yournovel Chapter 192 "Weibo Farm"
Chapter 192 "Weibo Farm"
"Mr. Zhou?" A young woman in business attire greeted him. "Hello, I'm Lin Xiao from Weibo Technology Strategic Cooperation Department. Welcome to visit us."
"Hello, Manager Lin." Zhou Zhixiong shook hands with her. "Weibo Technology is indeed impressive."
"You flatter me," Lin Xiao said with a smile. "This way, please. Our CEO, Mr. Wang, is waiting for you in the conference room."
After taking the elevator to the 42nd floor and passing through a glass door that required facial recognition, Zhou Zhixiong was led into a conference room with a simple yet sophisticated decor.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows is the bustling street scene of Beijing, and three people are sitting around the conference table.
The leader was a middle-aged man in his early forties, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, with a refined demeanor mixed with a touch of shrewdness.
"Mr. Zhou, it's an honor to meet you." He stood up, extended his hand, and said, "I am Wang Huabing, the head of Weibo's game division."
"Hello, Mr. Wang." Zhou Zhixiong shook hands with him. "I've long admired your name."
After exchanging pleasantries, both parties took their seats.
Lin Xiao poured Zhou Zhixiong a cup of tea, then sat down beside him and opened her laptop to take notes.
Wang Huabing cut to the chase: "Mr. Zhou, we invited you here today to discuss cooperation. You should remember the 'Weibo Farm' project mentioned in the email, right?"
"I remember," Zhou Zhixiong nodded. "But I'm curious, why would a company as large as Weibo Technology choose to partner with Starlight Entertainment?"
Wang Huabing laughed: "President Zhou is a straightforward person. Then I won't beat around the bush either."
He paused, then leaned forward slightly:
"We studied the game 'Happy Farm' for a long time. It's simple to play, but extremely addictive. Combined with social relationships, it's a traffic magnet. TUTU's daily active users jumped from several million to eighteen million in just one month thanks to this game."
"We also have a gaming business on Weibo, but it's never really taken off. It's not that our technology is lacking, it's that we're missing a hit game."
"Happy Farm is a ready-made hit. The gameplay can be copied, the art can be optimized, and we already have 300 million users with a social network. The only challenge is..."
He paused, then looked at Zhou Zhixiong: "We need a partner who understands entertainment, marketing, and user psychology. Starlight Entertainment is recognized as strong in this regard within the industry."
Zhou Zhixiong understood.
Weibo Tech wants to copy "Happy Farm", but doesn't want to just copy it in a simple and crude way.
They want to create an upgraded version, an "official version" that relies on the Weibo ecosystem, has celebrity endorsements, and marketing resources.
And Starlight Entertainment was the "blessing" they were looking for.
To put it bluntly, they're after Starlight Entertainment's star resources; this is a powerful alliance.
Given Weibo's size, it wouldn't normally need to find help, but the fact that it has now sought him out proves that Weibo also feels threatened by Lu Ran.
Zhou Zhixiong was not very clear about the size of TUTU before, and thought that it was not a threat to a behemoth like Weibo, after all, Xingyao, from which he came, was just an entertainment company.
But now, looking at the results, I realize I underestimated Lu Ran.
Fortunately, Weibo has now intervened. With their combined strength, Lu Ran should have little chance of fighting back.
"I understand what Mr. Wang means." After figuring this out, Zhou Zhixiong responded, "Starlight Entertainment does indeed have abundant artist resources and marketing experience. If we cooperate, we can have our artists endorse our products, place them in variety shows, and even collaborate on film and television dramas."
"That's exactly what I mean." Wang Huabing nodded. That's the advantage of dealing with smart people; they understand immediately. "And as far as I know, Starlight Entertainment and Lu Ran... have some history?"
Zhou Zhixiong was taken aback for a moment, but then smiled when he realized that these weren't exactly secrets.
"President Wang is well-informed; there is indeed some past grievance between them."
"In our line of work, you can't afford to be out of the loop," Wang Huabing chuckled. "So I'd venture to guess that President Zhou would be quite pleased to see 'Happy Farm' suppressed, wouldn't he?"
Zhou Zhixiong did not deny it: "Indeed."
"Then we have an even stronger foundation for cooperation." Wang Huabing stood up, walked to the whiteboard, picked up a marker, and said, "I'll briefly explain the plan for 'Weibo Farm'."
He drew several circles on the whiteboard:
"First, relying on Weibo's 300 million users, it is directly built into the Weibo APP, requiring no download and can be activated with one click."
"Secondly, celebrity participation. We will invite top-tier celebrities to open their own farms, where users can steal crops from the celebrities, and celebrities can also steal crops from users."
"Third, collaborative gameplay. For example, when one of your artists releases a new song, 'new song seeds' will grow in their farm, which can be harvested and exchanged for priority listening rights to the new song."
"Fourth, social media viral marketing. Stealing vegetables, sending vegetables, and asking for vegetables can all be spread through Weibo posts, creating secondary exposure."
He put down his pen and looked at Zhou Zhixiong:
"What does Mr. Zhou think?"
Zhou Zhixiong was silent for a few seconds, then slowly began to clap his hands.
"Mr. Wang, this isn't a plan, it's a verdict."
"Verdict?"
"Sentencing 'Happy Farm' to death," Zhou Zhixiong flattered. "With this plan, Lu Ran's game can just wait to be collected."
Wang Huabing smiled and said, "President Zhou, you flatter me. But we are indeed confident."
He paused, then added, "Of course, if this project succeeds, Starlight Entertainment will also benefit. In addition to the normal cooperation fees, we can also give Starlight Entertainment's film and television projects more exposure resources on Weibo. For example, for the promotion of 'Reign of Assassins,' we can provide splash screen ads, trending topics, celebrity collaborations... As long as the project succeeds, everything is negotiable."
Zhou Zhixiong's eyes lit up.
Although "Reign of Assassins" did well at the box office, its marketing and distribution costs were also high.
If we can get free resources from Weibo, the profit margin for our next movie will be much larger.
"Mr. Wang is very straightforward." He extended his hand. "It's a pleasure doing business with you."
Wang Huabing shook his hand: "It's a pleasure working with you."
...
After leaving Weibo Technology, Zhou Zhixiong sat in his car for a long time without starting it.
He looked out the window at the 48-story glass building and suddenly had a strange feeling.
In that instant, he seemed to see Lu Ran standing opposite him, with that smile that he hated.
"Lu Ran, oh Lu Ran," he muttered to himself, "Shouldn't you lose this time?"
Weibo has 300 million users.
The arrival of A-list celebrities.
A powerful alliance between Weibo Technology and Starlight Entertainment.
What do you have to fight me with this time?
He started the car and drove into traffic.
The radio was playing in the car, and it happened to be a music station program.
The host said, "The next song is the very popular 'Sing If You Want,' by Shen Yuege..."
Zhou Zhixiong frowned and reached out to turn off the radio.
It's Lu Ran again.
Why is he everywhere?
...
A week later, "Weibo Farm" was officially launched.
Weibo poured all its promotional resources into it: splash screen glitches, top trending topics, celebrity collaborations, and topic management...
Zhou Zhixiong kept his word, and all the artists from Starlight Entertainment were mobilized:
Rising star Lin Weiwei has started a farm game and posted on Weibo, "Welcome everyone to steal my vegetables."
Rising star Zhang Xincheng planted "seeds for his new drama" on a farm, and harvesting them can be exchanged for a chance to visit the set.
The gameplay and style of "Weibo Farm" are imitations of TUTU Technology's "Happy Farm", and with the support of Starlight Entertainment, it has been very popular from the beginning.
The comments section was also bustling with activity:
"Holy crap, Lin Weiwei's farm! I'm going to steal it!"
What exactly is this "new drama seed" that Zhang Xincheng planted? Will it actually grow into a new drama?
"This 'Weibo Farm' is such an obvious case of plagiarism."
"What's there to copy? The methods are all pretty much the same, it's not certain who will come first."
"Exactly. What's so great about Happy Farm? We have 300 million users on Weibo. We can crush it in no time."
"Completely crushed +1. I've already uninstalled TUTU. Weibo is still the best."
"Uninstall TUTU? What about your rabbit?"
"Sigh, I've grown attached to my rabbit after raising it for a month, so I'm not going to use Weibo anymore."
In the comments section, some people switched to "Weibo Farm," while others stayed with "Happy Farm."
However, overall, despite the combined efforts of Weibo Technology and Starlight Entertainment, TUTU still suffered significant user losses.
Zhou Zhixiong sat in his office, scrolling through the comments on Weibo, unable to suppress the smile on his face.
Within an hour of its launch, the number of users exceeded five million.
In three hours, it surpassed ten million.
Within 24 hours, it surpassed 30 million.
At this rate, within a week, "Weibo Farm" will be able to cover nearly half of Weibo's active users.
However, the 18 million daily active users of "Happy Farm" are simply no match for Weibo.
"Mr. Zhou." The assistant knocked and came in. "Weibo sent us data saying that Weibo Farm's daily active users have exceeded 40 million today and are expected to reach 50 million."
Zhou Zhixiong nodded, picked up his teacup, and took a big gulp.
The tea is this year's new Longjing, with a refreshing aroma.
He suddenly felt that this tea was more fragrant than the tea he usually drank.
...