Chapter 527 Public Opinion
On a moonlit night, Jiang Qin was dragged out to dinner by President Xu, while Dong Wenhao chatted with Chu Yanyan and her agent for a while, seeking cooperation.
Chu Yanyan is a new generation starlet whose career is on the rise. In fact, she would like to work for some big fashion brands, but her status is not big enough. However, her agent values the popularity of the joint marketing of Alipay and group buying.
So the two sides talked for a while and finally decided to cooperate.
However, on the way back, he met Yu Yue and his agent again. The two were standing in the corridor, and seemed to have been waiting for a long time.
"Boss Dong, has the casting for the commercial been confirmed?"
“Not yet.”
"oh oh……"
Yu Yue nodded and looked at the third room across the corridor. She knew that was Chu Yanyan's agent's room, but she didn't say much. She just smiled and said to go to bed early.
However, just as Dong Wenhao walked out a few steps, Yu Yue's agent suddenly spoke up: "Boss Dong, if there is a chance in the future, can you consider our Yueyue?"
"Of course, I hope we can have the opportunity to cooperate in the future."
"Thanks."
The agent watched Dong Wenhao leave, then looked at Yu Yue and said sadly: "It seems like we failed again."
Yu Yue shook her head. "It's okay. It's happened several times. I'm used to it. Besides, a commercial won't make me popular again. Times have changed. No one cares about acting skills anymore."
"Yueyue, don't be discouraged."
"It doesn't matter. If it were me, I would choose Chu Yanyan too."
At the same time, Dong Wenhao took a taxi back to the hotel. When he passed by Jiang Qin's room, he paused and tentatively knocked on the door.
He knew that his boss had been invited to dinner by Sister Xu from Huaying Entertainment, and that no one should be in the room, but he certainly couldn't go to bed first, as that would be too unemotional.
But what Dong Wenhao didn't expect was that Jiang Qin's door was actually pushed open after he knocked twice.
"Boss, aren't you going to have dinner?"
"I can't eat it anymore. Something went wrong with the website."
"?"
Jiang Qin pointed to the computer on the table and said, "Go take a look."
Dong Wenhao walked into Jiang Qin's room, glanced at the computer screen, and his brows instantly frowned.
【Group buying is suspected of having a funding shortage, and may become the next Tuanbao.com. 】
[The boss of the group buying business once admitted that he had not been favored by investors and that it was difficult to operate funds. ]
[The managers of the Shenzhen branch of the group buying website left the company en masse, and it is suspected that the company was short of funds and could not pay the employees’ wages.]
[Experts say group buying is the biggest castle in the air in the entire market, and the boss is actually just a student who has not graduated from university]
Dense news occupied the top of major portals, and even related news appeared on the hot searches on Weibo.
Dong Wenhao's brain buzzed for a moment, and he was stunned for a long time before he reacted: "What the hell is going on? It was Tuanbao.com that had its funding chain cut off, and it was also Tuanbao.com that ran away. What does this have to do with us?"
"Someone is secretly fanning the flames and setting the fire on us."
"These things have no theoretical basis at all, and the whole article is just guesswork. How can they be published as news?"
“As long as consumers believe it, that’s enough.”
Jiang Qin sat back on the sofa, picked up the cup and took a sip of water.
Everyone in the circle knows that group buying is a university entrepreneurial project, and the boss is a college student. It is indeed admirable that he can do business all over the country, but when the news reaches the ears of consumers, it is not the case.
The three words "college students" mean to them that they are young, immature, incompetent and unable to take responsibility.
If there is an app that involves buying and selling, and the person behind it is a college student, the credit score will inevitably drop.
Because almost every family has a college student who doesn’t sleep at night and doesn’t get up in the morning.
In addition, Pintuan did not go through the previous rounds of financing, and the origin of its only round of financing was quite complicated, which is completely different from companies such as Lashou, Nuomi and Dianping that are backed by large companies.
In the past, when people in the industry mentioned this matter, they would think that it was really extraordinary that Jiang Qin could sweep the world without any background. However, in the eyes of consumers, group buying without any support seems extremely fragile.
This principle is just like a fight between elementary school students. If you have a senior brother behind you, the person who is causing trouble for you will think twice.
But if not, no one will believe you can win.
However, these news reports are so targeted and concentrated, it is obvious that someone has spent money.
Lashou, Nuomi, Dianping... every one of them is possible.
Because this is how business war works in a simple and unpretentious way. Instead of working hard yourself, it is better to defeat your opponent.
However, since Pintuan and Alipay started the joint promotion, these three websites are no longer in the same league as Pintuan. Using conventional means, they cannot beat Pintuan at all.
But the collapse of Tuanbao.com brought a turning point to the group buying market, turning chaos into opportunity.
No matter how big the group buying business is, if it loses the trust of consumers and merchants, its business will inevitably suffer a severe blow.
"We have been cooperating with Alipay for so long. Can we do joint marketing again and let them help us to provide credit endorsement?"
“What if Ali had fanned himself, too?”
"Impossible?"
Jiang Qin picked up the teacup, took a sip, pursed his lips and said nothing.
During the summer vacation, in order to please both sides, he pretended to be poor and said that the group buying business had financial difficulties. As a result, he has been caught in the act. If someone says that this matter has nothing to do with AT, he will not believe it.
Group buying is currently completely independent in the Internet business ecosystem, which is something that many large companies do not want to see.
Therefore, this public opinion is obviously a test.
Pintuan has always claimed that it has no money, but once the trust crisis comes, Pintuan will definitely not be able to withstand it and its capital chain will be broken overnight.
Why?
Because consumers are afraid of being cheated, so they will immediately choose to return the coupons, and merchants are afraid of not getting paid, so they will immediately suspend cooperation.
Without water flow and tapping on both sides, even Ultraman can’t hold on.
At that time, the only option for group buying is to accept investment from large companies, save the situation, and survive this storm.
Even if they have money and can afford it, they will still be skinned alive.
But it is impossible for the group buying business to have enough money to sustain itself. He only raised funds once, so how could he have any spare funds now?
Jiang Qin could even foresee that the big companies were already waiting with their mouths open, just waiting for the waves of public opinion to push the group-buying boat over and into their mouths.
Just like Lotus MSG, it was already a national brand back then. However, foreign chicken essence products entered the country and directly spent money to spread rumors that Lotus MSG was cancerous, which turned the situation around in an instant.
Up to now, chicken essence is selling like hot cakes, while few people buy MSG.
"Boss, the news has become a hot topic."
"Which one?"
"Ninth, but the number of reposts and replies is increasing very fast. I think it will be number one tomorrow morning."
“…”
In fact, just as Dong Wenhao had predicted, the news that group buying would become the next Tuanbao.com topped the hot search list the next morning.
But the public opinion did not stop, and more things were still released in a disguised form.
For example, the headquarters building of group buying is actually rented, and they don’t even have the money to build the company.
The boss Jiang Qin rides an electric bike to travel and only dares to eat steamed buns when eating in the restaurant.
Under normal circumstances, these things might reflect the group buying website's hard-working and simple style, but when the news of the group buying funding chain was reported online, it became ironclad evidence that the website had run out of money.
As a result, the customer service center of group buying received countless calls, both from major partner brands and from consumers.
The merchants’ requirements are simple: they want to pay for the goods immediately and do not want to take any risks. The consumers’ requirements are also simple: they want to return the coupons they have stockpiled and get their money back.
The Shanghai branch station was crowded with merchants blocking the door early in the morning, and several brands that had just been negotiated with Shenzhen were announced to have failed.
As for Kyoto, several chain brands also announced that they would temporarily stop cooperating with group buying and returned to Dianping.com.
The effect of public opinion is like a small spark falling into a pile of cotton, which immediately ignites a big fire and creates dangerous situations.
Jiang Qin and Dong Wenhao decided to return to Linchuan that afternoon, but before leaving, Chu Yanyan and his agent came to them.
"Mr. Jiang, I'm sorry, let's cancel our cooperation."
"That's understandable, so let's cancel it."
Jiang Qin took a look at Chu Yanyan. She was indeed pretty, so it was no surprise that she became popular, but her sense of contract was not strong.
But he could also understand it. After all, group buying is now in the vortex of entertainment and seems to be crumbling. No one is willing to endorse a website that is about to collapse.
"Also, the previously booked male lead, Wang He, is my boyfriend. Can his cooperation be cancelled?"
"Can."
Chu Yanyan breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you, Mr. Jiang, for your understanding."
Jiang Qin nodded and watched them leave: "Go ask Yu Yue if she is willing to cooperate."
Dong Wenhao was stunned for a moment: "Under the current situation, should we continue to shoot the commercial?"
"They said we were cut off from funding, but we weren't really cut off from funding."
"But we don't have any backup for the male lead."
Jiang Qin sighed and looked deeply at the reflection in front of the French window: "The entertainment industry has finally welcomed its second Yanzu."
"?"
Half an hour later, Yu Yue's agent ran downstairs in a panic and entered Yu Yue's room.
"Grandma, have you signed an agreement with the group?"
Yu Yue nodded: "Signed."
The agent took a deep breath and said, "Didn't you read the news? Their funding is about to be cut off. They might even go bankrupt soon. If you shoot an ad for them now, everyone will be angry with you!"
"I...I actually want to quit the circle."
"What?"
Yu Yue pursed her lips: "I don't want to accompany drinking, I don't want to sleep with you, but if I do that, I won't have any resources, no popularity, and I won't even be able to get a website endorsement. Sister, I don't want to be ignored anymore..."
Yu Yue's agent was stunned for a moment: "You will be scolded to death!"
"I'll accept being scolded to death..."
At the same time, at the group buying headquarters in Linchuan, Dai Fei also saw last night’s news and immediately had an idea in his mind.
Group buying now needs to suppress public opinion, so she has come up with a public relations plan specifically for this, and she must get the advertising fee.
"I'm sorry, Manager Dai, the deadline has arrived and our cooperation ends here."
"Boss Wei, are you kidding? Group buying needs a mature PR plan like this the most right now."
"Our boss has his own PR plan, and we don't need any advertising ideas."
“…”
(End of this chapter)
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