“Chief Tian, is this the name list of your track and fields team?” Feng Yu looked at a small booklet given to him by Chief Tian. This training ground was really so poor? This booklet seems like it had been used for over 10 years.
“Yes. It records the athletes’ results in competitions. I am wondering how much you will be paying the athletes and what products are the athletes be endorsing?”
At first, Chief Tian was not too concern about the endorsement fees for the athletes. He felt that it should be around 80,000 to 100,000 RMB. After the athlete and the coaches taken their share, there will not be much left for the training ground.
But when Chief Tian saw Feng Yu’s willingness to spend 5 million RMB to get the naming sponsorship of the training ground, he thought that the endorsement fees for the athletes should not be low. He was also wondering what products Feng Yu wants those athletes to endorse. Clothing or footwear?
“Medicine!”
“What? Medicine?!” Chief Tian looked at Feng Yu in shock. The health products scandal was not over yet, and this Manager Feng wants the athletes to endorse medicine products?
“That’s right. Medicine for flu, gastric, health supplements, etc. All of the products are non-prescription medicines. Hmmm… Athletes can also take medicine.” Feng Yu explained.
“Is there a need to advertise for these medicines?”
“Why not? Is there a need to visit a doctor if you have a headache or fever? Have you ever experienced catching a cold and you do not have medicine at home? When you drag until the next day, your cold got worse?” Feng Yu asked.
“I did experience this before.”
“That’s right. This is why these types of medicine are important to every household and should be prepared at home. Who doesn’t fall sick? If you do not take your meals on time, you might get gastric problems. You just need to take some pills for that, and you will recover. Who would be able to endure the pain and visit a pharmacy? Our commercials are to let everyone know how to take care of themselves and their families. If their body is not strong, they can supplement their bodies with vitamins, zinc, calcium, etc. This would be better than visiting the hospital for injections.” Feng Yu continued his brainwashing.
“But are these medicines allowed to advertise?” Chief Tian asked.
“Why not? There is already this sort of advertisements on TV. These are also not health products. Only health products are not allowed to be advertised. It had nothing to do with medicine and food products. Furthermore, athletes will not fall sick? Even if they do not fall sick, their family members will also fall sick.” Feng Yu replied confidently.
Chief Tian scratched his head. It seems that Manager Feng made sense.
“Manager Feng, is there any other products for the athletes to endorse?” Chief Tian asked. He was still not willing to let these athletes endorse medicine products. Coach Ma had done an endorsement for a fake product, and his reputation was gone. It would be hard for him to make a comeback in the future. But luckily Coach Ma was the only one blamed for the fake products and advertising. The rest of the athletes were not involved. If the athletes were to endorse some products, and the advertisements were not the truth, then they would be finished too.
“I do have other products. If I like the athlete and thinks that he or she is suitable for that product, I will let him or her endorse. For example, saloon cars.”
“Saloon cars?”
At this time, there were still no celebrities endorsing saloon cars in China. That’s why Chief Tian was curious about what car Feng Yu was talking about.
“That’s right. Songjiang Motors vehicles. Have you heard before? CCTV is airing the commercials now. It has even appeared on the news, and even the Chief Architect praised the cars.” Feng Yu starts to brag.
“Songjiang Motors? This is also your business?” Chief Tian was shocked. Feng Yu did not appear on the news, and not many people know that he was the biggest shareholder of Bing City Machinery Company.
“My dad has some shares in the company. I still have some say in the company.” Feng Yu rubbed his nose and used his father as a shield.
If the athletes can endorse the vehicles, it would be great. Most of the athletes there were mid to long distance runners. They were most suitable to endorse for cars. Furthermore, cars were more expensive, and the endorsement fees will not be cheap!
“Manager Feng, who will you hire to endorse your products?” Chief Tian was more enthusiastic.
Feng Yu nodded and start flipping the booklet.
Wang Junxia, Qu Yunxia, Liu Dong, Ma Liyan, Zhang Lilin, Li Ying, Ma Huiwen, Lui Yi, Li Jianping, Wang Yuan, Wang Xiaoxia, Dong Yanmei, Jiang Bo……
All of these athletes were well known throughout China. At the back of the booklet, their best timings and records were listed. These records were not world records but were considered one of the best in China and Asia.
However, Feng Yu knew that although many of the athletes from the Ma Family Army became famous during last year’s Olympic games, it was after this year’s World Championship and National games, their popularity reaches the peak. They will win the top placings for a lot of categories and even broke many world records!
Among these athletes, Wang Junxia, Qu Yunxia, and Wang Xiaoxia would earn the nickname of “Long distance 3 Xia’. Zhang Lilin and Zhang Lirong would be known as the Zhang Sisters…… These athletes would break lots of records and bring honor back to China.
Feng Yu looked at the list and felt that it was a pity if he were to leave any one of them out. Especially, Wang Junxia, Qu Yunxia, and Liu Dong. They will be the world record holders in the future, and this was the year they broke the world records. They must be signed.
Feng Yu pretended to not know who to pick: “Chief Tian, there are so many people here. I really don’t know who to choose. If I were to get some of them to endorse, will the rest be upset and affect their performances at the competitions?”
“No, during their training, they also compete among themselves. Those that did not perform well or too young will not overthink. I can also speak to them to make them understand.” Chief Tian really wanted to get the endorsement deal.
If the endorsement fees were high, then the training grounds will be able to take a portion of it!
“Then I will just pick a few of them.” Feng Yu picked up the pencil from the table and pretended to pick the athletes randomly. He circled a few of the athletes he wanted and also some unknown athletes. He chose a total of 20 people, and this was almost a third of all the athletes there.
“Manager Feng, you want all these people?” It was only a commercial. Was there a need for so many people?
“That’s right. I want all these people. This is also a form of encouragement for them. All of them will endorse our medical products. You calculate for me how much will it cost?”
Chief Tian had a troubled look on his face. He thought Feng Yu would pick only a few of the more famous athletes like Qu Yunxia and Wang Junxia. Why did Feng Yu choose so many athletes?
If it was according to the amount in he was thinking, it would surely be sky high. Maybe he should use an average figure?
“For every product, the endorsement fees for each athlete is 20,000 RMB a year?” Chief Tian said an amount whom he thought it was a high price.
“20,000 RMB a year for an athlete? That means 400,000 RMB endorsement fees for a year?” Feng Yu’s jaws dropped. The people in this era does not know the value of the athletes. Even if it were 400,000 RMB endorsement fees a year for Wang Junxia, it would be a bargain.
“If Manager Feng thinks it is too high, we can lower it slightly. But the fees cannot be too low, as some of them are already world champions.” Chief Tian asked.
“No need to lower. Let’s talk about the details.” Feng Yu waved. He was too embarrassed to bargain further at this price!
