Meng Chang was stunned.
What was supposed to be just an ordinary interview had somehow been caught by these players who were practically Sherlock Holmes!
Meng Chang now realized that although the main content of the interview was nonsense, making unfounded speculations about him and even personal attacks, those were minor issues.
The real major problem was that the interview had leaked information about the “Mission and Choice” Demo!
The fundamental reason Meng Chang had chosen this promotional approach was to conceal this information and make the promotional budget go to waste.
But Yu Yao and the other employees in the Advertising and Marketing Department had no idea about Meng Chang’s true intentions!
They all thought Meng Chang was deliberately concealing this information to create a bigger sensation when it was revealed.
As a result, Yu Yao and others found it difficult to maintain high vigilance about “confidentiality” at all times. A single moment of carelessness, and problems arose!
Even Yu Yao himself certainly hadn’t expected this photo would cause so much commotion.
Meng Chang was somewhat panicked. He hurriedly went through the players’ discussions again.
The comments below the interview article were growing rapidly. Large numbers of players had been drawn in, seen the information about the Demo, and begun making all kinds of speculations!
The internet users were well-versed in “bold hypotheses, careful verification.” Once they made the assumption that “Tenda’s new game is nearly complete,” their imaginations ran wild, and many previously unrelated details suddenly connected!
As the discussions grew increasingly heated, Meng Chang couldn’t sit still.
His commission was about to vanish into thin air at any minute, which was even more unacceptable than the slander in the interview!
“What should I do? If this continues, we won’t be able to keep it secret!”
Meng Chang was anxious beyond measure.
Currently, players were still in the speculation stage, but Meng Chang had no doubt they would soon piece together the truth.
Meng Chang absolutely refused to accept such an easy defeat. The desperate situation actually sparked his fighting spirit even more!
“Quickly think of a few more marketing plans, or release some ‘partial truths’ to slightly divert the players’ attention so they stop focusing so intently on this…”
There was still over half a month until May 1st. Meng Chang wasn’t sure if he could divert players’ attention for such a long time.
But to ask him to simply give up on this month’s commission right now? That was absolutely impossible!
Desperate situations often inspire greater fighting spirit. Meng Chang’s brain worked at lightning speed as he immediately began considering new plans.
Now that players’ curiosity had exploded, it was better to guide than to block. If Meng Chang forcefully denied it, it would certainly trigger players’ contrary psychology completely, causing even more serious consequences.
So Meng Chang felt it was time for a risky move!
As the saying goes, only magic can defeat magic.
The best way to cover up one piece of news was undoubtedly to release another.
Just like when many companies handle public relations crises, it’s best not to delete posts, ban accounts, or silence people online. Forcefully suppressing public opinion inevitably causes backlash, only triggering a bigger crisis.
The best approach is to dig up bigger dirt on other competing companies and then buy internet trolls to blow up the issue.
This way, most people will focus on the new hot topic, and the original company crisis will naturally fade away.
After much consideration, Meng Chang felt this was the only option.
“I heard that Shangyang Games is also developing a new game, expected to be released in the second half of May.”
“Let me check some internal information…”
“This game is called ‘Fitness Battle’? This… the game type is quite different.”
“But that’s not a big problem, I can handle it.”
“It looks like I’ll have to sacrifice the pawn to save the king!”
Meng Chang quickly settled on a rather bold plan.
He would partially disclose some game content about “Fitness Battle” and hint to players that this was Tenda’s new game, the game Demo he was playing, which might be added to the “Classic Chinese Game Collection” in the future.
This way, players would discuss these leaks from Meng Chang, and their train of thought would be diverted.
“Fitness Battle” wouldn’t be released until the second half of May.
Throughout April, Meng Chang’s promotional plan targeted “Mission and Choice” but hadn’t generated too much attention for it.
Even if players were more focused on “Fitness Battle,” since the game wasn’t even out yet and few details had been disclosed, the promotional effect wouldn’t be ideal.
This way, as long as he could hold out until May, even if Meng Chang couldn’t get his full commission, he could at least get 70-80% of it.
For him, that was still a lot!
Meng Chang quickly formulated his plan. Whether it was a desperate measure or a game-changer remained to be seen. But at least it was much better than just waiting passively for doom.
However, there was one remaining problem: insufficient promotional funds.
The remaining 20 million had already been hastily spent, and the Advertising and Marketing Department had very little budget left.
But to make this “misdirection” effective, money would definitely need to be spent.
Moreover, Meng Chang wasn’t currently responsible for promoting “Fitness Battle,” and without Mr. Pei’s word, it seemed like overstepping his authority.
Ultimately, he would have to see Mr. Pei again.
Time was of the essence. Meng Chang immediately stood up and headed to Mr. Pei’s office.
……
A few minutes later, Meng Chang arrived at Mr. Pei’s office door and knocked gently.
“Come in.”
Mr. Pei’s voice seemed to carry a hint of displeasure.
Meng Chang entered the office, and before he could speak, Mr. Pei’s questions came at him like a barrage.
“Why am I seeing so many players discussing our new game online? Is there a problem with your promotional plan?”
Pei Qian’s expression was serious, and he seemed even more concerned than Meng Chang himself.
Meng Chang couldn’t quite read Mr. Pei’s mood.
What’s going on? Shouldn’t Mr. Pei be secretly happy right now?
Why does he look more anxious than I am?
Hmm, Mr. Pei is full of schemes. He must be testing me!
Deliberately putting on this fake expression, appearing to be on my side, but actually sarcastically trying to make me lose my composure.
That’s not going to happen!
Thinking this, Meng Chang immediately put on a nonchalant expression: “Nothing of the sort. Everything is going very smoothly, completely under my control.”
Pei Qian was half-convinced: “Really?”
Meng Chang nodded very firmly: “Really, no need for you to worry, Mr. Pei.”
“But I do have some small requests this time.”
Pei Qian: “What requests?”
Meng Chang still maintained a confident expression: “I hope you can allocate another 10 million for promotional expenses, and allow me to use some content from ‘Fitness Battle’ as promotional material.”
Pei Qian’s brow first relaxed slightly, then furrowed again.
“The 10 million promotional budget is no problem.”
“But what do you want ‘Fitness Battle’ promotional materials for?”
Pei Qian secretly wondered what trick Meng Chang was up to. Why was he voluntarily asking for more work?
Could it be… that ruining one project wasn’t enough, and he wanted to ruin the fitness game and my fully automated smart clothing rack as well?
That can’t be right. Does he really view his commission as worthless?
Meng Chang certainly didn’t want to explain clearly and could only continue to stubbornly maintain his position: “Mr. Pei, you don’t need to worry about this. I know what I’m doing. Anyway, this is part of the promotional plan.”
Even as he said this, Meng Chang felt very uneasy.
If Mr. Pei wasn’t happy and refused both requests, then there would really be a big problem.
On the surface, Meng Chang appeared calm, but inside he was extremely anxious.
Pei Qian looked at Meng Chang’s expression and fell into confusion.
Would it really work?
Pei Qian completely distrusted Meng Chang, but he did trust Meng Chang’s desire to earn commission.
Last month’s promotional effect was indeed not bad, and from Meng Chang’s performance, it seemed he still had many backup plans for this month.
Pei Qian also didn’t want to ask too many questions, fearing he would trigger the observer effect again.
After considering for a moment, Pei Qian nodded.
Trust those you employ, and don’t employ those you don’t trust. Since he had decided to let Meng Chang be responsible for this promotional campaign, with commission to motivate him, he could only choose to continue trusting him!
Pei Qian nodded: “Alright, I agree to both of your conditions.”
“But let me remind you once more, if your reckless actions result in you not getting any commission, I don’t mind, but you’ll be the one suffering.”
“The promotional effect of ‘Fitness Battle’ will affect your May commission. You should act accordingly.”
Meng Chang inwardly scoffed.
May commission?
I can’t even think that far ahead! Getting a few tens of thousands in April would be good enough!
Meng Chang didn’t say much more, just thanked Mr. Pei, and then immediately returned to the Advertising and Marketing Department without delay to continue preparing the new plan.
The situation was urgent, and every minute counted.
He had to divert the players’ attention before they uncovered the truth, using news of “Fitness Battle” to shield “Mission and Choice” and protect his April commission!
……
Just over an hour later, even before the end of the workday, Meng Chang’s remedial plan was complete.
It must be said that a DEADLINE is the primary productivity driver. Sometimes, people don’t know their own potential until they push themselves.
Meng Chang quickly reviewed this plan and then immediately handed it to Yu Yao to implement.
It was a bit rushed, but he had no choice, as it was almost time to leave work.
Once off work, the Advertising and Marketing Department had no overtime allocation, so this plan would have to wait until tomorrow to be implemented. The problem was that a lot could happen in one night.
What if those internet users, who were comparable to Sherlock Holmes, cracked the case tonight? Wouldn’t that be a disaster?
This plan contained some content about “Fitness Battle,” and the guiding principle was very clear: try to mislead players as much as possible and divert their attention.
Meng Chang was urging so urgently that Yu Yao didn’t have time to look closely. He directly used Tenda Games’ official account to post a message with several accompanying images.
“The game that has our internal employees addicted will meet you at the end of May!”
The accompanying images were some promotional materials for “Fitness Battle.”
Of course, there was a very critical issue: the game screens of “Fitness Battle” and “Mission and Choice” were worlds apart, too dissimilar. Players weren’t blind; they would certainly notice the difference.
But this wasn’t too difficult for Meng Chang. After careful study, he noted that although the previous interview photo captured the game screen, it mainly showed his back, with the computer screen occupying only a small part of the photo.
At most, players could see that this game was distinctly different from the pixelated games in the “Classic Chinese Game Collection,” and that it had a god’s-eye view, but the specific units weren’t very clear.
So Meng Chang asked Shangyang Games to provide a “Fitness Battle” chapter level image with a similar background, which also happened to have a god’s-eye view.
“Fitness Battle” training was progressive, with different chapters and levels in the early stages to better guide players through the experience, along with some simple storylines. At first glance, this image looked somewhat similar to the “Mission and Choice” image.
Under extremely blurry pixels, a backpack + ammunition clip could forcibly be mistaken for a frying pan. Meng Chang felt that using this method to muddle through for a while shouldn’t be a big problem.
In addition, the promotional budget was also used to pay off some self-media accounts and marketing accounts to repost and conduct some “analysis.”
The so-called analysis was nothing more than further directing players’ attention to “Fitness Battle.”
Since they were still promoting their own products without fabrication, this wasn’t considered a rule violation.
After arranging everything, Meng Chang finally felt relieved.
He wanted to stay at the company a bit longer, but it was already time to leave work.
He had no choice but to reluctantly go home and continue to monitor the situation’s development from there.