What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 436 Gift
Hou Hongsheng is Facebook’s regional account manager for traffic sales in the Asia-Pacific region. He spends more than half of the year traveling to various Asian countries, but the Asia-Pacific region is not a key market for the company.

Therefore, his plan was to stay at Facebook for a few more years, and then take advantage of the mobile internet boom to switch jobs back to China and find a comfortable mid-to-senior level position.

There's no way around it. Although I'm called a regional account manager, I'm really just a mid-level salesperson. To get promoted, I need to achieve several times my current sales performance, which means I need to join the "global key account team." It seems impossible no matter how you look at it.

The Asia-Pacific region is an emerging market, but Facebook cannot enter China, and Chinese companies do not go global much, so there is almost no need to buy user traffic. They compete more in the huge domestic market. Other countries such as Japan, South Korea, and Singapore are also influenced by Western internet companies, so they cannot compete and therefore do not have many orders.

However, because the work area is large enough, it is still tiring to travel back and forth.

On December 10, Hou Hongsheng arrived in Singapore and met with Lu Jingcheng, vice president of a startup that uses phone marketing to buy traffic.

Two days ago, the other party called and claimed that they wanted to buy Facebook's traffic in the United States, with a budget of about $500 million in Q1, and hoped to communicate in person as soon as possible.

Hou Hongsheng was exceptionally enthusiastic on the phone, agreeing repeatedly, but inwardly he was quite skeptical.

He glanced at the information about MusVid. Newly established companies like this often like to use large numbers to negotiate better treatment, but then they are stingy when it comes to actual deployment, yet they think they are very clever.

Is it planned to invest $500 million in the first quarter of next year?
Why not just say they're investing $5000 million throughout the year?

They're complete laymen, utter laymen. Someone with a quarterly budget of $500 million could just approach their boss, while the minimum budget they're willing to work with is only $600 million a year.

Hou Hongsheng wasn't dreaming of a windfall. He was prepared for a long tug-of-war with the other party, and then the company would want to buy $5 to test the effect first. Well, even a small mosquito is still meat, and what if it turns into a cockroach?

The meeting place was the Four Seasons Hotel in Singapore, which was very convenient to get to.

Hou Hongsheng shook hands, exchanged pleasantries, and sat down. He then smiled and said, "President Lu, I bought a plane ticket back to Singapore as soon as I received your call. I'm very excited. It's been a long time since we've had such an ambitious internet company in Singapore."

His words carried an unconscious hint of teasing.

Based on the $500 million figure claimed by the other party in the first quarter, only companies like Rakuten, Japan's largest e-commerce platform, Naver, South Korea's search company, Kakao, South Korea's game company, or Garena, Singapore's internet company, could afford to invest in Facebook. These companies are top-tier in their respective countries.

Moreover, Facebook's regional headquarters for the Asia-Pacific region is located in Singapore, giving it a natural advantage in understanding the local industry.

Lu Jingcheng grunted in agreement, took out the documents, and said crisply, "Yes, President Hou. So, although we have made a deployment plan, we still need your expertise to help us make adjustments. This is also the main purpose of our meeting today."

He handed the opened document to Hou Hongsheng, then opened the same document as well, and continued, "Our target market at this stage is only the United States. The budget for testing in the first two weeks of Q1 is $60, so we don't need to validate different markets in these two weeks, we just need to split and target."

"In the past two weeks, we have planned to split and target 3-4 groups, such as 13-20 years old and music interest, 18-30 years old and social APP users, and compare the CPI and retention of different groups."

"Our company has set up several core targeting dimensions, including age and interests, as well as video editors, Vine users, and, um, iOS devices."

"Mr. Hou, please take a look. These are the 10 sections we prepared..."

As Hou Hongsheng listened, he finally couldn't help but interrupt: "Wait, wait, Mr. Lu, wait a minute, stop!"

Lu Jingcheng looked at Hou Hongsheng with a puzzled expression.

"Uh, so, your test campaign in the first two weeks cost $60?" Hou Hongsheng asked hesitantly.

Lu Jingcheng nodded.

Hou Hongsheng then let out another "uh": "This deployment, this test..."

“Is there anything wrong with investing 12% for testing in the first two weeks?” Lu Jingcheng asked.

Hou Hongsheng looked at Lu Jingcheng across from him with a serious expression, not at all like he was joking. He was just going through the motions right from the start...

New haggling tactics? Is it a shell company? A scam?

Are they planning to use a cooperation agreement with Facebook to deceive people?
With a jumble of thoughts running through his mind, he replied, "For testing, $50 is enough. As for 10%, if you don't need other markets like Germany and France and only want to target the US market, you can actually invest only $30."

After a few seconds of contemplation, Lu Jingcheng said, "Then let's consider $50, and reserve $10 for emergencies. I see that Facebook's daily budget fluctuation is no more than 20%, to avoid algorithmic errors in the system."

Hou Hongsheng's eyes lit up, confirming that the other party had at least seriously studied his company's deployment situation.

He felt a surge of excitement at having landed a major client, and after nodding in confirmation, he said, "Mr. Lu, the materials you've prepared are..."

“We have prepared 10 sets of materials. Take a look. They are targeted interactions with ordinary people, celebrity-endorsed products, and function tutorials,” Lu Jingcheng introduced. “For the first two weeks of testing, we will prioritize App Install Ads and use Page Post Engagement as a supplement.”

App Install Ads are ads that allow users to directly download apps from the app store. This is currently Facebook's most efficient conversion method. Page Post Engagement, on the other hand, is an interactive ad that allows users to post product videos on the official Facebook page, which helps build a following while reducing the cost per thousand impressions.

Hou Hongsheng was no longer surprised. He looked down at the materials provided on the other party's phone and found that they were also very standard.

After reading it, he asked, "Mr. Lu, has your company registered an account?"

Lu Jingcheng didn't ask about the account, and simply nodded and said, "The Facebook Business Manager is already linked, and the developer verification has been completed."

Hou Hongsheng took a deep breath and said thoughtfully, "President Lu, we will help you verify the product's acceptance in the market. We will have metrics such as day-two retention rate and 7-day active rate, and then make adjustments according to different situations."

Lu Jingcheng nodded and said, "Understood, that's the way to go, and we also hope that Facebook can provide its rich experience in this area."

Hou Hongsheng lowered his head again, flipped through the documents handed to him, and after thinking it over, decided not to speculate any further. Instead, he returned to the original topic: "President Lu, based on our experience, you should test more markets. You can't just do the United States; you should at least add the United Kingdom."

"In our past cases, the United States is undoubtedly a market with low CPI and high retention, and the UK market is often the second largest."

CPI stands for Cost Per Install, which is the cost per install. It is a core metric for measuring the effectiveness of mobile app advertising, determining the average cost for a brand to acquire a user who has installed the app.

Therefore, the lower the cost, the better, and the higher the retention rate, the better.

Lu Jingcheng noticed the seriousness on the other person's face, hesitated for two seconds, and then nodded, saying, "I'll discuss this further when I get back to the company. Our current plan is to focus on the US market first." Hou Hongsheng then said, "President Lu, shall we go to the company for a look? We can adjust our campaign plan based on more realistic data."

Lu Jingcheng agreed without hesitation.

Hou Hongsheng had his own thoughts; he found it hard to accept such a straightforward and generous client.

There's a problem, there must be a problem!
However, when he actually followed General Manager Lu to MusVid's company, everything seemed normal again, including the analysis of the US market left in the conference room, which all looked very plausible.

So... what's the problem?

Hou Hongsheng pondered the other party's suspicious decisiveness and generosity, and then discovered new problems that evening.

He received a call from Lu Jingcheng, who confirmed that the UK market was excluded and that they would continue to focus solely on the US market.

Hou Hongsheng, acting on his professional instincts, analyzed the market situation for General Manager Lu, but no matter what, the Mus team insisted on their own goals, so he had no choice but to give up.

The following morning, Hou Hongsheng visited Mus Company again, and this time he met the company's CEO, Bi Tianlei, who was a refined-looking man wearing glasses and didn't look very old.

He reconfirmed the budget and process, but received the same answer as yesterday.

A fledgling, little-known startup has offered a Facebook traffic spending budget comparable to that of top-tier Japanese and South Korean internet companies!
$500!
Hou Hongsheng directly raised the issue this time, trying to understand the situation from the perspective of considering the other party's feelings: "President Bi, I see that Mus Company has only been established for a short time. In fact, the budget allocation can be extended to Q2, and the effect will not be much worse. In this way, the funds can be used more cost-effectively."

"If Mus achieves scale, subsequent fundraising will be easier."

Bi Tianlei simply smiled in response: "We have already secured investment from internet companies in China, and we are very confident in making music short videos this time. President Hou doesn't need to worry about this aspect."

Hou Hongsheng roughly understood the other party's background, and thus basically confirmed that this was truly a windfall.

He returned to the company in the afternoon and waited until his direct supervisor went to the airport before taking the opportunity to report the situation directly to Daniel Ray, the vice president stationed in Singapore.

"A $500 million investment in Q1? That's great." Neil Rey, who was more familiar with the situation in the entire Asia-Pacific market, was also somewhat surprised.

He confirmed the seriousness of this intention, and after thinking for a while, he directly assigned the task to Hou Hongsheng. He also made a slight exception and assigned him to the "Emerging Technology/Social App Industry Group" under the "Global Major Clients Team".

In other words, Hou Hongsheng can temporarily report and communicate directly with Neil Rui on business matters.

Hou Hongsheng left Nierrui's office feeling very excited.

Three days later, he presented Facebook with a cooperation agreement with Mus and was finally relieved after confirming receipt of the deposit.

This is the best New Year's gift ever!
Hou Hongsheng shook hands with Lu Jingcheng, the person he was dealing with, and said sincerely, "President Lu, you will definitely succeed. Your professionalism when we met left a deep impression on me. You can talk to me directly if you have any questions. If I can't handle it, I can also go to our vice president. He attaches great importance to the intentions of targeting young users and mobile advertising."

This is Neil Ree's strategy in the Asia-Pacific region, and it's also Facebook's recent direction.

Based on current trends, Facebook's mobile traffic may surpass PC traffic by the middle of next year, and once this milestone is reached, the number of mobile users will continue to grow.

Lu Jingcheng shook Hou Hongsheng's hand up and down and said with a smile, "President Hou, it's a pleasure to cooperate. We'll try to get more investment budget next year. It's a win-win situation for everyone."

Hou Hongsheng was all smiles; as long as the opponent threw the ball, he was sure he would be fine.

MusVid's official launch is set to begin in 2014, and the cooperation agreement reached between the Singapore company and Facebook was soon presented on the desk of the president of Silicon Carbon Group.

However, Yu Xing simply glanced at it as a matter of habit and placed it on the already-read folder in front of him.

This $500 million should allow the Mus team to understand the process and effectiveness of advertising on Facebook. The next three quarters will see a larger-scale push. Well, if the mountain-climbing operation goes smoothly next year, the investment in this area can be even greater.

He read it aloud briefly, then his attention returned to the report from the Silicon Carbon Group.

As the year draws to a close, various projects are reporting on their progress, but overall, compared to the problems that have emerged in the second half of the year, the focus now is more on resolving these issues one by one.

The most typical example is "Carbon Power Company", a joint venture with LK Group. Its prototype machine has now been moved into the workshop of Silicon Carbon Group and will go through the entire process.

The phone rang occasionally in the president's office, but the morning was spent quietly reviewing documents.

Yu Xing didn't have much of an appetite at noon, so he simply drove the No. 3 prototype vehicle to the workshop for a look around.

He noticed the prominent die-casting machine in the workshop and said to Zhang Yangxu with emotion, "President Du is still reliable. Everyone's views on integrated die-casting are gradually changing."

Zhang Yangxu hummed in response, and after a few words, he noticed the latest message in the work group.

Then, he immediately smiled and congratulated his boss: "Mr. Yu, Professor Peng's aluminum alloy has met the performance standards."

In addition to die-casting machines, the silicon carbon group also needed corresponding aluminum alloy materials, and they found Professor Ding Wenjiang and Professor Peng Liming from Jiaotong University, both of whom are well-known experts in the industry.

Yu Xing raised an eyebrow, turned away from the die-casting machine, and asked, "Really? Didn't you say before that you couldn't set a timeframe?"

Zhang Yangxu, who was often influenced by his work and knew a lot about the situation, laughed and said, "It's just that you can't say for sure. Sometimes it's all up to fate. Adjusting the formula can be effective for some reason, and inexplicably ineffective for others."

Yu Xing breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, saying, "Good, this is the best gift to end the year."

With the die-casting machine nearing completion, the aluminum alloy performance in place, the construction of the four major process workshops finished, the production line about to be debugged, the entire supply chain to be implemented, and the regional direct sales network to be launched.

Yu Xing's mind flashed through the actions of the silicon carbon group, and he felt a surge of emotion at the hardships they had endured, followed by an exhilarating feeling that everything was in the past and something was yet to come.

(End of this chapter)