Epiphanies of Rebirth Chapter 64 (Part 2)
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Translated by Pure (ko-fi)
Chapter 64.2 Qi Kai wanted to knock his head against the wall
"Haitang?" Someone looked at the label and felt it was very familiar. She then suddenly realized, "I've heard of this brand! My grandma brought it to me before, fragrant and spicy, it was really delicious. "
"Just a bottle of bean paste, I also have one here. I just bought it at the vegetable market the day before. It tastes good, but it’s not that delicious." The owner of the house laughed when he heard this. He then went to the kitchen to search for a huge glass bottle, it looked quite similar to the bottle in the TV, "Isn’t it just this?"
The product that was originally advertised on the TV suddenly appeared in reality. Everyone became curious, they turned on the light, stopped eating, and passed the glass jar around. After each person took a taste, they were immediately disappointed – The taste of this bean paste is really just okay. It was salty, sweet, slightly spicy, and complemented rice, but it was definitely not as delicious as it was shown in the advertisement.
The person who spoke earlier also took a sample, she hummed, a little puzzled. After looking at the bottle carefully for a while, she suddenly laughed, "Look at this, this is the 'Honored' brand! This maker is far inferior to Haitang Bean Paste."
Everyone rushed over again. They all stared at the bottle for a while, only to realize that such similar bottles were from two different brands. What an unexpected surprise.
The owner of the house was still unconvinced, "This ‘Honored’ brand is selling well. I have never seen ‘Haitang’ in the market. Is there really such a big difference?"
"It’s hard to explain. You'll know when you taste it yourself. It’s really that much better." The woman recalled, "Weird, I haven't seen any bean paste sold before, when did this ‘Honored’ brand pop up all of a sudden? That bottle of Haitang Bean Paste was bought for me by my grandma. She lives on Sun Street. The Haitang Bean Paste is made by the owner of the snack bar there. That shop is very famous in the south of the city, hundreds of people line up there every day. For this Honored brand to have its jar design made exactly like Haitang… Must be because they saw how well it was selling and wanted to cheat some money."
"That’s disgusting." The owner of the house frowned when he realized that he had been cheated. He put the bottle of ‘fake’ bean paste aside, not even wanting to touch it.
After the other people in the room heard the whole story, they couldn't help note down the clear brand name of ‘Haitang’.
The owners in the vegetable market had recently entertained batches of guests with similar demands. Most of them are housewives, and when they walked into the shop, they didn’t look around and would just directly ask, "BossI’ll take a bottle of Haitang bean paste."
The boss took a bottle of bean paste displayed on the shelf and bagged it like many times before, but the customer was not so easy to fool. She picked it up and glanced at the label, immediately noticing the difference, "Boss, what I want to buy is Haitang bean paste. Why are you giving me this 'Honored' brand?"
There was a higher profit margin for Honored, so the boss still insisted, "There’s no difference, this brand is also delicious."
"This is an act of deceit!" Consumers were not so easily deceived. They came because of the advertisements, and remember the close-up of the crabapple trademark and brand name on the screen clearly. Although this ‘Honored’ looked very similar, it was not difficult to distinguish the two apart. How could the boss point at a deer and say it was a horse?
The soft-tempered customers handled it calmly, but the stubborn ones immediately started admonishing the shop owners. There are even old ladies, who have been tricked, later coming back with an opened jar and asking for a refund. It was such a mess that the shop owners couldn’t even run their business properly. After experiencing this type of incident several times, even the most cunning boss became frightened. They all honestly put the Honored Chili Bean Paste to an inconspicuous corner.
And Haitang Non-staple Food Incorporated, taking advantage of this boom, hit the high of their meteoric career.
Distributors of non-staple food flocked to their factory, crowding the reception room. Not only the locals of Yan City, but some also came from nearby cities. The most distant distribution range even included a market in the Special Administrative Region in the far south.
No one anticipated the remarkable impact of the investment promotion advertisement for <Legend of Jianghu>. Initially, even Wang Quan was left speechless. However, as the TV series gained widespread popularity, the influence of the Haitang Bean Paste advertisement continued to soar. The drama's popularity transcended regional boundaries, capturing audiences nationwide. With the leading actors of <Legend of Jianghu> endorsing Haitang Bean Paste, the brand's name had already permeated the nationwide audience, achieving popularity even before they were fully prepared.
This was an accomplishment that Wang Quan and Mother Zhou had initially expected to take ten years to achieve. Consequently, the bean paste production capacity of the Haitang Food Factory was presently insufficient to meet the nationwide demand.
After a brief moment of panic, Mother Zhou regained her composure, and Wang Quan made a decisive decision – to hire more staff, invest in machinery, and expand the production line!
This presented a unique, one-time opportunity. If seized upon, with the influence of <Legend of Jianghu>, 'Haitang' would undoubtedly skyrocket to unprecedented heights!
However, not everyone was jubilant amidst this scenario. The Honored Chili Bean Paste manufacturing factory in Yan City found itself in dire straits due to the sales report from the previous month.
Over 50% of the market share they had secured was swiftly ousted by Haitang overnight. The situation showed no signs of improvement, with an excess of bean paste, which had not yet had the opportunity to be dispatched, now languishing in the warehouse.
Haitang's advertisement strategy was relentless, steadfastly maintaining their packaging bottle and design. They simply shifted their emphasis to the inconspicuous trademark during promotion. This subtle move proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the Honored brand.
In a consumer battle where the choice rested between two nearly identical packaging designs, the one that left the strongest impression would emerge victorious.
Honored had executed its plan meticulously. They initiated mass production, swiftly infiltrated the market, and, by being the first brand consumers encountered, created the illusion of being the genuine product.
However, the sudden success of <Legend of Jianghu> had undone months of their painstaking efforts.
The individual in charge of the Honored Chili Bean Paste Factory stared at the steep decline in the report, his hands trembling. Yet, before he could devise a plan to overcome this challenge, the secretary rushed in, holding a large envelope with a panicked expression.
"Boss." The secretary handed over the envelope, his face etched with concern. "This was just delivered to us..."
The person in charge glimpsed at the bold lettering on the envelope, and his pupils quivered. It was from the Yan City Courthouse.
He didn't dare to open the envelope, so he leaped up from his executive chair, pointing at the phone. "Quick! Call Haitang Food Factory and inform them that we will immediately change the packaging of the bean paste in our next release. If there’s any disagreement, we can peacefully discuss it!"
There was no other choice; Haitang had seized the high ground completely. Honored could still survive by introducing new packaging. Continuing with their current design would only lead to a dead end.
But it was already too late.
In the past, the legal office of Haitang Food Factory, which often called Honored Factory on account of their copyright to negotiate amicably, was never taken seriously. So now, no one in the management team was willing to communicate with them.
*********
In fact, it was not because of contempt or anything. It was because there wasn’t any decision maker authority present at Haitang Food Factory in Yan City at this time. Mother Zhou and Wang Quan rushed to the Special Administrative Region and Hong Kong Island immediately after deciding to expand the factory production line.
Lin Jingzhe did not follow suit. The daily operation of the food factory was not his area of expertise, so he would not intervene unless necessary. Except for his relatively large shareholding ratio, his daily life was no different from that of ordinary stockholders.
The focus of his work was mainly on the mixed-use building under construction on 2nd Middle Road. The construction of the building was in full swing, and the design for the internal structure was almost about finished. According to the contract, Flux Realty was in charge of building the architecture. After the first snow fell in Yan City, New Beginnings Real Estate’s Director Mao Dongqing officially put the investment promotion work on his agenda.
Lin Jingzhe attached great importance to this. There was a theory behind his investment promotion plan. The first batch of brands introduced into their mall had to be international first-tier brands. Whether this goal could be achieved will directly determine the second batch of investment promotion for the mixed-used building, and its future permanent position.
Mao Dongqing was well-informed and soon received reliable news. The international brand ‘TOBR’ has decided to open their first branch in Yan City within the next year. In the early 1990s, Yan City did not even have a relatively mature shopping mall. This would be the first high-end brand to enter the city. From every angle, ‘TOBR’ was very in line with Lin Jingzhe's aesthetics.
Luxury brands often followed each other. Whoever won over ‘TOBR’, it would also be equivalent to winning over the other future high-end brands. No matter which country these old neighbors were in, they always ‘drove’ together in groups.
The estimated completion of the mixed-use building was coincidentally also by next year, so Mao Dongqing had already dispatched his team to find the brand and started negotiations.
