British writer

"exploded!"

"Sold out!"

"Mirror" Editorial Office,

Carlo, who was sitting opposite Lu Shi, was very excited.

The veins on his arms bulged out, giving his whole person the aura of a ferocious butcher.

"scare!"

The person next to me was startled and wanted to hide under the table.

result,

Boom!

The little guy hit his head.

It itself looked dazed, looking at the table legs with a very confused expression.

Carlo laughed,

"You've been eating too much lately!"

He went over and hugged me directly.

My generation: "Meow~"

A look of despair.

As the saying goes, "One thing brings down another." When I first came into contact with Carlo, I was very disgusted with this big guy covered in tendons and directly showed his paws to say hello.

Who would have thought that Carlo's skin was as hard as sandpaper and could be used as a cat scratching post.

After a few attempts, we gave up and let things take their course.

Lu Shi said helplessly: "Well... Mr. Carlo, I think you should stop feeding it."

Some time ago, Carlo Foods was researching canned cats, and I was the food tester.

So it gained a lot of weight.

Of course, cats are animals that only know how to eat and not know how to get fat, so the little guy was confused when he bumped into the table leg just now.

It has no idea that it has become a ball.

Carlo put us on the table,

"Professor Lu, really... I really want to thank you."

This week, he suddenly discovered that business can be so easy.

In the past, cow offal had to be included in the cost of loss, because almost no butchers would buy it, so it could only be disposed of as garbage.

And now Carlo Foods actually needs to buy offal from other slaughterhouses.

Very outrageous!

Lu Shi smiled and said,

"Everyone takes what he needs."

The Mirror needs a hugely successful start.

In this way, future advertising bidding will be easier to do.

Just like CCTV, it started bidding for prime time advertising spaces in 1995.

In the first year, Confucius Banquet Wine won the bid with 31 million yuan, and achieved sales revenue of 918 million yuan that year, an increase of nearly 350 million yuan from the previous year.

So, the next year, Qinchi Wine sold 67 million yuan,

It has more than doubled.

Carlo Food is the Mirror's equivalent of a Confucian banquet.

Lu Shi smiled and said, "Mr. Carlo, how much do you think the advertising space in "Mirror" can be sold for in the next bidding?"

Carlo lowered his head and pondered,

“Is it just advertising space?”

He believes that success now lies not only in the advertising space, but also in the complete advertising plan.

Soft advertising ideas are priceless.

Lu Shi smiled and said nothing.

Carlo doesn’t bother either;

"I think there will probably be many giants in the next tender... giants, maybe five thousand pounds or even tens of thousands of pounds. After all, those people value the independence of the company more and will not use future expectations to compete with the present like I do." possible."

Thousands of gold to buy horse bones,

It’s not about money, but it’s also about money.

Because judging from the current development momentum of Carlo Foods, 35% of the profits in the next five years will definitely exceed 10,000 pounds.

Carlo said: "Speaking of this, Professor Lu, we haven't signed the contract yet."

Lu Shi waved his hand,

"Be patient and don't be impatient."

Carlo couldn't help but be surprised,

"and you……"

Before he finished speaking, there was a knock on the door suddenly, and a deep male voice sounded,

"land."

It was Wodehouse's voice.

Lu Shi went over and opened the door.

In addition to Wodehouse, there was Margarita outside the door.

It’s been a long time since we last seen, and Her Royal Highness the Princess is still looking splendid, but she looks more mature because of her late autumn lady’s coat attire.

She saluted Lu Shi and said, "Professor."

Lu Shi nodded,

"Your Highness."

Hearing this title, Carlo couldn't help but startled, and he didn't know where to put his hands.

He quickly said: "Your Highness, I am a country man...I..."

"puff!"

Margarita covered her lips and smiled softly, thinking that this Scotsman was too nervous and even used the formal word "country boy".

She waved her hand to the other party,

"No need to be polite."

After saying that, she and Wodehouse walked slowly into the house and found a place to sit down.

When Carlo looked at Lu, his eyes were full of exploration.

Lu Shi smiled and said: "That's why I asked you to calm down. We have decided to separate the advertising business from the "Mirror" and form an independent company, and Princess Margarita is the manager. "

The Mirror has a large stake in the London University Alliance, which is considered an official background.

Lu Shi couldn't just say something and tear it down as soon as he said it.

However, if the advertising business and media business are not separated, there will inevitably be great restrictions in the future.

For example,

If a company wants to advertise but has no plan or ability to advertise in the Mirror, can it accept its advertising plan?

Whether you make money or not is secondary.

The most important thing is that the media industry and the advertising industry are closely related. The Mirror cannot rest on its laurels, otherwise it will be surpassed.

Lu Shisi thought about it and introduced a new shareholder——

Crown estate.

Not long ago, King Edward VII decided to pay taxes on the income and capital gains from the royal estate.

His Majesty the King was in severe pain. When he heard that there was a way to make money, he didn't care whether he would compete with the people for profit. He directly asked the royal estate to allocate 50,000 pounds to get involved, and took down the advertising company and the "Mirror". 10% of shares.

The "people" of the University of London Union can only reluctantly give up.

Of course, Wodehouse was happy about this;

Getting closer to the king is a great thing!

The iron-clad royal family,

Prime Minister of flowing water.

Margarita was acquainted with Lu Shi. She was also a member of the royal family and a student of London Political Science and Economics.

This triple identity pushed her to the position of manager.

Lu Shi was also very happy,

On the one hand, it successfully separated its advertising business and media business;

On the other hand, His Majesty the King bought a total of fifty thousand pounds with one stroke of his pen, but only occupied 10% of the shares. The value of the shares in Lu Shi's hands had inflated, which was almost equivalent to free prostitution.

I have to admit that finance is more profitable than industry.

Mainly because Edward VII was easy to fool.

All in all, it's a win-win situation.

Although Carlo was born as a butcher, he had been in the business world for many years and was as meticulous as a hair. He immediately figured out the joints.

He said slowly: "This is the same as when I established a separate subsidiary company for canned cats."

Canned cats are for cats.

Sausages are for people to eat;

If they were all products from Carlo Foods, it would be awkward to think about.

Lu Shi nodded in approval,

"To be honest, I wanted to remind you before, but I didn't expect... Haha... Mr. Carlo is an experienced businessman. It seems that I was worrying too much."

Carlo quickly shook his head,

"No, Professor Lu, you should teach me more."

He was truly sincere in asking for advice.

Lu Shi felt guilty,

To be honest, he doesn't understand business, and he can say something like that purely because of the foresight of the time traveler.

He scratched his head and said, "I think the most important thing is product quality."

This is a common saying,

Which business person doesn’t know that product quality is the most important thing?

But at this moment, Carlo was already a big fan of Lu Shi. What did Lu Shi say?

Carlo mused,

"Professor Lu is talking about the shelf life issue, right? It is true that tin-plated iron sheets can make cans better sealed, easy to transport, and not easy to break, but cat cans are different. There is a seasoning problem. You cannot rely on adding salt to prevent corrosion, otherwise Not even the dogs will eat it… well… not even the cats will eat it.”

Tin-plated iron is what is called "tinplate".

Lu Shi didn't expect that the other party's condition was serious, so he touched his nose awkwardly.

"Actually, tin-plated iron sheet itself is a problem. Tin is a war material, and it may one day not be used by civilians."

Carlo nodded,

"Thank you Professor Lu for your guidance. Next, we will focus on two things, on the one hand, research on anti-corrosion, and on the other hand, research on alternatives to tin-plated iron sheets."

These two aspects are indeed the core pain points.

The latter can reduce costs,

Not to mention the former, if the shelf life hadn't kept up, canned cats would have been on the shelves.

Team Carlo was even more impressed by Lu Shi.

He said: "Professor Lu, we are signing a contract now...um...should I sign a contract with the Mirror or an advertising company?"

Lu Shi smiled and said, "Three-party contract."

Carlo took the pen out of his breast pocket and

"Shall we start now?"

Lu Shi waved his hand,

"Just wait a moment."

He curled his fingers at us,

The little guy immediately rushed over and jumped on Lu Shi's shoulder.

Lu Shi complained: "Isn't this too heavy for you?"

My generation: "Meow~"

Jumping from the left shoulder to the right shoulder, his steps were heavy and majestic.

Lu Shi was helpless and looked at Carlo,

"Mr. Carlo, what do you think of me?"

Carlo was surprised,

"Professor Lu is going to give it to me? Just in time, we are short of tasters."

As soon as these words were spoken, the other three people showed shocked expressions.

"..."

"..."

"..."

An eerie silence.

Suddenly, Margarita let out a clear laugh and said: "Mr. Carlo, you are really... really..."

She couldn't seem to find the right words.

Wodehouse said for her: "'Incomprehensible style'."

Lu Shi sighed,

"Mr. Carlo, I obviously don't mean this. I just want to ask you, do you think I am suitable to be your brand's spokesperson cat... um... image ambassador?"

The word "endorsement" has too many meanings in English, and he didn't want to explain it more.

Carlo couldn't help but look confused.

"What...what 'ambassador'?"

This was the first time he heard this word.

The first endorsement advertisement in modern times came from Bette Davis in the United States.

Davis is a well-known actress who began advertising for a cosmetics company in the 1920s and became the company's brand ambassador.

Therefore, there was no similar concept at the beginning of the 20th century.

Lu Shi pondered for a moment and thought of an example:

"In China, there is a story called "The price of a horse is ten times the price." It tells the story of a businessman who stayed at the market for three days to sell a horse, but people didn't know about the horse and no one was willing to bid. So, it went to find Bole...uh..."

Lu Shi was ready to explain who Bole was.

As a result, Wodehouse on the side spoke first: "This Bole is an expert in horse-telling. 'Thousand-mile horses are always found, but Bole is not always found', right?"

When he looked at the landing proudly,

Lu Shi:? ? ?

I think this guy is too fierce. I don’t know how many Chinese classics he has read recently.

He continued: "Yes, Bole is an expert on horses. The businessman came to him and asked him to help. He went to see the businessman's horse, circle around the businessman's horse a few times, and look back before leaving. For this reason, the businessman He was willing to give Bole a day's expenses. Bole accepted the request, so he walked around the horse a few times and took a look. Before leaving, he turned back to take another look. The price of the horse immediately increased tenfold. .”

As soon as he finished speaking, Wodehouse showed a shocked expression.

"This...this is what happened to Bole?"

Lu Shi nodded,

"That's right."

"hiss……"

Wodehouse took a breath and said, "Isn't this Bole a person from five thousand years ago?"

Lu Shi: "..."

"No, no! Bole was from the Qin State during the Spring and Autumn Period...well...I can't tell you the details. In short, it was only about two thousand years ago."

Shente Meow’s “only”...

Wodehouse had a complex expression on his face and muttered: "Lu, I finally understand why you are so smart. It turns out that many of the tricks you use today are leftovers from the tricks played by you Chinese."

Carlo on the side said: "Professor Lu, you took Patek Philippe's pocket watch that day, so you are its boss."

But I can draw inferences from one instance.

Lu Shi agreed: "That's right. But to be honest, my main purpose at the time was to prove that soft advertising was extremely effective. I didn't want to be an ambassador for Patek Philippe or anything like that."

Carlo thought for a while.

"So, Professor Lu, we have become the image ambassador of canned cats, how should we advertise?"

Lu Shi replied: "There are many ways~for example, printing our image on the packaging of canned cats; another example is using a full page of the Mirror to advertise and asking Mr. Picasso to paint a canned cat. We all ate it with gusto."

Carlo couldn't help but his eyes lit up.

"That's for sure!"

There are many reasons, the most important one is that "I Am Cat" is so popular!

Then, he hesitated again and asked uncertainly: "But wouldn't that be a hard job?"

Lu Shi nodded,

"Yes. But now, R\u0026R has entered a bottleneck period, and it's time to launch an offensive and bomb."

With these words, Carlo no longer hesitated.

He thought for a while and then said: "In that case, let's just invite two image ambassadors. Most of the people who keep cats in London are women. If possible, it is better to find an elegant and beautiful woman to appear in the painting at the same time. The advertising effect will be more good."

As he said that, he actually looked at Margarita beside him.

Margarita blushed;

Her father, the Grand Duke of Hesse, would definitely explode if she became the ambassador of this Laoshizi.

She waved her hands repeatedly, preparing to refuse.

Unexpectedly, Lu Shi was one step ahead of her and said: "Heroes think alike. Mr. Carlo, I have already thought of this, so I invited a woman who is well known to many people in London."

As he said that, he took out his pocket watch and looked at the time.

"The rehearsal should be over by now. She'll be here soon."

Margarita put her hands down, a little depressed.

Just then, the door was knocked again,

Her Highness the Princess didn't know what she was thinking, but she ignored the royal dignity and stood up to open the door instead of Lu Shi.

She wanted to see who that "woman well known to many people in London" was.

Squeak——

The door was opened.

I saw a young and lively girl standing at the door.

The girl is slender, with short black hair and bangs, giving people a sense of vitality.

Her face has clear outlines, fair skin, and big, bright eyes, full of curiosity and agility.

Margarita was stunned.

She remembered, the person in front of her was Princess Anne in "Roman Holiday".

No wonder she has that hairstyle!

Phyllis also froze on the spot,

A woman's sixth sense clearly told her that this woman with excellent temperament who appeared in Professor Lu's office might be the prototype of Princess Anne.

Phyllis and Margarita looked at each other,

"Your Highness the Princess."×2

The two said almost in unison.

After just one meeting, each of them confirmed their suspicions.

They looked at each other for a moment,

"Professor Lu often talks about you to me."×2

Again in unison.

Carlo in the room rubbed his arms, a little confused, why was the room getting a little cold?

He looked at Lu Shi.

Lu Shi didn't think much about it.

"Mr. Carlo, what's wrong?"

Carlo shook his head in confusion, walked to the window, closed it, and said, "It's autumn now, so keep warm."

Lu Shi:? ? ?

This is nothing! ?

He waved to Phyllis outside the house and said, "Phyllis... Miss Dale, please come in. There is a business here that I want to talk to you about."

Phyllis immediately jumped into the house lightly,

"what business?"

As a result, it was Margarita next to me who answered,

In fact, it wasn't really an answer, because she was talking to Lu Shi.

She smiled and said, "Professor, now that I am the manager of an advertising company, why don't I talk to Miss Dale directly?"

Lu Shi was of course happy and free.

He nodded repeatedly,

"Okay, okay, okay. It's rare for me to rest."

Margarita turned to Phyllis and said, "Miss Dale, come with me? My temporary office is next door."

Phyllis was very straightforward;

"certainly."

She saluted the three men in the room and made a face at us.

The two women left the room.

As soon as they went out, Carlo rolled up his sleeves in surprise.

"Strange, why it's not cold anymore..."