat was a little dry from talking. He picked up the teacup in front of him, drank the water in one gulp, then casually wiped his mouth, took out his iPhone 4s, pressed a button, and said:
"This isn't very intuitive. Let's look and talk as we go!"
To the astonishment of Leng Junfei and the other two, a panel on the ceiling slowly descended, revealing a wireless projector. With a "beep," the projector mysteriously started up on its own, a beam of light slowly illuminating the screen on the opposite wall, clearly projecting several large characters:
"Qiankun Plaza Project Development Proposal"