E-Ladies: Navigating the Wired World
Chapter 166: Episode 166: Proving One’s Strength with Facts

Chapter 166: Episode 166: Proving One’s Strength with Facts

On Friday after work, Zhou Xueyin called up Li Jiniang, and followed Liu He and Li Yiyang to Johnny Philip’s temporary residence.

A few people exchanged greetings upon meeting and then prepared to head to Quanjude for dinner.

"I’ve always heard Annson say how delicious the roast duck is, and since coming to Beijing, I haven’t had the chance to try it. Since you’re all here today, why don’t we go together?" Johnny Philip offered generously.

"We really should have arranged this meal..." Zhou Xueyin said, somewhat embarrassed.

The main issue was that Liu He’s suggestion had been so sudden that they had nothing prepared; just sorting out the proposal had taken up an entire afternoon, not to mention the back-and-forth with Zhang Yongzhong, leading to the neglect of entertaining the client.

"No problem at all, having Annson to entertain me is plenty!" Johnny Philip didn’t mind at all.

The group entered a private room at Quanjude and ordered their dishes.

While waiting for the food, Zhou Xueyin introduced the company’s situation, as well as gave a brief description of her proposal for Barbour’s new product advertising.

"Going for a natural route, that’s great! Our next quarter’s product line will highlight a forest green style, so it seems Miss Zhou has done her research on the product!" Johnny Philip praised.

"Here is a concept image..." Zhou Xueyin opened her laptop and showed Johnny the rough mock-up she had put together.

"Wow! Did you make this? Very nice! This is exactly the style I like! I love it!" Johnny Philip couldn’t stop complimenting, "The advertising for this new product will premiere on your website!"

Premiere? Premiere? An exclusive online premiere? What an honor that is! Other than the official website, 51buy will be the first to release Barbour’s new product? Wouldn’t this drive the traffic through the roof?

"Philip, rest assured! We guarantee to put together an ad that you’ll be satisfied with!" Zhou Xueyin said confidently.

"I believe in your capability! Also, I really liked the pictures you took for Annson’s watches. Could you do a photo shoot for our products too? We’ll provide the goods!" Johnny Philip looked at Zhou Xueyin eagerly, hoping she could fulfill his request.

"Of course! We were planning to shoot a set of high-quality images! After all, everyone has seen enough of the official webpage images. If we use the photos from the official website for the ad, the effect might not be as good as with new images!" Zhou Xueyin shared her plan, which coincidentally matched perfectly with what Johnny Philip had in mind.

"No wonder Annson strongly recommended working with you! You really have our interests at heart!" Johnny Philip nodded in satisfaction, "On Monday, let’s sign the contract at the Dongdan office! Then I will provide you with the products that need to be photographed."

"No problem! I’ll come to your office on Monday morning to sign the contract! I’m looking forward to our collaboration!" There was no sentence more exciting than the invitation to sign a contract, "Sisi is probably thrilled by now."

"Yeah, Sisi has been complaining that if she doesn’t start shooting soon, the equipment will start rusting." Li Jiniang joked.

However, Zhou Xueyin was faced with an even more serious issue—their photography equipment wasn’t ready... The group’s photo studio was just too basic, and the equipment couldn’t keep up.

If it really came down to it, she would discuss with Liu Ruidong about repurposing an empty conference room as a photo studio.

Early Monday morning, Zhou Xueyin arrived at the Huabei Barbour office in Dongdan.

True to an international company, all the staff were in uniform attire, all wearing Barbour’s classic suit designs that just looked so stylish!

"Zhou Xueyin? Miss Zhou, right? The sales director is already waiting for you in the conference room..." The receptionist directed Zhou Xueyin to the office.

Johnny Philip hadn’t arrived yet; sitting in the main seat was another very professional-looking businesswoman, who was examining the contract.

"Hello, I’m the General Manager of 51buy, Zhou Xueyin..." she presented her business card.

"Nice to meet you. I’m Chen Yue, the Sales Director for Barbour in the Huabei region." The other party received the business card with one hand and handed over her own as well.

"I had arranged with Johnny Philip to sign the contract today... I wonder..." Zhou Xueyin humbly inquired.

"Philip flew back to the UK yesterday afternoon. I’m fully in charge of the signing." Chen Yue smiled politely, but the smile quickly faded from her face.

Zhou Xueyin swallowed, feeling that the woman before her seemed tough to deal with.

They had applied for collaboration before, but had been outright rejected because the other party looked down on their forum-style website.

Now that the signing was arranged through headquarters, Chen Yue most likely wasn’t too keen on signing.

"The advertising plan... I’ve brought it with me. Would you like to take a look?" Zhou Xueyin offered as the other party fell silent, prompting a discussion about the ad plan.

"No need to look. If Philip says it’s fine, then it’s definitely fine." Although Chen Yue said this, her tone suggested reluctance, seeming quite unwilling to sign the advertising deal, "Did Philip say how much money to put in for the ads?"

"Not..." Zhou Xueyin shook her head honestly.

"Let’s start with a 200W test to see how it goes. If the result is good, we will put in more," Chen Yue said as if relieved.

200W? A 200W advertising package on 51buy would at most cover sidebar ads.

Zhou Xueyin’s initial plan was a 5-second waterfall screen display, which could showcase all of her original ad images. But that package would start at a minimum of 600W...

"I think you should take a look at the advertising strategy plan and our quote to see what’s more suitable," Zhou Xueyin insisted.

"Is it necessary to look? Aren’t you just a forum-like company? If it weren’t for Philip’s strong recommendation to place ads with you, Barbour wouldn’t have any business dealings with you at all!" Chen Yue said condescendingly, "Unless you can produce the kind of car body advertisement you did for Fengyi Watches, then we might consider it."

"Hmph..." Zhou Xueyin couldn’t help but laugh out loud upon hearing this.

"What’s so funny? If you can’t do it, just say so. Don’t waste each other’s time. Just sign this 200W order and get back to making the ads!" Chen Yue frowned at Zhou Xueyin, who was smiling.

"The car body advertisement for Fengyi Watches was our work... Miss Chen wouldn’t be unaware of it, would she?" Zhou Xueyin struggled to contain her amusement as she spoke calmly.

"Really?" Chen Yue looked at Zhou Xueyin incredulously.

"Absolutely true!" Zhou Xueyin found the original data from when they advertised for Fengyi Watches on her computer and showed it to Chen Yue, "Miss Chen, please take a look. These are the raw photos from the shoot, unprocessed..."

As Chen Yue flipped through the photos, her expression changed from disbelief to realization, and finally to admiration: "I was narrow-minded..."

She stood up straight, tore up the contract in her hand: "This contract is not suitable to sign with you... please wait a moment, I’ll print out a new one!"