All-round Athlete

Chapter 288

In a small village at the foot of the mountain in Mendoza Province, Argentina, Blake turned on his cell phone, and immediately received several text messages alerting him to calls.

The call was made by Black's colleague and friend Antonio. Blackley knew that there must be something in the company, so he called back immediately.

"Blake, you are finally willing to answer the phone!" Antonio's voice sounded.

"Antonio, I told you before, I'm on vacation, climbing in Argentina, Mount Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere! The altitude is close to 7,000 meters, and there is no mobile phone signal there!" Black explained.

"So you haven't watched the news recently, have you?" Antonio continued, "You don't know anything about Zhang Guan?"

"What about Zhang Guan? Hahaha, of course I know! He has been banned and blocked by the field management center of their country, right? I knew this before I was on vacation. And I also released Zhang Guan's manager. signed an endorsement contract for the next two years!"

"At that time, we signed a four-year endorsement agreement with Zhang Guan worth 10 million U.S. dollars. Now there are two years left, which means we have to pay him 5 million U.S. dollars. However, if Zhang Guan is suspended, he will have no endorsement value at all. .And I only spent 200,000 US dollars in liquidated damages to terminate this endorsement contract. I saved 4.8 million US dollars for the group! If we hadn’t known that Zhang Guan was suspended, we might have spent more The 4.8 million dollars is a waste of money." Blake said here, his eyebrows were beaming, and he said excitedly: "Does the board of directors appreciate my decision very much? They should give me a salary increase!"

"The board of directors is discussing whether to transfer you to Africa!" Antonio snorted coldly.

"What? Transferred to Africa? Antonio, stop kidding me!" Black said. He felt that he had made great contributions and should be commended. Transfer to Africa? That was the next punishment next to being fired.

"Black, I suggest you read the news quickly! Sports news, about the Australian Open." Antonio sighed, and then said: "Zhang Guan has advanced to the final of the Australian Open, and he will compete with Federer for this year's Australian Tennis Champion of the Open."

"What are you talking about? Australian Open? Zhang Guan is a track and field athlete!" Blake said angrily, "Antonio, it's not April Fool's Day now! And we are friends, you shouldn't make such a cheap joke with me!"

"Blake, I knew you wouldn't believe it. Your mobile phone should be able to access the Internet. You can use your mobile phone to search to see if what I said is true!" Antonio said helplessly.

Black hung up the phone, and immediately searched for news about the Australian Open on his phone.

"The biggest dark horse in the history of the Australian Open, Zhang Guan advanced to the final! "

"What?" Black suddenly felt dizzy and almost sat down on the ground.

...

A month ago, when Zhang Guan was suspended by the field management center, Black got the news. As the group's director of marketing, Black contacted the champion team immediately, requesting early termination of Zhang Guan's endorsement contract. In Black's view, Zhang Guan's suspension and ban will lose the media's exposure and the value of endorsement.

At that time, Zhuge Wenbo once talked about this matter with Zhang Guan, and joked that "the emperor is not in a hurry to eunuchs", and Zhang Guan also said at that time that as long as the sponsor is willing to pay liquidated damages, the contract can be terminated. So Black paid a liquidated damages of 200,000 US dollars and terminated the advertising endorsement contract with Zhang Guan.

At that time, Black also felt that he had made a big deal, because it was the beginning of 2007, and if he terminated the contract now, he would not have to pay the 2007 fee. And this four-year advertising endorsement of 10 million US dollars was signed in 2008, so Black felt that he saved 5 million US dollars for the company.

Then Black ignored the follow-up reports about Zhang Guan, and he started his vacation. Blake, who loves mountaineering, went to Argentina to conquer Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America.

January and February are the best seasons for mountaineering in the southern hemisphere, and also the best season for climbing Mount Aconcagua. After Blake entered the mountain, he lost the signal of his mobile phone, and the process of climbing and descending the mountain took him ten days, and these ten days were the ten days of the Australian Open. When he returned to the village where he could receive a mobile phone signal, the semifinals of the Australian Open had just ended.

...

In the conference room, Black was crying and fidgeting.

"Black, about the termination of the contract with Zhang Guan, so we need a reasonable explanation." A director directly questioned: "Zhang Guan was originally our spokesperson, and we still have a two-year contract, why did you advance the contract?" Terminate the contract, you never knew that doing so would bring huge losses to the company!"

"I did this to avoid losses for the company." Black went on to defend: "I have received news that Zhang Guan has been banned by their country's track and field management department, and the media will also block him. For a long time in the future , he will not be able to participate in the game, and his reports will not appear in the media, so he has lost his commercial value. If we continue to implement the contract for the next two years, it will be a waste of money!"

"Zhang Guan can't participate in the competition? So what is the Australian Open? There will be no reports about him in the media? Look at the sports sections of major media, who are the headlines? Even the domestic media in China are the focus of this week's reports It’s all Zhang Guan, but you tell me that Zhang Guan is being blocked by the media? Now is the Internet age, any news can spread all over the world in just a second!” Another director said angrily.

"I don't know why this happened! Zhang Guan is a track and field athlete. How could I have imagined that he would play tennis and even advance to the final of the Australian Open!" Black said aggrieved.

"Then why don't you wait, if you are willing to wait for a week, you will be able to see the news of Zhang Guan's participation in the Australian Open. So my question is, why do you want to terminate the contract with Zhang Guan so urgently!" The person who spoke gave a strange smile, and continued, "I heard that after you terminated your contract with Zhang Guan, you will soon go to Argentina to climb mountains. You probably don't want to miss the good season for mountaineering!"

"What do you mean? Are you saying that I have to complete the termination of the contract with Zhang Guan as soon as possible in order not to miss the mountain climbing season?" Black looked angry, but the expressions of the other directors at this time also represented Same question.

"I chose to terminate the contract with Zhang Guan as soon as possible to avoid paying him the endorsement fee in 2007! If the contract in 2007 is implemented, we will pay him 2.5 million dollars!" Black explained.

"Now we would rather pay him 2.5 million US dollars, and then implement the contract in 2007. But even if we give him 2.5 million, he will not accept it now." The speaker then added: "Zhang Guan's agent has suspended Some commercial endorsement and commercial negotiations, they have to wait until after the Australian Open. Do you understand what it means?"

"Wait until the Australian Open is over to talk about commercial endorsements?" Black was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly laughed: "Hahaha... Could it be that Zhang Guan's manager thinks that Zhang Guan can win the Australian Open? Then what a lion! Open your mouth? This is so funny, Zhang Guan’s opponent is Federer! Although I don’t know much about tennis, I also know that Federer is the strongest tennis player ever. Zhang Guan will definitely be beaten by Federer! What a group Naive agent!"

"But what if Zhang Guan really wins the Australian Open?" The director who seemed very angry just now said: "The king of world track and field, plus the champion of the Grand Slam, if both fields can achieve top achievements , Zhang Guan will have an exaggerated commercial value, he will become the sports star with the highest commercial value in the world! Oh, no, it should be the star with the highest commercial value! And this kind of superstar would have been our spokesperson, and we Just give him $2.5 million a year!"

"That's impossible!" Black said confidently, "It's impossible for Zhang Guan to beat Federer."

"Mr. Black, even if Zhang Guan can't beat Federer, with his original reputation and a runner-up in the Australian Open, he is still worthy of the annual endorsement fee of 2.5 million! Therefore, it is undeniable that this time he will win with Zhang Guan." Termination of the contract is our loss." The director who spoke first reminded.

Blake suddenly fell into silence. He knew that what the other party said was correct. With Zhang Guan's current reputation, no matter what kind of sports he was engaged in, even if it was rope skipping and shuttlecock kicking, as long as he could continue to appear in the public's field of vision, there would be people Willing to pay an endorsement fee. And now Zhang Guan has successfully advanced to the final of the Australian Open. In terms of commercial value, the endorsement fee of 2.5 million US dollars a year is really not expensive.

...

Zhuge Wenbo put the mobile phone to his ear, looking triumphant.

"Mr. James, you are right. Our cooperation with your company has been very smooth... Yes, the previous termination of the contract was a misunderstanding, but since we have already signed the termination contract, we should abide by the contract. We The championship team has always been very contractual!"

"Re-signing? Of course! We have cooperated before and are very familiar with each other. Zhang Guan also hopes to continue to be your company's brand spokesperson!"

"No, no, no, of course we can't follow the original price. The original contract was signed in 2005. You know, the economy has developed rapidly in the past two years, and inflation has also been very strong. Now everything is increasing in price, so We also have to adapt to the situation and raise the price a little bit.”

"How much is the endorsement fee for a year now? Mr. James, please don't worry. The final of the Australian Open will start tomorrow. Now Zhang Guan is preparing for the match with all his strength. We don't want Zhang Guan to think that the matter of commercial endorsement is divided Heart, so why don't we enjoy tomorrow's Australian Open final together, how about we continue to discuss prices after the Australian Open is over?"

Zhuge Wenbo hung up the phone, and the depression caused by the sponsor's termination of the contract a few days ago was swept away.

"Zhang Guan, come on! When we beat Federer and win the Australian Open, we can sign some big endorsements!"

The first chapter is delivered! My family's network has finally been repaired, and I will send a chapter first. Today Saturday, let's explode! Do you still have a monthly pass?