Extraordinary Genius

Chapter 310 – AIWA Walkman, learning languages anytime

With Feng Yu’s help, Fu Guangzheng signed the contract with the dealers on behalf of Hong Kong’s Aiwa Company. The target and rewards for each district differ.

All the dealers accepted this arrangement, and none of them chose to back out of this deal. Some dealers even took over the dealership for the rural and poor provinces.

All of them trusted Feng Yu’s foresight!

Especially after Feng Yu said that AIWA Walkman will be airing commercial on CCTV. The dealers will save a lot on the marketing cost. All of them knew the effect of advertising on CCTV.

Although when Feng Yu signed the contract with CCTV, Feng Yu can only advertise Tai Hua Trading products. But Feng Yu let Tai Hua Trading become the dealer for LongJiang Province, and this was not considered violating the contract terms.

There were many loopholes in the contracted signed with CCTV. The people at CCTV were not strict with the contract terms, and they were proud. CCTV was China’s biggest TV station. Even if there were some mistakes in the contract, as long as CCTV does not suffer any losses, everything is fine.

Feng Yu changing commercials did not let CCTV suffer any losses. Furthermore, Feng Yu was CCTV biggest client. They will not go after Feng Yu over such minor things.

1st July, the TV audience noticed that there was a new advertisement, the advertisement before the weather report was changed to a Walkman advertisement.

The commercial was about a small girl. A famous child actress – Jin Min. Her first drama was Qiong Yao’s drama and subsequently acted in many other dramas written by Qiong Yao. Everybody knew her and like her acting.

Now, Jin min still had not reached the peak of her popularity, as the hit drama had not aired yet. Feng Yu signed a 3-year contract with her, and it includes 10 commercials and 100 printed advertisements. The total endorsement fee was only 100,000 RMB. It was a great bargain.

This little girl in the commercial was holding a Walkman, listening to an English cassette tape and repeating the English words.

“AIWA Walkman, learning languages anytime!”

The last 3 seconds of the commercial showed the Brand’s logo and slogan: “AIWA electronics, I love China!”

At the same time, a lot of articles about China’s opening up and the importance of foreign languages appeared in many newspapers from different regions. The reports also mentioned that to learn a foreign language, one must listen and speak more. The author of the article shared his experiences of using a Walkman to learn. This way, he did not disturb others and also, he could learn wherever he went to. He even recommends this method to his neighbors.

These similar articles appeared for a few days. Hong Kong’s Aiwa Company was the one footing the advertising fees for the dealers to do these soft advertising in their areas.

This marketing campaign was a success with TV and newspapers advertising at the same time.

The next day, the TV audience saw a new commercial. It was Jin Min sing the Alphabet song. She then took out the cassette tape from a Walkman with the logo covered and played the same cassette on AIWA Walkman. The sound quality of AIWA Walkman was obviously better!

The last 3 secs of the commercial showed the logo with a new message: “AIWA Electronics, high-quality sounds for your enjoyment!”

……

“Eh, how is your child coping with the foreign languages?” A middle age woman carrying a basket of groceries asked her colleague.

“My child is still 9 years’ old, and the school has not started foreign language classes.”

“I tell you, learning a foreign language must start from young. The newspapers had mentioned that younger children can pick up new languages faster. You saw that Jin Min on TV? She is also very young, and she had started learning English. Even if the school had not started the classes, you could let your child learn first. Xin Hua bookshop sells English cassette tapes.”

“My house also does not have a cassette player. One cassette player costs a few hundred RMB.”

“What cassette player? Get a Walkman. It is only this big, and it cost about 250 RMB. It might be slightly expensive, but it is good for your child. I had bought one for my son, and he has been listening to English on the headphones every night. We are not even disturbed by him when we are watching TV.”

“Really? Where can I buy one? Bring me to the shop.”

“The cooperative in front sells it!”

……

“Mom, buy me a Walkman. All my classmates have a Walkman. I want to learn English.” A junior high school student was pestering his mother.

“We have a cassette player at home.”

“It is different. I can’t be bringing the cassette player to school, right? With a Walkman, I can listen to English in between classes and will not disturb the other students.”

“Ermmm…… Wait until your father is back and I will discuss with him.”

“Mom, you are the best. You can surely convince dad. I promise you my English marks will improve by 10 points this semester.”

……

“Eh, Bro. You are still using a Sony Walkman? That’s not good. The sound quality is too lousy. Listen to mine. AIWA brand. The sound quality is much better. This is the Little Tigers new song, and it sounded like they are singing beside me.”

“You are wasting this AIWA Walkman. Listen to this cassette tape. It’s heavy metal songs from the US!”

“How much is this AIWA Walkman?”

“248 RMB. It is slightly more expensive than your Sony. Why not give your younger brother your Sony Walkman and buy an AIWA Walkman? This Walkman is the best for listening to music!”

“But my mom will not let me buy.”

“Stupid. Just tell her that you need this AIWA Walkman to learn Russian. Tell her that this Sony Walkman’s sound quality is not good, and you can’t hear properly. I had used this excuse on my mom. Who knows what you are listening to when you put on the headphones?”

“Good idea. I will go home now!” The young boy hurriedly rushes home. He wants to persuade his mother to buy a better Walkman for him.

……

“Look at you. Why are you always using the foreign brand stuff? This is so expensive, and the sound quality is so bad. Look at mine. AIWA Walkman! AIWA electronics, I love China! As a Chinese, you should use our own products. Stop buying foreigner products. You are letting those foreigners earn your money!” A shop owner was introducing AIWA Walkman to his customers. His profits for AIWA Walkman was higher than Sony.

“Boss, this Sony Walkman is imported. Can even AIWA compete with it?”

“Let me tell you, this AIWA is owned by a Chinese businessman and he invested in a factory in Japan to manufacture these Walkman. This Walkman uses the most advanced technologies, and it is much better than Sony. Look at the packaging. Hong Kong company. It is imported. I heard that this Chinese businessman wants to let those Japanese work for him!”

“Really? Can I test it?”

“Of course. I have a Sony Walkman here too. You can listen to both and make your own comparison. Once you listen to both Walkman, you will know why I recommend AIWA!”

……

As time passes, the commercials’ influence became greater, and AIWA Walkman sales became better. Feng Yu was pleased with this outcome. From the way things are going, Sony will be out of China’s market within 2 years. Now, even if Sony lower down their prices, no one in China wants to buy it. Everyone only wants AIWA Walkman!

Feng Yu’s commercial was too evil. Everybody could tell that Walkman used to compare the sound quality was Sony’s latest Walkman!

“Xiao Yu, this is for you. Mom asked me to buy it for you.”

Feng Yu looked at the AIWA Walkman and asked: “Sis, why did mom ask you to buy this for me?”

“Mom says that you wanted to go overseas in the future and you must polish up your foreign languages. Even if you are good with English and Russian, you still need to practice. The TV also said that AIWA Walkman allows you to learn wherever you go!”

Feng Yu: “……”

Mom, your son wants to tell you that this AIWA Walkman belonged to your son……