And under normal circumstances, people who understood regular fixed deposits wouldn't fall for it. However, back then, they were enticed into opening "Zhuanqianbao" and saw an extra ten thousand yuan in it. This ten thousand yuan would then earn them daily interest. They were told that if they didn't deposit another ten thousand yuan before the event ended, this interest would disappear. Seeing this, would you be able to resist depositing ten thousand yuan and fixing it in your Zhuanqianbao account?
Frankly speaking, unless they were broke, 50% of people would end up depositing ten thousand yuan for a mere 25 yuan in interest.
However, the rule that the ten thousand yuan deposit must be for a full year, otherwise no interest would be earned, was located in a not-so-conspicuous spot within the event rules. You had to first click on the activity rules introduction and then read through it line by line to find this clause.
Of course, most people skipped it entirely.
So, after a month, when they intended to withdraw all their money, principal and interest, they saw a system prompt informing them that if the deposit wasn't made for a full year, all earnings would be zeroed out, and they could only take back the ten thousand yuan principal. At this point, you would likely grit your teeth and give up on withdrawing.
Thus, it can be said that Old Ma Ge's grasp of human nature was indeed remarkable!
The 1020 pre-heating event for the Forty Thieves was very successful. The seemingly attractive offers, along with the impressive gimmick of 30,000 yuan off a 100,000 yuan purchase, were astonishing. Furthermore, the Forty Thieves mobilized almost all their connections to have numerous television stations report on it.
As a result, within just three to four days, many people became aware of the 1020 Shopping Festival.
However, the biggest promotional push came from the internet. In reality, the conversion rate for advertising 1020 was very low. The limitations of the internet in 2003 prevented 95% of potential shoppers from being reached.
Therefore, the only way to achieve widespread coverage of core users was through online promotion.
Large-scale promotion through traditional media was merely for overall momentum, creating a dominant impression that the 1020 Shopping Festival was descending from reality to the online world. This would pique the curiosity of even online users.
However, it was precisely the online promotion that presented the Forty Thieves with a certain dilemma.
"Boss, the websites we've partnered with, including Yahoo China, Sina China, NetEase China, Sohu China, and other major portal websites, have all featured advertisements for our current shopping festival. Our activity ads are displayed from the homepage to pages in various main sections!"
"Additionally, Baidu Tieba has agreed to adjust our search keywords, setting all default search results related to shopping to our 1020 Shopping Festival."
"We've also purchased ad space on over 400 major forums across the web and have received consent and permission from the bloggers of various forums to post various threads related to the shopping festival within their forums."
"In accordance with your instructions, we specifically requested over a dozen advertising professionals to write more than 100 different posts, totaling over 100,000 characters, which are widely disseminated across various forums."
"Beyond these main channels, over 200 other websites, both large and small, as well as the official websites of major brands cooperating with us, are also displaying our 1020 advertisements," Jin Yuanying, one of the Eighteen Arhats responsible for marketing, reported to Old Ma Ge in his office.
"I understand. You've done a good job. Thank you for your hard work!" Old Ma Ge nodded. Jin Yuanying breathed a slight sigh of relief, but Old Ma Ge then continued, "What percentage of the total web traffic do our advertisements occupy?"
"..." This question instantly rendered Jin Yuanying speechless, stammering her inability to answer. Old Ma Ge frowned and said angrily, "I don't have any other requirements for you. Is it difficult to even speak the truth to me, given our relationship?"
"Yes!" Jin Yuanying finally sighed and said, "The traffic share is about 30%."
"With so many websites, over a thousand in total, all of them being the highest-traffic websites in China, why is the coverage only 30%?" Old Ma Ge questioned.
"Because two web products account for 40% of the total web traffic!" Jin Yuanying said with a wry smile. "And we dare not place advertisements on these two web products!"
"..." Old Ma Ge was also taken aback for a moment and then said, "You're referring to Huang He's Facebook and 00, aren't you!"
"Yes!" Jin Yuanying nodded. If you wanted to advertise online, then Facebook and 00, these two network platforms with immense traffic, were inescapable bugs for any advertiser.
At this moment, Old Ma Ge couldn't help but regret asking the question in the first place. Wouldn't it have been better to pretend not to know?
As a result, Old Ma Ge now didn't know how to make a decision.
To directly give up would feel like slapping himself in the face.
And if he decided to advertise on these two platforms, it would undoubtedly be a waste of time. Jiangnan Group would never agree to such advertising. After all, the current traffic for Jiangnan Mall was almost entirely funneled through these two platforms, and Jiangnan Mall had become the number one mall in the country by leveraging this traffic.
How could Jiangnan Group allow him access to these two massive traffic entry points?
"This question should be asked to yourself, not to me!" Old Ma Ge, unable to answer, decided to shift the blame to Jin Yuanying. After all, this question was too difficult for him to answer.
Jin Yuanying's smile became more troubled, but unlike Old Ma Ge, she didn't have absolutely no answer in her mind.
In fact, during the process of handling the initial advertising placement and negotiations, Jin Yuanying had been constantly considering the issue of Jiangnan Group and their traffic. She already had a vague answer in her mind and decided to voice it at this opportune moment.
So, Jin Yuanying said, "Boss, I didn't communicate with Jiangnan Group before because I knew they wouldn't agree to our request, and I was also afraid of alerting them, letting Jiangnan Group know our actions, and thus secretly causing us trouble."
"However, now that we are promoting across the entire web, even if Jiangnan Group were blind, they should have discovered our intentions by now. Alerting them is no longer a concern!"
"At the same time, I've been thinking these past few days that if Jiangnan Group agrees to allow our advertisements, then our shopping festival would truly take off. We could truly control the entire web's traffic, and defeating Jiangnan Mall would not be a dream. Therefore, I think we should give it a try! It doesn't cost anything to try. We can simply make a phone call to Jiangnan Group, and thus, the choice of whether to allow our advertisements will be placed on Jiangnan Group's shoulders!"
"Give it a try? What do you think the success rate is?" Old Ma Ge asked in return.
"20%!" Jin Yuanying replied.
"That high? What makes you so sure?" Old Ma Ge was startled. He had estimated the success rate to be at most 5%, and that was assuming Huang He himself was blindly arrogant, self-important, and made a mistake. Yet Jin Yuanying claimed a 20% chance!
This was too high!
"Because Jiangnan Group's reaction time this time is too slow!" Jin Yuanying said. "In fact, our advertising department began contacting many network companies consecutively about a week ago. If Jiangnan Group had paid a little more attention to us, they would have discovered our intentions at least three days earlier."
"And if they had three days earlier, they would have had a little bit of time left to clear out the double agents within their own organization and perhaps launch their own shopping festival to counter us. After all, Jiangnan Group now has 60 billion yuan, far more funds than we do. If they also engaged in subsidies, we would be no match for them."
"But Jiangnan Group has shown no reaction. Therefore, I believe there are only two possibilities: either Jiangnan Group has been arrogant and has neglected intelligence gathering, or Huang He himself is so arrogant that he has completely ignored our attack, believing his Jiangnan Mall cannot fail!"
"However, this is also normal. Recently, the China Electronics Technology Development Alliance, the French Royal Palace, the European Princess, a huge amount of money from banks, and the imaginary vacuum high-speed rail have made Huang He the focus of attention in China, and also earned him countless praise and admiration. If I were him, I would probably be floating in the sky right now, unable to see anything on the ground."
"Therefore, I believe Huang He has become completely arrogant and extremely conceited. If we can utilize this emotion and apply some persuasive influence, then there is a 20% chance that Hua Ge will agree to let my advertisements land on his platform!" Jin Yuanying stated calmly, word by word.
"So, you've already figured out how to communicate with Huang He to make him make this fatal mistake?" Old Ma Ge asked.
"Yes, I have an idea!" Jin Yuanying nodded.
"Since you have an idea, then go ahead and do it openly!" Old Ma Ge nodded and said with a smile, "Just as you said, it's just a try. There's no harm in failing!"
"Yes!" Jin Yuanying nodded, then and there, in front of Old Ma Ge, she dialed the chairman's office of Jiangnan Group. Soon, the secretary's voice came through the phone.
Upon learning that the caller was Forty Thieves Group and that they actually wanted to place advertisements on Jiangnan Group, requesting Huang He's approval, the secretary replied with a tone of disbelief, asking them to wait a moment as she needed Huang He's decision before transferring the call!