Chapter 217: How to Advertise Creatively
Xia Yu's plan was actually quite simple: to once again use free methods and directly distribute the magazines.
Originally, with the "Fengyun Daily" newspaper, which had a daily circulation of 830,000 copies, promoting the magazine, and with the social media and public opinion trends aligning perfectly, "Zhiyin Manke" magazine would quickly become widely known. Combined with offline promotional activities by various distributors, sales would naturally be substantial.
But who would have thought that the original plan had a fatal flaw?
Thus, how to achieve the highest possible sales for the first issue of "Zhiyin Manke" became the focus.
After all, the sales of the first issue would significantly impact the sales of subsequent issues, so Xia Yu had to take it seriously.
To achieve this goal, the first thing that came to Xia Yu's mind was the concept of "free," which had deeply influenced him in his past life.
Free is the most expensive!
In his previous life, both internet giants and physical industry giants had mastered the essence of "free," using various dazzling tricks to lure users in, eventually leading them to spend money unknowingly.
Many people regretted their curiosity or the small benefits that led to increasingly significant expenditures later on! This deep impression, combined with the previous success of "Jiuding Daily" due to its free distribution strategy, made Xia Yu decide to use the free distribution tactic once more.
However, this time it was not something just anyone could afford; in the entire Hong Kong comic industry, only Xia Yu had the strength and resources to implement it!
After all, Xia Yu's plan was to print one million copies right from the start and give them all away—without a cap!
One million copies!
What does that mean?
With a print run of 100,000 copies, the cost per copy is about 1.3 Hong Kong dollars. Printing one million copies would significantly reduce the cost, but it would be at most around 1.1 Hong Kong dollars per copy.
Based on this cost per copy, printing one million copies would cost 1.1 million Hong Kong dollars!
In addition to this minimum cost, there are other expenses, so the total would amount to at least 120,000 to 200,000 Hong Kong dollars.
Investing over a million Hong Kong dollars just to give away one issue of the magazine was something that people like Shangguan Xiaobao and Huang Yulang definitely couldn't afford. Such an investment would surely strain their finances.
Moreover, to maximize the impact of the printed magazines and expand its influence, Xia Yu's channels were the biggest guarantee!
If the investment of this one million Hong Kong dollars could bring Xia Yu an additional 300,000 copies in sales, then for the second, third, and fourth issues combined, the profit from selling the magazines would more than compensate for the investment. After the fourth issue, it would be pure profit.
As for whether distributing one million free magazines could bring in an extra 300,000 users compared to not giving them away, Xia Yu was quite confident!
So this plan, no matter how you look at it, was beneficial to Xia Yu!
In the following days, "Fengyun Daily" continued to guide public opinion, influencing people's attitudes towards comics, and paving the way for the launch of "Zhiyin Manke."
Additionally, "Fengyun Daily" stirred up another topic: "Are comics only for children, or are they suitable for adults too?"
With "Fengyun Daily" providing extensive analysis and quoting various references, and other newspapers following suit, the topic's popularity began to rise. Readers started to question the previous notion that "comics are just for kids."
This was not entirely impossible; after all, in Japan, adults enjoyed comics a lot.
Moreover, on the mainland in later years, many young people also enjoyed comics, as the reading experience combining text and images was unmatched by dry text alone.
This was the result Xia Yu wanted. If he could change adults' perceptions and get them to accept and read comics, the comic market would expand exponentially.
After all, children's purchasing power is not as strong as that of adults. And comics like "Douluo Dalu" and "Dragon Ball" are indeed suitable for adults, while "Pokémon" is more suited for younger children.
Now that the Hong Kong comic industry had been cleared, it was waiting for Xia Yu to take over. Xia Yu regarded it as his territory and, of course, wanted to find ways to expand it! Ultimately, he would benefit the most!
While "Fengyun Daily" continued to guide public opinion, Ma Tengdong also got busy. On one hand, he organized staff to notify distributors, and on the other hand, he worked overtime to print the comic magazines.
Initially, distributors were reluctant to help with the free distribution plan, as it would waste their time and effort. However, after hearing the persuasive reasons, their attitudes changed completely and became very positive.
The reason was simple: the more free magazines distributed, the more customers they would attract. Customers who received free magazines from them were very likely to return and purchase future issues. A single effort would bring long-term benefits!
Especially for bookstore owners near schools, where there is usually only one bookstore per school, and students are the main buyers of comics. The more magazines distributed, the more students would buy the next issue.
Jiuding Animation Co. Ltd. was investing money to attract future business for them, and they only needed to spend a little time and effort. Their costs were minimal!
Furthermore, having previewed the comic, they found the quality to be very high and were confident that readers would like it. So the free conversion rate was expected to be very high!
As a result, all the distributors were persuaded and prepared to distribute as many free magazines as possible to comic enthusiasts.
As for whether some people might collect large quantities of the comics only to sell them as waste paper, no one entertained such thoughts. Jiuding Animation's measure was also aimed at attracting customers for major bookstores. If they were short-sighted enough to earn a little from selling waste paper, their bookstores wouldn't have lasted this long.
Moreover, they had no reason to risk offending Jiuding Animation Co. Ltd. for such small money. The difference between profit and risk was too great to be worth it!
Xia Yu also took a dozen copies home and gave them to his brother Xia Ming to distribute to his classmates, to do him a favor and to help Xia Ming build a good reputation.
Since the magazines would be given away for free in a few days, giving away a few dozen copies in advance had no impact. It might even help promote "Zhiyin Manke" and attract more readers!
Time flew by, and before long, it was the day before "Zhiyin Manke" magazine's free distribution.
On this day, "Fengyun Daily" fully revealed its purpose, openly advertising "Zhiyin Manke."
However, to avoid damaging its own image, "Fengyun Daily" used a grand pretext.
It claimed to be promoting a comic magazine called "Zhiyin Manke," highlighting itself as a "positive energy" comic, which had passed a special review by "Fengyun Daily"'s review team and was confirmed to contain no "negative energy."
But whether "Zhiyin Manke" was truly a "positive energy" comic was not for "Fengyun Daily" to decide. It was up to the general public to judge.
Therefore, "Fengyun Daily" invited all readers to supervise "Zhiyin Manke." As long as they purchased a copy of "Fengyun Daily," they could receive a free "Zhiyin Manke" comic magazine worth three Hong Kong dollars from major newsstands. If they found any issues after reading, they could submit feedback to "Fengyun Daily."
In addition, "Zhiyin Manke" published an official statement on "Fengyun Daily," solemnly promising to accept social supervision and welcome all criticisms and corrections!
The two parties' combined efforts indeed gave readers a favorable impression of "Zhiyin Manke," and no one focused on the fact that "Fengyun Daily" was advertising for it.
Readers were focused on the yet-to-be-seen "Zhiyin Manke."
Now that the Hong Kong government was heavily regulating the comic industry, under such a severe situation, "Zhiyin Manke" dared to go against the trend and publish comics.
This was already unusual, as others were secretly publishing, fearing being targeted.
Yet "Zhiyin Manke" boldly announced its acceptance of supervision and criticism, displaying confidence and a sense of social responsibility that readers appreciated.
Amid the anticipation and excitement, the day passed, and finally, the day of "Zhiyin Manke" magazine's debut arrived!
The outcome would soon be revealed!