This Girl Forced to Become an Entertainment Company Boss

Chapter 147



The news was released at noon, and by afternoon, the Galaxy merchandise building was packed to overflowing.

There had been no announcement of any event today, and none of the company's three groups of artists had released new albums. The security guards were overwhelmed by the sudden surge of people.

"Quick, quick, call those guys back to work!"

Due to staff shortages, the security team had to call in those who were on leave.

Having seen such scenes many times before, the security guards' initial panic subsided quickly, and they soon regained composure to control the crowd's entry.

Today, only Zhai Ke'er and Jiang Tang's character record books were released. Their online pre-sales were just over 2,000 and 600 copies respectively, nowhere near enough to cause such overcrowding at the Galaxy merchandise building.

Most of the people who came were resellers and scalpers, as Random Entertainment's merchandise only had times of being sought after, never times of being unsold.

The trending topic was sparked by the situation inside the Galaxy merchandise building.

The place was packed with people, and staff members couldn't restock the boxes fast enough to keep up with the buying frenzy.

Someone posted videos of the scene online, which were reposted by multiple marketing accounts with the hashtag #RandomEntertainment'sMoneyGrabTrendHasReachedTheActorCircle#.

Once the topic started trending, all sorts of people joined the discussion.

"Well, well, well, looks like my savings won't last."

"Is it the tech card? Is it the tech card? Can someone please tell me, is it the tech card?"

"Do Zhai Ke'er and Jiang Tang really have this many fans?"

"It's not the fans betting big, it's the resellers and scalpers."

There were arguments in the comments, with some feeling that Random Entertainment had brought this unhealthy trend to the acting circle, making it distasteful.

Where there were such opinions, there were naturally opponents.

"...How does fans spending their own money on merchandise offend you as a bystander?"

"Just focusing on useless things, no wonder their acting skills aren't improving."

"How does selling merchandise relate to acting skills?"

"If you don't like it, don't buy it. Why do you care how others spend their money?"

"Yes, actors should maintain mystique, but it's just a book... Would ordinary people even read it? Talking about affecting public image when you need to pay to see it. What ordinary person would buy it? Only their own fans would."

"Great, now there's another thing to collect."

"It's just fifty yuan! Fifty yuan! What more do you want?!"

"With so many people buying, what if these two don't make it big later?"

"True fans who like them won't regret buying it, those who treat it purely as an investment will have to bear their own risks."

"But why cards again? Couldn't it be something like movie ticket stubs?"

In the current market, photo cards were the most mature fan-based secondary economy item. Many fans even viewed them as investment products, buying cards of various artists and making profits through collecting and selling.

There was no merchandise more suitable than this.

It had its own complete system, and the idol circle's trading chain was already very mature. Random Entertainment didn't need to develop the market or take on new risks.

"Photo cards" was just the topic Jiang Juyou threw to the actors' department product manager, while the character record book was their own careful consideration and design.

Compared to photo cards, actor fans preferred the character record book, as its content resonated deeply with them.

Jiang Tang also praised her sister's clever mind, wondering how she came up with these ideas.

Back in her hotel room, Jiang Tang finally felt free to speak louder, "How does your little brain work? We're sisters, but why isn't my brain as sharp as yours?"

Jiang Tang heard her sister sigh deeply on the phone, "...I didn't do much, others made all this happen."

Because Jiang Juyou was the boss, whether praise or criticism, people liked to focus on her.

When criticizing, all problems seemed to stem from her, as if she had stolen those elusive photo cards from albums. The same went for praise – all company achievements were attributed to her, as if even those beautiful pop-up stores were built overnight by Jiang Juyou herself.

But Jiang Juyou was just a normal decision-maker; she only proposed topics.

"Oh come on, you're being too modest!" Jiang Tang just wanted to praise her sister.

Jiang Tang jumped onto the bed and picked up the book from the bedside table, flipping through it. This was the character record book – she had already received it but hadn't read it yet.

As she browsed, she recalled some moments from the shooting and chatted about them with Jiang Juyou.

On the high-speed train, Jiang Juyou listened quietly, remembering what the actors' department product manager had said about this merchandise during their meeting.

She had said:

"Our company advocates minimizing unnecessary exposure for actors, but with fewer exposure opportunities, those fans who truly love the actors suffer too."

"So we want to use text to record interesting stories that happened during their time on set, related to both the production and their characters, to maintain focus."

"People who truly like them will try every way to understand everything about them. Recording in text form gradually builds a flesh-and-blood image, making the artists more three-dimensional."

"It's like street cats and dogs – it's fine before you meet them, before you invest emotions. But once you've invested feelings and energy, feeding them bit by bit, spending time together, anyone would find it hard to let go of that emotional connection."

Simply put, this merchandise's main purpose was to convert fans into die-hard supporters.

These were all business considerations, but the words recorded inside weren't cold or impersonal.

It contained scenes of their interactions with fans during work hours, with real conversations and events that had happened, and fans were surely curious about what happened behind those conversations.

Fans wondered where they ate after work, what they liked to eat, if they enjoyed their meals, if they had time to meet friends, if they were happy in their daily lives.

Like vicarious satisfaction, fans knew they were curious about how their idols lived privately, and if their idols were happy and content, the fans would be satisfied too.

Photo cards were just meant to bridge the idol and actor circles, creating trading connections between them.

After all, fan culture isn't about following just one person – many fans have multiple favorites.

Random Entertainment's move targeted exactly these multiple-bias fans. Photo cards weren't expensive; investing a small amount for a newly liked idol, and even if the interest faded later, they could be sold.

Therefore, nothing was more suitable than photo cards.

Jiang Tang was still chattering away – this was her first major leading role. She still remembered how nervous she was during the audition two years ago, and all the details of filming and the reluctance to part after wrapping up were recorded in this book.

Jiang Tang felt she loved this book even more than the fans did.

Listening to her sister's voice, Jiang Juyou dozed off against the bed, while Jiang Tang continued her monologue, not noticing that Jiang Juyou had fallen asleep.

Jiang Juyou only napped for about twenty minutes, and by the time she woke up, Jiang Tang had just finished talking.

"Alright, I need to shower now, let's talk tomorrow!" Before hanging up, Jiang Tang suddenly remembered something, "Oh right! I'm planning to travel abroad after we wrap up. Do you have any annual leave? Want to come with me?"

"...We'll see, I'm quite busy lately," Jiang Juyou said, rubbing her temples and sitting up straight.

Jiang Tang sighed, "Okay, if you're not free, I'll go alone... I was going to ask Jiang Liuxing, but that little troublemaker has an even busier schedule than me!"

"Anyway, I need to shower now and get to sleep soon. Early shoot tomorrow, bye!"

She hung up without giving Jiang Juyou a chance to respond.

Jiang Juyou: "..."

Sitting up straight, Jiang Juyou opened her iPad to start working.

She was indeed very busy, involving herself in many things that didn't necessarily need her attention.

She had assigned herself lots of work.

Random Entertainment had grown from initially operating in the backstage office of Galaxy Hall, to occupying its own building, to now having its complete industrial chain, all in just four years.

Initially, she handled everything personally, even designing the pop-up store's decor herself. After moving to the office building, these tasks were delegated to professional teams, and she only needed to provide ideas. Now she doesn't even need to provide ideas anymore; she just selects from plans designed by her employees.

Random Entertainment has found its footing, but the idol industry hasn't yet.

The domestic idol industry is still in its infancy, barely sustained by Random Entertainment's idol groups alone. Most of Random Entertainment's groups are only active during summer and winter breaks, and once school starts, the entire industry enters a winter period.

The root cause is that there are too few idol groups, not even enough to support a complete music show program.

What Jiang Juyou is doing now is building an ecosystem for the idol industry.

Creating competition between groups and between companies.

Where there's competition, there will be spectators.

Recently, Jiang Juyou has entered another phase of frequent social activities, meeting many program producers and platform executives. Through these occasions, she's also met numerous executives from domestic entertainment companies.

She's secured quite a few business deals and signed many contracts.

For instance—

Aliali: 674b8cafc4f3f33ac4a3ef54

Various platforms are planning performance stages for singers and idol groups to promote their songs. To fill these programs, they need many artists.

This idea was proposed by Jiang Juyou, so naturally, she needs to support those smaller companies.

The tech mini-cards that helped Random Entertainment take off will also be licensed to them, though they'll design while Random Entertainment handles production.

These are all still in the planning phase, and it will take some time before they become reality.

But Jiang Juyou feels this brings her one step closer to the day when she won't need to work.

"You could work after returning to the company," Cong Lixia tries to persuade her.

Holding her iPad, Jiang Juyou shakes her head, "The sooner I finish, the sooner I can rest. I don't want to work on weekends."

Suddenly, she looks up and asks Cong Lixia, "Do you really enjoy going to work?"

Cong Lixia: "..."

Jiang Juyou: ...Who actually enjoys going to work?


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