It was bad enough that all kinds of meaningless comments filled the streaming room, but what was worse was that many comments were discussing the viewership numbers.

“Viewership is rising again? But why does it feel like there are fewer comments?”

“The comments are being split, that’s normal.”

“No, after GOG’s new match-viewing feature connected with ** Streaming, many people went to watch there. I’ve noticed their streaming room numbers have exploded two or three times in the past couple of days.”

On Wolf Fang Streaming, the names of other streaming platforms were censored, but all viewers knew this referred to Rabbit Tail Streaming.

“But the viewership numbers on all streaming platforms haven’t decreased; they’ve actually increased.”

“That’s strange. So where exactly are these viewers coming from?”

“At least ** Streaming’s numbers are absolutely real. As for other platforms, hmph.”

“According to insider information, GOG’s broadcasting rights are charged based on viewership.”

“Charged by viewership? Then can’t platforms artificially adjust their numbers?”

“That’s the brilliance of GOG’s official business strategy! Which streaming platform would willingly lower their own viewership? They all put on a brave face, preferring to inflate numbers and pay more money to save face, rather than showing lower viewership!”

“So this is a case of willing victims taking the bait?”

“Though this rumor is quite dramatic, I don’t believe it!”

“It could really be true, because I’ve noticed that GOG match viewership on several small streaming platforms is ridiculously low. Even though the matches are featured on their homepage, the viewership is lower than some small streamers on the platform.”

“If GOG broadcasting rights really are charged based on streaming room viewership, that would explain everything!”

“What’s this called? Tenda doesn’t take money from the poor? Big platforms pay in full, while small platforms just pay symbolically?”

“No, it’s more like charging for face. If you care about face, you pay more; if you don’t need face, you pay less. Pretty generous!”

The matches continued, but a small group of people were discussing streaming platform viewership during the breaks, which was refreshing in its own way.

After reading these fragmented discussions, Pei Qian fell silent.

Because he knew that GOG’s broadcasting rights were indeed charged based on viewership!

But he never imagined it would lead to such consequences!

Not only would the broadcasting rights income not decrease, but it had also labeled platforms other than Rabbit Tail Streaming.

The impression that Rabbit Tail Streaming’s data was authentic had deeply penetrated people’s minds, because in the past, no matter how low the numbers were, Rabbit Tail had never beautified them.

And now, taking advantage of this championship opportunity, labels had been attached to other streaming platforms.

Those with high viewership were face-saving, free-spending platforms that fabricated data.

Those with low viewership were stingy, shameless platforms that also fabricated data.

Either way, they were all platforms that falsified data, and only Rabbit Tail Streaming had the most authentic data and advanced match-viewing features!

This would clearly have far-reaching effects that would continue even after the GOG Global Invitational ended!

“Zhao Xuming! You’ve set me up!”

Pei Qian was absolutely furious.

This terrible idea came from Zhao Xuming!

“I considered you a trusted minister, asked you to come up with a plan, and you set me up like this?”

Pei Qian almost wanted to put Zhao Xuming on the list for the third session of the Suffering Journey.

However, as he recalled the original conversation, he abandoned the idea.

“Uh… wait, that’s not right.”

Pei Qian suddenly realized that Zhao Xuming had originally suggested that the broadcasting fees should be linked to the streaming platforms’ actual viewer numbers.

It was Pei Qian who had impulsively thought that platforms could modify their viewership numbers, so he changed it to being linked to displayed viewership.

Thinking about it now, if it had been linked to actual viewer numbers… they might really have earned less!

Because a large number of viewers had been stolen by Rabbit Tail Streaming, these large platforms’ actual viewer numbers had decreased, so naturally they would pay less for broadcasting rights.

But now, despite actual viewer numbers decreasing, the large platforms still had to put on a brave face and maintain high displayed viewership. This meant Rabbit Tail Streaming profited once, and GOG broadcasting rights profited again…

Pei Qian sank into deep thought.

“So… I should be the one to blame? I wrongly accused Zhao Xuming?”

“Zhao Xuming really is a trusted minister who gave me a decent suggestion, but I misused it?”

This hit Pei Qian hard, giving him a sense of helplessness, like trying to pass the blame only for it to circle back to him.

“Well, it seems the blame really isn’t on Director Zhao, so never mind.”

Pei Qian had nothing more to say and could only continue watching the matches dejectedly.

Even the French fries in his hand seemed to have lost their flavor…

……

……

December 3rd, Monday.

Home Group Marketing Department, Director’s Office.

Gao Ming had been overwhelmingly busy these past few days, without even a moment’s rest over the weekend.

Of course, he wasn’t the only one at Home Group working overtime. The senior management and Public Relations Department were also working overtime.

After all, with a public relations crisis and plummeting stock prices causing investors losses, the senior management at Home Group wasn’t having an easy time either.

Although handling this public opinion crisis was the PR Department’s responsibility, Gao Ming, as the Marketing Director, couldn’t escape blame, since he had essentially created this mess.

If Home Group hadn’t forcibly tried to ride the popularity of the “Real Estate Agent Simulator” promotional video, they probably wouldn’t have ended up in such a miserable situation.

But Gao Ming also felt wronged—how could he have guessed it was a trap?

Home Group’s “Thoughtful Butler” service was a new business model established early on by senior management and approved in management meetings. As Marketing Director, Gao Ming was merely promoting this business.

Now with the situation blowing up, with online discussions all pointing directly at Home Group’s profit model, how could Gao Ming possibly solve this?

The PR Department was also in a bind, cursing Gao Ming countless times behind his back.

From an outsider’s perspective, Gao Ming had essentially stuck his head on someone else’s chopping block. But from Gao Ming’s view, this series of operations was completely reasonable.

Who could have guessed that Home Group and Chi Xing Studio, who had no previous grievances, would suddenly be stabbed—and stabbed so deeply!

It was completely unfair!

At the first sign of the public outcry, Home Group’s PR Department had responded urgently, releasing a crisis management statement.

The main point was that they were paying close attention to the public sentiment, would conduct deep internal reflection and investigation, further regulate relevant business operations, and promised to give the public a satisfactory answer soon.

There were also some generic phrases, such as how Home Group had helped tens of thousands of tenants solve housing problems and had always focused on tenants’ living experiences.

Although this statement didn’t have much effect, at least it didn’t add fuel to the fire or make the situation worse.

The PR Department had no choice; even the cleverest housewife can’t cook without rice!

In crisis management, there’s the so-called “5S Principle”: the principle of taking responsibility, the principle of sincere communication, the principle of speed first, the principle of systematic operation, and the principle of authoritative confirmation.

Simply put, when a crisis emerges, the company facing the crisis cannot evade or refuse to take responsibility but should face it calmly;

They must sincerely communicate with media and the public, not just superficially communicate while actually rejecting or fooling them;

They must respond quickly, making good use of the golden time for crisis management;

They must work comprehensively and systematically with a plan, taking care of every aspect;

And ideally, they should seek endorsement from relevant governing departments, authoritative organizations, or individuals with certain credibility and influence.

Generally speaking, if these five points can be done well, crisis management would be considered successful, and might even turn the crisis into an opportunity.

In this case, Home Group’s crisis management had fully achieved the principles of taking responsibility and speed first, and barely achieved sincere communication.

After all, shortly after the public outcry emerged, Home Group’s PR Department had already issued a statement. Instead of stubbornly defending themselves, they lowered their heads, admitted their mistakes, and stated they would conduct internal investigations and rectifications, giving the public an explanation in the short term.

Being able to respond like this in a short time was already commendable, certainly much better than those crisis management strategies that only made things worse.

After all, what had been rejected this time was Home Group’s profit model and values—the most fundamental aspects of a company. The bad impression Home Group had left on tenants was somewhat deeply rooted and couldn’t be reversed with just a few words in an announcement.

So, in crisis management, first acknowledging the mistake, giving the internal team some time to research, and finally presenting a rectification plan was already the best solution achievable in the short term.

As for the principles of systematic operation and authoritative confirmation, these were completely beyond the PR Department’s capabilities.

Fortunately, after working overtime for two consecutive days over the weekend, they finally came up with a solution.

There couldn’t be any fundamental changes to the current business model, as it involved the interests of all levels of Home Group. Minor changes would not only be ineffective but would also cause profits to decline, making the stock price situation even worse.

So, plainly speaking, the priority was finding a way to overcome the immediate crisis.

First, adopt a posture of sincere repentance, make some flashy superficial gestures, and then weather through this period of public opinion. Once the online attention shifted and netizens gradually forgot about this incident, Home Group could slowly recover.

This time, Home Group decided to issue a rectification announcement, accompanied by an internal open letter.

The former proposed some rectification measures to give the public an explanation; the latter was meant for company insiders, emphasizing values and incidentally strengthening internal cohesion.

Of course, the so-called internal open letter was ultimately meant for external viewing too.

The rectification measures included: seriously reforming the agent team, severely punishing behaviors that deceived or tricked tenants into signing contracts; cleaning up fake listings on internal networks to ensure property authenticity; paying attention to methods when negotiating with landlords to reduce phone harassment; and establishing a complaint mailbox to listen more to tenants’ opinions.

Additionally, they emphasized that the “Thoughtful Butler service” would also help change the current situation, hoping everyone would have more patience, understanding, and support.

After all, this was Home Group’s main business, for which they had made many preparations and spent significant promotional resources. They couldn’t simply abandon it, could they?

Although these rectification measures didn’t address the fundamental problems, they were still much better than other real estate agencies, weren’t they?

As long as they worked with the PR Department to create a public opinion atmosphere that “other agencies are worse, and Home Group is already the most conscientious,” they should be able to gradually calm this public outcry.

After all, there were only a few major real estate agencies in the country. The others weren’t as good as Home Group. No matter how much tenants complained, they could only choose from these options, right?

It was like the story of being chased by a tiger—you don’t need to outrun the tiger, just outrun your companions.

Home Group’s method now was to show everyone that they had outrun their competitors.

As long as everyone accepted this point, Home Group would have safely weathered this crisis.