E-Ladies: Navigating the Wired World
Chapter 185: Episode 185: Finding a New Path in a Saturated Market

Chapter 185: Episode 185: Finding a New Path in a Saturated Market

However, the weekend trip to the suburbs of Beijing that the four of us were supposed to take also fell through because of the contract with Japanese cars that Zhang Yongzhong signed.

The storm over the plate and coil advertising scandal had yet to subside when Zhang Yongzhong went ahead and posted an advertisement for Japan’s Hongda Automobile.

It was a case of trouble following trouble.

"Big brother, can we not add fuel to the fire at such a critical moment? Do you want the forum to die even faster or what?" Zhou Xueyin and the others cursed Zhang Yongzhong while they worked overtime deleting meaningless insult posts.

"Xiaozhou, why has the Hongda advertisement been taken down? Are we not getting the ad revenue anymore?" Zhang Yongzhong called, fuming, and grilled Zhou Xueyin.

"Forget about it! Could you use your brain when you take these ads? Which company nowadays would dare to take on advertisements for Japanese brands? We have to pull this ad even if it means losing money! And more, you went ahead and posted it without my consent! If there are any losses, they’ll have to come out of your salary!" Zhou Xueyin retorted angrily.

With patriotic sentiment in the forum already at an unprecedented high, Zhang Yongzhong was truly acting like a fool, adding to the chaos.

Just when the netizens were about to let them off the hook, this advertisement goes up... game over!

Zhou Xueyin really felt like throwing in the towel...

But in recognition of her older employees who had been with her for many years, she persisted. Despite being very dissatisfied with Zhang Yongzhong’s behavior, she couldn’t change the reality and had to learn to adapt, cleaning up after him if nothing else.

They were so close to achieving the sales target for the first half of the year, but they missed it by a hair due to the self-destructive actions of the two big manufacturers.

They should have been standing on stage receiving Liu Ruidong’s accolades; now, they could only sit among the audience, nursing their wounds in silence.

However, it was also her fault for not expanding into new markets sooner. Cosmetics, bags, and women’s products were already saturated, and they had gotten all the advertisements they could get.

The car market that they had considered wasn’t out of reach; they just needed to find the right opportunity...

But would others let 51buy get a piece of the pie?

Hongda Automobile managed to close a deal because market conditions made it so that no company dared to take the risk, except for the fool Zhang Yongzhong.

Thinking about this, Zhou Xueyin felt her anxiety starting to flare up again.

After the mid-year summary meeting, Zhou Xueyin proactively reached out to several well-known car brand representatives in Beijing, but the responses she got were: we’ll contact you if needed. However, there were no follow-ups afterward.

But there’s always light at the end of the tunnel. Some domestic car brands took the initiative to reach out to Zhou Xueyin. They needed to capture market share and were not concerned with the effectiveness of the advertising, only with visibility.

So the signing of small advertising deals ranging from 200,000 to 300,000 yuan meant that the third quarter of 2009 wasn’t entirely fruitless.

At the end of September 2009, Jiang Chunming surprisingly gave a call: "Yinyin? I have a car client here, Bang Yangda. They’re developing their own electric car. Want to come for a meal and chat?"

"Sure, sure!" Zhou Xueyin spiritedly agreed, Jiang Chunming was truly offering timely help!

This company had been making cars for a while, and seeing the gradual development of smartphones, they decided to venture into artificial intelligence-driven electric cars and adopt a clean energy route.

The first phase of the product has already been successfully tested and is just waiting for market promotion.

The other party had also heard of Zhou Xueyin’s company, which targets mainly female users, and they were very welcoming of female drivers to come and test their products.

At the dinner table, the other party described the embarrassing situations they encountered while conducting tests with male users in the factory area. These guys were all careless, able to acknowledge the good qualities of the product but unable to articulate what made it good. They were, however, very articulate about what they found unsatisfactory...

"How about this, a few of our company’s girls go to your place for a test drive first? Then we’ll write up a detailed test report, how’s that?" Zhou Xueyin suggested.

"Of course welcome, we lack no male testers, but we do need women!" the other party agreed readily.

Although the deal wasn’t signed yet, they reached a verbal agreement, and Zhou Xueyin delegated the task to Liu He.

"Huh? Vehicle test? This should be handled by me, the only male in the company!" Unfortunately, Zhang Yongzhong overheard their conversation and insisted on taking over the project himself.

Handing it over to him wasn’t out of the question, anyway, since after the Langri Razor, he’d secured Hongda Automobile, and had not been able to land another deal since then.

"Alright, then you go ahead and follow up on this matter. Give me a schedule, when we’ll sign the deal, when we’ll release an article, when we’ll run the ads; make everything clear..." Zhou Xueyin spelled out her requirements explicitly to him.

"Got it, got it. I’m not new to being in charge, I know what to do!" Zhang Yongzhong replied impatiently and went back to his office.

Having someone else take over the task was a relief. With the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival coming up, shouldn’t she give something to the clients? Zhou Xueyin, busy as she was, was starting to feel that her energy wasn’t as abundant as before.

It really was like dealing with a fool; she had no idea how he managed to talk to the other party. Jiang Chunming, replacing Bang Yangda’s market director, complained to Zhou Xueyin, saying they would definitely never do business with 51buy again.

"Zhang Yongzhong! What happened? Why does Bang Yangda say they’re determined not to deal with us anymore?" Zhou Xueyin burst into Zhang Yongzhong’s office and demanded an explanation by name.

"I just said, since we’re advertising, they should let me have a car to drive – not just for test driving, but to keep... The next thing you know, they got all upset." Zhang Yongzhong knew he’d messed things up and said it guiltily.

"Who do you think you are? Why should they give you a car to drive? Brother, I’m begging you, please stop ruining the company, okay?" Zhou Xueyin felt she had just glimpsed a bit of hope, but it had been shattered by the thoughtless person before her.

"Don’t get upset. Even though they won’t deal with us anymore, I’ve secured a deal with another car brand... Doesn’t that make up for it a bit?" Zhang Yongzhong pulled a contract out of his drawer and waved it in front of Zhou Xueyin, "South Korean car brand Kaiya. They’ve just launched a new microcar suitable for women. How about that?"

"Kaiya?" Zhou Xueyin knew it was a new joint venture brand entering the domestic market, and its quality had always been unstable. But she let it slide this time considering Zhang Yongzhong’s proactive attitude.

"Alright then, have you made the ad schedule? Send it to me later to look over..." Zhou Xueyin said as a matter of routine.

"Xiaozhou, don’t rush. They still need the company seal. We’ll have it sorted out after another meal..."

"Alright, get it done quickly to avoid future complications." Zhou Xueyin massaged her temples.

"But I need to borrow Li Jiniang from you..." Zhang Yongzhong said with an ingratiating smile.

Zhou Xueyin always felt uneasy with that smile, but since Li Jiniang was a "seasoned campaigner", she probably wouldn’t be taken advantage of.

"Alright, you talk to her yourself..." Zhou Xueyin walked out of the office listlessly.