0844 Proposals
Regardless of their official position, department rank, or years of governmental experience, not a single person present in this conference room was a fool. The political and economic sophistication required to reach such levels within MACUSA's hierarchy meant that most of the attendees had clearly discerned Bryan Watson's true intentions.
Some officials were privately thrilled by this prospect as a business venture with what appeared to be "limitless financial potential" was stretching out in front of them like an uncharted ocean of opportunity.
If they could position themselves tactically and claim even a modest share of these profits, the resulting income would be large enough to secure their comfort and influence for the rest of their lives.
Naturally, scattered throughout the room were also people of more rigid moral principles: upright officials who frowned deeply at Bryan Watson's proposal.
These traditionalists recognized that Bryan's brilliant plan would undoubtedly infringe upon the direct financial interests of the Magical Congress of the United States of America as an institution.
However, even these concerned officials had to acknowledge a frustrating reality: from a strictly legal standpoint, such business arrangements were completely beyond criticism.
Every aspect of Bryan's proposal operated within existing magical commercial law, exploited no regulatory loopholes, and violated no international trade agreements.
It was simply brilliant capitalism applied to magical commerce.
But Bryan's speech was far from over. After taking a moment to survey the conference room and absorb the various expressions across the faces of the room's occupants, Bryan cleared his throat and continued.
"This distribution model represents merely one viable option for our potential collaboration. In fact, there exists an equally compelling alternative approach that might prove even more beneficial to all parties involved."
The room's attention, which had already been focused intensely on his every word, managed to sharpen even further. Several officials unconsciously leaned forward in their chairs, their body language showing their eagerness to hear what additional surprises Bryan Watson might have prepared.
"The vast majority of the Learning Machine's general-purpose components can be custom-ordered from most reputable alchemical workshops throughout the magical world. Only the specialized core components need to be manufactured in our workshops.
Given this manufacturing reality, we don't necessarily have to limit ourselves to selling complete, factory-assembled units shipped directly from our European facilities."
"What exactly do you mean by that?" Marcelline asked, her voice carrying a breathless tone that showed how completely captivated she had become by Bryan Watson's evolving proposal.
"We could establish collaboration agreements entirely with capable local workshops throughout the American magical community," Bryan replied. "Under this arrangement, our American partners would pay reasonable deposits to demonstrate their commitment and capability, along with fair patent licensing fees that would provide ongoing revenue to our workshop."
The conference room had grown so quiet that the soft ambient hum of the building's magical infrastructure seemed almost loud in comparison.
"In return," Bryan continued carefully, "we would provide complete blueprints, detailed manufacturing specifications, quality control protocols, and full authorization for local production. The Learning Machines would then be manufactured entirely within the American magical community using local labor, resources, and expertise, and subsequently sold through established local workshop retail channels and distribution networks."
Bryan's delivery was concise and businesslike, but his words predictably triggered a fresh wave of commotion throughout the room.
'Local production and sales—' The phrase echoed in Marcelline's mind as she pressed her lips together tightly, her rapidly accelerating heartbeat causing a visible flush of excitement to spread across her cheeks and down her neck.
For magical families and established businesses with both the desire and financial capability to enter this potentially lucrative business, local production and sales would reduce their transportation costs, eliminate most international shipping delays, and significantly decrease the tax burden associated with importing finished goods from overseas.
However, she recognized that this approach would correspondingly require them to bear the direct labor costs, raw material expenses, facility expenses, and quality control responsibilities that came with local manufacturing.
Compared to the previous distribution proposal, determining which approach would prove more advantageous would require detailed financial calculations, market analysis, and risk assessment.
And the potential benefits for MACUSA as an institution also became far more complex and multi-layered than simple trade revenue.
Perhaps in terms of pure gold galleon income flowing directly into governmental reserves from this specific business arrangement, MACUSA might find itself at a relative disadvantage compared to more traditional import models. But Marcelline's experienced political mind recognized that the broader picture was far from that simple.
Local production would mean solving chronic employment challenges for numerous lower-level educated magical personnel and Squibs throughout the American magical community. This employment creation would make American magical society obviously more stable, reducing social tensions and creating a more prosperous middle class.
Furthermore, local procurement of raw materials would create additional employment opportunities throughout the supply chain while simultaneously generating increased tax revenue from workshops, mining operations, and other businesses involved in Learning Machine component production.
The economic ripple effects could be considerable and long-lasting.
For the various high-ranking MACUSA officials considering their personal and political futures, the strategic consequences were equally complex. The first distribution approach might bring them more direct gold galleons through traditional import fees and the kind of under-the-table arrangements that often accompanied international trade deals.
Meanwhile, the second local production approach could openly earn them significantly more public support and recognition—the kind of political achievements that would lead to promotions, expanded influence, and lasting legacies.
The dry, tedious materials and regulatory documents that had been placed in front of each attendee at the beginning of this review meeting now lay completely forgotten and ignored. People had become utterly engrossed by the fascinating prospects that Bryan Watson had painted with his words.
Intelligent individuals still populated this room, and soon enough, this gathering of MACUSA's political and administrative elite began to recognize even more broad possibilities that extended beyond the immediate Learning Machine business.
Throughout the history of magical commerce, product marketing in almost all magical industries had adhered to a traditional direct manufacturer-to-consumer model—produce everything yourself in your own facilities, handle all marketing and promotion yourself, maintain complete control over distribution channels, and sell directly to end users without intermediaries.
The two innovative marketing approaches Bryan Watson had just outlined undoubtedly opened the door to an entirely new world of commercial possibilities.
These experienced officials could easily envision how such collaborative business models could be adapted and applied to the vast majority of existing magical industries.
"Oh my—" Marcelline's facial expression became visibly more energetic and vibrant, the calculating gleam in her eyes was growing so intense it almost seemed as though she might devour Bryan Watson with pure intellectual hunger.
"Mr. Watson, the two proposals you've presented today are indeed remarkably innovative and forward-thinking!"
Bryan responded with a polite smile.
"Our workshop's fundamental mission has always been mutually beneficial cooperation, Ms. White. When we say 'mutually beneficial,' we mean that our workshop doesn't necessarily need to claim the lion's share of profits from Learning Machine business operations," He explained with a generous tone that made his offer seem even more attractive.
"We genuinely hope that all our business partners can gain considerable benefits from our collective transactions. Our goal is for everyone involved to develop and progress together, ultimately promoting prosperity and stability throughout the international magical community."
In reality, the two marketing models Bryan had proposed weren't particularly novel concepts when viewed from a broader commercial perspective.
Throughout the non-magical Muggle world, such distribution and licensing arrangements were already standard marketing practices that had been polished over decades of industrial development. Franchising, licensing agreements, and cooperative manufacturing arrangements formed the backbone of global commerce in almost every sector.
However, within magical society where trading models and business practices still leaned heavily toward medieval approaches that emphasized individual craftsmanship, family workshops, and direct artisan-to-customer relationships, Bryan's proposals was a watershed transformation that offered immeasurable benefits to all parties involved.
And just as Marcelline, Graves, and this entire gathering of MACUSA officials were beginning to realize this—
Bryan Watson's mutually beneficial marketing models was in reality designed to bind numerous powerful local forces within American magical society directly to his ship of war. They would all prosper together through the success of Learning Machine sales, or they would all face reduced profits together if the venture failed.
This approach meant that passing the regulatory review would no longer be solely the concern and responsibility of Bryan and Remus as foreign applicants seeking market access.
Instead, it would become the urgent business priority of all current and potential participants in the soon-to-be-formed benefit chain—American magical families, workshop owners, employees, suppliers, and even government officials who stood to gain from the arrangement's success.
The commotion of soft conversations and excited speculation gradually subsided. One by one, the attendees discretely directed their expectant gazes toward the front of the conference room, focusing on Trask Graves, Director of Magical Law Enforcement and Head of Security, who sat in rigid formal posture directly opposite Bryan Watson.
Everyone in the room understood that the superficial appearance of this review meeting—previously deemed unnecessary by most observers but now seeming quite essential and inevitable was due entirely to Graves's political opposition and bureaucratic maneuvering.
Graves fought to control his breathing, forcing air in and out of his lungs with while deep humiliation churned in the depths of his dark red eyes like a storm.
Setting aside his own genuine personal reluctance toward this international business arrangement and his complex hidden motivations, speaking purely from an objective political standpoint, he had already suffered a devastating and crushing defeat before Bryan Watson.
The young wizard had outmaneuvered him completely, transforming what should have been a simple regulatory rejection into a political nightmare that threatened Graves's own position and influence within the MACUSA.
Graves could even imagine that if he now brazenly tried to use his official authority to forcibly reject Bryan Watson's application, his own position within Congress would face severe and potentially career-ending challenges from multiple directions.
For profit! For greater profit and expanded opportunity!
Graves believed with certainty that even within his own family, his stubborn and seemingly irrational decision-making would face harsh criticism and possible impeachment of his judgment.
Family members who had spent generations building their political and economic influence would not tolerate having those advantages sacrificed for what they would view as personal pride or inexplicable stubbornness.
Sitting near the conference room door in her designated liaison position, Amelia cast a worried glance toward Graves, her composure was unable to completely cover her concern for a superior she respected despite their occasional disagreements.
Through the quiet discussions of her more experienced colleagues and her own developing political intelligence, she had gradually come to understand what Bryan's masterful counterattack truly meant.
Even someone as relatively junior as Amelia could imagine that once this review meeting concluded with its now clearly predetermined outcome, Trask Graves's political standing and future influence would inevitably suffer significant damage.
Meanwhile, up to this crucial point in the meeting, Remus still felt somewhat dazed and disoriented by the rapid transformation of what he had expected to be a grueling bureaucratic ordeal.
The review meeting he had envisioned in his most anxious moments would follow a predictable and exhausting pattern: beginning with him providing a complete technical explanation of the Learning Machine's functions and safety features, followed by MACUSA officials emphasizing previously raised concerns about regulatory compliance and potential risks.
Then he and Bryan would provide detailed explanations, engage in lengthy debates, and possibly even escalate to heated arguments that could deteriorate into professional quarrels, finally ending when one side had exhausted their arguments and conceded defeat or when time constraints forced a conclusion.
But completely unexpectedly, Bryan had once again demonstrated his remarkable ability to find an alternative path that avoided direct confrontation while achieving greater results.
Looking around the conference room at the various MACUSA officials who had fallen into thoughtful silence and seemed to have no further practical questions or objections, Remus felt his heart which had been lodged in his throat throughout this entire process, finally return to its proper place in his chest.
He suddenly found the entire situation amusing on multiple levels: both at these supposedly sophisticated Congress officials who seemed incapable of objective decision-making when presented with clear profit opportunities, and at himself for being so anxiously worried about an outcome that Bryan had apparently controlled from the very beginning.
One phrase echoed in Bryan's memory: "Graves is a wizard with very severe 'partisanship'"
This had been Newt Scamander's inadvertent but crucial reminder to Bryan during his visit. That single observation had prompted Bryan to resolve definitively that he would reduce the Learning Machine's per-unit profit margin and use financial interests to "coerce" the MACUSA into approving foreign trade audits and market access.
After all, groveling and desperate pleading was something Bryan would never stoop to doing, regardless of the business stakes involved.
Moreover, those seemingly sacrificed profits weren't entirely wasted or lost forever. Bryan believed that inviting more American domestic forces into this business venture would promote Learning Machine sales throughout the vast American magical market, and the temporarily reduced per-unit profits would eventually flow back to his workshop through increased volume, expanded market presence, and long-term business relationships.
"Oh, and there's one additional point I need to clarify in advance to avoid any future misunderstandings—" Bryan said calmly amid the contemplative silence that had fallen over the conference room.
"Whether our American partners choose the direct Learning Machine distribution model or decide to apply for local production licensing from our workshop, our facility will retain ultimate pricing authority over the final retail price charged to consumers. All final retail authorization will be limited within specific parameters that we will establish and monitor."
Marcelline's brow furrowed slightly with momentary concern as she processed this restriction, then smoothed out again as her political experience helped her understand the necessity and reasonableness of this requirement.
This pricing control right was extremely important from both business and quality perspectives, and it was perfectly reasonable that Bryan Watson wouldn't relinquish such vital control over his product's market positioning and brand reputation.
Without retained pricing authority, local distributors or manufacturers might be tempted to either charge excessive prices that would damage the Learning Machine's accessibility, or alternatively, to slash prices so intensely that the product's apparent quality and value would be undermined in consumers' minds.
For most people seated around this conference table, the formal review meeting was effectively over.
But for Bryan, one critically important matter remained unfinished.
Although the final outcome of the review meeting was now predictable and his primary objectives for traveling to New York had been basically achieved, there was still the delicate matter of Trask Graves that required careful handling.
Bryan needed to provide some form of face-saving explanation that would allow Graves to accept this outcome without feeling completely humiliated or driven toward more desperate opposition.
Business negotiations and political struggles were different types of conflicts that required different approaches and mindsets. One couldn't adopt a scorched-earth, fight-to-the-death mentality as standard doctrine when dealing with people you might need to work with again in the future.
Mutual benefit and strategic generosity represented the long-term approach for securing lasting interests and maintaining the kind of professional relationships that facilitated future opportunities.
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