TOIGC 75

Chapter 75 …

A Unique Sales Pitch (1)

“Hmm.”

The homeroom teacher’s puzzled expression was enough to spark curiosity in the discipline monitor.

“What’s wrong, sir?” “No, look at this.”

When the teacher showed them a page from the magazine, the discipline monitor began alternating his gaze between the magazine and Yoongi.

“What is it? What’s going on?”

This time, the head of the discipline committee walked over to the desk, only to mirror the exact same reaction as the other two.

A moment later.

“Ah, right here…”

As the head monitor pointed to a specific section of the page, all three of them let out an simultaneous exclamation.

“Yoongi, is this actually you?”

The teacher dropped the magazine right onto Yoongi’s desk, prompting nearby students to immediately swarm around in a tight cluster.

“Yes, that’s me.”

“Good grief… wait, how on earth did you end up in a magazine? Your hairstyle is so different I almost didn’t recognize you.”

“Hermès asked me to be their Asian model, so I went ahead and did the shoot. Remember when I took that trip to Japan recently? That’s when we filmed it.”

“Hermès? I know for a fact that brand costs an absolute fortune… Still, I never thought I’d live to see the day an active, working model ends up sitting right in our classroom.”

Looking utterly bewildered, the homeroom teacher turned around just as the black-market merchant chimed in with a grumbling complaint.

“Yoongi’s literally featured in a Japanese magazine, so why aren’t you yelling at him, sir?”

Smack!

Accompanied by the crisp sound of a direct hit to the back of the head, the teacher delivered a rapid succession of knuckle raps straight to the merchant’s skull.

Thud!

A thoroughly heavy, resonant impact.

“You stupid idiot. Do you seriously think productive actions and unproductive actions are the same thing?”

The teacher didn’t stop there.

“Tsk tsk, what a fool. If you had just kept your mouth shut when you had the chance, this whole thing would’ve blown over quietly, but you just have to go looking for trouble. Get your butt down to the student affairs office right after homeroom.”

“Ouch!”

Realizing he had completely backfired on his own attempt to deflect, the merchant was swiftly shut down by the disciplinary monitor’s glare, allowing the teacher to turn his attention back to Yoongi.

“Anyway, Yoongi. An Asian model, you say? But why end up in a Japanese publication?”

Yoongi offered a wry, subtle smile.

“Right now, the only country in Asia with the purchasing power to actually buy Hermès products is Japan. Sure, wealthy folks from other nations buy them while traveling abroad, but Japan is pretty much the only market where Hermès can actively consider launching right now.”

“Damn it all… are you telling us we’re getting outclassed by those Japs?”

Without offering a direct answer, Yoongi simply flashed an enigmatic, knowing smile.

“Tsk.”

Realizing the uncomfortable truth of the matter, the teacher muttered a disgruntled complaint under his breath and walked back to the podium as the discipline monitor’s desk checks resumed.

And just a few days later, copies of the magazine featuring Yoongi began circulating fiercely throughout the entire school.

“Isn’t it basically an act of treason for a Korean guy to show up in a Japanese magazine?”

Jinsu gave a sharp smack to the back of the head of a classmate from another class who had just voiced that exact complaint.

“You moron, how is that even remotely treason?”

“Well, duh—a Korean guy appeared in a Jap magazine, didn’t he?”

“Stop talking nonsense. If anything, it’s an act of pure patriotism.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Faced with his friend’s utter confusion, Jinsu puffed out his chest with absolute pride.

“Hey, how horribly unphotogenic do you think guys in Japan have to be for Hermès to choose Yoongi as their model? Yoongi just proved to the world that Koreans are way superior to the Japanese.”

“Ah!”

Wonhee’s reaction down the hall was running along the exact same wavelength.

“Yoongi’s Korean, but he went over to Japan and got paid for his work. That means Japanese money flowed straight into Korea. Is there any higher form of patriotism than that?”

“Whoa, you’re totally right!”

Thanks to this enthusiastic spin from Jinsu and Wonhee, Yoongi was transformed into a national hero overnight, and the magazines spread like wildfire.

Even though it was a foreign Japanese publication, every school inevitably had its resident black-market merchant, and before long, the rumors began spilling over into neighboring schools just like last time.

[What even is Hermès?] [Whoa, this stuff is crazy expensive.] [A guy from our own country modeled for a ridiculously high-end brand like that?] [Where on earth are you even supposed to buy this?]

While students getting excited about Hermès wasn’t going to translate into direct sales right away, the indirect marketing ripple effect was undeniable. Knowing precisely how that mechanism worked, Yoongi had readily accepted the headquarters’ request. Besides, students weren’t the only ones flipping through imported magazines; anyone with even a passing interest in fashion would naturally be browsing them. It was a safe bet that word was spreading far beyond the school gates as well.

Well, blowing off some steam like that definitely helped clear my head, too.

Not only had he planted his shoe squarely on the back of Watanabe’s head, but Yamada had also been promptly fired from Hermès Japan. The moment Yoongi mentioned the Yakuza incident to Fabien, the executive had flown into an absolute rage.

[What? Even after I came all the way back down and gave strict, explicit instructions to handle this properly, they pulled something like this again?]

In the end, Fabien had no choice but to hop on a plane from France back to Japan to personally take the reins of the local branch’s operations. The fallout resulted in Yamada’s termination and the complete severance of ties with Watanabe. Thanks to that swift justice, Yoongi had returned to Korea with a light heart, enjoying his school life with total peace of mind. Of course, Seo Jong-hoon had stayed behind in Japan to carry out Yoongi’s directives.

The indirect PR campaign is more than enough at this point. Is it finally time to kick off the direct marketing push?

With the grand opening roughly half a year away, Yoongi felt the right moment for direct advertising had arrived.

“True, it is about time we start mapping out our advertising strategy.”

At Choi Chul-gyu’s remark, Ryu Geun-tae nodded in agreement.

“Newspaper ad space fills up quite fast with reservations, so considering the timeline, it would be wise to start making arrangements in advance.”

“I take it both of you agree that running direct advertisements is the right move?”

Ryu Geun-tae and Choi Chul-gyu nodded without a moment’s hesitation.

“Indeed. No matter how much word of mouth Yaikai Department Store is generating on its own, it simply cannot compare to the reach of a newspaper campaign.”

“Exactly. Plus, I think running television commercials alongside print would be ideal. Advertising through newspapers and TV is the only way to pull customers all the way up from the provinces.”

“I’m not so sure. Frankly, I question whether we even need to bother drawing people all the way up from the regional provinces.”

“Why’s that?”

Faced with Choi Chul-gyu’s puzzled reaction, Yoongi merely shrugged.

“Because the population of Seoul alone is more than enough. Wealthy folks in the provinces will naturally find out about Yaikai Department Store on their own; I just don’t see the necessity of dropping money on national TV commercials right now.”

“Hmm… that’s not an unreasonable point.”

“Besides, let’s save television commercials for after the grand opening. If we frame future TV spots around the idea of running nationwide campaigns to support our mini-department store tenants, won’t that be far more effective from an operational standpoint?”

Choi Chul-gyu nodded slowly.

“There’s certainly merit to looking at it that way.”

Just as the room seemed ready to settle on newspapers as their sole advertising medium, Yoongi dropped a fresh angle into the discussion.

“Newspaper ads are great, but how about we add a secondary, supplementary layer to our strategy?”

“A supplementary layer?”

“Yes. In the end, who actually puts out those newspaper advertisements?”

“The newspaper companies, of course.”

When Ryu Geun-tae gave the obvious answer, Yoongi shook his head.

“That goes without saying. But aren’t there other parties involved?”

A light seemed to dawn on Ryu Geun-tae, who let out an “Ah” accompanied by a self-deprecating chuckle.

“Ah, journalists could play a supporting role for our promotions. If we send them our draft ads ahead of time, they could help us gauge subscriber sentiment and give us pointers on how to tweak them.”

Smiling, Yoongi shook his head once more.

“That’s not a bad analysis, but it’s still not what I had in mind.”

“My apologies. What did you have in release, then?”

“There’s no need to apologize. It’s just a slightly unconventional approach, I suppose.”

Both Ryu Geun-tae and Choi Chul-gyu locked their eyes onto Yoongi’s lips.

“Call it whatever you like, but normally, advertising is all about positive reinforcement—good vibes and upbeat messaging. Right?”

Ryu Geun-tae and Choi Chul-gyu nodded in unanimous agreement.

“Naturally. So by that logic, there must also be a negative counterpart to it.”

Choi Chul-gyu lightly slapped his palm against the table and blurted out:

“I get it! You’re talking about cases where journalists start writing hit pieces or negative press about Yaikai Department Store?”

“Spot on! No matter how much money you pour into running polished ads, the moment reporters start running hostile stories, the whole enterprise becomes extremely dangerous.”

Yoongi vividly remembered the raw, ugly underbelly of the mass media from events like the Uji flour scandal, recycled dumpling scares, and honeycomb ice cream controversies.

“Do you really think there are reporters out there willing to write negative pieces about Yaikai right now?”

Faced with Ryu Geun-tae’s logical objection, Yoongi nodded.

“Go on, let’s hear your reasoning.”

“Right now, we maintain close ties with the new military regime. Furthermore, key figures from the military are slated to move into our mini-department stores as tenants. If anyone were foolish enough to publish critical articles about Yaikai under these conditions, they’d essentially be putting their life on the line. Do you think any journalist would dare take that risk?”

“Which is precisely why we need to build an even closer relationship with those reporters.”

“Pardon?”

Ryu Geun-tae tilted his head in confusion, failing to follow Yoongi’s logic. Then, right there in front of Ryu Geun-tae and Choi Chul-gyu, Yoongi dropped a miniature bombshell.

“Do you honestly think the new military regime is going to last forever?”

If anyone other than Yoongi had uttered those words, Ryu Geun-tae and Choi Chul-gyu would have jumped out of their seats and bolted from the room. Criticizing the new military regime in the current political climate was practically a death sentence.

“Phew, I just broke out in a cold sweat for a second there.”

Wiping his face with a handkerchief, Choi Chul-gyu lowered his voice and looked straight at Yoongi.

“Yoongi, what on earth do you mean by that? Even I’m struggling to follow.”

“Think about it carefully. President P’s dictatorship felt like it would last a lifetime, yet it came to a bitter, abrupt end. The same fate awaits JD. Even the Soviet Union, which you could practically call a global empire, is looking pretty shaky these days.”

“Hmm…”

Faced with Yoongi’s chillingly objective assessment, Choi Chul-gyu let out a heavy groan.

“Meanwhile, the profession of journalism—regardless of what you call it—has endured continuously from the past all the way to the present. What happens to Yaikai Department Store if we completely ignore the press, and the military regime suddenly collapses overnight?”

Ryu Geun-tae inhaled sharply before speaking up.

“We’d become the primary target for a concentrated backlash. Unless a hypothetical second military regime decides to take us under its wing, we’d be treated as a disposable scapegoat and ripped to shreds. And if a genuinely democratic government takes power…”

“We’d find ourselves fighting a nationwide war on all fronts.”

As Yoongi offered a faint, knowing smile, the heavy tension weighing down on the two men lifted just a fraction.

“That’s why we need to cultivate solid, preemptive relationships with reporters ahead of time. If we feed them a poisoned apple, they’ll at least refrain from running negative hit pieces. Moreover, if we maintain a meticulous ledger documenting those poisoned apples, those journalists won’t dare bite the hand that feeds them, even if the political regime eventually flips. This is the era of mass media.”

While the post-2010 era of lightning-fast internet speeds would eventually shift the landscape from media manipulation to outright public opinion manipulation, back in the 1980s, the press wielded immense, overwhelming power over public perception. The perceptions forged by the media during this era were so deeply ingrained that people shaped by them would carry those exact biases well into their sixties and seventies by the 2010s.

“Understood. I will begin putting together a comprehensive plan for handling journalist relations.”

“Roughly how long will it take to draft a report?”

“If you could give me about a week. Entertaining and managing the press requires a specific aptitude, so I’ll need to scout around our current Yaikai staff to find the right candidate for the job.”

“Won’t you need more time than that?”

At Yoongi’s prompt, Ryu Geun-tae offered a slightly sheepish smile.

“Even if we pushed the deadline back further, I doubt the report would improve dramatically, so I’ll submit a preliminary brief within a week. Once you review it and provide more detailed directional guidance, we can execute accordingly.”

“Let’s go with that.”

Unlike the strict deadlines he gave to Cho Jung-woo, Yoongi didn’t pressure Ryu Geun-tae with tight time constraints. Handling people differently based on who they were was a core tenet of Yoongi’s personal management philosophy.

“Yoongi, there’s one thing I’m curious about.”

Having listened quietly to the exchange between Yoongi and Ryu Geun-tae, Choi Chul-gyu tentatively broke the silence.

“What is it, Uncle Choi?”

“What do we do about the ‘real journalists’—the ones who can’t be bought off with entertainment or favors? There are certainly reporters out there right now who wouldn’t hesitate to attack the military regime.”

“Ah, that? There’s a remarkably simple solution for that.”