Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

Although Figo's stock purchases were unreliable, they reminded Lin Feng of something—the 08 subprime mortgage crisis was just around the corner!

The subprime mortgage crisis will trigger a global financial crisis, leading to a sharp depreciation in the prices of various stocks and securities.

However, after the subprime crisis broke out, European and American countries, especially the United States, will inject liquidity into the market by turning on nuclear-powered printing presses.

The result was that the prices of various stocks and assets rose rapidly after 08.

This impact is all-encompassing, even affecting the sport of football.

Marked by Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer in 09, players' market value skyrocketed, with transfers worth tens or even hundreds of millions of euros becoming commonplace, ushering in a bubble period in football that lasted for more than a decade.

The influx of capital and speculation made Messi and Ronaldo the unparalleled duo a symbol of this era, and their superstar effect greatly accelerated the promotion and development of football.

This is the best time and the worst time.

However, if you want to invest, this is the best opportunity.

Lin Feng wasn't very interested in real estate company stocks; he believed the best performers in the future US stock market would be various technology companies, such as Apple, Google, and Nvidia.

At the height of the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, the market capitalization of future trillion-dollar giants like Apple and Google fell below $100 billion.

If you invest 100 million euros in them now, you can easily reap billions in returns in the future.

At that time, Nvidia's market value was only a few billion dollars. If you had invested in an unknown company like Nvidia in advance, you could have earned thousands of times the return in the future!

Such an attractive rate of return was enough to make even Lin Feng lose his composure.

There is still about a year before the subprime crisis breaks out. During this period, he needs to save more money so that he has enough capital to invest.

Otherwise, if an opportunity comes your way but you don't have the money to invest, wouldn't you be missing out on a golden opportunity?
After readily paying for the villa, Lin Feng advised Figo to quickly sell off all his Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stocks, otherwise, if the subprime mortgage crisis broke out next year, all the money Figo had painstakingly saved over the years would probably be lost.

Of course, he was just offering suggestions; whether the other person listened or not was their own business.

……

When Mendes came to visit him, Lin Feng's move was already nearing completion.

"Mr. Jorge, what brings you here?"

It wasn't Lin Feng who opened the door for Mendes, but Pepe who was carrying a huge cardboard box.

"Uh, I need to talk to Lin Feng. By the way, Peipei, what are you doing here?"

After saying that, he glanced into the house and saw that, in addition to Pepe, there were several Real Madrid players busy moving things around for Lin Feng.

Mendes couldn't help but secretly admire him: This kid is something else! He's only been at Real Madrid for a little over two months and he's already gained so many followers!

If Peipei became close to Lin Feng because of her own reasons, then the others were probably all captivated by Lin Feng's personal charm!

After all, the Spanish players still hold the most power and influence in Real Madrid's locker room.

"Brother Lin is on the second floor, I'll take you there!"

Pepe put down her things and, in a fawning manner, led Mendes to find Lin Feng.

Mendes's actions were crucial in Pepe's move to Real Madrid.

Without Mendes's recommendation and connections, it would have been impossible for Pepe to join a top club in one of the top five leagues so quickly.

Pepe is a person who knows how to be touching. He is grateful to those who have helped him and practices the idea of ​​repaying kindness tenfold.

"Mr. Jorge, is there something you need from me?"

Lin Feng was somewhat surprised by Mendes' sudden visit.

Could it be that some major brand has approached me and wants me to be their spokesperson?
"Yes, that's true. Coca-Cola and Pepsi are both doing their best to win you over, and both are offering pretty high prices. I wonder which one you'd like to work with?"

Mendes didn't immediately bring up the contract extension with Real Madrid, because based on his understanding of Lin Feng, the latter was probably not interested in the matter.

Seeing that Lin Feng had bought a new house, and that the house looked expensive, it was clear that he had spent a lot of money.

Mendes deduced that Lin Feng was probably short of money recently, so he brought up the sponsorship contract to test Lin Feng's reaction.

If the other party reacts coldly, it proves that you guessed wrong. Just mention the commercial endorsement briefly, and don't say too much, so as not to waste the other party's time and make them unhappy.

However, if the other party responds positively, it proves that your guess was correct, and you can confidently deal with the pressing issue on this side.

As a rising superstar in the football world, Lin Feng's influence and commercial value continue to climb.

Many sponsors, attracted by his influence, wanted to collaborate with him.

Although Mendes had followed Lin Feng's request and adhered to the principle of "better to have none than to have bad ones," he tried his best to select high-quality clients with good brand image and high endorsement fees.

However, after the screening, there were still a lot of endorsement offers left, some of which had been backlogged for several months. It would be impolite not to respond to them soon.

"Coca-Cola and Pepsi? How big is the price difference between the two?"

Lin Feng perked up immediately when he heard there was money to be made.

Mendes guessed correctly; he is indeed very interested in making money now.

Besides the money spent on buying a house, it was also related to his plan to take advantage of the subprime mortgage crisis next year to expand his investments.

Cola is a carbonated beverage, which athletes generally don't drink, but it doesn't matter to ordinary people.

Moreover, as a popular beverage among couch potatoes, this product has a huge target audience. Partnering with them can not only bring substantial financial rewards, but also allow the star player to leverage the brand influence of these two large companies to expand their own influence.

Just like how celebrities in the entertainment industry use the status of the brands they endorse to demonstrate their status in the industry.

However, for a near-superstar like Lin Feng, the situation is reversed.

It has become a competition between these two companies to recruit top stars like them in order to demonstrate their status in the beverage industry!

"Pepsi offered a higher price, $900 million over 3 years, while Coca-Cola offered a lower price, $500 million over 2 years, but Coca-Cola was willing to pay in full upfront!"

"Then let's sign a contract with Coca-Cola!"

Similar to his contract with the team, Lin Feng also dislikes signing long-term contracts for commercial endorsements.

The reason is simple: after 08, the prices of various commercial endorsements will rise as central banks around the world loosen monetary policy.

Signing a long-term contract now may seem like a good deal, but in reality, it's a loss.

Moreover, Coca-Cola's offer to pay two years' worth of endorsement fees in advance was very attractive to Lin Feng, who wanted to save money before the subprime mortgage crisis broke out. "Okay, I'll contact Coca-Cola when I get back and see when you're available so we can sign the contract."

Mendes has quite a few endorsements backlogged. In addition to finalizing the collaboration with Coca-Cola, the two quickly finalized a series of collaborations with Gucci, Cartier, Head & Shoulders, and others.

As expected of a luxury brand, these sponsors are really willing to spend money.

Aside from Head & Shoulders offering relatively little, Gucci paid Lin Feng 300 million euros per year for his endorsement, while Cartier paid slightly less, but still 280 million euros.

Such a high-paying and low-stress endorsement is extremely rare!

Normally, players don't get this type of endorsement.

Because such endorsements usually have high requirements for the spokesperson's physique and appearance. After all, if the appearance and temperament are not good, it may have the opposite effect on them.

Therefore, these kinds of endorsements are usually made by Hollywood stars.

For example, Brad Pitt, a currently popular Hollywood actor, is the spokesperson for the L'Oréal brand, and his annual endorsement fee is $400 million, which is about 300 million euros, similar to the endorsement fee that Gucci offered to Lin Feng.

This means that in Gucci's eyes, Lin Feng's status is roughly equivalent to that of a Hollywood superstar like Brad Pitt.

The reason Lin Feng was able to sign such an endorsement is because his situation is rather special.

Although he is a star athlete, he is also very good-looking, with almost no shortcomings in appearance, temperament and image.

In addition, Gucci's competitor Armani found Kaka as their spokesperson, and not wanting to fall behind, they naturally wanted to find a spokesperson with a higher profile than Kaka to overshadow their rival, so they found Lin Feng.

So in a way, Lin Feng has to thank Kaka.

"By the way, quite a few companies in China want you to be their spokesperson. Are you interested?"

Mendes suddenly asked a question.

Lin Feng was somewhat curious: Chinese partners?
It can't be some kind of cow or a liquor, right?

These two dairy brands are willing to spend a lot of money signing celebrities for endorsements, but their reputation is really not that great.

Furthermore, with a certain incident about to erupt, Lin Feng neither dared nor wanted to cooperate with them under such circumstances.

He was right. Both Niu and Li companies approached him, and they even tried to outbid each other, both wanting to acquire Lin Feng, who was currently very popular in China.

Especially for a certain company, because Liu Xiang went to the other company, they lacked a sports star who could compete with them, so they showed great sincerity in cooperating with Lin Feng and offered an incredibly high endorsement fee!
"2000 million RMB?"

Lin Feng was somewhat taken aback. As far as he knew, Liu Xiang's endorsement fee with a certain company was only around 1500 million yuan.

The fact that a certain company is willing to offer a high price of 2000 million shows that they are really determined to acquire it!

"Yes, and they're willing to sign a long-term contract, at least five years!"

20 million a year, that's 100 million RMB in five years.

In China in 2007, this was already a top-tier sponsorship contract!

But Lin Feng remained unmoved: "Let's reject this one!"

"Rejected?"

Now it was Mendes' turn to be surprised. Lin Feng had readily agreed to the previous contracts, so why was he turning down this lucrative endorsement deal?
In Mendes' view, this kind of endorsement is lucrative and hassle-free; you only need to shoot a few commercials to earn 2000 million. Such a good deal is hard to find even with a lantern!

"Well, we're not accepting any more food or beverage advertisements for the time being. Are there any other collaboration offers?"

Lin Feng didn't explain why he wouldn't answer, but Mendes, seeing the other party's serious attitude, had some guesses in his mind.

Since Lin Feng said he wouldn't accept, he didn't say anything more.

Although he could earn a commission from Lin Feng's commercial endorsements, what was that little bit of money compared to making his employer happy?
Mendes has a long-term vision. His most important task right now is to cultivate a good relationship with Lin Feng and firmly grasp this cash cow.

"Besides fast-moving consumer goods, there are also traditional telecommunications companies. China Mobile and China Unicom are both interested in cooperating with you."

There were no problems with either of the two companies, and Lin Feng welcomed the idea of ​​cooperating with them.

However, compared to certain brands like Niu and Li, the endorsement prices offered by China Mobile and China Unicom are not considered high.

China Mobile offered 700 million yuan per year, while China Unicom offered slightly more, at 750 million yuan per year.

This price is undoubtedly among the top tier for brand ambassadors under China Mobile.

When Jay Chou first signed his endorsement contract with China Mobile, his fee was only 300 million yuan per year. It was only after the contract was renewed that it increased to 500 million yuan.

Compared to Jay Chou's starting point, Lin Feng's starting point was more than twice as high.

"Choose China Mobile!"

Lin Feng chose China Mobile over China Unicom, probably because he was a long-time customer of China Mobile in his previous life and hadn't used China Unicom much.

Of course, compared to internationally renowned brands, the endorsement fees in China are generally lower, and it's also more troublesome to go back to China to shoot the advertisements.

So after accepting a few higher-priced endorsements, Lin Feng lost interest in the remaining ones.

It doesn't matter much if he takes on more international endorsements, because most domestic audiences won't see these ads and won't be bombarded with Lin Feng's advertisements.

However, if he takes on too many endorsements in China, Lin Feng has no doubt that these sponsors will bombard the general public with his advertisements.

Just like Liu Xiang before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, when you turned on the TV, a large portion of the commercials during the ten-minute breaks in the drama were Liu Xiang's commercials, which was so annoying that it made you want to vomit.

Moreover, China was indeed short of funds at that time, and the endorsement prices offered were nowhere near those of internationally renowned brands.

Take the Head & Shoulders shampoo that Lin Feng previously endorsed as an example. The price offered by the other party was 300 million euros for 2 years, which is equivalent to 3150 million yuan, or 1575 million yuan per year.

This price is already considered top-tier for endorsements in the country.

However, abroad, this is just one of the many endorsements Lin Feng has taken on, and it's just an ordinary one.

Domestic endorsement fees have been rising rapidly, and it will take four or five years for them to gradually increase after the economy develops rapidly.

Although he turned down many domestic endorsement deals, Lin Feng still earned more than 2000 million euros after signing this series of endorsement contracts, which is almost equivalent to his salary at Real Madrid for three years.

No wonder Beckham is the richest player in football. Compared to a hard-earned salary, commercial endorsements bring in much more and faster income.

Compared to Beckham, Lin Feng's commercial development is still far behind, which requires him to work together with Mendes.

"Ahem, besides these things, there's something else I need to tell you." (End of Chapter)