Chapter 110 A reward of 10,000 Hong Kong dollars
Wei Zetao said: "Yang Sheng, I have thought about this problem during this time. This Rubik's Cube is different from your previous two products;
Post-It Notes and sticky mouse boards are very practical and very powerful. Once they are launched on the market and people understand their uses, as long as there is demand for them, they will be very popular. They may be willing to pay because these two things can bring them benefits.
But the Rubik's Cube is a new toy, and unlike cartoons and equipment toys, people can know its purpose at a glance, I guess. , Our biggest problem in the future is to tell people how to play this Rubik's Cube."
"The analysis is correct," Yang Wendong nodded.
Not to mention in this era where communication is extremely difficult, it is the 21st century era when the mobile Internet can connect to everyone. When a new toy appears, it is very difficult to promote it. It must carry a very popular idea.
In Hong Kong now, even if you don’t have a lot of money, it’s very difficult to advertise because the cost of using television is very high. There are only about 10,000 households in Hong Kong with televisions, and there are only about 10,000 newspaper customers. The same cannot be compared with 20 years later because many people are illiterate.
Wei Zetao glanced at Hong Xuefei next to him, and then said: "I discussed it with Lao Hong, maybe the method you encouraged us to study the Rubik's Cube recovery technique may be suitable for us to promote the Rubik's Cube?"< br>
“You mean to offer a reward to the first person who can figure out how to crack the Rubik’s Cube?” Yang Wendong asked with a smile.
When the Rubik's Cube was first made, he joked that he would give 1,000 yuan as a reward to the one of the two who could find a way to restore the Rubik's Cube.
Hong Xuefei nodded and said: "Yes, I was quite excited at the time, but it was too difficult. I studied for half a month and still had no clue.
With my financial situation, in Hong Kong It is actually quite acceptable among ordinary people. If I am moved, then Others will definitely be the same, so as long as there is a reward, someone will definitely try."
"That makes sense." Yang Wendong asked with a smile: "How much do you think the reward is appropriate?"
"1,000 is too little, I think three to five thousand Almost." Wei Zetao thought for a while and said: "If you want to attract consumers across Hong Kong, you have to spend more money. Although 1,000 can attract most people, it may not be able to attract media attention. In this case, it will be difficult for us. Tell everyone about this.”
"Well, relying on the popularity of the matter itself, and then letting the media take the initiative to report it?" Yang Wendong smiled, this is a bit like the self-media era of later generations, but in this era, what the media broadcasts is decided by the media companies themselves. Rather than big data derived from future traffic.
Then he said: "Three to five thousand is not enough, how about ten thousand? Isn't this more shocking? There are four zeros after the 1, isn't it very impressive?"
"10,000?" Wei Zetao He and Hong Xuefei were also shocked. They originally thought that the boss might not agree to three to five thousand, but unexpectedly, they were doubled directly.
Ten thousand Hong Kong dollars, even they are very excited. This amount of money is enough to buy an ordinary house in an ordinary location in Hong Kong; or, you can buy a decent house near Central. Got a mortgage.
“This can be attractive enough.” Yang Wendong paused and said: “As long as the attraction is enough, then naturally If more people come to buy it, let’s not talk about whether others can get the reward. Even if they do, as long as the popularity is high enough, and more people buy it, we can earn back the price.”
"That's true." Wei Zetao thought for a moment and felt it made sense, and then asked: "What if someone cracks it quickly?"
"It's unlikely." Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "But if there really is such a person, I should give him money. This is the rule we set ourselves.
Moreover, we can also use this person as a person There are many ways to hype things up, so don’t worry too much.”
Yang Wendong, who has experienced the Internet era, also has a stronger understanding of many methods of hyping products than he did in this era, especially Lei. Booth's various operations often left Yang Wendong stunned
However, there is no need to worry about this, because the possibility of someone cracking the Rubik's Cube recovery method in a short time is almost 0; this is not luck, but Very complex math puzzle.
A scientist once made calculations in a previous life. If an ordinary person is given a Rubik's Cube and is not informed of the recovery method or formula, it will take him 26 years to recover the Rubik's Cube;
And this is just recovery, recovery once and summarizing the method of recovery for each state, this is the difficulty of heaven and earth.
When Wei Zetao saw his boss say this, he didn't think much about it, and then asked: "How much should we price the Rubik's Cube?"
He also knows about general toys. The price range is because there are always many products of the same category. If yours is not special, you must set it at a similar price to others, otherwise you will not be able to sell it, or you will lose money.
But the Rubik's Cube is a new toy, and there are no similar products. Even this kind of educational toys are very rare. How to price it, you have to cross the river by feeling the stones.
Yang Wendong put down the Rubik's Cube in his hand and said: "I plan to set our ex-factory price at 2.5 Hong Kong dollars. The terminal selling price, taking into account the profit given to dealers, will be around 3 to 4 yuan."
"3 yuan?" Wei Zetao and Hong Xuefei were startled. They pondered for a moment, and then Wei Zetao said: "Yang Sheng, the price is too expensive. Hong Kong toys, except for some electric toys with complex structures, are very expensive." It's rare to have this price, and these are still hanging on. Foreign brands, and the reason why they are sold in large shopping malls.”
“You think it’s expensive, but I don’t think so.” Yang Wendong smiled and said, “It’s also about the price in the United States and Europe. It's cheap, maybe one person can earn as much as one day's work Water can buy hundreds of kilograms of food.
But in Hong Kong, many ordinary people work hard a day, but they can only buy a few kilograms, which is barely enough to feed their families. If it is some Southeast Asian countries or Africa, it may be possible. I can’t even buy half a catty of food even if I work for one day. I don’t have this opportunity to work, you guys should know why, right?”
Historically, when the Rubik’s Cube was launched in the early 1980s, it was also priced at a high price, because it was designed for highly educated people. People play it, at least in the early days it must be like this.
When it is difficult to increase sales at the beginning, it is natural to set a high price because the cost of publicity is also very high.
The Rubik's Cube itself has the ability to spread its fame. As time goes by, fame and sales gradually increase. However, this process is relatively slow. What Yang Wendong needs to do now is to speed up this step as much as possible, otherwise it will take a long time.
As for the Rubik's Cube in the Internet era, it is super cheap. That is because the patent has expired long ago, and the only thing that matters is the cost.
“Because the social environment is different, the basic work value is different.” Wei Zetao answered without thinking much. This is a question that many people have considered.
The same job, such as being a plumber, is very ordinary in Hong Kong and only costs an estimated HK$70 or 80 per month; but in the United States, you can earn ten times or even more for doing the same thing. .
It’s so unfair.
Yang Wendong nodded and said: "Yes, this is true for people, and it is the same for commodities. If it is something that can be produced everywhere, the value depends on other production costs.
But we Our products are unique, so it depends on the social cost. But the problem is that our products are very small. If the global price is different, it will form a chain of benefits for others. Therefore, we must set similar prices globally. ;
This In this case, in order to maximize profits, we need to price other places based on the costs that European and American society can bear. Everything should be based on the European and American market. "
Including small commodities such as post-it notes and Rubik's cubes. , are all small products with high single-unit profits. These products are like the iPhones of later generations. Not only do the global prices have to be the same, but they should at least be similar. The gap is generally caused by different tariffs in different countries. Because otherwise, many people will definitely discover the "genuine smuggling benefits" and start this kind of business. Although there are legal ways to deal with property rights, there is no need to torment yourself like this. It is too energy-consuming and such There may be many people doing it, and it is difficult to investigate.
On the contrary, for some large items, completely different prices can be set in different markets around the world. For example, cars can be priced according to the business environment of different markets. For example, Santana in the 1980s, the domestic price is much more expensive than in Europe and the United States. , because there was no automobile industry chain in China at that time; for the same reason, in the 2020s, the Volkswagen ID7 cost 200,000 in China, but 400,000 to 500,000 in Europe.
After hearing this, Wei Zetao also understood and said : "Is Yang Sheng planning to designate the Rubik's Cube as a high-end toy and take the high-price route?"
"Yes." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "The Rubik's Cube is different from ordinary toys. It has nothing to play with. If you give it to a child, the child will definitely throw it away
So our Rubik's Cube is different from most toys. Adults are our customers. We want them to buy it to play with or give it to them. Their teenage children.
The desire to have a successful child is not unique to us Chinese. Parents are naturally willing to spend money on things that are good for their children’s IQ. ”
"Good for IQ?" Wei Zetao asked happily: "Yang Sheng means that this is our future publicity method?"
"Yes, how to restore the Rubik's Cube itself requires people to think about it." Yang Wendong smiled and said: "So it itself It can indeed improve people's thinking ability. As for IQ, this thing itself is fake and it is not false propaganda."
"Yang Sheng is really thoughtful." Wei Zetao has roughly understood the boss. Regarding the market positioning of the Rubik's Cube.
Yang Wendong continued: "There is another question. I can pay 10,000 Hong Kong dollars, but how to let many people know about this? This is the most difficult thing."
The cost of publicity, In many cases, it is higher than R&D. Even in the era of Douyin self-media, it is very difficult to let everyone in a city know about one thing or thing. It requires big capital to promote it, and it is not It will definitely succeed.
The Rubik's Cube was famous in the previous life because it has been popular for decades, but now it is still a strange thing. Even if someone will be interested when they see it, they can't show it to everyone one by one, right?
Even with Douyin in this era, it is impossible to make even some people interested in the same thing immediately by pushing it across the board.
Wei Zetao thought for a while and said: "Yang Sheng, only highly educated people can restore the Rubik's Cube. Our initial customers should be this group."
"Yes, you thought of it too." Yang Wen Dong smiled and said: "I have also thought about this problem. Hong Kong's highly educated talents should gather in Central, but it is unlikely that we will go there to promote it, and we can't do it.
But still There is a perfect place: university!”
"University? It's a good place. Hong Kong college students are basically from wealthy families." Wei Zetao nodded and said.
Yang Wendong said with a smile: "Their family is rich, so it doesn't matter if they spend a few dollars to buy a Rubik's Cube. The bonus for the Rubik's Cube is tens of thousands, which is a lot of money for them, especially since it is Personal. ”
The truly wealthy families in Hong Kong naturally send their children to study abroad, mainly in the United Kingdom, followed by Canada and Australia.
The next step is to go to university in Hong Kong. The University of Hong Kong, founded in 1910, is nothing compared to top foreign universities, but the families who can attend it are at least the richer middle class in Hong Kong. class.
“I have a friend who knows a professor at the University of Hong Kong. Maybe I can get in through his connections.” Wei Zetao said with a smile.
"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded. Hong Kong is such a big place, and people who can get along well have basically interacted with each other to some extent in the past, or have had the behavior of hugging each other for warmth, so they can always get through one or two people. Get in touch.
The next day, the group came to the University of Hong Kong campus on Pokfulam Road.
Between the tree-lined paths, Wei Zetao said with a smile: "Yang Sheng, do you know the history of the University of Hong Kong?"
"I'm not sure, I just know that it was established around 1910. "Yang Wendong replied.
Wei Zetao said: "Yes, but in the early days, it was a university rather than a school. Only dozens of people graduated a year. The University of Hong Kong began in 1948 and was supported by the Hong Kong government and expanded on a large scale. , the scale is getting bigger and bigger. Although it is still far from foreign universities, the talents it cultivates are very good for Hong Kong.”
Yang Wendong nodded and said: "Well, in the future, we have to recruit some people who graduated here."
"That still has to wait until we have a certain scale." Wei Zetao smiled and said: "Many Chinese factories also have I came here to recruit people before, but after a few days of hard work, only one person went. He was still a student who was eliminated by several major foreign companies in Hong Kong.
Graduates here are more inclined to enter government agencies or other institutions. It is still a bit difficult for Chinese companies to recruit people for British-owned companies. "
"It's normal, Hong Kong is indeed dominated by British companies now," Yang Wendong didn't care.
This is also normal. Normal people will not look at the future of the company when they are employed, and they will most likely not understand it. They only look at the scale and the benefits that can be obtained now.
Soon, several people came to an office, and a bald man about 50 years old received them.
After hearing the purpose of their visit, he was also very shocked and asked: "10,000 Hong Kong dollars? Are you kidding?"
"Of course it is true." Yang Wendong smiled, Then he took out a cashier's check from his pocket and said, "This is a bank check from Liao Chong Hing Bank." As long as anyone gets a bank check of 10,000 Hong Kong dollars, they can go directly to the bank. After the bank confirms it with me, it will give the cash directly. "
The bank needs the authorization of the signer to cash a large check. , which is also a way to protect accounts that cannot connect to the Internet in this era.
The professor looked at the check with a hint of greed in his eyes, and then asked: "What if we teachers crack the method?"
(End of this chapter)