Chapter 315： Those who wish take the bait

Chapter 315 Those who are willing take the bait

Dong dong dong!

While I was processing documents, there was a knock on the door outside the office.

He thought it was Ivaca and shouted to come in.

But when the door opened, a tall and thin man with brown curly hair, wearing a gray suit, came in.

 Scooter Braun, President of SBprojects Entertainment.

After the private video incident in April, Link Music reached a deal with SBprojects. Link Music exchanged 5% of its shares for 38% of SB Entertainment and 50% of Justin Bieber's management contract.

At the time of the transaction, Link Music’s market value was between approximately 200 million and 240 million, and a 5% stake was worth approximately US$12 million.

After the successful launch of Justin Bieber, SB Entertainment has a market value of approximately US$60 million to US$80 million, with a 38% stake worth approximately US$25 million. Including 50% of Justin Bieber's agency contract, the value is over US$40-50 million.

From the perspective of outsiders, this is by no means a fair deal. Even if Link Music is developing rapidly, it is not worth SB Entertainment’s four or five times price.

But the deal was successfully concluded in mid-April, which surprised countless people.

Because in March and April, Kanye West, Justin Bieber, Usher and others clamored to challenge Link, to defeat Link on the album sales chart, to make Link disgraced and to avenge what happened last year.

But in the blink of an eye, Link became the boss of Justin Bieber, and indirectly the boss of Kanye West and Usher.

This change also stunned countless colleagues in the industry.

Some media even believe that East Coast rap’s clamor to compete with Link on the charts in March was entirely a marketing plan to promote Justin Bieber and Link’s new albums.

This planning was very successful. Both Link's and Justin's new albums sold well. One sold nearly 4 million copies and the other nearly 2 million copies. In the first half of 2010, they ranked first and No. 1 respectively on the U.S. album sales list. three.

When colleagues in the music industry saw the two's achievements, they all expressed their feelings, "It's not that their albums are not good enough, but that the marketing plan is too low-end."

Even "Billboard" commented on this deal as "a big drama in the music industry where Link Music and SB Entertainment join forces."

This is also the reason why Mr. Steven Konop, the editor-in-chief of Billboard magazine, has published many articles praising Link Music for its good marketing.

No matter how the outside world views this transaction, Link Music has become the majority shareholder of SB Entertainment, and Scooter has become the minority shareholder and management of Link Music.

After the successful share exchange between the two companies, Scooter continued to serve as the president of SB Entertainment and also served as the director of the link music department, responsible for the marketing and promotion of its singers.

The relationship with Link is also colleagues.

Linke was busy outside some time ago and didn't have time to meet and chat with the other party. Today was the first time they met.

“Haha, Mr. Baker, I have been in the company for more than a month and finally see you.”

After meeting, Scout greeted warmly.

“Mr. Braun, welcome!”

Link smiled softly, invited Scout to sit down in the reception room, and asked the secretary to bring him coffee, ready to chat with Scout.

Scooter is a talent, there is no doubt about it.

At the age of thirty, he has been in the music brand marketing work experience for nearly ten years. He has been a four -year marketing director at the first record company DEFJAM Records.

In 2007, he founded SBprojects from scratch, and single-handedly discovered and cultivated popular singers such as Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, and Carly Rae Gibson, and raised the market value of SB to nearly 1 billion. US dollars.

In 2021, it completed a merger with HYBE, a famous Korean brokerage company, and became the second largest individual shareholder of HYBE.

Joined forces to launch the popular group BTS and made a lot of money.

And after Taylor left Big Machine Records, he spent 300 million US dollars to acquire the copyright of Taylor's six albums, which also created hundreds of millions of US dollars in revenue for SB. From a business perspective, it was also a very cost-effective deal.

Now that the other party has become a partner of Link Music, it is also a good thing for Link.

After the secretary delivered the coffee, Scout reported to Link the company’s recent publicity work, which mainly included the image promotion and album marketing of several of its singers.

At present, there are five signed singers under Link Music, including Link himself, Lana Del Rey, Bruno Mars, Wiz Khalifa, and newly added Justin Bieber.

Of these five singers, Link is a diamond-level singer, and the other four are all platinum-level or above. They can be called an all-star luxury lineup. Among independent music labels, this lineup can be ranked among the top three.

With several of their best-selling singers, Link Music can ensure that it has the ability to continuously release best-selling albums, and it can also ensure that Link Music can continue to make stars and make money continuously and stably. The prospects are very good.

But Scooter believes that Link Music is relatively professional in producing albums, but it has not done a good enough job in creating stars.

Divided according to the popularity of Hollywood.

Diamond-level singers are equivalent to top actors in the film industry, at the level of kings and queens.

Platinum singers are equivalent to first-line actors and popular actors.

Lana Del Rey, Mars, and Wiz Khalifa are platinum singers, but their popularity in the entertainment industry is not as good as that of second-tier celebrities. Their low popularity also leads to a narrow audience market and lowers the commercial value of the singers. .

Scooter believes that the promotion of several singers should be strengthened.

Let more people know about them and increase their commercial value. The greater their fame, the higher their album sales, and the more money Link Music will make, so this investment is cost-effective.

Link agrees with this.

Since Link Music is a new company, it cannot compare with the five major record companies and many established record companies in terms of media resources and publicity channels.

 There are shortcomings in the ability to create stars, which is why Ivaca invited Scooter to work at Link Music.

Link told Scout that he could follow his plan.

It was also suggested that Scooter talk to several singers before formulating a promotion plan.

Singers are all engaged in art. Some people are withdrawn and just want to make music. They don’t care about being famous or making money.

For example, Lana is this kind of person. She doesn’t accept interviews or accept advertising endorsements. She smokes and drinks at concerts and swears at paparazzi. She is used to being free and carefree and doesn’t care about media comments.

For this type of singer, there is no need to force it too hard.

Scooter agrees, saying all promotions are based on the singer's wishes.

“Scout, after the private video was leaked, my public image has been somewhat damaged. The next step is that I plan to use the media to restore my public image. What suggestions do you have for this matter?”

Link leaned on the sofa and looked at the other person and asked.

Scout thought for a while and said: "Mr. Baker, this matter is easy to handle. Before April, your public image was very positive, and there was not much to criticize.

After you broke up with Ms. Taylor Swift, you kept your private life private and received a lot of media attention.

If you want to restore your public image, you just need to find a regular girlfriend and show affection in public more often.

And stated in the promotion that during that time, you were affected by your relationship and your mood was unstable, so you deliberately indulged yourself. Now that you have a new relationship, you are saved by love and can become a good man again.

As this kind of publicity continues for a period of time, the negative news will slowly disappear. "

After hearing this, Link felt that it was okay to promote it this way, but there were some problems.

Before breaking up with Taylor, he had a history of cheating, but it was not exposed by the media.

In addition, he is not a man and has no interest in the label of ‘good man’. What he needs are high-quality labels such as ‘teenage idol’, ‘American dream’, ‘dream lover of 900 million beautiful girls around the world’.

"Mr. Baker, in my opinion, you don't need to care too much about the media's evaluation of you. With your current influence and reputation, these scandals will have almost no negative impact on you."

Scooter added. “No? Won’t too many scandals affect my record sales?”

“No, during your relationship with Miss Swift, because your relationship was relatively stable, the media could not find fresh material, and there was very little coverage of your private life in this regard.

After you broke up, media coverage of your private life increased dramatically.

· The public relations department has conducted a survey. In March, there were only more than 1,200 reports related to your private life in the mainstream media. By April, there were 53,000 reports, and in May, there were 31,000 reports. This month, the number of reports has remained at more than 5,000 times a week.

 Due to the increase in scandals, your exposure in the media has increased, which has also directly boosted the sales of your new album. According to a survey by the marketing department, in April, these scandals brought an increase of about 12%-15% to your album. "

Scooter said.

Hearing what Scout said, Link was a little confused, "Will the increase in scandals affect the overseas market? Has Universal Music investigated it?"

"It has an impact, but it is a positive impact. In May, because of the scandals between you and Ms. Marion Cotillard, Ms. Emma Watson and others, the sales of "The Woman I Love" increased by 32% in France and about 17% in the UK. , sales in other regions where relevant news has been reported also increased slightly.”

Scooter said.

"you sure?"

Link asked in surprise.

Scout didn't understand why he suddenly became serious, so he quickly said it was true, opened his work bag, took out a document and handed it to him.

According to the rise and fall of album sales, generally albums have the highest sales in the first week of release, the decline will be about 50% in the second week, and about 50% in the third week. The higher the sales in the first week, the greater the decline, and the longer the release time. , the greater the decline.

Albums with small declines are mostly of good quality, or have more investment in later promotion.

Based on the extent of this decline, it is easy to see which week has abnormal sales.

Link looked through the documents and frowned involuntarily.

Evaka told Baker in his store last week that because he became a playboy, his reputation was greatly damaged, which caused some impact on his album. She also said that this was the result of an investigation by the Universal Music Marketing Department.

For this reason, Ivaca suggested that he find a regular girlfriend, get rid of the **** label, and reshape his public image.

Link agreed.

Then Ivaca enthusiastically helped him recommend a girlfriend.

Finally, Evaka recommended herself, and the two became an agreed couple.

The premise of this matter is that his bad reputation will affect album sales. If it has no impact, does he still need to fix his girlfriend?

Thinking of this, Link finally understood why he felt like he had fallen into a trap that day. It turned out that the trap was here—the information was poor.

At that time, he was unprepared and fell straight into the pit dug by Ivaca, gaining a nominal girlfriend.

 Link was a little annoyed when he wanted to understand this.

This woman is too boring. If she wants to be her girlfriend, she can just confess her love. Why are you playing such a trick? Does she seem smart?

But the matter has come to this, and he has nothing to say.

After all, that was Ivaca, and the bait she used for fishing was so sweet and plump that even though he knew there was a hook in the bait, he was reluctant to let go.

Link put down the document and said: "Scout, no matter whether the scandal is good or bad, you should pay attention to it at ordinary times. Don't let the media hype it too much. When you encounter a report that has a bad impact, press it when it's time to press it. Don't affect it. my life."

“Understood! Mr. Baker, don’t worry, you can completely trust our propaganda department in this regard.”

Scout said confidently.

Link smiled softly, stretched out his hand and said, "Scout, you are a marketing expert. From now on, Link Music's marketing work will depend on you."

“Haha, no expert can do it. This is my job, and I will try my best to do it the best.”

Scout shook his hand and smiled modestly.

Humility is real.

Although he considered himself a marketing expert, he didn't dare to think so in front of Link.

After studying the history of Link's fame, he admired Link even more. He felt that Link's current fame was 30% due to strength and 70% due to hype.

He is very capable and does not rely on hype. It will take at least ten years to reach his current fame.

And his hype skills are even higher.

Starting from the boxing world, all the way to the music world, every hype can be astonishing.

Just like the recent incident of "falling down to show off wealth".

When he first saw this plan, he couldn't help but secretly exclaimed that it was a genius idea.

‘Falling down to show off wealth’ is to first use celebrities to show off their wealth to create social issues, arouse public discussion, induce public opinion controversy, and prompt mainstream media to shut down. Regardless of criticism or praise, it is a good means of exposure, with low cost and good results.

After the mainstream media ceases to exist, other media will follow suit and report on it, creating a hot social event.

When more people pay attention, the public's attention will be focused on the album, creating new topics and triggering new controversies, and the album's exposure will continue to increase.

In addition, during promotion, the celebrity effect was used to associate Link's album with luxury goods and fashion. Buying the album is equivalent to buying high-end luxury goods.

This trick is so clever.

In the advertising world, everyone knows that selling a product is worse than marketing a concept. As long as this concept is implanted in the hearts of the people, people will spontaneously buy it. For example, drinking pure water is harmful to the body, diamonds represent love, and luxury goods represent status.

In the incident of "falling down to show off their wealth", Tiffany, Paris Hilton, Amanda Hearst, Georgia Bloomberg, Kim Kardashian, Lindsay Lohan and others were all celebrities. It enjoys extremely high popularity and fans from all walks of life in the United States.

Their dressing style, hairstyle, body shape, etc. are often imitated by young women.

Several people classify Link’s albums as luxury goods. Owning Link’s albums not only possesses good music, but also possesses an identity and taste.

This is a kind of concept marketing.

From its launch in early May to now, many people around the world are still imitating it. Now even imitating "falling down to show off wealth" has become a fashion.

According to Universal Music's estimates, the benefits of this marketing are very obvious. In the United States, Link's new album will sell more than 500,000 copies, and worldwide, more than 3 million copies will be sold. It will also promote Link's next album. .

so amazing.

When he first heard that this marketing plan was proposed by Link, Scout was filled with admiration and became more and more certain that Link's fame was not an accident.

At first, he became a talkative in the boxing world, challenging more than a dozen world boxing champions from a distance, and became a boxing star at the age of only 19.

Later, he entered the music scene, competed with East Coast rap gangs, and stepped on them to rise to the top. He was not forced to accept the challenge, but was a marketing plan designed and executed by Link himself.

This plan made Link go from a newcomer to the music scene to a top player in the music scene in just one year.

In the marketing world, this kind of success is considered epic.

 Now hearing Link praising himself as a marketing master, Scout felt ashamed. In front of a marketing master like Link, he was just a primary school student, how could he dare to claim to be a master.

(End of this chapter)