Chapter 110: Chapter 110: The Role of Advertising
Although Steve Jobs wasn't too thrilled, he completed the task overall. William White did give him some credit, so he owed him a favor.
Some things are paradoxes -- while it looks like William White gave in, he actually gained more benefits. A favor given isn't always the best deal.
If the Apple II significantly improved without much price change, competitors would surely go crazy. Tandy and Commodore already lagged behind Apple. If there's another big hit, they might seriously question their existence.
They're bound to chase Motorola. This is entirely predictable. The factories in Japan aren't ready yet. They'll need about three months to streamline production.
Jobs knows White's plan but still ended up owing a favor. This support is already quite good. Being too greedy isn't right.
The beauty of a straightforward strategy is that knowing it doesn't help you.
Apple won't change overnight. They still need a series of tests, but since the changes aren't big, the timeline is manageable.
...
Arcade machines suddenly appeared in America, quickly attracting many game enthusiasts.
Americans really loved to play, leading to a bit of a supply shortage. Those who first took the leap were quite happy with their returns.
Go buy one now? Not so easy. All three factories in Japan couldn't keep up with production. There was no hope for this year.
Overproduction wasn't news in this era. Almost every product was overproduced. Yet here was a demand outpacing supply. It was truly maddening.
Tetris? Why's it all Russian music? Call it Russian Tetris, it seems more fitting.
Nobody would blame William White for this music. That'd just make you look foolish. When people say music knows no borders, anyone objecting becomes the subject of ridicule.
"Mr. William White, why isn't it Texas music?"
Faced with journalist questions, William White could only reply, "This game was inspired by nesting dolls. When playing piano compositions, I saw nesting dolls on the shelf, and I thought they were cool. So I decided to develop a game, and my engineers did great. I suppose Tchaikovsky gave me the inspiration. He guided me forward. You can look at this music as a tribute. It's really important to me."
His classy response left the reporters stunned. They never doubted William White's storytelling ability but didn't expect such high sophistication.
This was just some nonsense someone made up. He was used to music from a past life, and using something else was uncomfortable.
Plus, there was the issue of copyright. It's a huge expense. Without enough money, you can't get music from bands like The Beatles.
...
Legendary World's arcade machines were selling like hotcakes, and Atari was having a really hard time. Their game consoles seemed like a battle of fools.
This was the pressure of the times; you couldn't resist it. The graphics were different, the sound was different, and the gameplay was completely different.
The level of superiority was just speechless, and there were no words to even argue against it.
The most terrible thing was that many orders were being canceled. People preferred compensation rather than keeping the consoles.
Their home game consoles faced the same challenges. Many dealers were hesitating since Legendary World announced they would develop home consoles, predicting their demise as well.
They spent over a hundred million developing the consoles, and before they could even start selling, they were already down. This was a very deadly blow.
It was predictable that Atari's profits for the year were in doubt. Warner's stocks being sold off in bulk explained the situation well.
Wall Street elites absolutely did not believe in their comeback. William White wasn't slowing down; three more games were coming out this year.
As for the three hot-selling games now, they were just small tests. They didn't even utilize the platform's advantages. It was just a little idea from the boss. The three at the year's end would be grand productions, and a completely different thing.
Like their boss, William White's companies also had a habit of showing off in a humble way that made people furious.
Though they knew it was a tactic, reporters had to follow their steps. News was meant to be eye-catching, and they even prepared the headlines for you.
The problem with diversified operations was clear. When a project failed, it lowered your entire company's value. Sticking with it was useless. If not handled soon, the whole group could be in big trouble.
...
Steve Ross was very frustrated. The famed Warner was being torn apart by a newcomer. Movies weren't doing well, comics were inferior, and game consoles were being utterly defeated.
Looking back now, besides TV and print media, Warner Group was thoroughly suppressed. Turns out, United Artists wasn't even worthy of being a rival; their real target was Warner.
Steve Ross was great at capital operations. Previously, such situations would make him excited.
The logic was simple: acquisition through various means. The stronger you were, the happier he got.
Times were different now.
Acquisition?
Were they joking?
William White didn't lack loans, but they were very limited, and banks were practically begging him to take them.
It was a private enterprise, not even a public company. Acquisition was out of the question. The beverage company had many shareholders, but Warner wasn't interested in drinks!
...
A drinking water company, whose factory wasn't even built, already received many orders. It left Bush Jr. dumbfounded -- what kind of operation was this?
"Darn, is grape juice really that good? Is this real or not?"
"With so many authoritative documents, what can you doubt?"
The wealthy truly didn't care. They had fresh juice, but the middle class was different. Since the theme was health, it wouldn't be too bad, and many families were planning to try it out.
As for the kids, of course, they would like Transformers drinks.
These ads running in the U.S. were clearly a mess.
As for the reason?
It was well known.
...
To some advertisers, William White was just a fool with too much money. Those absurd ads were senseless, neither promoting comics nor benefiting products.
Unfortunately, their judgment was off once again. Two drinks, whose products' locations were unknown, became popular overnight.
Everyone knew these weren't drink ads, but why did they have such a great effect? It was truly baffling.
Ad agencies noticed the comics weekly's promotional effectiveness and tried to reconnect with Viking Comics for ad space.
Sadly, the comics company wasn't easy to deal with. They suggested waiting till the end of the year for ad bidding for the next year. The company had no plans to sell ad space individually.
"Darn, are you kidding? Either no contract or a year-long one, the highest bidder wins, and only one similar product is chosen. You figure it out?"
No buyers?
No problem, the boss will take them all. Buy if you want.
Ad agencies were dumbstruck. They had never seen such a forceful media outlet, acting utterly indifferent.
They had no choice. If international brands were interested, they naturally had to strive for it.
The comic weekly's sales had reached five million, an impressive figure even Marvel couldn't achieve.
Americans read comics differently than in Japan; they preferred graphic novels. Such strong-arming wasn't appropriate.
When are the graphic novels coming out?
A year later.
That number left many speechless.
...
William White obviously knew graphic novels were profitable, but his comic weekly was still in the growth phase, far below the sales he wanted.
This wasn't him being pretentious or over-ambitious. Japan's sales hadn't peaked yet, and the U.S. market hadn't even started. If all went well, ten million in sales was still very hopeful.
Ad campaigns costing millions versus tens of millions were worlds apart. With more effort in promotion, reaching the goal didn't seem difficult.
With such a comic following, merchandise and animated series could thrive. Toys and merchandise required an audience.
If you had ten million in sales, selling those wouldn't be a problem. That's where the real money was, not mere comic weeklies.
...
Star Wars' box office finally showed a decline. Films released at the same time were not doing well. Hollywood big shots were very curious if White Films could keep succeeding.
There were similar doubts among his colleagues. Even Eddie Murphy was quite worried. This was his first film as the lead actor. If successful, his career would certainly flourish. If it failed, he might not go back to square one, but a quiet period was inevitable.
"Don't worry, Eddie. Many love Star Wars, but there are plenty who don't. Our film is different, appealing to a much broader audience."
"Hope so, boss. I sure don't want to mess this up. A lot has been spent on promotion this time."
"Haha, don't worry. No opponent can beat us yet. These ads aren't wasted; they'll bring great returns."
*****
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