Chapter 0951: Step by Step, Zhao Fusheng

The speed at which the wealthy accumulate wealth almost always exceeds that of the poor.

The reason is simple: the wealthy have more opportunities to get rich compared to the poor.

For example, a good project might yield a return of ten million from an investment of one million. The wealthy can easily come up with one million without any effort, while the poor, even after scraping together money from here and there, can't gather that much and can only watch the good opportunity slip away.

Similarly, many companies have excellent development prospects, but after introducing venture capital, the founders are forced out. In the final analysis, it's because capital believes their value has been exhausted.

Zhao Fusheng, however, didn't face the latter situation. After all, Future Advertising existed because of him, and Zheng Yao was well aware of this.

So their cooperation was naturally very pleasant.

The key point was that Zheng Yao knew Future Advertising could find a professional manager to take charge if she left, but if Zhao Fusheng left, Future Advertising would go from being a top-tier advertising company in the north to a third-rate one.

The power of a gold-medal strategist was that formidable.

Therefore, after hearing Zhao Fusheng's plan for the SARS public service advertisement, Zheng Yao immediately followed suit and prepared to handle the matter according to his wishes.

"When will it start?" Zheng Yao asked Zhao Fusheng.

"I'll start writing the ad plan now and can have a preliminary proposal by tomorrow morning. You contact CCTV immediately and inform them of our intentions," Zhao Fusheng said slowly. "Also, all company employees involved in the planning will receive double pay."

After all, this was a critical time, and people were panicked. Without sufficient incentives, many might harbor resentment even if they didn't voice it. Spending a bit more money to solve the problem was, in Zhao Fusheng's view, not a big deal—generous rewards would naturally attract brave men.

"Okay, I understand. I'll arrange it right away," Zheng Yao agreed without further ado.

Zhao Fusheng hung up the phone, turned around, and went back to the study to start writing the plan.

He still had vague memories of the public service ads from the SARS period in his previous life, and combined with his professional expertise, writing a few plans was not a problem.

The purpose of such public service ads was to promote and boost people's confidence, with symbolic significance outweighing practical meaning.

When Fan Baobao woke up, she found it was already evening. Turning over and not seeing Zhao Fusheng beside her, she got up and walked out of the bedroom, only to see the light still on in his study.

Shaking her head gently, Fan Baobao knew Zhao Fusheng must be working, so she didn't disturb him and went back to sleep on her own.

The next morning, when Zhao Fusheng finished his work and came out of the study, Fan Baobao had already prepared breakfast and set it on the table.

"You've been busy all night; you must be hungry."

Looking at Zhao Fusheng, Fan Baobao asked softly, "Why did you start working as soon as you got home?"

"General Zheng had a project that I needed to handle personally," Zhao Fusheng said with a smile. Without being polite, he washed his face, sat down at the table, and began eating Fan Baobao's lovingly prepared breakfast. "Are you going to work today?"

"Yes, I called Teacher Yang this morning. He said the People's Art Theatre is planning to stage a few plays and wants me to participate," Fan Baobao replied.

Zhao Fusheng naturally understood the implications. After all, during this critical period, as an official performance troupe, the People's Art Theatre had to follow the will of the higher-ups and show their support, otherwise they would be going against instructions.

"Stay safe," Zhao Fusheng said after a moment of silence, only able to offer this advice to Fan Baobao.

After all, at a time like this, saying anything else was useless.

Fan Baobao smiled brightly, blinked her big eyes, and said to Zhao Fusheng, "You, it's not like I'm going into a den of tigers or dragons. The People's Art Theatre has done a great job with hygiene inspections; not a single infection. You, on the other hand, be careful when you go to the company. Call me if anything comes up."

Though a bit verbose, both knew the other was expressing concern in this way.

After breakfast, watching Fan Baobao leave, Zhao Fusheng dialed Zheng Yao's number to inform her that he had sent the completed plan to her email.

Then, Zhao Fusheng drove away from home, heading straight to the Future Advertising headquarters.

An hour later, Zhao Fusheng met Zheng Yao downstairs at the company headquarters.

"So, have you noticed?"

As they walked inside, Zheng Yao asked Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng greeted and exchanged pleasantries with familiar middle-level managers of Future Advertising while walking alongside Zheng Yao. Hearing her question, he nodded: "Yes, there are fewer people on the streets, and even the foot traffic in many shops has noticeably decreased compared to before the New Year."

"On the 23rd, the government announced that primary and secondary schools would be suspended for two weeks," Zheng Yao said with a bitter smile. "And in recent days, the municipal government has been issuing various regulations. To be honest, people are panicked."

As the head of an advertising company, she had many sources of information. Although it didn't involve politics, just from product sales data, Zheng Yao could feel that this SARS outbreak had indeed caused considerable damage to the national economy and people's livelihoods.

Sometimes, even if no one dies, if people lose confidence, the blow to the entire country is even greater.

"People are panicked? Then we'll give them some confidence," Zhao Fusheng said with a slight smile, calm and composed.

Seemingly infected by his smile, Zheng Yao suddenly felt that her own gloomy mood of late had improved considerably.

Since meeting this guy, no matter what problems arose, he had always found a perfect solution. She believed this time would be no exception.

"Have you contacted CCTV?"

Zhao Fusheng walked into the company conference room and asked.

"We've made contact, but are you really planning to produce this public service ad independently?" Zheng Yao asked Zhao Fusheng with some concern. "I had someone calculate the costs. According to your plan, we'd need to invest nearly three million to produce these ads."

"Three million," Zhao Fusheng rubbed his chin and suddenly laughed. "Less than I expected. Good, let's do it!"

"Director Zhao, if I may be blunt, isn't this a bit too risky?" At that moment, a manager from the marketing department hesitated and spoke up.

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback, looked at the man, and vaguely remembered him—he should have come from Binzhou.

"Manager Zhou, right? I remember you. We had a meal together in Binzhou," Zhao Fusheng said with a smile.

"Thank you, Director Zhao," the man said, flattered. Everyone knew that this nominal head of the planning department rarely came to the company. As the company's only gold-medal strategist, even General Zheng had to handle him with care.

"Everyone must be wondering why I insist on doing this public service ad," Zhao Fusheng said, looking at the people in the conference room. Those sitting here today were the core management of Future Advertising. In other words, those who were still willing to stay with the company and share its fate under the current circumstances were naturally trustworthy.

So Zhao Fusheng spoke without too many reservations, since many of them had followed Zheng Yao and him all the way from Ninghai, Binzhou.

"If an advertising company simply does advertising, a market value of ten billion is already the limit," Zhao Fusheng began slowly, and his first sentence startled everyone.

Ten billion?

But upon careful thought, they had to admit that what Zhao Fusheng said made some sense. After all, even if a company became a global leader in pure advertising business, the market was only that big.

"What kind of company do we want Future Advertising to become?" Zhao Fusheng smiled slightly. "To be honest, this is something General Zheng should consider. But on the flight back from Ninghai, it occurred to me: why don't we turn Future Advertising into a global entertainment media conglomerate?"

"Advertising, film and television, cultural dissemination—we will venture into every industry we can reach. First, we'll become the largest advertising company in the north, then the whole country, then all of Asia, and finally the world! All of you present here will be witnesses to this miracle. I'd like to ask: are you willing to join General Zheng and me in this gamble?"

Admittedly, Zhao Fusheng's almost inspirational chicken-soup speech would have been met with scorn in the future, as it was too simplistic and lacked the power to move people.

But now, chicken soup wasn't yet popular, and people were relatively simpler. Moreover, Zhao Fusheng's words painted a vivid picture. These people had come all the way from Ninghai, Binzhou, and had witnessed firsthand how Future Advertising had grown from an ad planning studio into one of the three largest advertising companies in the north.

So after Zhao Fusheng's speech, the atmosphere in the entire conference room suddenly became heated.

Watching the senior executives begin a lively discussion about future development prospects, Zheng Yao sighed inwardly. Zhao Fusheng really knew how to sway people's hearts. She herself had probably been fooled by him back then.

But on second thought, the past few years had been more exciting than the平淡 days she had spent in college. Perhaps this was a case of a blessing in disguise.

She didn't know that Zhao Fusheng, sitting there, was also breathing a sigh of relief. From the moment he entered, he had noticed a low morale permeating the company. It might be related to the external environment, but for him, it was not good news.

After all, Zhao Fusheng intended to use this opportunity to build a brand for Future Advertising.