Chapter 2216: Spokesperson

For an enterprise, having a stable profit growth point is undoubtedly a very important matter.

Why do many large enterprises always remain standing?

The most important reason is that they have their own main business projects that ensure their profits remain unchanged.

For example, Lenovo has always been making computers, and Haier has always been making home appliances. These are their respective companies' stable profit growth points. With these projects, they can ensure the continuous development and growth of their companies.

Of course, this applies to single-type enterprises.

For a large comprehensive group like Future Group, to continuously develop and grow, it naturally needs to explore new profit growth points.

Previously, Zheng Yao had actually been troubled.

After all, in her eyes, Future Technology was still not very reliable. Although the internet industry was developing rapidly, the risks were still significant.

If a situation like the internet bubble of those years were to occur, Future Group would surely fall into trouble.

But unexpectedly, Zhao Fusheng had previously advocated for the company to enter the real estate industry and hoarded a batch of land.

And with the implementation of the four-trillion-yuan plan in the past two years, China's real estate industry has been growing faster and faster.

One must admit that Zhao Fusheng was truly prescient.

"Let's leave it at that."

Zhao Fusheng smiled at Zheng Yao and said, "Think it over yourself."

"I understand."

Zheng Yao nodded, said nothing more, and got up to leave.

As for Zhao Fusheng's final request to hand over some tasks he couldn't handle to her, Zheng Yao pretended not to hear it. In her view, it was just an excuse for Zhao Fusheng to slack off.

Such scenes, she had witnessed countless times over the years.

Zhao Fusheng was good in every way except that he was sometimes too lazy.

...

...

For Zhao Fusheng, 2010 was actually nothing to worry about. Everything was on track, whether in family or business.

The only thing he needed to worry about was that Future Group's pace should not be too fast, lest an unstable foundation cause adverse effects.

Facts proved that Zhao Fusheng's concerns were not unfounded.

The previous incident with Future Technology's voice live streaming platform had already proven this.

Fortunately, Zhao Fusheng reacted quickly, preventing any serious problems.

But this had already sounded an alarm for him, making Zhao Fusheng realize that the era now was different from before.

With the continuous development of the internet, more and more new things were emerging in the world today. A slight inattention could lead to taking the wrong path.

Especially the issue of boundaries, which was even harder to grasp.

At this time, mobile smartphones were just beginning to become popular, and various apps were still in their infancy. People had not yet realized what impact and changes these small programs would bring to their lives.

But one had to admit that these little things would indeed change our lives.

However, Zhao Fusheng was more aware that with the development of the times, from the initial boom to the later sifting of the dross, this process was undoubtedly very harsh.

This was no joke, but a fact.

For the app industry, from its vigorous development at the beginning to its later difficulties, as Li Yanhong put it, the mobile internet era can be divided into two stages. The first stage was capital transfusion, with a large number of unicorn enterprises emerging. In the second stage, the mobile internet has entered the second half. Whether it's tools, mobile games, social networking, news, video, etc., developers relying solely on capital transfusion have become increasingly unsustainable.

At such times, entrepreneurs need to consider how to enhance the competitiveness of their products.

This was the problem Zhao Fusheng worried about.

Although he could help Future Technology with capital transfusion through Future Investment, there was really not much he could do in terms of product development.

Besides telling Dong Guoxiang about some apps he remembered in advance, what else could he do?

Nothing at all.

Zhao Fusheng would not naively think that by being prescient and developing a program, he would definitely seize the first-mover advantage.

That was something only children would believe.

In business competition, no matter the time, the first to try something new is not necessarily the victor. This had been proven countless times.

Not to mention others, whether it's early social networking sites, today's online games, or even search engines and e-commerce—all industries related to the internet have proven that pioneers sometimes do not get the last laugh.

Even hard work is useless.

Because the most useless phrase in the world is 'failure is the mother of success.'

Failure is never the accumulation before success; it's just words losers use to comfort themselves.

Success is success, failure is failure.

Hard work is a good quality, but it doesn't mean that if a person works hard, they will definitely get the reward they want. That kind of chicken soup for the soul is just fooling fools.

For any successful person, what they probably hate most is failure.

Just like Zhao Fusheng now. He had succeeded, so he hoped that everything he did in the future would succeed on the first try, without having to take so many detours and taste the bitterness of failure.

Time passed quickly, and soon it was March.

The days of spring blossoms were getting closer.

The family was quite comfortable staying in the country, especially the elders.

Everyone around spoke Mandarin, which made his parents very happy. Zhao Fusheng could tell they preferred this atmosphere.

When they had nothing to do, they would go out shopping or sit in the neighborhood chatting with neighbors. That feeling was more pleasant than living on an island in Italy.

Fan Baobao had been quite busy lately. Zheng Yao had picked a few ads for her, and this woman had accepted them all.

Of course, the endorsement fees were not small.

After all, when advertisers heard that it was Zhao Fusheng's wife, the boss lady of Future Group herself, acting as the spokesperson, they got as excited as if they had taken stimulants and offered sky-high endorsement fees.

After all, this was a genuine gimmick.

At this time, there were hardly any wealthy wives as bored as Fan Baobao to make a comeback and shoot ads.

Even for actresses and female celebrities, after marrying into wealthy families, most chose to retire from the entertainment industry, stay home to take care of children and husbands, and few were willing to make a comeback.

Even those who did make a comeback to shoot films mostly did it for interest, occasionally filming a TV series or movie, making a cameo or playing a supporting role to satisfy their acting itch.

Someone like Fan Baobao, who actually shot ads, was truly unique.

Of course, these people also knew very well that Fan Baobao was doing this simply because she was bored.

After all, Zhao Fusheng's wealth was there for all to see. He was a shareholder of Facebook, Alibaba, and Samsung. Even if they talked until the sky fell, they clearly knew that bankruptcy was not a concept for his company.

For a billionaire of this level, you could only say his wealth had shrunk by so much; you couldn't talk about bankruptcy. Because if Zhao Fusheng were to declare bankruptcy, the number of rich people in the world at that time would probably decrease by a large portion.

...

...

"I'm going out."

One morning, just as Zhao Fusheng got up, he saw Fan Baobao already dressed and ready to go out.

He blinked in surprise: "So early?"

"Mm."

Fan Baobao nodded: "They've already made an appointment. The director and the crew are waiting for me."

Clearly, she was going out for a location shoot.

Zhao Fusheng was speechless: "You're taking this too seriously."

He really couldn't understand Fan Baobao's thinking. It was just an ad; she could have just shot it in a studio. But she insisted on going out for a location shoot. What was this woman thinking?

"You, I'm being professional. Do you understand professionalism?"

Fan Baobao rolled her eyes at him: "When I get the endorsement fee, I'll treat you and Mom and the others to a meal."

Zhao Fusheng burst out laughing. He really didn't know what to say about his wife's words.

But in his heart, Zhao Fusheng understood that Fan Baobao just wanted to prove through doing something that she still had value.

Everyone thinks marrying into a wealthy family is happy, but for many people, if your dream isn't to be a good wife and mother, then marrying into a wealthy family means you have to give up some of your original ideals.

After all, not every husband's family allows their daughter-in-law to appear in public.

Even abroad, it's the same.

Many actresses, after marrying into wealthy families, also chose to focus on their husbands and children.

Of course, the biggest advantage and benefit of marrying into a wealthy family is having no worries about food and clothing.

You can live in a big house or mansion, swim, fly to Milan or Paris for shopping, and do everything you want.

But the prerequisite is that you might lose your freedom.

This is a matter of trade-offs.

Fortunately, Zhao Fusheng was not that kind of person. He had never imposed any restrictions on Fan Baobao's behavior.

And Zhao's parents were not the evil in-laws from novels or TV dramas. Having watched Fan Baobao grow up, they treated her like their own daughter and naturally didn't mind what she did.

In their view, the most important thing was that Zhao Fusheng and Fan Baobao had a good relationship and lived happily.

This was the true thought of traditional Chinese parents.

Why Zhao Fusheng disliked those family melodramas on TV was because most of the plots in those shows were fabricated nonsense by the screenwriters.

And this was exactly what Zhao Fusheng hated and disliked the most.

To be honest, using individual examples to represent all types is undoubtedly a very wrong approach.

And obviously, those people couldn't see that.

In their view, as long as the plot conflicts were intense, the contradictions prominent, and they could attract the audience's attention, that was enough.

As for whether it was logical or realistic, that didn't matter at all.

Art comes from life but is higher than life.

Sometimes, hearing this, Zhao Fusheng really wanted to slap the person who said it.

How shameless must one be to say such a thing?

What does 'art comes from life but is higher than life' mean?

It refers to genuine art.

But the problem is, that doesn't mean that as art workers, they can fabricate their works arbitrarily!

"Do as you please."

Zhao Fusheng shook his head helplessly: "Let Old Chen send someone to take you."

"I know. Zheng Yao has already arranged everything."

Fan Baobao naturally understood that he was worried about her safety, so she smiled and said.

Zhao Fusheng nodded and watched Fan Baobao leave.

He wasn't worried about anything else, because at the set, Zheng Yao had surely made arrangements in advance.

The boss lady appearing in person was a huge deal for the entire Future Advertising and even Future Group. If Zheng Yao couldn't handle that, then Zhao Fusheng's trust in her abilities over the years would have been misplaced.

Facts proved that Zhao Fusheng's trust in Zheng Yao was correct.

Soon, Fan Baobao's several ads were finished, and according to her, they were quite successful.

Zhao Fusheng was naturally satisfied with that.

He never went to the places where Fan Baobao shot, nor did he ask about the specific content of the plans. In Zhao Fusheng's view, this was not something he needed to focus on.

Fan Baobao didn't mind. As an old married couple, she understood Zhao Fusheng's thoughts and naturally didn't think that his lack of attention meant he didn't care about her.

"Seriously, the competition for luxury brand spokespersons is so fierce now."

After finishing these ads, Fan Baobao was quite emotional. When she got home, she said to Zhao Fusheng.

"What, someone competed with you for the ad model position?"

Zhao Fusheng was a bit surprised.

He hadn't expected such a thing. With Fan Baobao's status, who would dare to compete with her?

Had they eaten a bear's heart and leopard's gall?

That was his honest thought.

After all, Fan Baobao was not some unknown little model; she was the boss lady of Future Advertising. Just by that identity, unless the agency behind the model was crazy, they would never openly compete with her.

Anyone with discerning eyes could see that Fan Baobao was mostly doing it for fun, just shooting an ad for enjoyment because she was bored.

Under such circumstances, still thinking of competing with her for the ad model position—if that wasn't madness, what was?

"That's not what I mean."

Fan Baobao shook her head and glared at Zhao Fusheng: "Don't twist my words. I'm talking about those spokespersons."

Spokespersons?

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback, then realized what Fan Baobao meant.

In the advertising industry, spokespersons and models are actually two different concepts.

Just as brand ambassadors and spokespersons are not exactly the same.

And the ads Fan Baobao shot were only as a model, not as a spokesperson.

This was the result of her careful consideration. After all, given her identity, if she became a spokesperson for a certain product, it would mean consuming Zhao Fusheng's topics and popularity.

The gain would not outweigh the loss.

This was the conclusion Fan Baobao had drawn herself.