The 1 billion won in-app credits this time would obviously be paid out of the marketing budget. Credits were treated similarly to cash, but had a completely different concept if you looked closely. It was a lower-compatibility version of a department store gift card. That was it.
Once customers purchased items with credits, an average commission of 27% went to It’s, so 270 million won was deducted. Statistically, not all customers used the app credits. There were those who forgot and lost it, and those who saved it until it became useless. That meant idle money.
There was only one reason for giving out credits: to generate additional sales. It was an amount that It’s Home Shopping had enough money to make up for.
Team leader Park Choong-In could not possibly be unaware of this fact, but he could not show it outwardly.
“1 billion out of that... About 1/50th. I’m a bit scared. Even as a marketing expense, it’s a bit...”
“Marketing? Mr. Park? What do you mean by marketing?”
Park Choong-In put on a confident expression. He had not majored in a marketing-related discipline, but he had watched and learned over the shoulders of others for over ten years. He had taken countless lectures and training related to marketing. Having a young and green CEO like Ho-Jun (Jae-Yoon) discuss marketing in front of him made him irritated.
Park Choong-In looked straight at Jae-Yoon and continued speaking assertively, “Marketing needs to be based on thorough market research. It requires accurate statistics and databases to back it up. Not done on impulse like this. There’s also ROI and KPI to consider. How confident are you about the ROI?”
“Excuse me for a moment, Mr. Park.”
Seeing Jae-Yoon casually calling out to him with a sly smile, Team Leader Park stopped speaking and stared at him.
Jae-Yoon smoothly continued, “What? Are you giving an orientation to new employees now? The results haven’t even come out yet. Why are you bringing up ROI? Isn’t this the time you should be paying more attention to VOS?”
“VOS?”
“Yes. I know you like jargon, but it’s too long. Is it hard to summarize it in one simple word? Let me ask again. What do you think marketing is, Mr. Park?”
Jae-Yoon had never studied marketing. Obviously, he had not majored in a related discipline, and there was no way he would have had seniors passionately teach him at Oh-Ga Kitchen. Therefore, Jae-Yoon’s marketing was so-called combat-compressed marketing.
Leaving aside statistics, perspectives, economics.
‘Common sense is the way to go.’ That was Jae-Yoon’s marketing ideology. Thinking from the consumer’s perspective, he could always find the answer. Finding what consumers want and selling well.
Jae-Yoon wondered what would come out of Team Leader Park’s mouth. If he’s going to talk about marketing with such confidence, he’d have to come up with something groundbreaking.
“Why don’t you explain it in plain terms, without the fancy trade lingo used to make it sound grand for business partners? English abbreviations are tiring, you know?”
Team Leader Park wet his lips. This isn’t getting through. Normally, the conversation should not continue when technical terms start to appear.
“Well... Selling well. That’s the most important thing in home shopping, right?”
Despite the sluggish answer, Jae-Yoon exclaimed loudly while snapping his fingers, “Oh! Mr. Park. I knew you’d get me. We have something in common. I deeply empathize with that opinion. Yes, selling well, that’s all it takes.”
‘What’s his agenda all of a sudden?’
As Team Leader Park hesitated, Jae-Yoon swiftly continued, “The actress who was the advertisement model last year, who was it? I heard Mr. Park and Mr. Lee strongly pushed it through.”
“Are you talking about Nam Joo-Ri?”
“How much were Nam Joo-Ri’s advertising costs for one year?”
“What? All of a sudden?” Park Choong-In bit his lips. He chooses to attack me with this now?
“Answer me. How much was it?”
“2 billion...”
“Was that marketing too?”
“She wasn’t even a home shopping host. Of course, it contributes more to the company’s image and reputation than sales...” He could not continue. The more he talked, the more he damned himself. It was inevitable.
Rookie actress Nam Joo-Ri, whom Park Choong-In had eagerly endorsed. It was a very generous amount just for a rookie actress’s advertising costs. The justification at the time was that her movies and dramas were hits. It was a plausible idea to lock in a potential top star before she hit big time.
His mouth was wide open. And his fingers had spread wide.
From writing posts sniping at fellow actor colleagues on SNS, to unauthorized departure during movie filming and even being involved in power harassment incidents. They had truly catapulted her from a rising star to a falling star.
It was why Park Choong-In could not answer rashly. There was a brief moment of silence in the CEO’s office.
“1 billion used to appease customers or 2 billion to a potential top star model with unpredictable behavior. Which do you think helps the company more?”
“...”
Looking at Team Leader Park’s tightly shut lips, Jae-Yoon continued, “What about the marketing budget that the General Team spent on market research and surveys last year? Show me the results. Even now, you still talk about marketing and whatnot. Isn’t that a bit shameless?”
“...”
“Money. This is how you use it, Mr. Park.”
Park Choong-In clenched his fist. Something hot surged up inside. The refund situation? He had braced for a return incident, although not to this extent. The CEO’s ridicule? It was not entirely unexpected. What Team Leader Park could not stand the most was his position. Right there, in front of Jae-Yoon. His gaze moved to the black nameplate placed there.
CEO. Chief Executive Officer. At that moment, the position felt incredibly distant.
Jae-Yoon spoke in a calm voice, “Team Leader Park.”
“... Yes?”
“From now on, please filter out any proposals or reports with superficial decorations at your level. You are more than capable enough, aren’t you?”
“...”
“Will you keep picking up crumbs thrown by the companies forever? The methods you’ve been using for ten years are outdated. If you don’t understand what I’m saying, you might as well watch SeobSeobi YouTube. Team Leader Park, you’re good, but you seem weak on trends.”
“Trends. Yes, trends...”
Jae-Yoon looked at Team Leader Park’s stiff expression. The look of staring at the nameplate motionlessly was quite a sight. What could that expression and gaze mean? Jae-Yoon wondered, but did not show it and continued speaking.
“You came charging in like you would smash down the door. Is this all you had to say?”
“...”
“Then, I’ll leave you to it.”
Jae-Yoon nodded toward the pile of documents on his desk and fixed his gaze on the monitor. As a clever gentleman, Park Choong-In would understand.
Team Leader Park bowed and left the CEO’s office with a stiff face. The CEO’s position felt even more distant.
His cell phone in his pocket vibrated incessantly. Team Leader Kim, Deputy Seo, Yoon Jae-Hee... They were all sending calls and texts as they came in.
‘Damn it...’
Team Leader Park walked to the rooftop. He looked around. The rooftop was empty except for discarded coffee cups.
Rejecting all the incoming calls, he went on YouTube.
[ 섭섭이 ] (Translation: Seobseobi; means ‘upset’)
What the hell is this supposed to be? Why is he being so irritating?
He took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and turned up the volume on his cell phone. On his cell phone, a list of videos by YouTuber ‘SeobSeobi’, who had 2 million subscribers, appeared.
There were several words to describe this Youtuber. Trendsetter, tech YouTuber, early adopter.
Park Choong-In stared at his cell phone. He had heard about this person many times from his employees.
Although he had seen SeobSeobi’s reviews summarized in documents, this was his first time directly accessing SeobSeobi’s videos on YouTube. He usually only watched soccer highlights from abroad on YouTube.
‘SeobSeobi, SeobSeobi. Why is your nickname like that? People are already upset enough as it is.’
As a YouTuber who did not accept any sponsorships or advertisements and reviewed purely, SeobSeobi’s reviews were a double-edged sword. A hit or miss.
It’s Home Shopping had both benefited from SeobSeobi and had its broadcasts ruined by SeobSeobi several times. He was that influential of a YouTuber.
[ Robot vacuum cleaner showdown! Home Run VS MilkBot! SeobSeobi will reveal everything. ]
The video showed the packaging of the Home Run product, which was as large as a doorframe. The chat was also going up quickly. The response was so explosive that it was impossible to keep up.
Park Choong-In carelessly threw his cigarette on the floor and watched the video in silence. Although the Youtuber’s voice was high-pitched, his precise pronunciation made it easy to listen to, and before he knew it, he was engrossed in the video.
The Home Run review was nearing its end.
It felt annoyingly petty as if adding insult to injury in a situation where he had already taken a beating.
He ruffled his hair and muttered with a dazed look, “This kid is really determined.”
It was embarrassing. It was different from when he saw the product on home shopping. Watching the product through a YouTube live broadcast with the eyes of a third party was a different experience.
You needed to be prepared for a product that caused an issue, whether it was a good product or a bad product.
The world had changed. Even the smallest of mistakes could grow to the size of a house through YouTube and communities. On the other hand, even the smallest advantage, if hyped up by a celebrity, could transform into an unparalleled great product.
[ So, what’s my rating...? ]
└ Are we seeing a zero for the first time in a while?
└ It won’t be that bad
└ Feels like it’ll get about five or six
The charm of SeobSeobi’s broadcast was that he rated products with stars. Of course, his subjective judgment was taken into account, but the star rating was decided by referring to the live broadcast viewers’ reviews..
‘Why am I nervous about this?’
Park Choong-In bought a cup of milk coffee from the vending machine next to the smoking area and sat down on a folding chair. He could not take his eyes off it. This was why people watched YouTube.
Park Choong-In fell into deep thought. If someone asked him to rate the product that he launched… He would not be able to give it a very high score, either, but…
[ SeobSeobi’s Home Run rating is... Ta-da! 9 points! ]
└ Did you get paid by the company?
└ Woah, you gave that generous rating?
└ He’s been trashing it this whole time, makes no sense lolllll ㅋㅋ
└ SeobSeobi must need money these days --_
[ Ah! Everyone, you guys are really trying to make me feel sorry for you. You should listen to what people say. The reason I gave it a generous score is because of the 50,000 won gift certificate for customers who purchased it. ]
On the screen, SeobSeobi’s hands were spread out as wide as a door. He did not forget to shake his five fingers playfully.
└ That’s the real deal!!!!!
└ 150,000 won doesn’t seem so bad?
└ Even if you return it, they’ll give you 50,000 won, so just use it while saying thank you ㅋㅋ
└ Is it still available?
└ No, no, they’re not giving it away now. They only gave it to customers who bought it during live broadcasts. The price has also gone up to 299,000 won.
└ That’s a lot of money. I don’t believe it
Park Choong-In took out another cigarette and lit it.
The home appliances he had planned so far. They had been on SeobSeobi’s YouTube judgment seat several times. The steam iron with the highest sales had an 8-point rating, right? The additional sales after the broadcast exceeded 500 million won.
Park Choong-In stubbed out his cigarette and got up from his seat.
It was not like he was told to watch SeobSeobi’s broadcast for entertainment. He should have been happy about the rating, but for some reason, his mouth tasted bitter.
As he was about to close his cell phone, a familiar word flowed out, and he fixed his gaze on the screen again.
[ Now! We can’t end it like this, can we? What did It’s Home Shopping launch the next day? 200,000 won vs. 1 million won. Wow. Can’t miss this. ]
└ Oh, I was wondering about this
└ MilkBot! This is really good
└ Mr. SeobSeobi. Hit us with your harshest review
Park Choong-In sat back down on the bench. Reviewing MilkBot right after Home Run? What the hell is this guy doing?
[ That’s right, MilkBot. There’s a story here. I haven’t received my package yet, you know? But just in time, one of the viewers sent it to my office via courier. sunny1004, thank you. I’ll review it carefully and return it properly. Shall we take a look? HomeRun vs. MilkBot. MilkBot vs. HomeRun. Cost-effectiveness and emotional value. Just a moment. I’ll set it up quickly, so, viewers, grab a cup of coffee. Shall we check it out together? ]