I’m Really a Superstar

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Ah?

For a start?

The 1.6% viewership ratings is just the starting figure‽

Wu Mo was stunned in astonishment, “How can a singing talent show program have that high of a viewership rating? In the past two years alone, I believe that none of them has garnered more than 1% of the viewership ratings before?

Zhang Ye shrugged and said, “The key here is that my program has the potential to have such a high viewership rating. What you should be aware of here is that if a program can hit 1.6% and above, it will generate a different effect and discussion for its advertisers. Compared to those programs with only 0.5%, it is definitely not an effect that can be combined by stacking them together, but something that is exponentially better. So if we calculate it this way, based on three singing programs that have viewership ratings of 0.5% each, their total title sponsorship fees should be around the region of about 50 million RMB. With that, even if I were to double the final figure, I don’t think I’m asking for too much, am I?”

Wu Mo nodded and said, “If you calculate it that way, then it’s really not a lot, but…”

Zhang Ye did not wait for him to finish, but added on, “The problem right now is that the program has not even started airing yet, so there’re no viewership ratings or market response data available. Even if I were to persuade you with all that I have, it is still only my words and perspective that you can take. Other people might perceive what I say to them as boasting or touting my own program’s potential, so choose not to believe me. That’s why it is useless for me to talk too much with them. If they don’t wish to believe me, they will not believe me.”

This was also the current embarrassing state of Zhang Ye and The Voice. If others did not believe him or chose not to buy the title sponsorship, what could he do about it? He couldn’t possibly hold it and just wait for the program to start broadcasting first, right? But without the title sponsorship fee, how would he be able to produce the program? There was no way it would make it to broadcasting, so this was a dead-end situation. Everything depended on this.

Wu Mo was silent.

Zhang Ye smiled and stated, “But CEO Wu, you should know what kind of a person I am. When it comes my work, I never boast about what I can achieve. If I claim that I can make the program hit that viewership rating, then I can definitely do so and it won’t get any lower than that, only higher. Today’s not the first day you’ve known me. We’ve even worked together for some time now, so whether or not there’s any qualifications to my claims, I’m sure you know better than anyone.”

Wu Mo agreed, “We did more than just work together. Everyone outside says that I had the vision and luck to have met Zhang Ye and was so brave to have used that brainwashing advertisement. But only myself and some of my company’s internal staff know that I didn’t have the courage or vision they claimed. If it were not for you assuring me at that time that this advertisement would surely save my company, if not for your constant persuasion to force me to use it and even offering to return the endorsement fees if it failed, then I wouldn’t be here today enjoying the success of the Brain Gold product. That was why when a few people suggested in a recent company meeting to change the Brain Gold advertisement after it ran for some time, I only responded to them with this: ‘Zhang Ye has said before that the Brain Gold advertisement could be used for another 10 years without change. When it comes to advertisements, I only believe in Zhang Ye and no one else!\'”

Zhang Ye smiled and said, “Thank you.”

Wu Mo glanced at him and asked, “Can I believe in you as well this time?”

Zhang Ye explained, “You can rest assured. The core of the program is the voice, to allow singers to return to their basics in the music indus—”

Wu Mo said, “Don’t explain to me the technicalities of the program. Just give me your word.”

Zhang Ye pondered for a moment before saying firmly, “You can fully put your trust in me. On this matter, I would never cheat you. Even if I were to cheat someone else, I would not do it to you.” He was speaking the truth, as after all, if he cheated Wu Zeqing’s nephew, his girlfriend would surely come looking for him. “I will also be honest with you here because we’re friends. The reason that the title sponsorship fee costs 100 million RMB is because our program team requires the money urgently to start production while Central TV is being very conservative with the budget and did not approve of our request to increase the funding. It ended up with me having to find my own ways to get more production budget. If we did not lack any money, even if you offered us 50 million for the title sponsorship fee right now, I would not say anything about it. Of course, I’ll add that if you really buy it from us at 100 million, this money would definitely still be worth it. With more money, we can increase the quality of the program and the viewership ratings will also be better, which would also serve your advertising much better too. On top of that, your company will surely claim this year’s label of title sponsorship king, so that would benefit your group in terms of the advertising effect too.”

Having listened to everything, Wu Mo smiled and acknowledged, “Alright then, I will listen to you on the matters of advertising. Not only are you my spokesman for the Brain Gold advertisement, you’re also our company’s advertising planner and consultant. If it’s 100 million, so be it! When can we sign the contract? Why don’t you go get it ready and I will sign it anytime!”

Seeing him agree so readily, Zhang Ye began to feel a little embarrassed. He said, “Why don’t you think about it some more first?”

Wu Mo gave a wave of his hands and said, “There’s no need to consider. To be honest, the money that the company has now was only earned because of your advertisement campaign. If I think of it that way, I don’t feel any pinch at all no matter how much you want us to invest.”

Zhang Ye smiled cheerfully and stated, “In a month’s time, not only will you not feel the pinch, you’ll feel a cramp from your mouth instead.”

Wu Mo wondered, “Cramp from my mouth because?”

Zhang Ye quipped, “—of smiling too much!”

“Haha!” Wu Mo laughed heartily and said, “Now that you’ve put it like that, I am rather looking forward to seeing the results. Honestly, with the explosion in sales for our Brain Gold product the past few months, it has really made us a lot of money without needing to do much and I have nothing to worry about at all. But it’s also true that a few months have gone by now, and when we checked our market statistics, it showed that even though sales are still strong, the growth has already tapered off and are starting to slow. At most, during any holiday, the figures would increase a little more, so our company is also finding another way to increase our advertising efforts, which was why we had that meeting last time and discussed whether we wanted to change the Brain Gold advertisement which I rejected. But now—having bought the title sponsorship to your new program, although the price is truly still a big shock to me, after the shock wears off—I have a sense of stability which I can’t explain. I am sure my Brother Zhang’s program will be good, so after it gets broadcast, with the popularity of the program, it will surely let our Brain Gold product get even more popular again. Of all that, I’m pretty confident!”

Zhang Ye reached out his hand and said, “Then may I thank you for your trust in me and let’s have a happy partnership?”

“To a happy partnership!” Wu Mo also played along and reached out his hand to shake Zhang Ye’s hand.

With Zhang Ye’s constantly rising popularity, the number of people who doubted him also increased as more people started to learn of him. But at the same time, the number of people who believed in him also rose, and at a greater rate than those who doubted him!

Like this scene which had just played out, even when Wu Mo had only found out about the program called The Voice of China today, without knowing the specifics of it or asking about the production timeline, with just Zhang Ye’s reputation and the hallmark of his name, Wu Mo dared to agree to such an astronomical sponsorship fee and sealed the deal with just a handshake! From this alone, it could be seen just how strong the brand of Zhang Ye had become!