Seeing the message from Hu Xiao, Pei Qian also fell silent.
What a soul-piercing question…
He hadn’t expected Fei Huang Studio to come up with such a program.
Previously, Pei Qian had thought that Fei Huang Studio would probably create a review show similar to testv, focusing on reviews with some simple scenarios mixed in, which would count as reviews + short videos.
But Pei Qian had guessed wrong!
Fei Huang Studio had made short videos the main content, while infinitely weakening the review element, to the point where people couldn’t even detect it…
This way, whether the product in the video was sponsored or not, the audience wouldn’t be repulsed.
Even the water army comments saying “I’ve used it, this product works really well, highly recommended” were misunderstood as a meme!
And in the future, no matter how Fei Huang Studio used this program to make money from sponsorships, as long as they could maintain the quality of the show without decline, it wouldn’t cause much negative reaction from the audience. They could boldly take sponsorships!
Of course, there was also a disadvantage to this approach.
The range of products they could promote was much smaller.
Take the handheld washing machine from the first episode, for example, which was a very bizarre product.
If they tried to make this kind of video with legitimate products like phones, cameras, computers, and other digital products, there would be no comedic effect.
In other words, this program, “A Day in the Life of a Great Inventor,” could only feature bizarre products. Anything even slightly normal wouldn’t work!
This limitation created great difficulty for the program to make money from sponsorships.
But regardless, it seemed that Huang Sibo had indeed remembered Pei Qian’s warning and always put video quality and reputation first…
Pei Qian felt a bit dizzy.
Although spending a thousand yuan out of his pocket wasn’t a big expense, the fact that these thousand yuan had completely backfired was unexpected…
The uniform comments not only didn’t repulse the audience but were instead treated as a meme, adding popularity to Fei Huang Studio. Meanwhile, no one even knew there had been water armies involved.
They came quietly and left quietly, waving their sleeves… Mr. Pei’s thousand yuan of personal money had just evaporated.
Pei Qian was speechless when faced with Hu Xiao’s soul-piercing question.
You’re asking me which side I’m on?
I should be asking you!
Your water army isn’t effective! Refund!
But then he thought again, the phrase the water army was posting was requested by himself…
Oh, never mind then.
…
On the other side, seeing that “Hardcore Reviews” hadn’t replied for a long time, Hu Xiao began to feel uncertain.
Previously, he had thought that “Hardcore Reviews” was simply buying water armies to mess with a competitor.
Now it seemed that wasn’t the case?
Fei Huang Studio and this “Hardcore Reviews” were cooperating too well?
Why didn’t “Hardcore Reviews” say they wanted to buy water armies to smear someone, but instead directly request such a simple phrase?
And why did Fei Huang Studio release a video so soon after “Hardcore Reviews” bought water armies? It’s worth noting that before this, Fei Huang Studio hadn’t released a video for over a month!
The released video, paired with this phrase, just happened to achieve such a perfect promotional effect?
Was all of this a coincidence?
It wasn’t completely impossible, but the probability was too low!
To achieve so many coincidences at once, to precisely create buzz, and even create a meme… if someone said it was accidental, Hu Xiao would not believe it.
So, the most likely possibility was…
All of this had been premeditated!
Fei Huang Studio and this “Hardcore Reviews” knew each other, and were most likely from the same company. They deliberately spent 1000 yuan to buy water armies, created a meme, and successfully made themselves go viral!
Think about it, how long has it been since Fei Huang Studio released a video? Their popularity had long since declined!
This time, with the release of a new program, just by spending a thousand yuan to hire some water armies to post comments, they successfully created a viral meme, and along with it, boosted the video’s popularity.
This marketing skill was simply divine!
When he thought about how “Hardcore Reviews,” an obscure account, had gained considerable attention just by smashing phones in such a simple and crude way…
The more Hu Xiao thought about it, the more he believed that the uploader behind “Hardcore Reviews” was no ordinary person.
They seemed disorganized, but the final results proved that they knew exactly how to go viral!
Was all of this part of a plan?
The more Hu Xiao thought, the more he felt something was off.
Looking again at the message he had sent:
“Brother, which… side are you actually on?”
This message seemed a bit ill-considered, with a tone of demanding an explanation, very impolite!
…
Pei Qian hadn’t figured out exactly what to reply.
Although he wanted to ask for a refund, this didn’t seem to be the water army’s fault.
Pei Qian thought for a moment and started typing: “This is a misunderstanding, I didn’t expect this…”
Halfway through typing, Pei Qian found that the previous message Hu Xiao had sent had been recalled!
Hu Xiao sent another message: “Bro, your marketing skills are top-notch! I’m impressed.”
Pei Qian: ???
Mr. Pei felt a bit dazed. What had happened?
What was the other person saying?
Pei Qian was about to reply when a “ding” sound announced a refund notification.
1000 yuan.
Hu Xiao: “Bro, we’re both in the review circle. This time it’s on the house, just consider it making a friend. If there’s anything I can help with in the future, just say the word, we’re brothers, everything’s negotiable!”
Pei Qian: ???
Although still confused, looking at the thousand yuan that had been lost and then regained, Pei Qian felt quite happy.
Alright, this “Xiaohui Reviews” was quite decent!
If he needed to buy water armies again in the future, he could continue to find them.
Pei Qian thought for a moment and replied: “This cooperation was very pleasant. Looking forward to the next opportunity to work together.”
Hu Xiao quickly replied: “Great!”
He secretly rejoiced that the “Hardcore Reviews” uploader hadn’t said anything or explained anything, only saying “pleasant cooperation,” which completely confirmed his guess!
All of this was planned by “Hardcore Reviews”!
That is to say, Fei Huang Studio and Hardcore Reviews had a very close connection, and might even be from the same company.
This was crucial intelligence…
Hu Xiao couldn’t help but start connecting the dots.
After all, the digital product review circle wasn’t large. Although the pie was growing, it wasn’t growing as fast as one might imagine.
In this small circle, whenever a strange newcomer entered to disrupt things, one had to pay close attention to their background. What if they were here to steal business?
Fortunately, from what he could see so far, neither Fei Huang Studio nor Hardcore Reviews was likely to steal Xiaohui Reviews’ business, as they were taking different approaches.
Hu Xiao couldn’t sleep. He had a feeling that the small circle he had been comfortably mixing in might undergo some unpredictable changes.
…
…
Pei Qian didn’t know that Hu Xiao was currently under enormous pressure, nor did he know that Hu Xiao had reached a correct conclusion through a series of incorrect reasoning based on an incorrect premise.
Mr. Pei was considering other matters.
Trying to increase the difficulty for Fei Huang Studio was probably not going to work.
With Fei Huang Studio’s current model, it was almost flawless, though this would also make it much harder for them to make money from sponsorships.
So, Pei Qian decided to leave it alone for now.
Besides continuing to update the Hardcore Reviews program, Pei Qian also needed to pay attention to the situation with “No Return.”
The demo for “No Return” will be ready in a couple of days. Pei Qian planned to play it first, to get a feel for the difficulty, and then arrange for the weapons he needed to be included.
Starting to suffer every day from now would ensure that when “No Return” was officially released, it would deter enough players!
“Ah, my life is so hard.”
Pei Qian couldn’t help but sigh. Being a boss was truly exhausting!