Chapter 110: A Reward of HK$1

Chapter 110: A Reward of HK$1

Chapter 110 A Reward of HK$
Wei Zetao said: “Mr. Yang, I have thought about this problem during this period. This Rubik’s Cube is different from your previous two products;
Both post-it notes and sticky mouse boards are very practical and have very powerful effects. Once they are launched on the market and people understand their uses, they are very likely to be willing to pay for them as long as there is a demand for them, because these two things can bring them benefits.

But the Rubik's Cube is a new toy, and unlike cartoon and mechanical toys, people can tell its purpose at a glance. I guess our biggest challenge in the future will be to tell people how to play with the Rubik's Cube."

"The analysis is correct." Yang Wendong nodded.

Not to mention this era when communication is extremely difficult, even in the 21st century when mobile Internet can connect to everyone, it is very difficult to promote a new toy. It must carry a very popular idea.

In Hong Kong today, even if you are not short of money, it is difficult to advertise because the cost of using television is very high. There are only about 20 households in Hong Kong that own a television. The number of newspaper customers is also not as high as it will be in years because many people are illiterate.

Wei Zetao glanced at Hong Xuefei next to him, and then said, "I discussed it with Lao Hong. Maybe the method you encouraged us to study the Rubik's Cube restoration techniques in the beginning might be quite suitable for us to promote the Rubik's Cube?"

"You mean, we're offering a reward to the first person who can figure out how to crack the Rubik's Cube and restore it?" Yang Wendong asked with a smile.

When the Rubik's Cube was first made, he jokingly said that he would give out 1000 yuan as a reward to whoever could find a way to restore the Rubik's Cube.

Hong Xuefei nodded and said, "Yes, I was quite interested at the time, but it was too difficult. I studied it for half a month but still had no clue.

With my financial situation, I am considered quite well off among ordinary people in Hong Kong. If I am tempted, then others will surely be the same. So as long as a reward is offered, there will definitely be people who will try.”

"That makes sense." Yang Wendong asked with a smile, "Then how much do you think the reward should be?"

"1000 is too little. I think 1000 to is about right." Wei Zetao thought for a moment and said, "If we want to attract consumers from all over Hong Kong, we have to spend more money. Although can attract most people, it may not attract media attention. If that's the case, it will be difficult for us to tell everyone about this."

“Well, relying on the popularity of the event itself, and then letting the media take the initiative to report it?” Yang Wendong smiled. This is a bit like the self-media era in later generations, but in this era, what the media broadcasts is decided by the media companies themselves, rather than the big data derived from the traffic in later generations.

Then he added: "Three or five thousand is not enough, how about ten thousand? Isn't that more impressive? Four zeros after the 1, it feels great, doesn't it?"

"1?" Wei Zetao and Hong Xuefei were also shocked. They originally thought that the boss might not agree to the offer even if it was or yuan, but they didn't expect it to be doubled.

Even they are very excited about 10,000 Hong Kong dollars. This amount of money is enough to buy an ordinary house in an ordinary location in Hong Kong; or, in the vicinity of Central, it can pay for the mortgage of a decent house.
"This is the only way to be attractive enough." Yang Wendong paused and said, "As long as it is attractive enough, more people will naturally come to buy it. Let's not talk about whether others can get the reward. Even if they do, as long as the popularity is high enough, more people will buy it, and we can make back the price."

"That's true." Wei Zetao thought about it and felt that it made sense, and asked, "What if someone cracks it quickly?"

"It's unlikely." Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "But if there really is such a person, I should give him money. This is the rule we set ourselves.

Moreover, we can also use this person as a hype, there are many ways to do it, don’t worry too much.”

Yang Wendong, who has experienced the Internet era, has a stronger understanding of many methods of hyping products than in this era, especially Lei Jun’s various operations, which often make Yang Wendong dumbfounded.
However, there is actually no need to worry about this, because the possibility of someone cracking the Rubik's Cube recovery method in a short period of time is almost zero; this is not luck, but a very complex mathematical problem.

In the past, a scientist did a calculation. If an ordinary person was given a Rubik's Cube and was not told the method or formula to restore it, it would take him 26 years to restore it.

And this is just recovery. To recover once and to summarize the method to recover in every state is extremely difficult.

When Wei Zetao heard his boss say this, he didn't think much about it and asked again: "Then how much should we set for the Rubik's Cube?"

He also knows the approximate price range for general toys, because there are always many products of the same category. If his products are not special, he must set the price at a similar level to others, otherwise he will not be able to sell them or will lose money.

But the Rubik's Cube is a new toy, there are no similar products, and even this kind of educational toys are very rare. So how to set the price is something we have to do by trial and error.

Yang Wendong put down the Rubik's Cube in his hand and said, "I plan to set our ex-factory price at HK$2.5. The terminal selling price, taking into account the profit given to dealers, will be around 3 to 4 yuan."

"3 yuan?" Wei Zetao and Hong Xuefei were shocked. They pondered for a moment, then Wei Zetao said, "Mr. Yang, this price is too expensive. Toys in Hong Kong, except for some complex electronic toys, rarely cost this much. And these are still under foreign brands and sold in large shopping malls."

"You think it's expensive, but I don't." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "The same food, in the United States and Europe, the price is ridiculously cheap. Maybe a person can buy hundreds of kilograms of food with the salary he earns from working for a day.

But in Hong Kong, many ordinary people can only buy a few kilograms of food after working hard all day, which is barely enough to support their families; if it is in some Southeast Asian countries or Africa, they may not be able to buy half a kilogram of food after working all day, and even if they want to work, they don’t have the opportunity to do so. You should know why, right? "

In the early 80s, when the Rubik's Cube was launched, it was also priced high, because this thing was meant for people with high education, at least that was the case in the early days.

When it is difficult to sell in large quantities at the beginning, you naturally have to set a high price because the cost of advertising is also high.

The Rubik's Cube itself has the ability to spread its fame. As time goes by, its fame and sales will gradually increase. It's just that this process is relatively slow. What Yang Wendong needs to do now is to speed up this step as much as possible, otherwise he will have to wait a long time.

As for the Rubik's Cube in the Internet era, it is super cheap because the patent expired long ago and it all depends on cost.

"Because the social environment is different, the basic work values ​​brought about are different." Wei Zetao answered without much thought. This is a question that many people have considered before.

The same job, such as plumber, is very common in Hong Kong, with a monthly salary of only about 70 or 80 Hong Kong dollars; but in the United States, doing the same job can earn ten times or even more.

It's just so unfair.
Yang Wendong nodded and said, “Yes, this is true for people, and it is the same for commodities. If it is something that can be produced everywhere, then its value depends on other production costs.

But our products are unique, so we look at the social cost, but the problem is that our products are very small, and if the global prices are different, it will form a profit chain for others, so we must set similar prices around the world;
In this case, in order to maximize profits, we need to set prices for other places based on the costs that European and American societies can bear. Everything should be centered on the European and American markets.”

Small commodities such as sticky notes and Rubik's Cubes are small in size and have high profits. These commodities are like the iPhone in later generations. They should not be priced the same all over the world, but at least they should be similar. The difference is generally caused by different tariffs in different countries. Otherwise, many people will find the "genuine smuggling benefits" and start this kind of business. Although the property rights holders can deal with it legally, there is no need to torment themselves like this. It is too energy-consuming, and there may be many people doing this, and it is difficult to investigate.

On the contrary, some large items can be priced completely differently in different markets around the world. For example, cars can be priced according to the business environment of different markets. For example, the price of Santana in the 80s was much higher in China than in Europe and the United States because there was no automobile industry chain in China at that time. Similarly, in the 21s, the price of Volkswagen ID20 in China was 7 yuan, but it cost 20 or yuan in Europe.
After listening to this, Wei Zetao also understood and said, "Mr. Yang is planning to classify the Rubik's Cube as a high-end toy and go for a high-priced route?"

"Yes." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "The Rubik's Cube is different from ordinary toys. It has no playability. If you give it to a child, the child will definitely throw it away.

So our Rubik's Cube is different from most toys. Adults are our customers, and we want them to buy it to play with themselves or give it to their teenage children.

The desire for our children to be successful is not unique to us Chinese. Parents are naturally willing to spend money on things that can improve their children’s IQ.”

"Good for IQ?" Wei Zetao asked happily, "Mr. Yang, is this how we will promote in the future?"

"Yes, how to restore the Rubik's Cube requires people to think." Yang Wendong said with a smile: "So it can indeed improve people's thinking ability. As for IQ, this thing itself is also false, so it can't be considered false propaganda."

"Mr. Yang is really thoughtful." Wei Zetao has roughly understood the boss's market positioning for the Rubik's Cube.

Yang Wendong continued, "There is another problem. I can offer 10,000 Hong Kong dollars, but how can I let many people know about this? This is the most difficult thing."

The cost of publicity is often higher than that of research and development. Even in an era when TikTok and self-media are rampant, it is extremely difficult to let everyone in a city know about something or an event. It requires huge capital to push it forward, and it may not necessarily succeed.

The Rubik's Cube became famous in the past because it had been popular for decades, but now it is still a strange thing. Even if some people are interested in it when they see it, it is impossible to show it to everyone one by one, right?
Even if we have TikTok in this era, and push something across the board, it is impossible to make even a part of the people immediately interested in something.

Wei Zetao thought for a moment and said, "Mr. Yang, only highly educated people should be able to restore the Rubik's Cube. Our initial customers should be this group of people."

"Yes, you have thought of it." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "I have also thought about this problem. Hong Kong's highly educated talents should be gathered in Central, but it is unlikely that we can promote it there, and we can't do it.

But there is another place that fits the bill: college!"

"University? It's a good place. Hong Kong college students basically come from wealthy families." Wei Zetao nodded and said.

Yang Wendong said with a smile: "Their family is rich, so it doesn't matter if they spend a few dollars to buy the Rubik's Cube. The prize money for the Rubik's Cube is tens of thousands, which is also a lot of money for them, especially for individuals."

The truly wealthy families in Hong Kong naturally send their children to study abroad, mainly in the UK, followed by Canada and Australia.

The next step, of course, was to go to university in Hong Kong. The University of Hong Kong, founded in 1910, was nothing compared to the top foreign universities, but the families that could afford to send such students were at least part of the wealthier middle class in Hong Kong.

"I have a friend who knows a professor at the University of Hong Kong. Maybe I can get in through his connection," Wei Zetao said with a smile.

"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded. Hong Kong is so small that people who can make it in life basically have had some interactions with each other in the past, or have formed groups for warmth, so they can always connect with each other through one or two people.

The next day, the group arrived at the University of Hong Kong campus on Bofulin Road.

On the tree-lined path, Wei Zetao said with a smile: "Mr. Yang, do you know the history of the University of Hong Kong?"

"I'm not sure, I just know it was founded around 1910," Yang Wendong replied.

Wei Zetao said: "Yes, but in the early days, it was more like a school than a university, with only dozens of people graduating each year. The University of Hong Kong was supported by the Hong Kong government in 1948 and expanded on a large scale. Although it is still far from foreign universities, the talents it has cultivated are very good for Hong Kong."

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Well, in the future, we have to recruit some people who graduated here."

"We still have to wait until we have a certain scale." Wei Zetao smiled and said, "Many Chinese factories have come here to recruit people, but after a few days of trouble, only one person came, and that was a student who was eliminated by several major foreign companies in Hong Kong.

Graduates here tend to work in government agencies or British-owned companies, so it’s still difficult for Chinese companies to recruit people.”

"It's normal. Hong Kong is now dominated by British capital." Yang Wendong didn't care.

This is also normal. Normal people do not consider the future of the company when seeking employment, and most likely they do not understand it. They only look at the scale and the benefits they can get now.

Soon, several people came to an office, and a bald man about 50 years old received them.

After hearing the purpose of their visit, he was also very shocked and asked, "1 Hong Kong dollars? Are you kidding?"

"Of course it's real." Yang Wendong smiled, then took out a bank check from his pocket and said, "This is a bank check of 10,000 Hong Kong dollars from Liao Chong Hing Bank. Anyone who gets it can go directly to the bank. After the bank confirms with me, they will give you cash directly."

To cash a large check, the bank needs authorization from the signatory, which is also a way to protect accounts that are not connected to the Internet in this era.

The professor looked at the check with a hint of greed in his eyes, and then asked: "What if we teachers crack the method?"

(End of this chapter)