Chapter 289: Beauty Contest (Part 1)

Speaking of burning money, the initial payouts for LeXin were just a prelude; the real expenditure was still to come.

Just as Zhao Qingfeng never hesitated to spend money to recruit top talent, he spared no expense in promoting his outstanding products.

Although the current situation for the LeXin product was very promising, it felt like something was missing amidst its rising popularity.

For instance, a thunderclap, something that would make all netizens across China take notice.

“Our LeXin is destined to become the leader in the internet world!”

“So, building on the relative success of our initial spending, I’ve decided to launch a second major promotional effort.”

“Two words, beauty contest.”

“The specifics are to give students and all netizens a strong boost after the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday when students return to school.”

It seems no one dislikes talent shows.

Whether it’s ‘China’s Good Business,’ oh no, ‘The Voice of China,’ and others that appear later, these shows always add some different colors and topics of conversation to the monotonous lives of the populace.

Zhao Qingfeng stood up with a resolute speech, loudly announcing the words ‘beauty contest.’

The staff, especially Cai Shuwen and Li Zhi, were somewhat puzzled.

They believed that having a good product was key. The aroma of good wine needs no bush, and word-of-mouth was the best form of advertising. They even thought that the previous promotional spending was a bit too ‘eager for quick success.’

Zhao Qingfeng explained the core idea, “The purpose of burning money is not just to make our company’s name known but more importantly, to occupy the market early. The future of the internet is always about traffic. Whoever can grab the user base as early as possible will become a regional hegemon or even a world hegemon when powers rise later. Now, let me briefly explain the plan for the project. Marina is responsible for taking notes, then the planning department will coordinate, and the project department will plan in detail, then give the detailed report back to me for the final decision.”

Zhao Qingfeng was always passionate and mature when it came to business.

He then announced the specific operational methods.

Essentially, a ‘National Goddess’ selection contest would be held within universities nationwide, open to all of society.

The participation method was unrestricted, as long as one was a university student, met the age criteria, and had no criminal record.

The promotional methods would utilize what LeXin was already doing, including pop-ups in the internet café management system, 114ba advertisements, and dispatching the previously hired internet water army to forums, Tieba, and websites nationwide.

The goal was one.

To continue increasing LeXin’s user base.

Because to vote, one must register on LeXin with real-name verification and bind their phone number.

Just thinking about the yet-to-debut ‘Super Girls’ and ‘Super Boys’ shows how effective this strategy could be.

Moreover, Zhao Qingfeng was willing to burn money and specially set up super prizes, enough to attract the attention of all of China.

“The total prize money is set within 5 million yuan!”

“The first prize is 1 million yuan.”

“The second prize is 500,000 yuan.”

“The third prize is 300,000 yuan.”

“The fourth prize is 150,000 yuan.”

“The fifth prize is 100,000 yuan.”

“From the sixth to the tenth prize, the money decreases step by step.”

“And that’s just the national awards; each province’s top three winners will also receive prize money, with the champion getting 50,000 yuan, the runner-up 30,000 yuan, and the third place 10,000 yuan, with subsequent amounts decreasing accordingly.”

A simple calculation shows that with twenty to thirty provinces in China, plus the major prizes, this ‘National Goddess’ contest would indeed cost around 5 million yuan.

Keep in mind, this is in 2001, where 1 million yuan could buy a house and a car and support a lifetime for the average person.

Zhao Qingfeng also announced that the contest would not charge any fees.

Moreover, the top ten ‘National Goddesses’ could personally come to the provincial capital to receive their awards, with round-trip plane tickets and accommodation expenses, including subsequent packaging and training expenses, to be jointly funded by Lingfeng Technology and Universal Music.

“Can they also take the entertainment route?”

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