Du Sheng didn't force it.

After all, he still has a lot of work to do.

In addition to "The Twin Dragons" which will be broadcast at the end of the month, I will have to make a trip to North America later.

The busy filming made time fly, and it was already mid-September.

At noon that day, Du Sheng left the crew and took a car to the airport to fly to North America.

Ye Jingzhi called, with some relief:

"Ah Sheng, Girls' Generation's new album is really a big hit just as you expected!
At the beginning, 20 copies were distributed in the mainland, and some channels were out of stock in the first week.

Fortunately, Sony overseas had already made preparations and has now replenished the stock to 50 copies.

Moreover, Renren.com has also added more inventory..."

Girls' Generation's new album took the market by storm.

And set an amazing sales record!
Sony's public relations articles have gradually evolved from initially exceeding 30 sales in a single week to a monthly sales volume expected to exceed 100 million.

In this regard, Liao Jieyong, president of Sony Greater China, said that apart from "The Sheng of Love", these were the only two most authentic sales data reports in his career.

The album "I Miss You Not Because I'm Lonely" has been online for half a month and its sales in Asia have actually exceeded 80 copies.

If we exaggerate it further, it would seem a bit outrageous.

There are several reasons why this album is so popular.

First of all, the four members of Girls' Generation are currently extremely popular and have a huge fan base.

This album, for which Du Sheng wrote the lyrics and music, also received support from Du Sheng's fans.

Secondly, the album itself is of excellent quality.

The songs included are all widely circulated classics and have received unanimous praise.

Good word of mouth led to a continuous increase in subsequent sales.

Third, since Du Sheng's previous works have achieved huge success in the market, Sony also attaches great importance to Girls' Generation's album.

In addition, Interstellar Media also fully supports the sales and promotion of this album.

Most importantly, online sales channels played an important role in this sales.

Girls' Generation's albums are not only sold on Renren.com, but also on Kugou, Qianqian Jingting, and Taobao.
Although Taobao and other platforms are not the main sales channels, their existence helps to expand and broaden sales.

As a young platform integrating diversity, Renren has accumulated a group of loyal users.

Through the sales of the albums "I Have You in My Heart" and "I Miss You Not Because I'm Lonely", Renren has gradually expanded its user base.

Compared with traditional physical stores, Renren only charges a 3% channel fee, which is much lower than the 13% commonly charged by physical stores and music and video stores, making the album prices more affordable.

The strategic decisions for these two albums were naturally made jointly by Zhong Zhen and Du Sheng.

The purpose is to promote fast payment services.

In view of the fact that Taobao has already launched the Alipay function and the large number of pirated goods on Taobao pose a threat to Renren, Kuai Pay and Renren have already established channel exchange to meet common challenges.

In order to promote the application of quick payment, Zhong Zhen also asked Renren to launch a promotional campaign.

When consumers purchase the genuine album of "I Miss You Not Because I'm Lonely", they can choose quick payment to get a random 5~15% discount.

And have a chance to win a Girls' Generation autographed poster, limited to one offer per customer.

Faced with the rampant piracy market, the prices of genuine albums have been reduced this year.

Taking the album "I Miss You Not Because I'm Lonely" as an example, the CD is priced at 15 yuan and the tape is 10 yuan. After the discount, the lowest price is only 8 yuan.

No matter how cheap pirated copies are, they still cost a few dollars.

In comparison, the opportunity to purchase an authentic album for 8 yuan and get a signed poster is undoubtedly more attractive.

In order to promote this event, YY also launched a large number of pop-up ads.

The results were unexpectedly good.

Therefore, sales of this album by Girls' Generation through their own channels accounted for more than half of the total sales.

Such a strategy naturally caused dissatisfaction among physical store channels.

However, with the development of digitalization, more economical and convenient online shopping experiences are gradually replacing traditional methods.

Even if physical stores have objections, it is difficult to stop this trend.

To support this collaboration, Kuai Pay has currently invested more than two million yuan in discounts and marketing promotions.

The rewards were also quite generous, and the number of registered users of Kuai Pay quickly exceeded 5 million.

Most of the revenue from album sales will eventually go to Interstellar Media.

Renren and YY Voice also benefited greatly, with millions of new registered users each.

During this period, Quick Pay also updated its online business, through which users can recharge currency, pay the three major operators, purchase game point cards, or draw shopping benefits.

With the addition of more partners in the future, the functions of quick payment will become more comprehensive and the application scenarios will become more extensive.

It can be said that Star Media made a lot of money from this wave of collaboration.

What is more foreseeable is that the album 'Girls' Generation' will also set a new record.

According to Sony's forecast, it is a foregone conclusion that the sales of "Not Because I Miss You Because I'm Lonely" will exceed 120 million.

It is not impossible to hit 150 million.

As for whether it can reach sales of 200 million?
It depends on the follow-up activities and marketing.

Because once the linkage subsidies are completed, a sharp drop in sales will be inevitable.

But that’s next month.

As the album sales continued to rise, the schedules of the girls of Girls' Generation became extremely tight.

They travel around the country, participating in book signings, variety shows, and media interviews.

Liu Yifei was so busy that she didn't even have time to take care of the promotion of "The Twin Dragons of the Tang Dynasty".

Despite the long journey, their popularity soared again during this period and their status also improved.

If we call them a top group in mainland China today, I'm afraid no one will object.

Ye Jingzhi sighed:
"Girls' Generation is so lucky to have your support and help create this group.

Two albums and a "Chinese Paladin" drama have put him at the top. If he can produce another hit, he will definitely become a legend."

Du Sheng smiled as he got out of the car:
"These are just arguments among fans, we don't need to take it seriously.

Besides, there are many competitors, and recently there have been endless negative comments attacking Liu Yifei and others.

You have to hold Sony accountable, and not just let us relieve the pressure on public opinion, they also make a lot of money."

The market in both sides of the Taiwan Straits and Hong Kong and Macau is so small that Girls' Generation's sudden emergence is bound to cause jealousy among their peers.

Moreover, the main consumers are students, who have limited pocket money every month. If they buy one store, they will not be able to support another.

Therefore, the fate of the singers who released albums at the same time as Girls' Generation can be imagined.

In order to reverse the decline, trying to damage the image of Girls' Generation is a common tactic.

The most common rumor was that Du Sheng had an improper relationship with several members of Girls' Generation.

Although Du Sheng has always had a bottom line, such rumors are difficult to dispel.

In addition, many Girls' Generation fans also tend to agree with this statement, after all, this group was created by him.

Moreover, whenever Liu Yifei, Yang Mi, Liu Shishi, and Tang Yan mentioned Du Sheng, they would always unconsciously reveal their feelings of closeness and joy.

If we insist that they have no personal relationship, probably only their die-hard fans would believe it.

Fortunately, Du Sheng has platform resources such as Renren and has also built a public opinion team, so these negative attacks did not spread further.

After hearing what Du Sheng said, Ye Jingzhi nodded in agreement:

"I'll talk to Sony tomorrow. You're about to board the plane, right? Let's talk later."

In order to participate in the competition and possibly cooperate with Sony headquarters to handle the shooting of the English album MV, Du Sheng rushed to the Lighthouse Country that day.

Don King is indeed a decisive person.

During this preparation period, he has already put in place matters such as venue rental, warm-up event arrangements, brand endorsements, press conferences, and sponsorship from local Chinese business groups.

Du Sheng's match against Anderson Silva will be held at the Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The venue covers a large area and can accommodate approximately 18 spectators.

Although this number does not sound huge, in North America, in order to ensure the best viewing experience for the audience, even the most anticipated championship games are usually held in venues with only about 2 people.

Therefore, the ticket prices are naturally much higher.

UFC also invested a lot of resources in this game and exclusively rented the Mobile Arena for two days.

In addition to the live broadcast agreement with Spike TV, Don King has also signed contracts with several satellite on-demand service providers such as In Demand, DirecTV and Dish Network.

Although UFC's popularity cannot be compared with boxing for the time being, this event has long been hotly discussed.

The gimmick of K1 Fighting King VS UFC Middleweight Champion is itself an excellent selling point.

After consultation with the two promotion companies, UFC organizers decided to jointly hold a press conference to further increase the popularity of the event.

At the same time, the tension between Du Sheng and "Spider" Anderson became even more intense.

"Will there be any media interviews later? How will Don King arrange it?"

After boarding the plane, Du Sheng turned and asked Wang Yaoyang.

"Yes, he arranged for you to be interviewed by the media in the evening, which will also include a signing ceremony with the Chamber of Commerce sponsors..."

Wang Yaoyang opened his notebook and answered in detail. Zhang Haolong and others also accompanied him because they had a chance to make a fortune. They excitedly added:

"The NBA is currently holding preseason games, and many domestic media outlets that have been waiting for the UFC event are rushing to the event as soon as they know about it."

Du Sheng was not surprised by this.

The NBA plays preseason games every September.

It’s just that the intensity is average, and it will take more than half a year, so it goes without saying who to interview first.

Wang Yaoyang handed Du Sheng an international newspaper:
"Recently, Anderson Silva said in an interview that yellow people are not worthy of holding the North American championship belt, and threatened to beat you in one round!"

Everyone turned their heads and were speechless.

This report records an exclusive interview with Anderson Silva, in which he mentioned passively accepting the title defense.

From what he said, it seems that the reason he accepted this decision was because he was tricked by the organizer.

Zhang Haolong shook his head and smiled:
"No wonder they accepted it so readily. It turned out that the organizers were putting extreme pressure on them."

As for the other party's racially discriminatory remarks, although infuriating, they are very common in the fighting world.

Du Sheng was not angry about this, but just smiled meaningfully:
"It's quite interesting. I think there will be big changes in the UFC this time!"

Boxers like Iceman and Spider have been avoiding fighting, which has long annoyed UFC executives.

With UFC pushing behind the scenes this time, there is a high probability that they will take advantage of the situation to introduce some restrictive policies.

For example, in rule matches, promotion matches, title defense matches, etc., loopholes of deliberate delays or avoidance will be filled.

However, in a sense, this adjustment not only increases the intensity of the competition, but also increases the exposure of the event.

For Du Sheng, the more the better.

In addition, Anderson Silva, as a UFC superstar, actually revealed such inside information, which will undoubtedly attract a lot of criticism.

This can also increase the popularity of the game, which is also a good thing.

His contract with UFC is based on profit-sharing, and how much he earns is entirely up to him.

His previous anti-China rhetoric and this war of words undoubtedly brought in more audiences and box office guarantees.

In fact, ever since the UFC official website announced the match lineup, it has caused widespread discussion in North America.

"Facing the UFC middleweight champion, you still dare to say you can knock him out in one round?"

Many boxing fans expressed their desire to buy tickets to enter the venue to see whether this yellow man who speaks so arrogantly is really as powerful as his mouth cannon.

Chinese people who had watched the Du Sheng vs. Iceman match before also became more interested after seeing the report.

After all, there are not many Chinese boxers who can make it into the top ten of UFC in the world.

It would be quite exciting if Du Sheng really won a gold belt in North America.

Not to mention the reputation gained, this heated discussion also invisibly increases the attention to the competition.

Of course, attention alone is not enough.

If Du Sheng wants to stir up public opinion, or even turn negative comments into real benefits, he naturally needs to win the support of more Chinese compatriots.

The war of words at this press conference is inevitable.

That night, Du Sheng and his group just got off the plane and appeared.
"Sports Weekly", "Hupu Entertainment", "Basketball Pioneer" and others flocked to the action.

From the moment they stepped out of the passage, the camera kept clicking.

Especially when Du Sheng appeared in the terminal, a group of white and Chinese fans holding large posters of him quickly surrounded him.

The two passages were almost completely blocked.

If it wasn't peak time, the security personnel would probably be overwhelmed.

All of this was recorded by the "Kung Fu" crew and the "Sports Weekly" camera.

The former plans to broadcast this video as a behind-the-scenes feature of the "Kung Fu" program on Yangshi Channel 5.

The latter plans to write a special column in the sports section to tell Du Sheng's story in the UFC arena.

"Mr. Du, how do you feel when facing so many enthusiastic Chinese fans?"

Seeing that Du Sheng had finally dealt with the fans' enthusiasm, the reporter from Sports Weekly looked at the lively scene in front of him and asked questions with a smile.

"To be honest, it was quite unexpected."

Du Sheng smiled and replied:

"Especially at this late hour, with so many fans coming to pick us up at the airport..."

Since he aims to develop globally, he will not exclude fans of any nationality.

On the contrary, being able to win the recognition of the audience in the Beacon Country through one's strength is an honor in itself.

This is one of the reasons why international brands such as Coca-Cola, Sony and Cartier are optimistic about him.

The Kung Fu crew also took the opportunity to raise a question:
"How does it feel to challenge the No.1 middleweight champion directly in the famous Mobile Stadium?"

Du Sheng was calm and said with a smile:
"I hope the champion 'Spider' can last a full round, otherwise the North American fighting scene is rotten."

Everyone laughed when they heard this.

If it were in the past, they might have said that Du Sheng was too arrogant.

But now, based on his unbeatable achievements, this is no joke.

If even the 'Spider' can't last a round, who will be Du Sheng's opponent in the future?
Many people became excited when they thought about the situation where no one dared to accept the challenge and the Chinese dominated the world.

The reporters said no more, but smiled with satisfaction:

“I wish you a successful start and win the championship in one fell swoop!”

On the way to the hotel, fans holding banners supporting Du Sheng could be vaguely seen.

The hotel also prepared a special commemorative card for this distinguished guest, which read:

"The Sniper God returns to the Lighthouse to witness the pinnacle battle together!"

Information about this battle is played on a loop every day on the huge LED screen outside the Mobile Stadium.

In fact, a round-the-clock propaganda campaign began here three days ago.

From the entrances and exits of Las Vegas to important locations, there are also various promotional photos.

From this, it can be seen that the UFC board of directors obviously regards Du Sheng as a key target of publicity.

They even tried to shape him into the new spokesperson for UFC.

Just like Conor McGregor in his previous life, he attracted the attention of boxing fans all over the world.

Even the experienced crew members were shocked to see such a large-scale publicity.

"This is because you have demonstrated amazing strength, and the UFC board of directors is ready to take advantage of this opportunity to expand its global influence."

If Tang Jin, who came to pick him up at the airport, hadn't explained a few words, I'm afraid everyone would have thought that Du Sheng was already so famous in North America.

At present, in addition to UFC, there are three other MMA fighting events in the world: PRIDE, Strikeforce, and WEC.

UFC wants to dominate the market and even attract Asian boxing fans, and this championship fight is the best publicity benchmark.

"In addition, we also spent money on these promotions. Otherwise, do you think UFC would be willing to do so..."

Du Sheng smiled, and then he understood.

However, it is indeed rare to pay some money and have North American forces take the initiative to help expand the popularity of the company.

After arriving at their accommodation, Tang Jin, Ma Yaowei and others immediately became busy.

They may communicate with reporters, arrange post-match press conferences, or handle sponsorship matters.

There were no less than a hundred journalists from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong and Macau who came here this time, and the reporting team of the Yangshi News Broadcast also came specially.

If Du Sheng can win the championship, his fame and achievements will quickly spread.

The popularity and reputation it brings are equally immeasurable!
That night, Du Sheng had just finished the press conference and sponsorship matters when he received a call from Taylor.

This blonde girl is also on a trip in Las Vegas.

At 21 p.m., Taylor appeared in sight.

She was wearing a light blue dress and her hair fell naturally over her shoulders, looking particularly dazzling under the light.

When Taylor saw Du Sheng from afar, his eyes suddenly lit up like two bright little stars.

She walked with brisk steps, her skirt flying, and almost trotted towards Du Sheng.

"Brother Sheng!"

Taylor's voice was filled with uncontrollable excitement.

Her face was filled with a bright smile and her cheeks were lightly flushed.

Du Sheng looked at Taylor running towards him and was quite surprised. He smiled and opened his arms.

The moment the two embraced each other, it seemed as if time had stood still, and the noise around them seemed to have become a sweet background sound.

"Brother Sheng, you haven't been here for a long time. I missed you so much."

Taylor raised his head and looked at Du Sheng with sparkling eyes full of gratitude and joy:
"By the way, did you know that my album Tim McGraw was ranked No. 200 on the Billboard 10? I haven't thanked you enough yet!"

If it weren’t for Du Sheng’s strong support, it would have been unknown whether her album could be released.

Not to mention that the album’s success was largely due to the scandal with him.

So, there is no taboo at all about coming to visit tonight.

………(End of chapter)