Chapter 192 Playing dumb: Samsung was tricked
"Wow, it really is worthy of being called the Samsung Empire. This building is so magnificent..."
The car drove very smoothly, and finally Su Yang and Tang Qing arrived at today's meeting place.
The headquarters of the Samsung Group, though Korean netizens prefer to call it the Samsung Empire. In South Korea, there's no president, but there's Samsung. Presidents come and go, but the chaebols remain. Samsung sits at the pinnacle of this chaebol, controlling the entire country with its power. For many Koreans, everything in their lives is likely to be inseparable from the name Samsung.
From birth to death, Samsung can arrange everything for you clearly.
Today, the first endorsement the two people are going to talk about is the endorsement for Samsung.
The wealthy Samsung contacted Tang Qing a few days ago. They wanted DreamTime to be the Samsung brand's global spokesperson. DreamTime's global fame is what attracted the attention of a giant like Samsung.
Giants like Samsung are not short of money, and the fact that it is favored by Samsung shows how popular Dream Era is in recent times.
Electronic albums are selling like hotcakes, CD albums are selling like hotcakes, and even limited edition albums are selling like hotcakes. Kang Yoon-taek's limited edition albums, in particular, are being sold at exorbitant prices online. An unopened copy of Kang Yoon-taek's limited edition album has been sold for 3 million won, or over 16,000 yuan.
This price has tripled compared to the original release price. This is no longer just an album, it's a top-tier financial product. This situation has attracted more people to participate, and the popularity of limited edition albums has continued to rise.
Kang Yoon-taek's limited edition album is selling like hotcakes, driving sales of the other members' limited edition albums as well. As a result, sales of the limited edition albums have been climbing steadily over this period, while the number of remaining limited edition albums has been decreasing. At this rate, there's no problem selling out all the limited edition albums.
The price of these limited edition albums alone is as high as 350 million RMB. This is really a waste of money. This also indirectly proves the popularity of Dream Era. Now Dream Era is the king of Korean girl groups, the new king.
For artists, popularity is the appeal of fans.
For businesses, fan appeal equals product sales.
So popularity means product sales, which means money. It’s mutually beneficial, and in the end, it’s the fans who pay.
"Hello, we are representatives from Dream Times Agency. We have an appointment with your CEO Jin today..."
Arriving at the Samsung headquarters, Su Yang spoke to the receptionist in fluent English. Although the receptionist was Korean, his English was very good.
After verifying the identities of Su Yang and Tang Qing, the receptionist took them directly to Mr. Jin's office. Tang Qing looked at Su Yang and was very curious. Su Yang's Korean level was very good, so why didn't he speak Korean?
Su Yang ignored Tang Qing's doubts. At this moment, Su Yang had already entered the role. He was the head of Dream Era Agency. Although Su Yang had not experienced much, his experience of starting his own business in college had given him his own way of doing things.
"Boss Jin, they're here..."
After the front desk staff brought Su Yang and Qin Shuyao to President Jin's office, they spoke to a middle-aged man inside in Korean, and the middle-aged man nodded and smiled.
"Welcome, welcome..."
President Jin stood up and spoke in Korean with a smile. Su Yang made a confused expression, which made President Jin laugh.
"Welcome, both of you..."
This time, Mr. Jin used English.
"Mr. Jin, hello, hello..."
Su Yang seemed to come back to his senses at this time and started talking to President Jin in English.
After the two parties met, the negotiation about the endorsement began. The negotiation was very formal and was held in a special meeting room with a dedicated team in charge.
This time, Samsung Empire wants Dream Era to endorse a series of Samsung electronic products. This is a brand endorsement, not a single product endorsement.
Samsung plans to have Dream Era collectively endorse a range of Samsung electronics, including phones, smartwatches, tablets, TVs, headphones, and more. Samsung hopes the endorsement will last for three years. During this period, all Dream Era members must use Samsung devices, not only when making public statements and participating in public events, but also in their daily lives. These devices will be provided free of charge directly by Samsung.
At the same time, Dream Times will also cooperate with some offline promotional activities of Samsung Group and serve as a qualified image ambassador.
The endorsement fee offered by Samsung is 20 billion won for three years, which is equivalent to about 110 million yuan in RMB.
This endorsement fee is already very high in the Korean market. An annual endorsement fee of over 36 million RMB is not something that many brands can afford. Furthermore, the Dream Girls group has just debuted. Samsung Group considers it an honor for Dream Girls to be the spokesperson for Samsung. With Samsung's advertising promotion, Dream Girls' popularity will likely increase significantly.
The high-powered Samsung Group thought the price was quite good. Many Korean artists would be happy to endorse Samsung for free, as Samsung is a god-like entity in South Korea. But Su Yang thought the price was too low. It was too stingy to pay such a low price for a global endorsement, and the conditions were so harsh.
Even the electronic devices that members usually use have to be Samsung devices, which means that all members of Dream Era are under the surveillance of Samsung. Others don't understand, but Su Yang understands very well.
A group like Samsung could easily put a backdoor in your phone if they wanted to. By then, Samsung might have access to many of your secrets, which is completely unacceptable to DreamWorks.
Su Yang didn't think the price was high. Dream Era was already incredibly popular, and Su Yang planned to have them release a few more albums over the next three years. With a few high-quality releases, their popularity would definitely skyrocket. Therefore, this price was completely unacceptable.
"Mr. Jin, I'm sorry, we can't accept these conditions. First of all, the price. We have the best music team, and we are confident that we will release at least one new album per year in the next three years. So this price is too low. If it were 20 billion won per year, we would be acceptable..."
"Secondly, we are willing to accept the use of Samsung-branded devices when posting in public and on social media platforms. As for all electronic products in daily life, sorry, this belongs to our artists' private time, and our company has no right to require artists to do so. Therefore, we cannot accept this condition..."
"Also, we don't have the right to force our artists to participate in various offline promotional activities for Samsung products. Therefore, whether or not they need to participate will depend on the actual situation and the artist's wishes. Although Dream Era is an artist under our company, they are not like artists from other Korean companies. Dream Era has a very high degree of freedom in our company. Our relationship is just a partnership, not a slave relationship. There are many things that our company does not have the right to make decisions for the artists. Please forgive me..."
"Finally, let's talk about the advertising shoot. All your company needs to do is come up with the creative idea, and we can help you shoot the commercial for free. It's a token of our sincerity in our cooperation..."
Su Yang spoke in English. After Su Yang finished speaking, President Jin and the others started discussing one by one, but they spoke Korean. Tang Qing and Su Yang watched them discuss, and both of them showed puzzled expressions.
Tang Qing really didn't understand, and Su Yang, that bastard, was pretending not to understand.
"20 billion won a year won won is not enough. It's too high. Dream Era may be quite popular right now, but it definitely can't command that price..."
"How ungrateful! They're lucky to be the spokesperson for Samsung, yet they still dare to find fault..."
"What do you mean by not having the right to make decisions for artists? It's just that the price is too low. Aren't artists slaves to their agencies?"
"DreamTime is still worth investing in, but 20 billion won a year is too high. 10 billion won is still worth considering, but 20 billion won is too high..."
A group of people were talking in Korean. They didn't shy away from Su Yang and Tang Qing at all, because in their opinion, Su Yang and Tang Qing couldn't understand Korean at all.
It's not their fault, after all, as people of the Samsung empire, they are very proud in their bones. In Korea, working for Samsung is the greatest honor.
They usually felt superior to other Koreans, but now facing the two people from China, they were even more arrogant.
After some discussion, everyone calmed down again.
"Su, your requirements are too harsh. We apologize for not accepting them. The price we offer is already the highest. In the Korean entertainment industry, all artists are proud to be able to endorse our Samsung products. If Dream World can endorse our Samsung brand, it will be a very good thing for Dream World. Our advertising promotion efforts are very, very strong, and it will be promoted globally. Dream World will also benefit from this. So, please reconsider it carefully..."
President Jin looked at Su Yang and spoke seriously, without any expression on his face.
"Mr. Jin, thank you for bothering me. I hope we can work together again next time. Thank you..."
Su Yang stood up and said with a smile, acting very calm. After saying goodbye to Mr. Jin, Su Yang took Tang Qing away. Mr. Jin was stunned, obviously not expecting Su Yang to be so clean and efficient.
But President Jin did not stop Su Yang. Business negotiations require strategy.
Su Yang and Tang Qing left the Samsung headquarters, and no one from the Samsung Group chased them, as if the matter was over.
"They just left like that. They don't want our endorsement anymore."
"How is that possible? This is also a strategy. I bet. At the latest tomorrow, they will definitely come again..."
"Maybe they'll come over in the afternoon, and then we'll have to leave them alone..."
Several Koreans started discussing. President Jin squinted his eyes, not knowing what he was thinking. After leaving Samsung headquarters, Su Yang and Tang Qing did not go anywhere else, but took a car directly back to the hotel.
"Hey, Su Yang, what are those people talking about?"
At this moment, Tang Qing also guessed why Su Yang pretended not to understand Korean. If Su Yang had spoken Korean from the beginning, these people would not have been able to talk loudly in Korean in the negotiation room.
"Haha, let's wait. We are not in a hurry. Let's wait for them to come to us."
Su Yang said with a smile, briefly recounting what President Jin and the others had discussed. After hearing Samsung's bottom price, Tang Qing laughed. Ten billion won was already a very high price.
An endorsement fee of over 50 million RMB a year is quite good. After all, the Korean market cannot be compared with the Chinese market. Although this endorsement covers the entire Samsung electronic product line, the main market of this advertisement is still in Korea.
After all, Dream Era is mainly popular in South Korea. Although it is also popular in other regions, it is far behind its popularity in South Korea.
"Why are we going now? It's still early. We have an appointment with another brand at 3 pm..."
Tang Qing couldn't help but ask.
"Wait, it's best not to go out unless necessary. There might be people sent by Samsung outside monitoring us. Samsung's power in South Korea is terrifying. It's safer to stay in the room. I'm going to catch up on some sleep. If you're bored, play with your phone..."
Su Yang said with a smile, and then walked straight into his bedroom, leaving Tang Qing with a confused look on her face.
"Hmph, you'll die in sleep..."
Tang Qing snorted resentfully, looked at the closed door of Su Yang's bedroom, and finally went into her own bedroom and waited patiently.
Tang Qing was able to prioritize and knew her main mission in Korea. Her main mission was to help DreamTimes secure some product endorsements.
After such a long time of training, Tang Qing was naturally looking forward to finally receiving endorsement fees. Although the company's share of the endorsement fees wasn't too large, it was still a considerable sum.
After nurturing the Dream Era for so long, it’s finally time to reap the rewards.
Not only Tang Qing and Su Yang were waiting for the harvest. Wang Yunze and the others were waiting even more. The album's payment was almost due, and after that, they would receive their return. No matter how powerful the words of encouragement were, they were not as effective as real money.
Tang Qing went back to her room and sulked. But Su Yang didn't really catch up on his sleep. After returning to his room, Su Yang turned on his computer and started working.
Su Yang was bored and wanted to dig into some things about the Korean entertainment industry and chaebols. Anyway, he was free anyway, and now in Korea, he didn't even need to climb over the firewall to search for information.
Su Yang had never been very interested in the entertainment industry, let alone the Korean entertainment industry. However, he had always heard that the Korean entertainment industry was very complicated and chaotic.
In the past, Su Yang thought this had nothing to do with him. But now that he had created Dream Era, Su Yang felt it had something to do with him. After all, Dream Era had many competitors. If these competitors were to fail, Dream Era would naturally benefit.
In China, Su Yang didn't dare to act too recklessly. But when it came to the Korean entertainment industry, Su Yang had no psychological barriers at all. He wasn't in Korea, so what did the revelations here have to do with him? If he did it secretly, it would be even easier. Those Koreans would never guess that the person who leaked these explosive news was actually from China.
Just thinking about this made him feel a little bit excited. Driven by this idea, Su Yang began to search for things that interested him bit by bit. With his hands flying, Su Yang quietly invaded some places, and some of the information he got made Su Yang couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth.
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