The citizens of Shangdu had no idea what the deputy general manager of Zijingshan Department Store was thinking. A person’s thoughts are related to their stance, and that deputy manager’s perspective was biased, worried that their department store would gain another competitor! But ordinary citizens didn’t care about such matters. The artistic performance organized by Asia was simply spectacular. Multiple speakers broadcasted Hong Kong stars’ songs throughout Erqi Square, with young people tiptoeing and squeezing through the crowd, so moved that tears welled up in their eyes.
Oh my, who would have thought they could see real singers and hear them perform live? Those secretly purchased cassette tapes that they had played countless times…
Some considered it decadent music, while others felt every lyric resonated deeply with their hearts. Who hadn’t experienced passionate youth?
Xia Xiaolan’s situation was a bit special. While others were busy chasing stars, she focused on earning money for school and living expenses. In her previous life, she had successfully won over a notoriously difficult male client. The big brother was over fifty, neither interested in smoking nor drinking nor fond of social gatherings. Even beautiful young ladies couldn’t move him. He was like a stone Buddha, and his picky, aloof temperament had defeated many industry peers.
Xia Xiaolan refused to give up. Everyone has their interests! She put in great effort to investigate, and though the big brother kept his preferences well hidden, she discovered he enjoyed listening to music while driving. It was purely about listening – he would never go to KTV or nightclubs. Xia Xiaolan found a Hong Kong singer from the 1980s in his “playlist” and kept this information without acting immediately. When the singer came to the mainland for an anniversary tour the following year, Xia Xiaolan secretly arranged VIP tickets for him.
The client attended the concert!
Being the sharp person she was, Xia Xiaolan immediately knew she had a chance. Not only did she get him concert tickets, but she also pulled strings to arrange a backstage photo opportunity with the singer… How did it turn out? She later became the big brother’s “confidant.” After the concert, he invited her for tea, showed her photos, and shared how he had been a fan since his youth.
“But I was poor when I was young. While they were in Hong Kong, I was on the mainland, with no chance to meet. Later, when she came to perform on the mainland, I was older and afraid people would laugh at me for being a fan, so I never went. Her singing is wonderful and sounds great live too. Today’s young singers can’t compare…”
The famously aloof big brother opened up and talked extensively with Xia Xiaolan.
A singer he had liked since his youth, holding onto that feeling for twenty or thirty years – that was an unforgettable youthful sentiment!
By the end of their tea, the previously impossible contract was successfully signed, and the client specifically requested that the business go through Xia Xiaolan. She had given one VIP concert ticket, and in return, just from this big brother’s orders alone, she earned hundreds of thousands in commissions that year.
The big brother in his fifties, his unforgettable youth, his unforgettable singer – weren’t these all things that happened in the 1980s?
Stars that people fell in love with during this time often became lifetime favorites, unlike in later years when people had more choices and their favorites changed constantly.
You couldn’t blame fans for being fickle – handsome boys and beautiful girls kept emerging, making it truly difficult to stay loyal. Even if other idols didn’t steal your heart, your idol might get caught up in scandals. With 24/7 invasive paparazzi, an idol’s public image could crumble instantly. The information explosion brought people closer together – when national idols were photographed smoking, even their discarded cigarette butts reportedly sold for hundreds of thousands… Well, getting hold of an idol’s cigarette butt was practically like kissing them, right?
So, social progress has shortened the distance between ordinary people and celebrities.
For those with decent financial means, meeting their favorite stars wasn’t difficult. Even student fans from middle-class families could save up enough for concert expenses.
But in 1988, among ordinary citizens, being a “ten-thousand-yuan household” meant you were wealthy.
Even if you like an actor or a Hong Kong-Taiwan singer, having ten thousand yuan wouldn’t get you close to them.
That amount wasn’t enough to cover a Hong Kong-Taiwan singer’s appearance fee.
Even if it was enough, there weren’t any channels to make contact.
Thirty years later, young fans knew their stars’ Weibo accounts, but in 1988, who knew how to contact Hong Kong-Taiwan singers?
The “Asia Grand Opening Cultural Performance” that Xia Xiaolan organized at Erqi Square was something Shangdu citizens usually couldn’t access. The performances were arranged in rounds, with each set of two or three programs followed by an hour’s break before the next round began.
An hour’s break – not too long, not too short – people were even afraid to go home lest they miss the next round of performances.
Since they had time to kill, why not browse through the Asia Department Store?
This was exactly how customers were drawn in, all perfectly planned.
No wonder the deputy general manager of Zijingshan Department Store accused Xia Xiaolan of using decadent music to attract people – it was truly effective, comparable to the shopping lottery during Chengrong Plaza’s opening. After all, giving the big brother one concert ticket had brought her hundreds of thousands in commission – what kind of success would this grand cultural performance bring to Asia?
Xia Xiaolan believed business was about catering to preferences and providing goods or services to those who needed them.
When a product was available in only one place, that was a monopoly.
That’s how the planned economy worked – with no private stores, citizens had to buy everything from state-owned stores. Without choices, state-owned stores naturally didn’t care about attitude.
But reform and opening up had arrived, and the state now allowed private stores.
For the same product available in both state-owned department stores and Asia, how could Asia compete with state-owned department stores?
A price war would harm both sides!
Zhu Suizhou had once won against several of Shangdu’s major stores through price wars—
Xia Xiaolan didn’t want to engage in price wars. She wanted to attract customers first, let them know Asia carried the same items, and then retain them through service.
Whether it was Chengrong Plaza’s shopping lottery or today’s Asia cultural performance, these were all traffic-driving strategies. Such methods wouldn’t change even thirty years later – just look at those APP developers: offering red packets for daily step counts or sharing links with friends – they’re using the same customer attraction techniques.
But whether an APP could survive and thrive in fierce market competition, after the initial traffic drive, still depended on its own content and excellent user experience to truly retain the users they’d attracted!
Xia Xiaolan saw off the leaders who came for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
As for visiting industry peers, let them look if they wanted – she wasn’t afraid of them copying anything.
If competitors had the courage, Xia Xiaolan welcomed them to replicate Asia’s opening promotion strategy. This wasn’t a price war; this was spending money on marketing and promotion.
As they say: Often imitated, never duplicated!
Second Aunt ran over, covered in sweat, “There are too many people, too many! Any more and the escalators might collapse!”
Xia Xiaolan glanced at her:
“Second Aunt, this kind of sweet burden is exactly what other department stores wish they had. But you’re right – we can’t risk a stampede. Start limiting entry now.”
The second Aunt immediately felt distressed.
—Those people were all potential customers, and they had to keep them outside?