Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 632 Sponsorship and Upgrade (4K)

This year, there are two more companies sponsoring the China Open, and they have bought prominent positions on the billboards. They are Penguin and JD.com.

During the US Open not long ago, Chen Ran and Mr. Ma, as well as Mr. Liu, two business tycoons, met privately.

Being in a foreign country like New York, the United States, the three men did not let any Chinese reporters know about the meeting.

However, shortly after Chen Ran won the US Open championship, Penguin Entertainment immediately released a shocking news.

Their e-commerce platform "PaiPai.com" will officially cease operations.

This news shocked the industry.

Although the current size of "PaiPai.com" is far from comparable to Alibaba's e-commerce platform, with the traffic from QQ, everyone is optimistic about its future.

At least "PaiPai.com" is currently firmly in the second place among domestic e-commerce platforms.

But Penguin suddenly announced that it would be shut down, and then announced that it would be merged into JD.com.

In other words, the "PaiPai" button on the QQ software has now become the JD.com logo.

Chen Ran also invested in JD.com in his personal name.

Originally, he planned to keep a low profile and invest in JD.com under the name of "Golden Slam Company". After all, Pony Ma also invested in JD.com under the name of Penguin.

But Dong Ge disagreed and hoped that Chen Ran would invest in the company in his personal name, so that there would be a greater advertising effect.

The name Chen Ran is a golden signboard!
For this reason, Brother Dong is even more willing to offer some discounts on the sale of shares.

As expected of Brother Dong, he has a strategic vision.

Chen Ran had no choice but to invest in the company in his own name, and then did a wave of free advertising, which instantly made JD.com famous in front of people all over the country.

At present, Jinmanguan Company, Penguin, and JD.com have formed a close three-party alliance.

Looking at the entire Chinese Internet market, it is really hard to tell who can compete with us.

There are even rumors that some CEOs of Alibaba, NetEase, and Sina have begun looking for allies instead of fighting alone as before.

In this era, the people at the helm of Internet companies also have a strong desire for control.

Outsiders can raise funds and invest in a company, but they can never interfere with one's decision-making. One must always seek independence.

It is very rare to find someone like Chen Ran who takes the initiative to acknowledge others as his big brother and form alliances.

But everyone also looked at the effects, and found that Chen Ran's strategic approach seemed to be very effective, so they began to follow suit.

When Chen Ran thinks back on this collaboration, he still finds it a bit ridiculous.

At first, he just said it casually.

Brother Xiao Ma took it seriously and even found Mr. Liu.

Mr. Liu also took it seriously and proposed a meeting.

So, the three of them had that meeting in the United States.

Chen Ran originally thought that after the three companies reached an alliance, the matter would end there.

But as one of the shareholders, Dong Ge asked Chen Ran as a routine matter what suggestions he had for the company's development.

Then, Chen Ran uttered these words for some unknown reason.

"Mr. Liu, I think JD.com can take two paths in the future."

"One way is to set up a mall similar to JD.com, which specializes in high-end brands to ensure that consumers will not buy fakes. If it is a fake, we will compensate you three times."

"Another way is for JD.com to go mass-market and offer a wide range of mid-range and low-end products. In fact, I think we can also add a 'cut the price' feature in this section, where the more users cut the price, the cheaper it will be."

He then told about the marketing strategy of "Pinduoduo" in his previous life.

interactive!

The key is to have interaction between the website and the users. With more interaction, everyone will be more motivated and users will stick to the website more.

Although we are still far from the era of mobile Internet, from a technical perspective, computer-based portals also have the function of "cutting down".

"That's just what I said. Uh... this proposal was something I dreamed about. It's up to Mr. Liu to decide whether to adopt it." At that time, Chen Ran immediately added.

Brother Dong just asked casually, just to go through the motions.

But soon, he was shocked by Chen Ran's suggestion.

He himself is also a marketing expert, so he naturally knows that this "cutting" approach will greatly increase the enthusiasm of netizens to participate.

Because this kind of "bargaining" is equivalent to bargaining on the Internet, Chinese people also like to bargain when buying things.

What a genius idea!

Not only Brother Dong was shocked, but Brother Xiao Ma was also shocked.

In this time and space, there are far fewer APP software than in later generations.

JD.com has QQ to attract traffic and has launched a "cutting-down" strategy. It is entirely conceivable that they only need to invest much less cost than its previous "Pinduoduo" to achieve a similar publicity effect.

"Is this considered a dimensionality reduction attack?"

Chen Ran was also amused by himself.

Perhaps because of my unintentional actions, the future "Pinduoduo" may not be able to break through the siege.

Forget it, what does it have to do with me?

Anyway, I am the beneficiary, that's enough.

This time, it was Chen Ran's idea that Penguin and JD.com sponsored the China Open, hoping to increase the influence of the China Open.

Xiao Ma Ge and Dong Ge were also very considerate and gave China Open a considerable sponsorship fee.

Coincidentally.

Due to the current enthusiastic tennis atmosphere in China, and the participation of world number one Chen Ran in the China Open this year, tickets for the tournament are in short supply.

With the large sponsorship from Penguin and JD.com, the China Open Organizing Committee excitedly announced that this year's fourth China Open has officially achieved profitability!
Sometimes we have to admit the success and sophistication of Western countries in the commercial operation of professional sports.

To give a very simple example, the prize money of the US Open has always been the highest among the four Grand Slams, but the bonus it pays to players is only 15% of the revenue.

From this you can imagine how profitable the US Open is.

The bonuses given to players at the French Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon each year account for a slightly higher proportion of their income, but still less than 20%.

But there is one special thing about Wimbledon. In order to maintain their tradition, they arrogantly rejected all advertising placements, which actually affected their commercial revenue.

Several other overseas Masters tournaments can basically maintain a high profit.

But the China Open is different. Even many tours held in China are basically unable to make ends meet and spend money just to gain publicity.

This deficit is basically made up by the organizers themselves, just to expand their influence.

This year, China Open was able to make a profit, which is a milestone.

……

"Actually, it also has something to do with the appearance fee."

Chen Ran knew very well that if the ATP500 tournament wanted to make a profit, it was necessary to control the expenditure on appearance fees.

Because the 500 tournament is not mandatory like the 1000 tournament. If you don't pay the top players appearance fees, they won't be willing to come.

So from this perspective, the cost of the Shenzhen Masters is lower than that of the China Open.

The full name of the China Open is "China Open". Since the name is so grand, even though the men's event is an ATP500 tournament, given the Chinese people's tradition of caring about face, the lineup must be luxurious.

Otherwise it would be unworthy of the name.

"So it's still because of the level of the competition." Chen Ran knew it well.

For example, in women's events, there is the Super Masters, which is a mandatory tournament.

The top players in the WTA are all vying to participate for the points and prize money, so there is no such thing as an appearance fee.

So even though the name is so grand, in order to match it, we still have to find a way to improve the level of the competition.

But so far, the nine Masters tournaments are set and difficult to shake. China has already grabbed the qualification for the Hamburg Masters, resulting in Germany not having any Masters tournaments at the moment.

It is a bit difficult to figure out how to proceed with the remaining Masters tournaments.

The “Sunshine Double Match” cannot be moved.

The Monte Carlo Masters also has a long history and is even known as the weather vane of the French Open.

In addition, three clay court Masters tournaments are standard and cannot be reduced.

Paris Masters?
Because this is an indoor competition, and most of the China Open's stadiums are outdoor, so there is no match.

It is impossible for the China Open to compete with the Shenzhen Masters for a place in the tournament.

So the remaining targets can only be Toronto and Cincinnati in the North American season.

But this is not easy to do.

Toronto and Cincinnati are warm-ups for the US Open.

You can't fly back and forth across the Pacific Ocean just to prepare for the US Open.

After much thought, it seems that the only appropriate thing to do is to add a Masters Tournament.

Nine Masters became ten Masters.

The organizing committee of the China Open is obviously also an expert in Sun Tzu's Art of War and knows what a delaying tactic is.

The nine Masters tournaments are fixed and cannot be increased for the time being.

But it doesn't mean that this gap cannot be opened.

For example, the China Open told the ATP that it would apply to upgrade the men's event to an ATP1000 tournament, but it would not require it to be mandatory.

Players can choose to come or not come according to their own wishes.

If you don't want to come, I won't force you to come.

In terms of prize money, it will definitely be compared with the current Masters Tournament with the highest prize money, the "Sunshine Double".

In this way, there is a chance to get the ATP to give in.

Optional 1000 race!
That's a good reason indeed.

……

During the China Open, Chen Ran, as the top star, attended some charity events.

Every activity is basically about kindness of people and mountains and seas.

Chen Ran himself is the focus wherever he goes.

After all, he plays around the world all year round and only appears in public in China during the annual "China Season".

The organizing committee is very generous and every public event is given great style.

Many reporters are concerned about one issue: whether the China Open can be successfully upgraded.

In this situation, everyone feels aggrieved.

In an open tournament named after a country, the men's event is only the 500th tournament.

This makes people feel very uncomfortable.

"I am also waving the flag and shouting as much as I can."

Chen Ran responded to this question positively in public this time, "I really hope that in the next few years, the men's event of the China Open can be upgraded to a 1000 tournament."

"As for the Grand Slam, it is indeed very far away, and it involves many factors, which is very complicated."

From the perspective of many Chinese journalists, if the China Open can be upgraded to a double 1000 tournament for ATP and WTA, their goal will basically be achieved.

The Grand Slam tournaments are indeed far away.

We won't ask for that for the time being.

The organizing committee is also working hard and is waiting for a response from ATP.

They cannot ignore the huge Chinese market.

"You know, two big companies also sponsored the China Open because of my relationship."

Chen Ran said this frankly and took the credit.

"I believe that if the China Open is upgraded, we will have more big companies sponsoring it, which is good for the promotion of tennis."

"In Europe and North America, I think the development of the tennis market has reached a bottleneck and it is difficult to break through, so the Chinese market represents the future."

"The Chinese season can be ranked alongside the North American and European seasons."

"So it is necessary to have two ATP 1000 tournaments."

Chen Ran also did his best to cheer for China Open.

……

A week later, the first four rounds of the China Open ended.

Chen Ran defeated all the opponents easily and made it into the semi-finals.

The opponent in the semi-finals was Djokovic, Chen Ran’s opponent in the US Open semi-finals.

It was at this time that the ATP announced that starting from 2010, the ATP event in China Open would be officially upgraded to the 1000 Masters Tournament.

Of course, this is optional.

The reasons given by ATP are also somewhat funny.

2010 marks the beginning of a new decade in the 21st century.

Over the past seven years, professional tennis has developed rapidly and has quickly become popular around the world.

Among them, Chen Ran, today's world number one, has played a huge role in promoting the sport of tennis.

It can even be said to be unique and unprecedented.

Chen Ran's role in promoting tennis is even greater than that of Sampras and Agassi combined.

He benefits all professional players.

Therefore, in order to commend Chen Ran for his outstanding contribution to the promotion of tennis, ATP plans to add a second ATP 21 Masters Tournament in China starting in the second decade of the 1000st century.

Unlike the Shenzhen Masters, the China Open will be like the "Sunshine Double", with both ATP1000 and WTA1000 Super Masters tournaments.

From this moment on, the China Open has in a sense become the fifth Grand Slam comparable to the "Sunshine Doubles".

Although it is not a mandatory tournament nowadays, the high prize money and points can at least ensure that most of the top players will come to participate.

The pressure on the top players to compete has increased again.

On the eve of the semi-finals, such good news made all the fans and reporters in China excited.

As a result, since 2010, the China Open can barely be considered a "world-famous" sporting event.

This is different from the Olympic Games, which is held every four years and in different locations.

The China Open is a fixed competition event every year.

It can even be said that this is currently the only world sports event held in China every year, not just limited to tennis.

Perhaps the only thing that can compare to it is the F1 race held in Shanghai.

But F1 is too high-end and too far away from ordinary people, and there is no sense of involvement or participation.

It's all media hype, and if the public can get tickets, they only go to watch it once a year just to follow the trend.

This is nothing compared to the popularity of tennis.

……

(End of this chapter)