sbdcsierra Chapter 41 Larger Sponsors
Chapter 41 Larger Sponsors
After the meeting, Lin Feng kept Xu Qiang behind alone.
Lin Feng took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed one to Xu Qiang.
"Xu Qiang, what do you think is the core theme of our digital music festival?"
Xu Qiang was taken aback: "The theme... is to hold a music festival?"
Lin Feng shook his head: "No. The core is the phrase 'digital music.' You see, what is digital music inseparable from?"
First, the music itself; second, digital devices, including MP3 players, mobile phones, headphones, and speakers; third, the channels for distributing music: ringtones and the internet.
The sponsorships the student council secured—restaurants, bubble tea shops, internet cafes—had absolutely nothing to do with the theme. But the sponsors we need must be brands strongly associated with 'digital music.' That's what makes it convincing and provides a basis for value exchange.
Xu Qiang then raised a practical question: "That's true, but how do we contact those big brands? Will they even bother with us?"
Lin Feng confidently stated, "We have young consumers who love digital products and music, and we have unique interactive experience scenarios. These are things that small businesses that only value short-term exposure don't understand, but truly visionary big brands will definitely be interested in."
He smiled and said, "It's not that we're begging them; it's that our digital music festival can provide them with what they want: college student consumers and interactive experiences."
"Your previous approach to seeking sponsorship was, 'We need money, could you provide some support?'"
Now, let's change our approach: We have an excellent opportunity to precisely reach your target customers and showcase the advantages of your products in depth. Are you interested in collaborating?
"You need to broaden your perspective, understand?"
Xu Qiang understood Lin Feng's words, but he believed that securing sponsorships was not something to be taken for granted. The president made it sound so easy; it wasn't that easy to get big sponsors. However, he couldn't openly refute him.
After their conversation ended that day, Lin Feng asked Xu Qiang to think about who the target sponsor should be, and that it should be related to the theme of the event.
……
Two days later, Lin Feng and Xu Qiang met again.
Xu Qiang thought of a domestic audio brand: Edifier. This company emerged in the early 2000s, focusing on high-performance PC speakers and headphones at competitive prices.
Their brand image of "sound quality," "youthfulness," and "value for money" perfectly aligns with the "Digital Music Carnival." They urgently need to establish brand awareness and reputation among university students.
Lin Feng then thought of Xichuan Mobile, which was vigorously promoting its ringback tone service.
Lin Feng arranged for Su Wan, the pen-holder, to work with Xu Qiang to produce a "Sound-Activated Campus - Xichuan University of Technology Digital Music Carnival Audio Experience Cooperation Plan".
The focus is on how the "High-Definition Listening Experience Zone" and "Sound Quality Challenge" planned at the event site can allow tens of thousands of target users to personally try out and deeply experience Edifier's products.
Another document prepared for Xichuan Mobile Company is titled "Listening to Youth - Suggestions for Cooperation in Promoting Campus Ringback Tone Services".
The focus is on the direct conversion potential of the "ringtone experience station" at the carnival, and its secondary dissemination value on university forums.
The next day, Lin Feng and Xu Qiang appeared together at the front desk of the Chengdu branch of Edifier.
The receptionist looked at the business card and led them into a small meeting room. After waiting for about ten minutes, a man in his mid-thirties pushed open the door and came in.
"I'm Wang Lei from the marketing department. Please have a seat."
Lin Feng got straight to the point and handed the proposal to the other party.
"Manager Wang, this is the campus promotion plan we customized for Edifier. Please take a look."
Wang Lei opened the document; the first page contained the event theme, target audience, and forum popularity statistics. His brow twitched.
After reviewing the proposal, Wang Lei became very interested. Edifier's target customer group is precisely university students.
"Did you come up with this plan yourselves?"
Lin Feng nodded: "Manager Wang, this year is a year of fierce competition among major brands for the campus market. Pacific Computer Network just partnered with Innovation and Wancheng to hold a campus roadshow. If your company wants to expand into the campus market, we are here to provide you with a platform."
"More than 10,000 young people who love music participated in our digital music carnival. They had the opportunity to experience Edifier products and hear Edifier's sound quality firsthand. This experience is more effective than any other product."
Wang Lei was silent for a few seconds, then picked up his phone and dialed an internal line.
"Xiao Li, come to the meeting room and bring the product list."
He put down the phone and smiled at Lin Feng.
"Let's have a good talk."
An hour later, Lin Feng and Xu Qiang walked out of the Walkman Building.
We will provide 8000 yuan in cash, 5 R331T speakers and 5 pairs of H-series headphones, and send staff to the site to assist with the event.
Xu Qiang still had an incredulous expression on his face: "President...it's settled already?"
He spent two years soliciting sponsorships around the school, but the total amount was less than 8000 yuan. And you've only been here for an hour…
"Done!" Lin Feng put the letter of intent into his bag.
"Let's go to Xichuan Mobile."
China Mobile's Xichuan branch is located in an impressive office building on Renmin South Road. Unlike the product-display-filled office environment of Edifier, this place is more organized and business-like.
The person who received Lin Feng and Xu Qiang was Manager Chen from the mobile company's marketing department. He was in his early thirties, wearing a suit, and was a key business employee on the front lines.
"Please have a seat, gentlemen." Manager Chen took the "Listening to Youth with Ringtones - Proposal for Cooperation in Promoting Campus Ringtone Services" handed to him by Lin Feng.
He glanced at it quickly. "Digital Music Club? A student activity?"
For a large corporation like a mobile company, an activity by a university club is indeed not up to par.
"Manager Chen, although it's a student activity, our scale and target audience might bring you some surprises."
Manager Chen continued to look through the documents, his gaze lingering briefly on the figure of 10,000 students expected to participate on-site, but then he put it down.
"The data is your estimate. We need to reassess the actual attendance. How can I believe you can organize tens of thousands of people, and that all of them are interested in our mobile business?"
Lin Feng was prepared: "Manager Chen, your question is very crucial. First of all, Xichuan University of Technology is now a comprehensive university with more than 2 undergraduate students and several thousand faculty and staff. These figures can all be verified."
They are the young, fashionable, and consumer-oriented demographic that your company's "M-Zone" platform aims to capture.
The core theme of our digital music festival is "digital music experience," and the students who participate are naturally the most sensitive to mobile entertainment and new things, and are also high-potential users of your company's ringback tone service.
Manager Chen remained noncommittal, gesturing for him to continue.
"Secondly, it's about the setting and the experience." Lin Feng pointed to the design drawing of the ringback tone experience area in the plan, "In the lively atmosphere of the music festival, we set up a cool ringback tone experience station."
We can collaborate. We can use the demo unit your company provides to allow students to operate, listen to, and set up their own ringtones.
This deeply interactive experience is more effective than any flat, one-dimensional advertisement. We will design guidance, such as offering a prize draw for downloading a ringtone, linking behavior with incentives.
Manager Chen fell into thought.
The mobile communications market in 2003 was fiercely competitive. China Unicom's CDMA was aggressively entering the market, while China Telecom's PHS was attracting customers with low prices. Although China Mobile was in the lead, it dared not relax its efforts.
Especially at the crucial year-end sales push, major telecom operators are fiercely competing for users. Huicheng Mobile just finished its "1 Yuan Handphone Purchase" promotion, and within 40 days, it had prepaid 3 million yuan in phone credit.
Manager Chen looked up, his eyes becoming more serious.
"Does Manager Chen know the song 'Lilac Flower'?" Lin Feng asked at the opportune moment.
"I've heard of it. It's been very popular online recently. The emotions involved are quite genuine."
"You're right. Tang Lei, the original singer of this song, has been invited by us to perform at the music festival on Christmas Eve."
"Oh? You can get the original singer? Are you sure?"
"Confirmed. And I have already acquired the ringtone rights for 'Lilac Flower'."
"Imagine Tang Lei singing 'Lilac Flower' live, with tens of thousands of people in the audience singing along. Our on-site ringback tone experience station offers the service of 'Instantly set this song as your mobile ringback tone.' What would the conversion rate be in that scenario?"
The eloquent Lin Feng not only impressed the other party, but also left Xu Qiang dumbfounded…
Manager Chen remained silent for a while before finally agreeing.
"For the ringback tone experience area, we can provide ten demo units, the latest color screen models. We will also support 5,000 yuan for promotional materials. However, it must be clearly stated on-site that the ringback tone service is provided by China Mobile Xichuan Branch."
"Absolutely no problem!" Lin Feng felt relieved. "Manager Chen, you're welcome to come and provide guidance on Christmas Eve and experience the enthusiasm of these young people."
"Okay!" Manager Chen happily accepted the invitation.
Stepping out of the mobile building, the sky was a clear blue.
Xu Qiang followed behind Lin Feng, feeling like he was in a dream.